GIFT OF 
 SEELEY W. MUDD 
 
 and 
 
 GEORGE I. COCHRAN MEYER ELSASSER 
 DR. JOHN R. HAYNES WILLIAM L. HONNOLD 
 JAMES R. MARTIN MRS. JOSEPH F. SARTORI 
 
 to the 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 SOUTHERN BRANCH 
 
 JOHN FISKE
 
 This book is DUE on the last date stamped below 
 
 APR 22 1929 
 MAY 6 1929 
 B 8 1930 
 
 
 JUN g 1931 
 
 IUAY s ma 
 
 ,JAN 3193F 
 
 Southern Branch 
 of the 
 
 University of California 
 
 Los Angeles 
 
 Form L I 
 
 DA
 
 L.I. 
 
 ox.
 
 THE 
 
 BEAUTIES 
 
 OF 
 
 SCOTLAND: 
 
 CONTAINING 
 
 A CLEAR AND FULL ACCOUNT 
 
 OF THE 
 
 AGRICULTURE, COMMERCE, MINES, 
 
 AND 
 
 MANUFACTURES; 
 
 OF THE 
 
 POPULATION, CITIES, TOWNS, VILLAGES, &c. 
 
 OF EACH COUNTY. 
 
 EMBELLISHED WITH ENGRAVINGS. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 EDINBURGH : 
 
 PRINTED FOR THOMSON BONAR AND JOHN BROWN, EDINBURGH; 
 VERNOR AND HOOD ; LONGMAN, HURST, REE5, AND ORME J CUTHELL AND 
 
 MARTIN; j. AND A. ARCH; j. HARRIS; vr. j. AND j. RICHARDSON; 
 
 AND CROSBY AND CO. LONDON. 
 
 1805.
 
 Edinburgh : 
 Printed by JOHN 

 
 HIS GRACE 
 
 THE V. 
 
 DUKE OF BUGCLEUCH, 
 
 MY LORD, 
 
 IN introducing to the world the First Volume of 
 a Work intended to illustrate the present state of 
 Scotland, it is with the highest satisfaction ad- 
 dressed to a popular and patriotic Nobleman, 
 whose virtues have done honour to the highest 
 rank ; whose ample possessions in this country 
 have only afforded an opportunity for the exer- 
 tion of extensive beneficence ; and who has never 
 failed to give countenance and support to every 
 liberal and valuable art. 
 
 I have the honour to be, 
 MY LORD, 
 
 Your GRACE'S most obedient, 
 And most humble Servant, 
 
 RO. FORSYTH.

 
 THE 
 
 . 
 
 OF 
 
 MIDLOTHIAN, OR EDINBURGHSHIRE* 
 
 HIS County is of an irregular form, approaching 
 however to a four-sided figure. It has been said to re- 
 semble a triangle, one of whose angles is cut off*. Its 
 northern boundary, which forms its shortest side, is a deep Boundaries 
 bay of the sea, or estuary of a river, called in Scotland, 
 like others of a similar nature, a Frith. Being the estuary 
 of the River Forth (the ancient Bodotria), it is denomi- 
 nated the Frith of Forth. The county extends about 
 twelve miles in a direct line along this Frith. It is 
 
 . * ' . 
 
 bounded on the west by Linlithgowshire, to the extent 
 of nearly 19 miles ; to the eastward of Midlothian are 
 the shires of Haddington, Berwick, and Roxburgh, to the 
 extent of 22 miles ; on th south, are the counties of Sel- 
 kirk, Peebles, and Lanark. The southern boundary of 
 the county is very long and irregular, stretching from 
 the south-east, in the parish of Stow, towards the north- 
 
 M'Farlanc'b Collection, MS. Advocates Library, 
 
 VOL. I. A
 
 2 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh. west, in the parish of West Calder, a distance of little les> 
 than 36 miles. 
 
 As the Scottish capital is by far the most important 
 object which this county contains, we shall begin, out 1 
 Work with an account of it. 
 
 THE CITY OF EDINBURGH 
 
 HAS of late years been so frequently rendered the sub- 
 ject of description, that little novelty can reasonably be 
 expected to occur in the account to be here given of it. 
 We shall, therefore, render our details concerning it as 
 concise as may seem consistent with the object of our un- 
 dertaking, which must necessarily be, to, giye a complete 
 account of whatever is most important in the northern di- 
 vision of the island. 
 
 Edinburgh is situated in 55 degrees 51 minu,tes of 
 north latitude., and in 3 degrees 14 minutes of longitude 
 west from London. It stands near the centre, of the north- 
 ern boundary of the county, and within two miles of the 
 town and harbour of Leith ; towards which, by the exten- 
 sion of its buildings, it is rapidly approaching ; and which 
 for this and other reasons may be considered as one of its 
 suburbs. . 
 
 It is extremely difficult to give, by description, a 
 correct idea of the City of Edinburgh, on account of the 
 strange irregularity of the territory upon which it is shu- 
 nted, and of the great diversity of the form and aspect of 
 the buildings of which it now consists. 
 
 ^he F RIT # - FORTH, adjoining to Edinburgh on the 
 north, is from 5 to 7 miles in breadth. Eastward from 
 Edinburgh and Leith is the bay of Musselburgh, which 
 is the largest bay in this estuary or Frith, and advances 
 several miles southward to the town or village from which
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. $ 
 
 it derives its name. The harbour of Leith is situated in Edinburgh. 
 an angle, or a sort of peninsula, formed by the ordinary- 
 line of the Frith of Forth on the north, and by Mussel- 
 burgh bay on the east. Edinburgh looks downwards upon 
 the sea on two sides, and stands at nearly an equal dis- 
 tance from Musselburgh bay on the east, and from the 
 general line of the Frith of Forth on the north. From 
 Leith, and the whole shore of the bay of Musselburgh, 
 the country ascends gradually and regularly westward 
 towards the centre and northern part of Edinburgh, which ; 
 is at the distance of from two to three miles. Between the 
 southern quarter of the city and Musselburgh bay, the 
 mountainous tract, called Arthur Seat, is interposed. 
 At the harbour of Leith, the small river, called the Water 
 of Leith, falls into the sea. To the north-west of Leith, 
 along the shore, the country is regular and beautiful ; its 
 form is triangular, having the Frith of Forth on the 
 north ; on the south, the Water of Leith, diverging from 
 the Frith, and running, like most Scottish rivers and even 
 rivulets, in a deep bed with elevated banks. To the west- 
 ward, this territory very gradually and slowly continues 
 to widen, and, at the same time, to ascend for some miles, 
 till the southern part of it is crossed by a narrow and lofty 
 ridge in the form of a cock's comb, called Corstorpbine 
 Hills, and the rest of it begins to slope downwards to the 
 river Amon, on the north-west. 
 
 From the Water of Leith, two miles westward from the Northern 
 harbour, the country to the south rapidly ascends to a ver y M' 
 considerable height. The ascent terminates in a horizon- 
 tal ridge, which runs from east to west, and is about 300 
 feet above the level of the sea. Along the summit of this 
 ridge is situated what is usually called the New Town of 
 Edinburgh ; which, from its elevated situation, is enabled 
 tp overlook, towards the north, the Frith of Forth, with 
 
 A 2
 
 4 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh, the opposite bold coast of Fife ; and on this side, the 
 beautiful intervening territory, which is well cultivated 
 and adorned with numerous villas. 
 
 Cental To the south of the ridge on which the New Town 
 
 oLrr'own stan ds * s a deep valley ; southward from which suddenly 
 ascends another ridge or long hill, upon which is placed 
 the Old Town, or the most important part of the ancient 
 city of Edinburgh. This ridge, whose highest point is on 
 the west, terminates in that quarter in a" precipitous and 
 , ' ti lofty rock, on which the castle is placed ; the hill gradu- 
 ally descends towards the east. On the ridge, formed 
 by its summit, the High Street is built, which termi- 
 nates, on the east, at the valley on which the Palace of 
 Holyroodhouse stands. From the High Street, along its 
 whole length froni the Castle to the Palace, a succession 
 of narrow lanes descend down the steep sides of the hill ; 
 those on the north terminate in the valley which divides 
 the New from the Old Town, and which, from its an- 
 ciently having been covered with water, is termed the 
 North Loch ; on the south, the lanes from the High street 
 descend into a deep and narrow valley, in which is a 
 street called the Cowgate., which', to a considerable dis- 
 tance, runs parallel to the High Street. The remainder of 
 this low ground, towards the west, is occupied by a broad 
 and ancient street, called the Grass Market. Towards the 
 east it has never been built upon. 
 
 Third From the Cowgate a new set of lanes ascend towards, 
 
 Southern 1 " ^ south, where a third long ridge, covered with build- 
 District, ings, runs parallel to the High Street ; but which is not, 
 like it, formed into a precipitate hill, excepting towards 
 the east, where it approaches Salisbury Craigs. On the 
 south it descends gradually into an extensive valley ? 
 where was anciently the South Loch, or Burough Loch ; 
 but which being drained, is now called Hope Park, or
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 5 
 
 the Meadow. The notion that has been frequently enter- Edinburgh, 
 tained that the Cowgate was once Covered with water, is 
 satisfactorily shewn by Maitland in his history to be er- 
 roneous, as the declivity of the ground is so rapid, that 
 water could not even artificially be made to stagnate 
 there, without the aid of very great and expensive works, 
 which evidently never existed. 
 
 The City of Edinburgh thus stands upon three parallel 
 ridges; two of which are 6f considerable breadth at the 
 summit^ and run in nearly a horizontal direction from 
 east to west. The central ridge^ however, is so narrow 
 in its summit, as in most places barely to leave room for 
 the breadth of the High Street. This ridge also differs > 
 from the other two in this respect, that instead of running 
 horizontally like them from east to west, its western 
 point is a lofty fortified rock, seen by travellers at a great 
 distance, while it gradually descends eastward, till at the 
 distance of a full mile it sinks into a plain. 
 
 To the southward the country from Edinburgh gradu- Adjoining 
 ally rises with a great variety of surface, and the view is c ' 
 terminated by lofty mountains, which, at one point, are 
 scarcely five miles distant. On the west the territory is 
 more level ; so that from Edinburgh Castle a fine plain is 
 seen richly cultivated, and stretching to the distance of 
 14 miles, where the country gradually ascends, till it 
 forms the elevated tract which looks down upon the 
 course of the river Clyde and the city of Glasgow. 
 
 On the east the vicinity of Edinburgh is so irregular Hills near 
 and rugged, as irresistibly to suggest the idea that this 
 has once been the scene of some great natural convulsion. 
 Three hills are chiefly worthy of notice ; they consist, like 
 that on which the High Street stands, of nigged precipices, 
 with an elevated summit towards the west, from which
 
 6 . MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh. they descend or trail along in a gradual manner eastward* 
 The lowest of these is the Calton-hill. 
 
 The horizontal ridge of the New Town terminates sud- 
 denly on the east, opposite to the middle of the High Street. 
 The territory on the north-east of the New Town consists 
 of a gradual descent towards Leith ; and that on the south- 
 east, after passing a sudden chasm, is occupied by the Cal- 
 ton-hill, which abruptly rises aloft, and exhibits in that 
 quarter a front of precipitous and broken rocks, which in- 
 croach upon the North Loch, and press towards the Old 
 Town or centre of the city. On their summit is an obser- 
 vatory ; on one side is the Bridewell ; and on the brow of 
 the hill is a public walk, which commands an extensive 
 view of a group of the most interesting objects which this 
 world can exhibit a fertile country, a great city, a for- 
 tified castle, a crowded sea-port, a royal palace, and a 
 great extent of ocean ; the whole diversified by rugged 
 rocks and precipices close at hand, and by the lofty 
 mountains which border upon the Western Highlands, 
 which form the distant horizon. 
 
 The ridge to the southward of the High-street, or Old 
 Town of Edinburgh, terminates, like that on the north, in 
 a sudden chasm on the east, beyond which a lofty preci- 
 pice ascends. Here, however, every thing is on a gran- 
 der scale ; the rocks are more lofty, and are succeeded by 
 others, which form a singular tract of mountainous ter- 
 ritory in the vicinity of the Palace. The chief divisions 
 of these hills are called Salisbury Craigs and Arthur Seat. 
 The former is the most westerly, and is supposed to derive 
 its name from an Earl of Salisbury who accompanied 
 Edward III. of England in an expedition against the 
 Scots. Salisbury Craigs form a semicircular precipice of 
 great height and extent. At the summit of a hill, whose 
 shelving sides are covered with fragments of broken.
 
 
 
 
 ' 
 ir
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 1 
 
 rocks, the precipice itself is seen from all quarters of the Edinburgh., 
 city which it overlooks. 
 
 ARTHUR SEAT, which is to the eastward of SALISBURY 
 CRAIGS, consists of two extensive hills; one of which ri- 
 ses into a lofty peak, which overlooks the surrounding 
 country, and is 819 feet in height above the low water- 
 mark at Leith. 
 
 The three ridges on which the City of Edinburgh 
 is built are connected by Bridges built across the low 
 grounds which divide the Old Town, or central ridge^ 
 from the New Town on the north, and from the Southern 
 District on the opposite side. 
 
 In consequence of its being divided in the way now Edinburgh, 
 mentioned, into a sort of three distinct cities, built upon jj^ towns 
 separate parallel eminences, divided from each other by 
 intervening valleys, there is no city of its extent which is 
 less perplexing to a stranger, or where he is less likely to 
 lose his way> than Edinburgh. After the slightest in- 
 spection, he cannot possibly mistake one division for ano- 
 ther ; because the Old Town, the New Town, and the 
 Southern District, are each of moderate extent, and have 
 no more resemblance to one another, than if they had 
 been built by different nations, or in distant quarters of the 
 globe. 
 
 The western part of the Central Division of Edinburgh The Castle, 
 rises aloft, and overlooks the whole city. At the summit 
 or precipitous extremity the CASTLE is situated. It con- 
 sists of an area of about six English acres. Its situation 
 is naturally so strong', that if the supposition were not con- 
 tradicted by history, we should have regarded it as im- 
 pregnable before the invention of artillery. It stands 
 upon the summit of a rock, which, on the north, the west, 
 and the south, appears inaccessible, and which is at many 
 places absolutely perpendicular, arid is about SCO feet
 
 9 MIDLOTHIAN'. 
 
 Idinburgh. from its base. One of our plates will afford a correct idea 
 of its aspect. On the east, the only quarter from which 
 the Castle is accessible, it is separated from the buildings 
 of the City by a kind of glacis or space of about 350 feet 
 in length and 300 in breadth, calkd the CASTLEHILL, 
 which also commands a prospect of the City, and its 
 whole environs, with the sea and the opposite coast of 
 Fife. At the western termination of the Castlehill is the 
 outer barrier of the Castle, beyond which is a dry ditch, 
 with a draw-bridge and gate ; the whole commanded by a 
 half-moon mounted with twelve and eighteen pounders. 
 Within the gate is a guard-room ; beyond which, on a 
 road winding upwards towards the north, are two gate- 
 ways ; the first of which is very strong, and has two port- 
 cullises. Beyond the inner gateway is a battery, mount- 
 ed with brass guns ; near which are store-houses for gun- 
 carriages and other implements of artillery. On the 
 north is a grand store-room and arsenal, which, together 
 with the other magazines in the fort, are capable of con- 
 taining thirty thousand stand of arms. In addition to 
 those already mentioned, there are some other batteries at 
 different points of the circumference of the rampart or 
 wall by which the brow .of the rock is encircled ; but the 
 fortifications correspond with none of the rules of art, be- 
 ing built according to the irregular form of the precipice 
 on which they stand. So that to this day the chief 
 strength of the Castle may be considered as consisting in 
 its height and inaccessible situation. 
 
 The highest part of the Castle, which is towards the 
 south-east, consists of a number of houses in the form of 
 a square, affording a parade for exercise. The buildings 
 are chiefly laid out in barracks for the officers. The dif- 
 ferent old barracks in the garrison can accommodate a thou- 
 sand luen ; and in addition to these, during the late or ra-
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 9 
 
 ther present war, a very lofty and extensive range of build- Edinburgh, 
 ings was erected on the western brow of the rock. These 
 being finished in the modern style, are here a deformity, 
 and have totally destroyed, when viewed from the neigh* 
 bourhood, the antique and majestic aspect of this part 
 of the fortress. The orders for such Works come from 
 England ; where we must suppose, either that the ge- 
 neral aspect of this ancient fortress is unknown, or that 
 good taste is not considered as requisite in works of 
 this nature. The east side of the square already mention- 
 ed, at the summit of the Castle, was anciently used as royal 
 apartments ; and some of them appear to have been rebuilt 
 in 1556. In these turbulent times, when it was not al 
 ways safe for the sovereign to reside in an unfortified place,, 
 the celebrated but unfortunate Queen Mary took up her 
 dwelling in the Castle, after her pregnancy was far ad- 
 vanced. Here, in a small room, on the ground floor in the 
 south-east corner of this edifice, she was, on the ipth of 
 June 1566, delivered of a prince ; in whose person the 
 crowns of both kingdoms, of which the British Island 
 consisted, were afterwards united A political event of a 
 most important nature, which the policy or the ambition 
 of the ablest of the English monarchs had long, by force 
 or fraud, unsuccessfully struggled to accomplish. 
 
 In an apartment also, in this quarter of the Castle, the s cottih re? 
 crown, the sceptre, and the rest of the ancient regalia of 
 Scotland, were with great solemnity deposited on the 26th 
 of March 1707 ; but they have long since taken their de- 
 parture thence; though it is said that nobody can tell how 
 or when. They were probably removed by a secret order 
 from government during one or other of the rebellions of 
 1715 or 1745 ; and a British minister, during war, would 
 always find occasion for the gold or jewels which they 
 6ontain<l. Indeed, if it was ever seriously thought thai
 
 10 MIDLOTHIAN". 
 
 EOinbargfc. tfi e preservation of these relicts of ancient royalty, in & 
 place now become a province of a great empire, could 
 bave served any valuable purpose, our ancestors adopted 
 a very unskilful mode of accomplishing the object they 
 had in view. To preserve an object of great value, it 
 ought not to be lotked up for ever from the eyes of the pub- 
 lic, but to be produced occasionally at stated periods ; if not 
 to the whole world, at least to a considerable number of 
 magistrates or other officers as representing the public. 
 
 Strength of Considered as a place of strength, the Castle of Edin- 
 burgh has great defects. Its elevation, and the distance 
 from which it would be necessary to assail it by means of 
 batteries of cannon^ give it considerable strength against 
 this mode of attack : but the same elevation holds it up 
 as a conspicuous mark for a well-directed bombard- 
 ment ; very few apartments in it are bomb-proof ; and 
 the area of the castle is almost entirely rock, whose splin- 
 ters would double the destruction occasioned by an ene- 
 my's bomb-shells. Another defect results from its want 
 of water, of which the natural supply is scanty. It is 
 obtained from a draw-well upwards of an hundred feet 
 deep ; and the concussion of the rock, occasioned by a 
 long-continued discharge of artillery, causes the water to 
 subside. This is probably owing to the position of the 
 rock, the layers of which appear to be placed perpendi- 
 cular to the horizon ; so that the whole mass must have 
 only a slight coherence. For the sake of ordinary con- 
 veniency the garrison is now supplied with water from 
 the pipes which convey water to the city of Edinburgh. 
 Upon the whole, Edinburgh Castle can only be consi- 
 dered as a place of strength in favour of government 
 against an intestine commotion. Against a foreign ene- 
 my, supplied with proper artillery, it would afford no pro- 
 tection, and might even prove highly pernicious, as eft*
 
 11 
 
 abling him, with a. trifling force, to retain the command Edinburgh, 
 of a great city and of a fertile territory. 
 
 At the eastern extremity of the glacis of the Castle the Old Town. 
 High Street of Edinburgh begins, and continues without 
 interruption downwards along the ridge of the hill to the 
 Palace of Holyroodhouse. The upper part of this street 
 is about 140 feet above the level of the North Loch, and 
 almost 180 feet above Holyroodhouse. The street from 
 the castle-gate to the palace-gate is 5570 feet. The de- 
 scent is regular, and it runs all the way nearly in a right 
 line ; at the same time the bendings are sufficient to in- 
 terrupt the view from one end to the other ; and the view 
 is farther broken by some buildings which are still suf- 
 fered to encroach upon the street. 
 
 In consequence of the great beauty and elegance of the 
 streets and buildings which have been recently reared, the 
 High Street of Edinburgh no longer produces that admi- 
 ration which its spaciousness and the loftiness and magni- 
 ficence of its buildings once excited. A writer of the six- 
 teenth century speaks thus of it : "In this city there are 
 " two spacious streets ; of which the principal one, leading 
 *' from the palace to the Castle, it paved with square 
 " stones. The city itself is not built of bricks, but of 
 " square free stones ; and so stately is their appearance, that 
 " single houses may be compared to palaces. From the Ab- 
 " bey to the Castle (continues our author) there is a conti- 
 *' nued street, which on both sides contains a range of ex- 
 " cellent houses, and the better s'ort are built of "hewn stone ." 
 
 Many specimens of buildings of considerable antiquity 
 remain in the High Street of Edinburgh and adjoining to 
 it. In 1693 a statute of the Scottish Parliament prohi* 
 bited any house to be built higher than five stories from 
 the ground. All those houses, therefore, which exceed 
 that height, must have been built previous tp the Sta
 
 12 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh, tute. The law only applies to such parts of a house asf 
 front a public street or lane. Hence it frequently hap- 
 pens, in consequence of the singular inequality of the 
 ground, that while the front of a house rises to no more 
 than the statutory height, its back part is eight or ten, or 
 even twelve stories high. All these stories are inhabited by 
 separate families ; and in the course of time it Sometimes 
 happens that the back of one of these houses comes to 
 front a newly opened street^ In which case, however, 
 if it fall into decay, it is generally understood that it can- 
 not be rebuilt of the same height. The habit which the 
 inhabitants of Edinburgh have acquired of living above 
 each other in separate stories, with a common stair from 
 which they all enter, together with the high price which 
 a very small extent of ground brings when sold, induces 
 proprietors, when rebuilding their houses, still to rear 
 them as high as the law will permit, that they may de- 
 rive the highest possible profit from their property. 
 
 Names of The High Street of Edinburgh receives from the inha- 
 
 WL TJJfrk ^ 
 
 Street. bitants different appellations to distinguish different parts 
 of it. Near the Castle it is termed the Castle-Mil: some- 
 what lower down, it is called the Lawn-market) from 
 a branch of trade formerly carried on there : at the lower 
 end of the Lawn-market, where stands the ancient Epis- 
 copal Cathedral, or Church of St Giles, the street for a 
 considerable distance is called, by way of distinction, the 
 High Street ; this being the most frequented and public 
 part of it. Farther down the hill, at a place where the 
 city wall anciently crossed it, the High Street takes the 
 appellation of the Canongate t which continues downwards 
 to the Palace. 
 
 From the upper end of the Lawn-market a street de- 
 scends down the hill southward, in a winding direction, to 
 the Grass-market and Cowgate. In ancient times, one of
 
 MIDLOTHIAN'. 
 
 the gates of the city was in the middle of this street. 
 The gate was covered by a stone arch, termed in the 
 Scottish dialect a boiv ; and hence the street receives the 
 appellation to this day of the West Bow. 
 
 From the middle of the Lawn-market towards the 
 north, a communication with the New Town has of late 
 years been opened, by means of a great mound of earth, 
 to be afterwards noticed, which crosses the North Loch. 
 At the lower end of the Lawn-market, the street is em- 
 barrassed by an old prison, and some houses called Lucken* 
 booths, which occupy the middle of it : But the latter are 
 beginning to be removed. Adjoining to them is a small 
 square, called the Parliament-close, to the south of the street. Parliament 
 The sides of the square are formed by the Cathedral of St 
 Giles on the north ; on the south and west, partly by the 
 house where the Scottish parliament anciently sat, and 
 which is now occupied by the courts of law. The remain- 
 der of the square, which is not extensive, is completed by 
 private buildings of hewn stone, which, being ancient, rise 
 to a great height ; and the centre is adorned by a beauti- 
 ful equestrian statue of Charles the Second, placed here af- 
 ter the restoration by the magistrates, instead of one which 
 they had been previously making preparations to erect in 
 honour of the usurper Oliver Cromwell. A little below The Cjoss 
 the Cathedral of St Giles, the CROSS OF EDINBURGH a 
 ciently stood ; and the spot, which is marked by a sort 
 of radiated pavement, still receives the appellation of the 
 Cross. Here the Scottish statutes were anciently proclaim- 
 ed ; and here royal and other public proclamations are still 
 made. Here also the principal citizens in former times 
 were accustomed to assemble every day betwixt the hours 
 of one and two afternoon ; and for their entertainment a 
 set of bells are placed in the steeple of the adjoining Ca- 
 the,dral, upon which, at that hour, a person, who receives
 
 14 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh. a salary from the magistrates, daily plays, in the manner 
 of a harpsichord, a variety of tunes. In consequence of 
 the great extension of the city, and the influx of strangers, 
 the inhabitants have become less known to each other 
 $han formerly, and they have relinquished in a great mea- 
 sure the social custom of assembling frequently at the 
 (Cross. The practice is now confined to the Wednesday 
 of every week, which is a kind of market-day in Edin- 
 burgh ; and. then the Cross is chiefly frequented by the 
 Leith merchants and the wealthy farmers from the ad- 
 joining country, There were formerly three crosses in 
 that part of the High Street of Edinburgh called the Ca- 
 nongate. One of them was at the head of St John Street, 
 called St John's Cross ; another adjoining to the Canon- 
 gate Church ; ^nd the last was. in the neighbourhood of 
 the Palace, styled the Girth Cross, so called from its be- 
 ing at the limit or boundary of the sanctuary of Holyrood- 
 house. It was at this last cross that the celebrated ^Tar- 
 quis of Montrose was executed, by the party of the cove, 
 nanters, by suspension on a gibbet thirty feet in height. 
 . At no great distance below the proper Cross of Edin- 
 burgh, the city is crossed by the two great bridges of com- 
 munication which connect the Old Town with the north- 
 ern and the southern districts. These bridges form a 
 most beautiful and elegant street. The central hill is 
 also crossed somewhat lower by another street, which on 
 the south receives the appellation of St Mary's Wynd ; 
 and on the north, of Lcith Wynd. Here the city wall 
 had an arched gate, and the place still receives the appel- 
 lation of the Nether Boiv. All below this is termed the Ca- 
 nongate ; which, from its vicinity to the Palace, was once 
 the court end of the town, and still contains many great 
 houses built by the nobility in former times, but which are 
 JJQW occupied by persons of far inferior importance.
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 The COWGATE resembles the High Street only in 
 loftiness of its buildings, being too narrow to admit of arhe Cow- 
 side pavement for foot r passengers, and being now rapidly gate ' 
 falling into decay, in consequence of the extension of the 
 city into more favourable situations, 
 
 From the Castle-hill to the Palace, the whole space is Lanes In - 
 occupied, or rather most inconceivably crowded, with 
 buildings in rows down each side of the hill. These 
 buildings are piled up to a great height ; and as the lanes 
 (or, as they are called, closes) between the rows are sel T 
 dom more than from six to ten feet in breadth, the lower 
 stories are necessarily extremely darl^, The access to the 
 separate lodgings in these huge piles is everywhere by a 
 common stair, exposed to great inconvenience from dirti r 
 ness and danger from fire. This mode of building is 
 Tendered practicable by the immense quantities of the fi- 
 nest stone of a great variety of kinds found in the vicinity 
 of Edinburgh. The proprietors encourage it, as already 
 mentioned, from views of making the most of their build- 
 ing ground ; and private families of moderate incomes ac- 
 count it convenient, from the opportunity which it af- 
 fords of obtaining houses of every variety of dimensions, 
 and on account of the compactness which it gives to a 
 dwelling, by which fewer servants are rendered necessa- 
 ry. The lanes, however, of this ancient city have some 
 variety. Those which admit a carriage to pass through 
 them are usually termed wynds, of which there are seve- 
 ral ; and in some places small squares are formed, which 
 are usually termed courts, as Miln's Court and James's 
 Court in the Lawn-market, and Elphingston's Court in 
 the Cowgate. But none of these are very ancient. 
 
 The communications between the High Street of Edin- Bridges, 
 burgh, or the central ridge of that city, and the northern 
 southern districts, are themselves no small curiosities.
 
 1(5 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh. The most remarkable consists of the two bridges, which 
 form one continued street, crossing the High Street, and 
 North at right angles with it. In 1763 the North Loch was 
 " ge ' drained, and the mud removed, for the purpose of disco- 
 vering a proper foundation for building a bridge of com- 
 munication across the valley to the high ground on the 
 north. The first stone was laid by George Drummond, 
 Esq. Lord Provost of Edinburgh, on the 21st of October 
 1163 ; but the contract for building the bridge was not 
 signed till the 21st of August 1765. The parties to this 
 contract were the Town-Council of Edinburgh and Wil- 
 liam Mylne architect, brother to the person who built 
 Blackfriars bridge. By this agreement, Mr Mylne be- 
 came bound to build a bridge of communication between 
 the High Street and the fields on the north side of the 
 city, for the sum of L. 1O,140 Sterling. The work was to 
 be completed before Martinmas 1769, and Mr Mylne en- 
 gaged to uphold it for ten years. A difficulty occurred 
 in the course of the work, which has more than once oc- 
 casioned no small embarrassment when great buildings 
 were to be erected in Edinburgh. As the north side of 
 the hill on which the High Street stands is extremely 
 steep, it had been found in early times a convenient mode 
 of getting rid of the earth dug from the foundations of 
 houses to tumble it down this declivity towards the North 
 Loch. Hence the whole ground on that side of the hill 
 is formed, not of natural, but of what builders term tra- 
 velled earth. It would appear that Mr Mylne and his 
 workmen had not suspected this circumstance, and in dig- 
 ging the foundation had stopt short when there were still 
 eight feet of unsound soil between them and the natural 
 solid mass, which in that quarter is generally clay. He 
 appears to have committed another error in not raising the 
 piers of the bridge to a sufficient height ; and to remedy
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 17 
 
 this defect, he piled an immense mass of indigested Edinburgh. 
 
 earth upon his vault and arches, in order to raise the 
 
 bridge to a proper level. The result was, that the great 
 
 mass of crude earth having swelled bj the rains, on the 
 
 third of August 1769 burst the side-walls and abutments 
 
 on the south end of the bridge. The vaults gave way ; 
 
 and five people, who happened to be upon the fatal spot, 
 
 vvere buried in the ruins ; eleven others were considerably 
 
 hurt. Had the accident happened a quarter of an hour 
 
 earlier, many more lives would have been lost ; because 
 
 a great concourse of people at that time returned from 
 
 attending a methodist sermon, and passed in a body along 
 
 the bridge. 
 
 The bridge was relieved and repaired, by pulling down 
 the side-walls in some pans, and rebuilding them with 
 chain bars ; by removing the vast load of earth laid 
 upon the bridge, and supplying its place with hollow 
 arches thrown between the sides of the great arches ; by 
 raising the walls that went across the bridge to an addi- 
 tional height, so that the vaults springing from them 
 might bring the road to a proper elevation, without much 
 covering of earth ; by throwing an arch of relief over the 
 small south arch, which was shattered : And as there 
 were rents in the walls, or at least as they had departed from 
 the line at both ends of the bridge, the whole was sup- 
 ported by very strong buttresses and counter-forts at the 
 south end, upon each side of the bridge, and upon which 
 houses are erected ; but at the north there is a counter- 
 fort only upon the east side. The expence of the whole 
 amounted to about L. 18,000. The bridge consists of 
 three great arches with several small ones at each end, of 
 the following dimensions : Width of the three great 
 arches, 72 feet each ; breadth or thickness of the piers, 
 134- each ; width of the small arches, 20 feet each ; total 
 
 VOL. I. 5
 
 18 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh, length of the piers and arches, 310 feet; length of the 
 bridge from the High Street to Prince's Street, 1125 feet; 
 height of the great arches from the top of the parapet to 
 the base, 68 ; breadth of the bridge within wall over the 
 arches, 40 ; breadth at each end, 50 feet. 
 
 South The South Bridge, thrown over the Cowgate, is in the 
 11 s ' same line with the North Bridge ; but as the Cowgate is 
 not so low as the North Loch, this bridge is a less eleva- 
 ted structure than the former. To the eye of a stranger, 
 the existence of this bridge is not readily obvious ; no- 
 thing is seen upon it but a level street with very regular 
 and elegant buildings, of polished stone, on each side. 
 And were it not that an opening is left at the central arch, 
 over the street of the Cowgate, no trace of a bridge would 
 appear. To form this work, which is now the regu- 
 lar communication across the city of Edinburgh from 
 south to north, the lanes called Niddry's, Merlin's, and 
 Peeble's Wynds, were pulled down ; and, among others, 
 one of the oldest houses in Edinburgh was removed, 
 being that in which Queen Mary lodged in 1567, on the 
 night after parting for ever from her favourite Bothwell 
 at Carberry Hill. When the foundation of the central 
 pier of the South Bridge was dug, to no less than 
 twenty- two feet deep, many coins of Edward the First, 
 Second, and Third were found. The foundation-stone 
 was laid on the 1st of August 1785. The bridge, con- 
 sisting of twenty-two arches, was built, the old houses 
 removed, the elegant new buildings on both sides finished, 
 the shops occupied, and the street opened for carriages, in 
 March 1788 an operation of wonderful celerity, which 
 * proved a source, not of expence, but of profit to the pub- 
 lic. The old buildings were purchased at a trifling cost, 
 their value being fixed by verdicts of juries ; while the 
 areas on which they stood were sold, to erect the new 
 buildings on each side of the bridge, for L. 3 0,0 00. In-
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. IQ 
 
 deed it was remarked, that the building ground on this Edinburgh, 
 occasion sold higher than perhaps ever was known in any 
 city, even in Rome during its most flourishing times 9 
 being some of it at the rate of L. 96, 000 per statute acre, 
 and other areas at the rate of L. 109,000 per acre, and 
 even as high as L. 150,000 per acre. It is recollected with 
 regret, however, that amidst the efforts of public spirit and 
 national good taste, which at this time were displayed in 
 improving and adorning the capital of Scotland, various acts 
 of unnecessary injustice were committed against individu- 
 als. Juries were found, who, in their zeal to give aid to the 
 public projects, adjudged the old buildings at an extremely 
 trifling valuation. Thus persons who had expended all 
 they were worth in the purchase or improvement of 
 houses, a thing not uncommon with people of a small ca- 
 pital in Edinburgh, were nearly ruined : But the evil was 
 at length prevented from proceeding farther in this and 
 similar cases, chiefly, it is believed, by the spirited resis- 
 tance of the late Lord Henderland in behalf of certain 
 minors whose guardian he was. 
 
 Another communication between the centre of the city Earthen 
 and the New Town of Edinburgh has of late years been oun 
 opened, by means of a mound of earth laid from the Lawn- 
 market across the North Loch. This mound was made pas- 
 sable for carriages in three years. It is above 800 feet in 
 length. On the north it is 58 feet in height, and on the 
 south 92. The quantity of earth above the surface is 
 290,167 cubic yards : and from the nature of the soil, it 
 is supposed to have sunk to such a degree, that there is 
 now below ground half as much as appears above, or 
 that, in other words, one-third of the whole mass is con- 
 cealed from the view. Hence, as it stands at present, it 
 amounts to 435,250 cubical yards of travelled earth ; and 
 if a cubical yard is held equal to three cart-loads, it will 
 
 B 2
 
 2 MIDLOTHIAN^ 
 
 Edinburgh, b e found that this mound contains 1,305,780 loads in alL 
 Had the work been performed at the expence of four 
 pence per cart, digging, filling, and carrying, which is 
 very moderate, the amount is L. 32,643, 15s. In fact, 
 however, it cost the community nearly nothing. It is 
 said to have originated in the following manner. George 
 Boyd, a shopkeeper in the Lawn-market, who sold tartan, 
 was extremely fond of visiting the New Town to observe 
 the progress of* the buildings by which the capital of his 
 native country was about to be so remarkably extended 
 and adorned. Finding it inconvenient to go round by the 
 North Bridge, he prevailed with his, neighbours to join 
 with him in contributing a small sum of money to defray 
 the expence of laying stepping stones across the North 
 Loch, which, though drained, was still as at present a sort 
 of swamp or morass. He next persuaded some of the 
 persons employed in erecting houses in the New Town to 
 convey to the same spot their rubbish, and the earth dug 
 out in laying the foundations of their buildings. A tole- 
 rable foot-path was thus made, which in the neighbourhood 
 received the appellation of Gear die Bayers Brig. The ad- 
 vantage derived from an undertaking of the same sort, 
 upon a greater scale, was soon perceived. Permission 
 was granted to the builders in the New Town to deposit 
 in this spot the whole earth and rubbish which they had 
 occasion to remove. This was accepted as a privilege, 
 because no place was found so convenient for that purpose. 
 The magistrates obtained the authority of parliament for 
 removing certain houses in the Lawn-market, to open a com- 
 munication with the Mound by a regular street ; and before 
 he died, the original projector of the work had the morti- 
 fication to see his own shop pulled down for this purpose. 
 Southern The SOUTHERN DiSTF.iCT of Edinburgh is a mixture 
 District. O f anc j ent and O f modern buildings, in which, upon the
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 21 
 
 whole, the latter predominate. From the Cowgate to Edinburgh. 
 the summit of the ridge, the buildings are in the most an- 
 cient style ; and two streets, called the Potter-row and 
 Pleasance, are narrow and mean. Nicolson's street, how- 
 ever, which is a continuation of the two bridges, is of a 
 very different character, exhibiting, at least towards its 
 northern extremity, a considerable degree of the substan- 
 tial elegance which appears in the modern architecture of 
 the city of Edinburgh. George's square also, which is 
 very spacious and regular, consists of buildings reared in 
 the best taste. As the ground declines towards the south- 
 ern side of this square, which is contiguous to the public 
 walk called the Meadow, it is one of the most chearful 
 residences in Edinburgh, on accoun-t of its rural pros- 
 pects, and of it's receiving a very large portion of the di- 
 rect rays of the sun a circumstance not unacceptable in 
 this climate during nine months of the year. The two 
 lesser squares in this district, Argyle'-s square and Brown's 
 square, being situated on the northern declivity, have not 
 the same advantages. In general, as no plan TV as adopt- 
 ed by the public in the original building of the southern 
 district, it has been irregularly executed, according to the 
 accidental views and interests of individuals- As a con- 
 siderable part of it was reared with a view towards the 
 accommodation of the students attending the University, 
 which is here situated, the houses are in general raised to 
 a considerable height, intended to be possessed by sepa- 
 rate families in each story for the accommodation of lodging 
 houses. 
 
 The western part of the southern district is occupied 
 by various hospitals ; and beyond these is a very mean 
 suburb called Portsfiurgb, from its vicinity to the west- 
 ern port or gate of the city. 
 
 The Northern District of Edinburgh, called the
 
 22 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh. TOWN, may well be considered as the pride of Scotland. 
 It is equalled in regularity, elegance, and magnificence, 
 by no city in the world. It may be regarded as con- 
 sisting of two parts : One of these is the New Town a's 
 originally designed in 1767, which now wants only a few 
 houses to render it complete ; and the other part consists 
 of additional building3 erected or erecting to the east and 
 the north of the former. 
 
 The New Town, as originally designed, is situated, as 
 already mentioned, upon the summit of a horizontal 
 ridge. It is laid out in the form of a parallelogram, 
 whose sides measure 3900 feet by 1090. Its principal 
 longitudinal streets are three : George Street, Princess 
 Street, and Qucen Street. George Street, which runs from 
 east to west along the summit of the ridge, and forms the 
 centre, is said to have no rival in Europe. It is 115 feet 
 broad : It terminates in a superb square at each end. The 
 whole houses arc of an uniform height, three stories 
 above the street independent of the roof, all executed of 
 the finest hewn stone. In front of the houses there is a 
 sunk area, which giv.es light to a. lower story. The sunk 
 areas are enclosed by an iron railing of an uniform height. 
 The street is furnished, like all the principal streets of 
 Edinburgh, with a broad smooth pavement of hewn stone on 
 each side for foot passengers, and the centre with a strong 
 causeway of basaltic blue stone, here called luhinstone. It 
 is obtained in abundance from the neighbouring rocks of 
 Arthur Seat, and is used for paving the whole city and 
 suburbs. Parallel to George Street, forming the bound- 
 aries of the parallelogram of the New Town on the north 
 and the south, are the two streets or rows, of similar 
 beauty and magnificence, called hieen Street and Prince's 
 Street. The former of these is a terrace overlooking the
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 23 
 
 descending grounds to the north ; and the latter is a si- Edinburgh, 
 milar terrace looking down upon the North Loch upon 
 the south, beyond which ascend the rugged rocks and for- 
 tifications of the Castle, and the crowded and lofty build- 
 ings of the Old Town. 
 
 Parallel to George Street, and between it and Prince's 
 Street, a meaner and narrower street, called Rose Street, 
 has been judiciously interposed for the convenience of an 
 inferior class of inhabitants. On the north, Thistle Street 
 occupies a similar situation between George Street and 
 the Terrace or Row called Queen Street. 
 
 The New Town has seven streets, by which it is 
 crossed at right angles from Prince's Street on the south 
 to Ojueen Street on the north. These cross streets are 
 not inferior in elegance to the principal or long streets ; 
 they all stand higher in their centre, where they cross 
 George Street at the summit of the ridge, than where 
 they approach at each end to Prince's Street and Queen 
 Street ; but the descent is gradual, being totally unlike the 
 precipitous sides of the hill upon which the cross streets 
 and lanes of the Old Town are built. The New Town 
 was begun to be built at its eastern extremity adjoining 
 to the North Bridge ; and excepting a few houses in that 
 quarter, it is entirely formed of the most beautiful hewn 
 stone, obtained from the quarries in the neighbourhood, 
 and sometimes from the foundations of the houses. It is 
 a general rule, however, that the newest buildings are the 
 most elegantly and correctly finished; and accordingly, 
 in proportion as it proceeds westward, the New Town 
 greatly improves in the beauty both of the workmanship 
 and the materials of the buildings. Indeed, the front of 
 the northern side of Charlotte Square, which is at the west- 
 ern extremity ; exhibits an example of magnificence, good
 
 24 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh, taste, delicate workmanship, and substantial materials, 
 which is, perhaps, without example in any city. 
 
 Addition to I n addition to the parallelogram which formed the ori- 
 
 Jhe New ginal plan of the New Town, a project has more recently 
 been formed, and is now carrying into execution, for extend- 
 ing it down the whole declivity to the northward towards 
 the small river called the Water ofLcitl, and eastward to- 
 wards the town and port of Leith. These new buildings 
 are executed in the same superb style with the western 
 buildings of the New Town. Thoy possess this disad- 
 vantage, however, that being situated upon a steep decli- 
 vity, or side of a hill, the cross streets of communication 
 are little less inconvenient than the precipitous closes and 
 wynds of the Old Town. Besides these, however, as a 
 continuation of Queen Street eastward, a street of equal 
 or superior magnificence to the best part of George's 
 street has been reared, under the appellation of York Place ; 
 and additional streets in that quarter are opening every 
 year, although the war, by increasing the price of timber, 
 has a tendency to impede their progress. 
 
 St James To the eastward of the parallelogram, which formed 
 the original area of the New Town, the ground has a 
 slight ascent, after which it declines rapidly towards 
 Leith on the east, towards the foot of the Calton-hill on 
 the south, and towards York Place on the north. On this 
 high ground James Square is situated; but as,! it was 
 built, not upon a public, but in consequence of a private 
 plan by the proprietor of the ground, the houses are more 
 lofty than those of the rest of the New Town ; and be- 
 yond the square, the northern, eastern, and southern decli- 
 vities have been covered with buildings in successive rows, 
 which are seen towering aloft above each other like the seats 
 of a theatre. They possess many of the inconveniences 
 of the crowded buildings in the centre of the city ; but
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 25 
 
 they are attended with this advantage, that to a stranger Edinburgh. 
 ascending towards Edinburgh bj the principal London 
 road, which is now by Leith, they give to this entrance of 
 the city an aspect of wonderful, and perhaps unexampled 
 magnificence. 
 
 The City of Edinburgh, which we have thus generally 
 described, is nearly seven miles in circumference. It is 
 undoubtedly, upon the whole, an object of no small curi- 
 osity. The durability of the materials of which its 
 buildings have been reared, together with the rapid im- 
 provements which have taken place within the last forty 
 years, enable it to exhibit at once the dwellings and the 
 accommodation required by the same people in very dif- 
 ferent states of society, and in remote periods of their 
 history. The houses may still be seen in which the proud- 
 est and the wealthiest of the Scottish nobles and gentry for- 
 merly found adequate accommodation for a city residence, 
 but which are now occupied by ordinary mechanics and 
 the lowest tradesmen ; while in their immediate vicinity, 
 and in full view, a city of palaces has been reared, which 
 marks strongly by contrast the altered state of this part of 
 the British empire. 
 
 In consequence of the extreme irregularity of the soil, Scenery a- 
 the vicinity of the Frith of Forth, and the fertility of the Edinburgh, 
 adjoining country, it is perhaps impossible to find in the 
 world a situation presenting such a boundless variety as 
 occurs in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh, of beautiful, 
 magnificent, and singular scenery. At every step that we 
 advance the prospect alters, and objects already seen ap- 
 pear in different points of view, or new objects ascend into 
 notice. In particular, the views from the western part of 
 Queen Street, from the Calton-hill, from the Castle-hill, 
 from Salisbury Craigs, from a variety of situations on the ad- 
 joining hills, and more especially from the towering summit
 
 26 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh, of Arthur Seat, are inconceivably magnificent, on account 
 of the new points of view in which they exhibit this large 
 city and the adjoining sea, with its cultivated shores, 
 abounding on both sides in all the necessaries and luxuries 
 of life which a prosperous and skilful agriculture can 
 produce, and also in a great variety of the most valuable 
 mineral treasures. It would be an almost boundless task 
 to point out the picturesque scenes to be seen in the imme- 
 diate vicinity of Edinburgh. The course of the Water 
 of Leith exhibits a considerable number of them ; and 
 from every quarter of the country the city itself, with its 
 towering castle, and its lofty and irregular buildings, forms 
 a conspicuous object. For the sake of strangers, however, 
 and even of many of the negligent and indolent natives, 
 one position ought not to pass unnoticed. It is within 
 view of Queen Street, upon the summit of the high 
 View from ridge towards the west, already mentioned, called Cor- 
 phine H\\\*. stor P^ ne Hills. At the summit of one of the eminences 
 of this ridge, Mr Keith of Ravelston has built two walls 
 crossing each other, and in each of the four angles formed 
 by them a seat is placed. To the person seated in each 
 angle, a separate view exhibits itself of the City of Edin- 
 burgh and its mountainous precincts ; of the Frith of Forth 
 and its islands ; of an irregular and beautifully wooded 
 country; and, lastly, of the rich cultivated valley which 
 stretches to the westward of Edinburgh Castle. It is 
 probable that there scarcely exists in the British island 
 a spot from which an equal selection of rich, exten- 
 sive, and beautiful scenes, can be beheld to such advan- 
 tage. The good taste with which the spot has been 
 chosen, and the simplicity of the means adopted for the 
 advantageous display of the scenery, cannot be too much 
 praised. It is to be remarked, however, that the most 
 magnificent of all the views of the city of Edinburgh and
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 its vicinity, and that which seems most completely to defy Edin 
 imagination to conceive any thing more splendid, is that 
 which is obtained from the most southern eminence of the 
 same ridge. 
 
 From its elevated and airy position, Edinburgh is, upon Climate of 
 the whole, placed in a healthy, though inconvenient situ- 
 ation. One remarkable inconvenience which attends a 
 considerable part of it, and which has, in all ages, attracted 
 the notice of strangers, must not here be passed over. In 
 constructing the central part of the; city, the important 
 convenience of common sewers was neglected. Hence 
 the practice could not be avoided of casting out in the 
 evening into the streets all manner of filth. About mid- 
 night, therefore, a stranger passing along any part of the 
 Old Town, and of those parts of the southern district 
 which are built in imitation of it, never fails to be shock- 
 ingly disgusted. All is removed by scavengers in the 
 morning ; and such is the effect of the situation on which 
 Edinburgh stands, exposing it to every wind that blows, 
 that no inconvenience is produced during the day from 
 this practice of the preceding night, and the salubrity of 
 the atmosphere is in no way affected by it. In the New 
 Town, and in the better quarters of the southern district,, 
 the, existence of common sewers prevents the practice 
 alluded to. 
 
 If any inconvenience attend the climate of Edinburgh, W 
 it is chiefly that which results from its exposure to high 
 winds. These chiefly blow from the west or the east. 
 A north or a south wind is very rarely of long continu- 
 ance. The west winds are the most common and the 
 most violent, sometimes raging in Edinburgh with incre- 
 dible fury. They sweep along an uninterrupted plain of 
 almost 1 4 miles in length, hemmed in by the Pentland 
 Hills on the south, and by high grounds on the north, till
 
 28 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh th e y reach Edinburgli Castle, which is the first object by 
 which, for many miles, they are in any degree opposed* 
 The stream of air divided by the lofty rocks of the Castle 
 hurries along the south and north sides of the city with 
 great violence ; houses blown down, large trees torn up by 
 the roots, carriages overturned, and people carried off 
 their feet, and beat down upon the pavement, are, in some 
 seasons, not uncommon circumstances in Edinburgh. Mr 
 Arnot, in his history of this city, remarks, that on Satur- 
 day the 7th of January 1778, the Leith guard, consisting 
 of a serjeant and twelve men of the 70th regiment, were 
 all of them blown off the Castle-hill, and some of them 
 severely hurt. 
 
 The east winds do not blow with equal violence, but 
 they are attended with the inconvenience of producing a 
 sense of intense cold. They prevail chiefly during the 
 spring months, or in the month of May. The sky is on 
 such occasions usually of a brown hazy appearance, or a 
 damp fog is brought up the Frith by means of them, 
 which often covers the city and the adjoining country. 
 Catarrhs, and other symptoms of cold, are, on these occa- 
 sions, extremely frequent. In the High Street of Edin- 
 burgh, a wind coming from the east, to which in its 
 whole length it lies exposed, is very severely felt ; and if 
 the wind is in any other direction, it blows up every lane 
 or close as through a funnel, so that a person passing 
 along the side pavement of the street encounters a se- 
 vere blast at every few yards distance. Thus the air of 
 this city being continually changed is at all times pure. 
 The inconvenience attending lofty and crowded buildings 
 is greatly diminished, and is even by some persons ac- 
 counted no evil; as in such a climate a due portion of 
 warmness is thought to be no less necessary to the welfare 
 ^f the human constitution, than to breathe a free and pure
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 29 
 
 , N 
 
 atmosphere. Certain it is, that in the narrowest lanes Edinburgh, 
 and most confined situations of the city, both young and 
 old persons are found who possess abundantly ruddy and 
 vigorous complexions. 
 
 The excellent water with which Edinburgh is supplied, Water, 
 is undoubtedly not a little conducive to the health of the 
 inhabitants. It appears that, as far back as the year 1621, 
 a design had been entertained of conveying water to Edin- 
 burgh from a distance, and an act of the Scots parliament 
 authorised the measure; but it was riot till 1674 that 
 any effectual steps were taken for that purpose. At that' 
 time the Town Council of Edinburgh engaged to pay to 
 Peter Braschie, a German, L.2950 for bringing in a 
 leaden pipe of three inches diameter water from Comies- 
 ton, about four miles to the south-west of the city, to a 
 reservoir to be erected on the Castle-hill, from which it 
 was to be distributed to different public wells in the city. 
 A larger pipe of 4^ inches diameter was laid at a future 
 period from the lands of Swanston. Preceding 1787, the 
 reservoir at Comieston received four distinct streams of 
 water from the same number of pipes; and these, at the 
 fullest discharge into the cistern, are estimated from 800 
 to 900 Scots pints of water (near seven hogsheads j per 
 minute; but at other times, when the discharge into the 
 fountain-head is less, or rather in the usual heat in sum- 
 mer, from 150 to 170. The reservoir at Comieston is 
 elevated 44 feet above the level of the reservoir on the 
 Castle-hill. When the fountain-head at Comieston is 
 full, the great pipe at the Castle-hill discharges 210 Scots 
 pints per minute (nearly equal to 840 English) into the 
 great reservoir in town, which contains 149,472 Scots 
 pints, or 291 tons 3 hogsheads and 6 gallons. This 
 supply of water being found insufficient, in consequence 
 .of the increased number of buildings, in 1787 an additional
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh, new pipe of five inches diameter was laid, and in 1790 
 another of seven inches. In consequence of these, pri- 
 vate families in Edinburgh, for an annual payment of 
 10s. 6d. or L.I: Is. according to circumstances, are 
 enabled to obtain water, to be conveyed in all quarters 
 of the city into cisterns placed in their cellars or kitchens. 
 In many lofty buildings the water is in this manner con- 
 veyed to the highest stories of the houses, to supply the 
 families that reside there. This is rendered practicable 
 by the elevated situation of the city's reservoir on the 
 Castle-hill. After all, however, in unusually dry seasons, 
 the springs sometimes fail to such a degree as to occasion 
 considerable inconvenience to private families. As water 
 is an article of the first necessity, and requisite in a great 
 jiurnber of manufactures, it would probably be a wise 
 measure in the municipal government of every city to 
 adopt measures by aqueducts, great pipes, or other works, 
 for obtaining an abundant provision of that article for all 
 necessary uses ; so that distillers, brewers, dyers, and all 
 other manufacturers or artists, might be supplied upon 
 moderate terms. 
 
 A singular act of prodigality, with regard to the supply 
 of Edinburgh with water, ought not to pass unnoticed. 
 Of late years the Magistrates and Town Council of Edin- 
 burgh dugout of the earth the greater part of the leaden pipes 
 which their ancestors had laid at an expence, it is said, of 
 nearly L. 40,000, and substituted cast-iron pipes in their 
 stead. This was done to raise a sum of 6 or L. 7000 by 
 the sale of the old lead. Thus instead of pipes of an almost 
 perpetual endurance, a material is now employed, which 
 must speedily require to be renewed, in consequence cf 
 the chemical action of the water upon the iron. 
 Ftu-L There is abundance of fuel, consisting of pit-coal, in 
 the vicinity of Edinburgh, as that mineral is found not
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 31 
 
 only ia the county, but to a great distance along both the Edinburgh, 
 shores of the Frith of Forth. The supply, however, is 
 sometimes irregular, from causes which shall be noticed 
 when we come to treat of the count j at large. The 
 smoke of the pit-coal has, in the course of time, given to 
 the ancient white free-stone buildings of the citj that 
 dusky hue which distinguishes them, and whidh must al- 
 ways give to a city, the houses of which are built of 
 stone and covered with slates, a more sombre or dull as- 
 pect than where the more perishing materials of bricks 
 and tiles are employed. 
 
 The state of society in Edinburgh is such as naturally State of o- 
 results from the class of persons by whom it is inhabited 
 or frequented. It is still regarded as the capital of a con- 
 siderable division of the island ; and all those families of 
 the nobility and gentry, whose fortunes do not enable them 
 to encounter the expence of a residence in London, resort 
 to this city for the enjoyment of society, and for the edu- 
 cation of their children. Hence persons of title and rank 
 abound in Edinburgh. As Scotchmen are accustomed to 
 wander in quest of fortune to all quarters of the globe, 
 considerable numbers of those who have returned with 
 success from the pursuit are led to resort to the capital of 
 their native country. Many English families have also 
 of late years come hither, whose fortunes, though not 
 adequate to the enormous ezpence requisite to a splendid 
 establishment in the capital of the island, are yet sufficient 
 to enable them here to gain admission into the society of 
 persons of rank. Of those engaged in business in Edin- 
 burgh, the members of the profession of the law take the 
 lead. Including all denominations or orders, they are 
 supposed to amount to between 2000 and 3000 persons, 
 who with their families form a considerable part of the 
 population of Edinburgh. When along with these we
 
 32 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh, consider the numbers connected with the university, a- 
 mounting to from 1200 to 1500, the character of society 
 in Edinburgh must be evident. It is generally polite and 
 intelligent ; and there is probably no city in the world, of 
 the same extent, in which so great a proportion of the in- 
 habitants consist of well-informed persons. The trading 
 part of the community consists chiefly of artists or shop- 
 keepers, employed in supplying the wants and the luxu- 
 ries of the numerous classes of wealthy inhabitants that 
 have either a temporary or a permanent residence here. 
 The general politeness and intelligence which evidently 
 prevail among all ranks of persons seem to be produced, 
 partly by the literature which is so universally diffused 
 through Scotland, and is more general at the seat of an 
 university ; and partly also by the facility with which 
 persons of different ranks intermingle with each other, on 
 account of the moderate extent of the circle of respectable 
 society, which does not enable any class or rank to asso- 
 ciate exclusively with its own members. 
 
 The lower class of inhabitants in Edinburgh are upon 
 the whole of a very regular and decent character. In the 
 most populous streets of the southern district, where no 
 watch of any kind is ever kept, the utmost safety to pro- 
 perty in general prevails ; and after midnight there is the 
 deepest silence in the remote streets and lanes. The same 
 may be remarked concerning the rest of the city, with 
 the exception of the great public streets"; in which how- 
 ever it is extremely rare that any peaceable passenger en- 
 counters an injury. 
 
 Luxury. At the same time, Edinburgh is in some respects a 
 place of great luxury, in consequence of its being the resort 
 of so many idle persons in easy circumstances. Except- 
 ing by young men and strangers, however, taverns are not 
 greatly frequented, unless when parties of both sexes are
 
 33 
 
 dssembled there for the sake of dancing, which in Scot Edinburgh, 
 land is a favourite amusement. In private houses, the 
 chief luxurj is that of the table. It is carried to a great 
 extent ; and in the middle orders of society, very consi- 
 derable incomes are expended in giving and receiving fre- 
 quent feasts, at which no expence is spared. The excel- 
 lence and variety of the different articles of butcher's 
 meat and fish and fowl, which the Edinburgh markets af- 
 ford, present some temptation to this mode* of living. 
 In addition to these, however, few dinners are made by 
 private persons for their friends, in which a variety of 
 dishes are not introduced from the shop of the pastry- 
 cook. This expensive mode of living, with the habits 
 attending it, results from that emulation which naturally 
 arises among all orders of persons in a city, and which 
 here takes this turn from the convivial temper of Scots- 
 men, added to' the numbers of idle people in affluent cir- 
 cumstances assembled at Edinburgh. It is injurious to 
 persons engaged in industry, as retarding the acquisition 
 of independence ; and it frequently introduces a taste for 
 pleasure into the minds of young Scotsmen, which, when 
 they go to other countries, too often delays the progress of 
 their fortunes. 
 
 The luxury of dress is also carried to a very consider- Luxury of 
 
 . . . Drew, 
 
 able height by the middle orders of persons in this city. 
 
 The beautiful and spacious pavement of hewn stone 
 which adorns the sides of all the principal streets, toge- 
 ther with the public walks of the Calton-hill and Leith- 
 walk on the north, and of the Meadow on the south, af- 
 ford a powerful temptation to the amusement of walking j 
 and accordingly these last, together with the principal 
 streets, especially of the New Town, form places of pub- 
 lic parade, where great numbers of well-dressed idle per- 
 sons are seen on fine weather enjoying the exercise of 
 VOL. I. C
 
 34 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh, walking, or rather gratifying the vanity of displaying 
 themselves. It follows from this, that all persons are un- 
 der a sort of necessity of paying more attention to perso- 
 nal appearance than is elsewhere observed, before they 
 venture to appear on the public streets. Such a degree of 
 ceremony prevails, that gentlewomen are absurdly asha- 
 med to be seen with their own children in their arms. 
 
 Whisky. But these evils ought probably to be regarded as trif- 
 ling when compared with those which result from an ar- 
 ticle of luxury greatly indulged in by the common peo- 
 ple of this city, and more or less of every part of Scot- 
 land ; that is to say, from their favourite liquor whisky. 
 Towards the close of the late years of scarcity, when go- 
 vernment found it still necessary, by way of precau- 
 tion, to continue the restraint of the manufacture of 
 this commodity, and to enforce, as formerly, by severe 
 penalties, the prohibition against distillation, the health, 
 the morals, and the circumstances of the common people 
 of Edinburgh and Leith were visibly and rapidly amelio- 
 rated. Their families were better cloathed, great num- 
 bers of them purchased eight-day clocks and other costly 
 articles of furniture by their accumulations j because their 
 industry was uninterrupted by intemperance, and no temp- 
 tation to idleness was thrown in their way. The perni- 
 cious manufacture of whisky was no sooner restored than 
 this happy train of affairs was altered ; and the scenes of 
 misery, too frequent among the common people of great 
 cities, again made their appearance, aggravated by dis- 
 graceful instances of intemperance, which appeared at 
 times even in the public streets and highways about the 
 city. It is undoubtedly a misfortune to this country, that 
 the wants of the British treasury should induce govern- 
 ment at all to tolerate a pernicious manufacture, which, 
 when obtained at a cheap rate, proves so utterly ruinous 
 to the health and the morals of the lower classes of people,
 
 MIDLOTHIAN". 85 
 
 and more particularly to women of that rank. So general, Edinburgh. 
 or rather so universal, is the evil, that a woman of low rank " 
 is scarcely to be found, whatever her character in other re- 
 spects may be, who does not at forty years of age become 
 less or more addicted to the use of spirituous liquors. The 
 temptation is so irresistible, that to purchase this pernicious 
 liquor, great numbers of them reduce themselves and their 
 families to misery. The government of China, we are told, 
 strictly prohibits the manufacture and importation of opium, 
 a drug of a similar quality ; and why the British govern- 
 ment should account itself at liberty to have less regard for 
 the morals of the people is not obvious. 
 
 Edinburgh contains more objects worthy of attention Interesting 
 
 . . r , . , . objects in 
 
 than most other cities ; for this reason, that it not only Edinburgh. 
 
 possesses such public establishments as are common to all 
 great towns, but having been once a seat of government, 
 it contains many buildings and institutions peculiar to the 
 capital of a kingdom. Having given the above general 
 survey of it, we shall arrange our remaining remarks upon 
 the objects deserving notice in it under the following 
 heads : We shall consider its establishments, 1st, For the 
 support of religion ; 2dly, For literature ; 3dfy, The cha- 
 ritable institutions ; 4tbfy, The establishments for public 
 amusement ; 5tlly, The public banks and municipal in- 
 stitutions of this city ; and, Gthly, Its political establish- 
 ments. We shall next give an account of the harbour and 
 suburb of Leith, with the commerce, manufactures, and 
 population of the whole ; and shall conclude with a very 
 concise view of the history of Edinburgh and Leith. 
 
 RELIGIOUS ESTABLISHMENTS OF 
 EDINBURGH. 
 
 The whole of what is called the Ancient Royal BorougK^} 6 *** 
 
 , tical divi- 
 
 or Royalty of the City of Edinburgh , is considered as onesionof the 
 
 C 2 Cit >"'
 
 36 MIETLOTHrAN. 
 
 Edinburgh parish, to which the New Town has been annexed ; anc 
 this is called the Parish of St Giles. Under this parish 
 the Canongate is not included, which forms a separate pa- 
 rish by itself ; nor is the greater part of the southern dis- 
 trict included, nor the buildings in the New Town be- 
 yond the regular parallelogram or plan adopted by the 
 public for that part of the city. These belong to the pa- 
 rish of St Cuthbert's, which includes a considerable part 
 of the adjoining country. The town of Leith has also a 
 distinct ecclesiastical establishment, and is divided into- 
 two parishes, called the North and the South. In Edin- 
 burgh and Leith, the regular established clergy of the 
 presbyterian church, who receive salaries from the public, 
 are twenty-four in number. Of these, three belong to 
 Leith, two to the Canongate, and two to St Cuthbert's, 
 commonly called the West Kirk. The remainder are al- 
 lotted to the new and old divisions of the Royal Borough 
 of Edinbugh, the magistrates of which are their patrons. 
 Besides these, however, there are some other churches 
 connected with the establishment, called Chapels of Ease ; 
 the incumbents of which are supported chiefly, like dis- 
 senters, from the revenue collected from the rents of the 
 , seats in their churches. Of these chapels of ease, there is 
 one in the parish of St Cuthbert's, two in the Canongate, 
 one in the ancient part of the city of Edinburgh, and one 
 in Leith, besides a chapel in which the Gaelic or Erse lan- 
 guage is preached, for the accommodation of the lower 
 class of persons who resort to Edinburgh from the High- 
 lands, and who act in great numbers in the capacity of 
 chairmen, porters, and servants. 
 
 St Giles. The CHURCH OF ST GILES, as the ancient Cathedral of 
 Edinburgh, naturally takes the lead in an account of the 
 religious establishments of the city. As already men-
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 teoned, it is situated in the High Street, and forms 
 northern boundary of the Parliament Square or Close. It 
 measures in length from east to west, over the walls, 206 
 feet; at the west end it is 110 feet broad, and in the 
 middle 12Q, but at the east only 76. It is a beautiful 
 Gothic building, and is adorned with a lofty square tower, 
 the top of which is encircled with open figured stone- 
 work, resembling the ornaments that enrich the circle 1 of 
 an imperial crown. From each side and each corner of 
 the tower rises a slip of stone- work, which, meeting in 
 the top with that which springs from the opposite side, 
 forms four arches, intersecting each other, and completing 
 the figure of an imperial crown, the top of which termi- 
 nates in a pointed spire. The church is built on a very 
 elevated situation, and the height of the spire is a hundred 
 and sixty-one feet. 
 
 St GILES, abbot and confessor, and patron of this History of 
 church, was the tutelar saint of Edinburgh. The legend * 
 concerning him states, that he was born in Greece in the 
 sixth century, and descended of illustrious parentage. 
 Both his parents being dead, he gave all his wealth to the 
 poor, and left his native country. He travelled into 
 France; and retiring into the deep recesses of a wilderness 
 near the conflux of the Rhone with the sea, he continued 
 there for three years, living entirely upon the spontaneous 
 produce of the earth, and the milk of a deer. He was re- 
 puted a person of great virtue and sanctity, and, like other 
 popish saints^ various miracles were attributed to him. 
 He founded a monastery in Languedoc, which was long 
 after known by the name of St Giles, and induced many 
 to embrace a life of retirement and devotion. In the 
 reign of James II. Preston of Gorton got possession of an 
 arm-bone of the holy man, which he bequeathed to the 
 church of St Giles in Edinburgh, and the relique was
 
 ?$ MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh, kept among the treasures of the church till the ^ reforma- 
 tion. At what time the present fabric was reared does 
 not appear, but it was long in great estimation as a reli- 
 gious establishment, and about 40 altars were founded in 
 it. In 1466 James III. erected it into a collegiate church; 
 of which the chapter consisted of a provost, curate, 16 
 prebendaries, a minister of the choir, four choristers, a 
 sacristan, and beadle. At the reformation, the sacred 
 utensils belonging to this church were seized and sold by 
 the magistrates of Edinburgh. The money was applied, 
 after repairing the church, to augment the ordinary funds 
 
 . of the incorporation. The church itself was divided by 
 Division of t \ ... . 
 
 the Cathe- partition walls ; and its principal apartments are still used 
 
 as four separate churches, under the appellation of the 
 New Church, the Old Church, the Tolbootk Church, which 
 is adjoining to the prison, and Haddoiv's Hole Church, so 
 called from a gentleman of that name having been confined 
 in it. To each of these churches two clergymen are allotted. 
 The new church is formed out pf the choir of St Giles. 
 It is considered as the principal church of the city ; it has 
 been fitted up in an elegant manner, with a gallery which 
 goes along the two sides and one of its ends. In this 
 gallery is a seat or ornamented throne for the king, which 
 is used by the Commissioner to the General Assembly of 
 the church. In the same gallery there are seats for the 
 Magistrates of Edinburgh, and for the Judges of the two 
 Courts of Session and Exchequer, who attend divine ser- 
 vice here during the time of session, in their respective 
 robes. The pulpit and the front of the gallery are covered 
 with crimson velvet fringed with gold. 
 
 The lesser apartments of this church are allotted to 
 other purposes. One of them accommodates the General 
 Assembly during its sittings, and others are made use of 
 as public offices belonging to the incorporation of the
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 39 
 
 city. In this church, on the 13th of October 1643, the Edinburgh- 
 solemn league and covenant was sworn to and subscribed 
 by the Committee of Estates, Commissioners of the 
 Church, and the English Commissioners, Sir Willliam 
 Ermen, Sir Henry Vane, and Mr Marshall. In different 
 quarters of the building are to be found the monuments of 
 the celebrated Lord Napier of Mercheston, inventor of the 
 logarithms, of James Earl of Murray, natural son of King 
 James V. and regent of Scotland, and of the great Marquis 
 of Montrose, all of whom were here interred. 
 
 What is called the COLLEGE CHURCH is the second in College 
 point of antiquity in the city of Edinburgh. It is a fine 
 specimen of Gothic architecture, but the plan of the 
 building has never been completed. Only the choir, the 
 central tower, and the cross of the church, have been 
 erected. It was founded by Mary of Guelders, Queen of 
 James II. in 1462. It was a collegiate church, consisting 
 of a provost, eight prebendaries, and two choristers. The 
 body of the foundress is interred in the north aisle of the 
 church. The remaining churches of the city were built 
 since the reformation. 
 
 The OLD and NEW GREYFRIARS CHURCHES form one Greyfriars. 
 building,but contain nothing remarkable,excepting that they 
 are built upon ground which formerly belonged to the monas- 
 tery of the Greyfriars, as they were called, and stand in the 
 midst of the most public cemetry of Edinburgh ; in which are 
 to be found many monuments, which have little remarkable 
 in their sculpture, but which mark the spot where the ashes 
 are deposited of a considerable number of distinguished; 
 Scottish characters. Here, in particular, is a monument 
 erected to the memory of the celebrated Sir George Mac- 
 kenzie, still vulgarly denominated in Scotland the bloody 
 Mackenzie, first earl of Cromarty, who was public prose- 
 cutor, or Lord Advocate, during the turbulent, and, in Scot-
 
 4O MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh. fend, unhappy times between the restoration and the revo- 
 lution. There is also a monument to the memory of the 
 unfortunate persons whom he prosecuted, of whom about 
 100 in number perished in Edinburgh by the hands of the 
 public executioner. They are here denominated by the 
 Presbyterian party martyrs. The following epitaph, on 
 the south wall of this building, upon a stone placed there by 
 the late Hon. John M'Laurin Lord Dreghorn, a Judge of 
 the Court of Session, to the memory of his father, who had 
 been appointed to the mathematical chair in the University 
 of Edinburgh by the advice of Sir Isaac Newton, is wor- 
 thy of attention on account of the elegance with which it 
 is expressed: 
 
 Infra situs est 
 COLIN M'LAURIN, " 
 Mathes. Olim in Acad. Edin. Prof. 
 Electus ipso Newtono suadente. 
 
 H. L. P. F. 
 
 Non ut nomini paterno consulat, 
 
 Nam tali auxilio nil eget ; 
 Sed ut in hoc infelici campo, 
 
 Ubi luctus regnant et pavor, 
 Mortalibus prorsus non absit solatium. 
 
 Hujus enim scripta evolve, 
 
 Mentemque tantarum rerum capacem 
 
 Corpori caduco superstitem crede. 
 
 It was long a complaint that this burying ground wa's 
 much too crowded, as the grave-diggers frequently 
 cannot avoid encroaching upon ground unfit to be 
 touched. The climate of Edinburgh, however, and the 
 high winds which prevail here, never suffered any bad 
 effects to result from "this circumstance ; and considerable 
 relief is now obtained by opening new burying-grounds ia
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 41 
 
 the southern district, and on the Calton-hill; in which last Edinburgh. 
 the celebrated David Hume, the historian of England, is 
 interred, and his monument, an unornamented round 
 tower, is conspicuous from the North Bridge. 
 
 The TRON CHURCH, so called from its vicinity in former ^ ron , 
 
 J Church. 
 
 times to the tron, or public beam for weighing merchan- 
 dize, was opened for religious worship in the year 1647. 
 It is now a very conspicuous object, by its standing at the 
 point in the centre of the Old Town where the two brid-? 
 ges communicate with each other. Three sides of it 
 have been recently rebuilt ; which was done by carrying 
 up the new walls within, and when they were finished, 
 the old walls were pulled down, and the new parts appear. 
 ed as if they had been moulded within the old. Its old 
 northern front remains, which is very handsome, 
 
 LADY ESTHER'S CHURCH was a building of moderate LadyEst- 
 extent, situated in the southern district, near the Infirmary 
 
 and the High School. It owed its origin to a donation by 
 Dame Margaret Ker Lady Esther in 1674. It has lately 
 been pulled down on account of its having fallen into de- 
 cay, and is now rebuilding. 
 
 Anciently the Abbey Church of Holyroodhouse was Canopgate 
 the parish church of the Canongate ; but James VII. du- 
 ring his residence in Scotland, having ordered that church 
 to be set apart as a chapel-royal, the inhabitants of the 
 Canongate were under the necessity of building the present 
 church for themselves, which is constructed in the ancient 
 fashion, in the form of a cross. It is a large building, 
 and contains seats appropriated to several of the nobility, 
 who once resided in the Canongate. 
 
 The Church of St CUTHBERT'S is chiefly remarkable St Cuth- 
 
 ^ * , 
 
 within, as a large building well adapted to contain a very church 
 numerous congregation, and without as a coarse stone 
 Tbuilding, which has recently been ornamented with *
 
 42 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 .dmburgh. spire, but which, in other respects, resembles a great barn, 
 and is totally unsuitable to the situation in which it is 
 placed, being on a detached spot rising from the west end 
 of the North Loch, where it is held up to the view of the 
 whole length of Prince's Street, and forms a contrast to 
 the finished elegance of the private houses in the west end 
 of that street, 
 
 St An- The last founded church in Edinburgh is that called 
 
 Church. St ANDREW'S. It is a handsome oval building, situated 
 on the north side of George Street, in the New Town. 
 It has an elegant portico, supported by four Corinthian 
 pillars towards the street, upon which it slightly encroaches. 
 The tapering spire is a beautiful piece of architecture, and 
 has a chime of eight bells, which are rung upon Sundays 
 and on remarkable holidays. This entertainment is a 
 favourite one in England, but gives little pleasure in 
 Scotland. Upon the bells being placed in this spire, the 
 rents of the houses in the neighbourhood sunk conside- 
 rably, as the noise made by them was disliked. 
 The CHAPELS of EASE in Edinburgh have nothing 
 peculiar in their structure. They are modern fabrics,, com-, 
 modiously executed. 
 
 Episcopal -There are several EPISCOPAL CHAPELS in Edinburgh. 
 
 Chapels, rpj^ p rmc ip a l one is situated in the Cowgate. The 
 foundation of it w r as laid by Gen. Sir Adolphus Oughton, 
 then commander-in-chief, and grand-master of the free- 
 masons, on the 3d of April 1771. It is a plain handsome 
 building, 90 feet long by 15 broad. It is ornamented 
 with a spire, and has an excellent bell, which once be- 
 longed to the Chapel of Holyroodhouse, and which is 
 permitted to be rung for assembling the congregation. 
 The Chapel is attended chiefly by genteel people, or persons 
 of some rank, for the common people of Scotland are almost 
 universally very strict Presbyterians. Their chief cause of
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 43 
 
 jjuarrel with the established church is, that its clergy are 
 sometimes suspected of not being sufficiently tenacious of the 
 doctrines of Calvinism, or of not being sufficiently zealous 
 for the pure Presbyterian mode of church government. 
 Hence the Dissenters, who are extremely numerous in 
 Edinburgh, consist in general of different sorts of Presby- 
 terians, chiefly distinguished from each other by the degrees 
 of strictness with which they adhere to the Presbyterian 
 opinions. A new sect has, indeed, of late sprung up, to 
 which many of the common people, and some others, have 
 attached themselves, which, in conjunction with the En- 
 glish Methodists, represents forms of church government 
 as of little importance. 
 
 It is to be observed that the principal dissenting Presby- Present 
 terian clergymen of Edinburgh, are men of uncommon re-! a " 
 spectability, on account of their distinguished talents, and 
 the enlightened liberality of character which they display. 
 
 During these last twenty years a very conspicuous alte- 
 ration has taken place in the religious habits of the inha- 
 bitants of Edinburgh. Before that period, during the 
 time of divine service, nobody was to be seen on the 
 streets, and complete solitude prevailed over the public 
 walks in the neighbourhood. Individual exceptions to 
 this occurred, but they were rare ; and it would have 
 been accounted a strange breach of decorum to have seen 
 females seeking amusement, by walking abroad at these 
 hours. The state of manners is now greatly changed. 
 The streets are seen covered with people on Sunday during 
 divine service, and numbers of persons of all ranks and of 
 both sexes are to be met with wandering idly about the 
 environs of the city, or into public gardens during the 
 summer. It may be true, that among a people so well 
 educated as the Scots nation generally are, attendance 
 u-pon public worship, as .the means of receiving instruction,
 
 44 MIDLOTHIAN 1 . 
 
 Edinburgh. ma y no t be very necessary : But even in Scotland, in a. 
 great city, there are considerable numbers of persons so 
 illiterate, that this rule is not applicable to them. It is 
 likewise to be remarked, that, independent altogether of 
 the utility of public worship as a source of instruction, its 
 influence upon public morals is very great, by keeping up 
 sentiments of devotion, and a conviction of the presence 
 and of the superintendence of an over-ruling Providence. 
 On this account, though men of sense must regard withsatis- 
 factjon. the extinction of that intolerant spirit which too fre- 
 quently formed a conspicuous feature of the religion of our 
 forefathers, yet they cannot fail to regard with some appre- 
 hension the present general decline of the influence of reli- 
 gious sentiments, especially among persons of defective 
 education. It is usually observed in Edinburgh, that the 
 soberest and the best servants are those who attach them- 
 selves to some particular religious sect. By doing so, 
 they not only preserve in their own minds those motives 
 for good conduct which religion superadds to the laws of 
 the land, and to the rules of common prudence, but by 
 submitting to that sort of superintendence which the Pres- 
 byterian form of church government confers upon the 
 minister and his kirk-session, their conduct becomes, in 
 some measure, exposed to public notice, and they escape 
 from that state of obscurity and want of personal impor- 
 tance which leads the common people in towns so readily 
 to disregard all rules of propriety. 
 
 Society for As connected with this subject, we may here take 
 
 propofp- notice of an institution of great importance : which is the 
 
 ting Chris- ... 
 
 tian Know? Society for Propagating Christian Knowledge. It was in- 
 debted for its institution, in 1701, to the zealous aversion 
 to popery which prevailed among our ancestors; and its 
 object was to root out the remains of that ancient religious 
 and political system of superstition from the Highlands
 
 IVfiDLOTHIAtf. ' 40 
 
 and islands of Scotland, by the best and the most unexcep- Edinburgh. 
 tionable of all means, that of establishing schools in these 
 remote and barbarous parts of the country, for instructing 
 children in reading and writing, and in the principles of 
 the Protestant religion. The design was approved of bj- 
 a royal proclamation in no?; and on the 25th of May 
 1709, Oueen Anne constituted the society into a body cor- 
 porate, for propagating Christian knowledge,, and erecting 
 and maintaining schools. To aid the purpose of the in- 
 stitution, a sum of L. 1000 is annually presented by his 
 Majesty. The society, by a variety of donations, has be- 
 come very wealthy. It is long since its capital exceeded 
 L. 100,000. The original plan has been enlarged to the 
 instruction of children in trades and manufactures ; and for 
 that purpose a new charter was obtained from his late 
 Majesty. The Society has many schools ; which have, in 
 a considerable degree, accomplished the object of the per- 
 sons who originally instituted the society. Its affairs are 
 chiefly under the management of churchmen. 
 
 LITERARY INSTITUTIONS. 
 
 AMONG the Literary Establishment* of Edinburgh the Unlversityv 
 UNIVERSITY naturally takes the lead. Having been in- 
 stituted after the Reformation, among a frugal people that 
 had no love for ecclesiastical dignities, it differs greatly 
 from the wealthy foundations which receive the name 
 of universities and colleges in England, or in the catholic 
 countries of the continent of Europe, The University of 
 Edinburgh consists of a single college, which enjoys the 
 privilege of conferring degrees. It consists of a Princi- 
 pal, with a salary of L. 1 1 1 : z : O T , whose office is in a 
 great measure nominal, and of a professor in each of the 
 following departments :
 
 43 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh. Faculty of Theology. 
 
 ~~V~~ l Salaries. 
 
 Divinity ......... L. 16i 2 Q 
 
 Church History ...*... 100 
 Oriental Languages 11912 S 
 
 Faculty of Law. 
 
 Law of Nature and Nations. Salary va- 
 riable, but always above .... 300 6 
 
 Civil Law ......... 100 
 
 Scots Law . ;'','. . . . . . 100 
 
 Civil History and Antiquities .... 100 
 
 Faculty of Medicine. 
 
 Anatomy and Surgery .... i ^ 50 
 
 Practice of Medicine ....... 
 
 Botany 77 15 6f 
 
 Materia Medica * 'Y 'V' - 
 
 Chemistry 
 
 Theory of Medicine . 
 
 Midwifery . *. 
 
 Natural History . 
 
 Faculty of Arts. 
 
 Moral Philosophy ''. f> 102 4 5-j- 
 
 Rhetoric and Belles Lettres .... 70 
 
 Greek .''V'' * '' V ; _ 52 4 5\ 
 
 Latin . . . . 'V V V 52 I0 
 
 Natural Philosophy 52 4 5-* 
 
 Mathematics .; "''' .113 6 8 
 
 Practical Astronomy 100 
 
 Logic . . . .."*'. . ' . . . 52 4 5f 
 
 Agriculture ', 50 
 
 Of these, the professors of church history and natural
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 history, astronomy, law of nature and nations, and rhe- Edinburgh, 
 toric, are in the gift of the crown. The professor of a- 
 griculture was nominated by Sir William Pultney, found- 
 er of the institution. The remaining chairs are in the 
 gift of the town-council of Edinburgh. Besides these 
 classes here enumerated, the medical professors alternately 
 give clinical lectures upon the cases of the patients in the 
 royal infirmary of Edinburgh ; an institution to be after- 
 ivards noticed. 
 
 All the professors, excepting the professor of divinity, 
 receive fees from their students. The professors of the 
 Greek and Latin languages have each two classes of more 
 or less advanced students, and attend each class during two 
 hours each day. Each of the professors of the different 
 branches of science delivers to his students a daily lecture, 
 which occupies rather less than an hour, but the professor 
 of anatomy's lecture lasts about an hour and a half. The 
 session of college endures annually from the beginning of 
 November till the month of April ; and each professor 
 dismisses his students separately for the session when his 
 course of lectures is finished ; so that one class is some- 
 times dismissed a few weeks before another. The pro- 
 fessors have no necessary intercourse with their students, 
 and usually have no personal knowledge of them. There 
 are here no public examinations or disputations ; because 
 Scotchmen disregard degrees, excepting the degree of 
 Doctor in Medicine : And to obtain it, nothing more is 
 necessary than to be able to undergo a fair trial, the es- 
 sential part of which is privately gone about, and the pro- 
 fessors make no inquiry about the personal history or 
 connections of the student. The whole students, during 
 their attendance at the university, reside with their rela- 
 tions if they are natives of the city ; and if they come 
 from a distance, they procure for themselves such lodg-
 
 48 StIDLOTHlAfr. 
 
 Edinburgh i n g s as their circumstances afford. Th'e professors M 
 the university of Edinburgh, having only a small salary, 
 or none at all, are under the necessity of attracting students 
 by their literary industry alone, or by the reputation of 
 their talents. The students, on the other hand, have n6 
 other inducement to attend any particular class than the im- 
 provement which they are sensible they derive from it. 
 Long attendance is not expected ; and even the medical 
 degree, which is most valued, can be attained in three 
 -years/ 
 
 This negligent mode of education, in which no sort of 
 authority or discipline is exerted by the professors over 
 cation, their students, and in which every student is allowed to 
 live as he finds convenient while attending the university, 
 without incurring farther expence than the professors' fees, 
 which for the highest class is only three guineas, is well 
 suited to the character and situation of the Scottish na- 
 tion. In this way great numbers of young persons of a 
 spirited and active character, by employing their time 
 with industry, are enabled to attain such a portion of lite- 
 rature as is sufficient for enabling them to assume a re-i 
 spectable character in the busy departments of life. 
 Their pursuits of fortune are not delayed by a tedious 
 academical course of study ; while, at the same time, if at" 
 any future period of life they attain to affluence and lei- 
 sure, they find their original stock of letters sufficient to 
 enable them to prosecute any branch of science with 
 success. At all events, during life, they remain impress- 
 ed with a sense of the value of intellectual accomplish- 
 ments. They endeavour to give the best education to 
 their children ; and in the possession of riches, they are 
 not likely to assume those self-sufficient and purse-proud 
 manners which form the most disgusting effect of sudden 
 ajid unexpected opulence.
 
 MIDLOTHIAN* 49 
 
 , In the meanwhile, it is evident that this kind of Edinburgh, 
 education is only suited to young men of limited prospects, 
 who know that their success in life depends upon their 
 industry. Accordingly, now that riches and luxury have 
 begun to abound in Scotland, the sons of men of fortune, 
 unless bred to the profession of the law, are sinking fast, 
 with regard to literature, below the character of their 
 forefathers, among whom learning was very general. To 
 acquire a respectable share of it, and to bestow upon it 
 due encouragement, were formerly considered as essential 
 duties of every man of rank. 
 
 Upon the whole, students at the University of 1 Edin>- Societies or 
 burgh may be said in a great degree to educate themselves ?* 
 and each other. The celebrity of the medical professors, 
 and of the men of letters whom Edinburgh once produced 
 and still contains, has here excited among young persons a 
 powerful spirit of literary emulation or ambition, which 
 has not yet diminished. The students form them- 
 selves into clubs or societies for mutual improvement 
 in medicine, natural history, and general literature. 
 Some of these societies have existed for a considerable 
 time, have obtained royal charters, and number among 
 their members many of the most distinguished lite- 
 rary characters. The members write essays, which are 
 publicly read, and the sentiments they contain discus- 
 sed at their weekly meetings. In some societies, in 
 which elocution is accounted of importance, particular 
 questions are discussed in those branches of science 
 for the investigation of which the society has been institu- 
 ted ; and very eager, and sometimes eloquent, debates oc- 
 cur. As the science of medicine is that on account of 
 which this University is most celebrated, the societies of 
 students in this department are most numerous. 
 
 Some of the most eminent professors are said to have 
 VOL. I. D
 
 50 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh, disapproved of these societies, as having a tendency to 
 Societies of withdraw the students from laborious and patient study, 
 
 students, if , ,. c , . , 
 
 proper ? to generate a presumptuous disrespect for their teachers, 
 and to render them -superficial reasoners, , attached to the 
 particular systems of Brown, Cullen, or whatever else is 
 in vogue, rather than able physicians and modest inqui- 
 rers after truth. There is perhaps some truth in this cen- 
 , sure. At the same time, from the distinguished character 
 which men bred at the University of Edinburgh maintain, 
 in all quarters of the globe, it seems probable that the en- 
 ergy of spirit, and the freedom of investigation, to which 
 this mode of education gives rise, greatly overbalance the 
 inconveniences, attending it. In this world, good and 
 evil, like light and darkness, are apt to tread extremely 
 close upon the footsteps of each other ; and we must re- 
 main satisfied with what is good, or at least with what is 
 tolerable, without always requiring what is best. 
 History of This University, which is now attended by from 1200 
 the Uiuver- to J^QQ students, and consists of the classes already enu- 
 
 <ity< f J 
 
 merated, arose slowly to its present importance. At first, 
 in 1593, only one professor was appointed, Mr Robert 
 Rollock ; but afterwards it was made to consist of a prin- 
 cipal, a professor of divinity, four teachers of philosophy, 
 and a professor of Latin, called Humanity. Originally 
 each professor continued to teach the same students till 
 they left the University ; but the improved plan was soon 
 adopted of confining each professor to one particular 
 branch. By degrees the various other professorships were 
 instituted which have been already enumerated. The 
 medical school was instituted in the course of the late cen- 
 tury. Dr Monro Senior, having given lectures privately 
 with great success upon anatomy, was invited by the Ma- 
 gistrates of the City to assume the character of a profes- 
 sor in the University. Other professorships in this branch
 
 MIDLOTHIAN 51 
 
 of science were instituted in a similar manner, in conse- Edinburgh. 
 quence of the previous success of the first professors in 
 the character of private lecturers. It may be remarked 
 also, that in another department, the chair of rhetoric and 
 belles lettres was not instituted till the late celebrated Dr 
 Hugh Blair had first been able to secure the attendance, in 
 his own house, of a considerable number of students upon 
 his course of lectures. 
 
 The LIBRARY of the COLLEGE was founded before the College 
 University by Mr Clement Little, advocate, one of the Llbrary- 
 commissaries of Edinburgh. It has been considerably 
 increased by donations, and every student pays 2s. 6d. 
 at least, for which he receives a ticket^ entitling him to 
 borrow books for a year on depositing their value. By 
 the statute establishing literary property, every author, to 
 secure the monopoly of his book, must give a copy to this 
 library. From the nature of the funds by wfiich it is 
 supported, the library is thus rendered more numerous 
 than select ; but it is, nevertheless, kept in good orde^ 
 and contains many valuable books, and some curiosities, 
 such as the Original Contract of Mary Queen of Scots 
 with the Dauphin of France ; a Bohemian Protest against 
 the Council of Constance for burning John Huss in the 
 year 1417; with 105 seals of Bohemian and Moravian' 
 nobles annexed to it ; some oriental manuscripts, &c. 
 
 As the original buildings of the College, or University, N c t 
 were extremely mean, a resolution was adopted to ende-l e g e 
 vour to build a NEW COLLEGE by subscription. The foun- 
 dation of it was accordingly laid on the 16th of Novem- 
 ber 1789, and no less than L. 32,000 was Very speediy 
 contributed. But it soon appeared that a radical error 
 had been committed in the original project. A plan was 
 adopted, which had been formed by the celebrated archi- 
 tect> Mr Adams, to execute which would require at least 
 
 D 2
 
 52 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh.^. 150,000 ; a sum not to be collected gratuitously in such 
 t a country as Scotland, more especially as it appeared in 
 the progress of the work that great sums were expended 
 upon a sunk story, and that buildings were meant to be 
 erected of an extent altogether superfluous in an univer- 
 sity, constituted like that of Edinburgh, to which nothing 
 more is necessary than a moderate structure, containing an 
 anatomical theatre, an apartment for each class of students, 
 and suitable accommodation for the library ; all of which, 
 in a place where the materials for building are so abundant, 
 might easily have been accomplished, even in a superb style, 
 at the expence of less than L. 40,000. The result of adop- 
 ting the extravagant plan chosen by the magistrates of Edin- 
 burgh was, that the work soon came to a stand, and speedily 
 assumed the aspect of a cumbrous and mighty ruin, occu- 
 pying a most conspicuous situation in the city, one of the 
 sides of the southern extremity of the South Bridge. At 
 length, by the aid of royal munificence, the front has been 
 nearly completed; and thus it is rendered a very magni- 
 ficent ornament to the, street in which it is placed, though, 
 like other great buildings in a city, it has the misfortune 
 of being seen to much disadvantage, in consequence of being 
 too closely pressed upon by the dwellings of the inhabitants. 
 After an expenditure of upwards of L. 5 0,0 00, it is believed 
 that not one third of the plan of the building is executed. 
 
 Botanic As an institution connected with the University, the 
 BOTANIC GARDEN may be mentioned, which is main- 
 tained by an allowance from government. It consists of 
 five English acres, and is situated between Edinburgh and 
 Leith, on a very suitable soil, consisting of a light sandy 
 loam. In the centre of the garden a spring of water is 
 formed into a bason, which serves as a residence for the 
 aquatic plants. The garden contains a green-house and 
 hot-houses for exotics. A very great variety of species
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 53 
 
 of plants is to be found in this garden, carefully arranged, Edinburgh, 
 named, and numbered according to the Linnaean system, 
 and a course of lectures is given in it every summer. 
 
 The physicians of Edinburgh, who are an incorporated physicians 
 society, have a hall for their meetings. It is in George HaUp 
 Street, opposite to St Andrew's church. These two 
 buildings, from the injudicious manner in which they 
 have been placed, form the principal deformity of that 
 regular and elegant street. On the one side the church 
 encroaches, while over against it the Physician,s Hall i 
 injudiciously withdrawn from the street. In itself, how- 
 e,ver, this last is a handsome low building, 83 feet in 
 length by 63 in breadth. It has a portico in front, which 
 advances nine feet from the body of the building, and is 
 supported by four Corinthian pillars of twenty-four feet 
 in height. The plan was formed under the direction of 
 the late celebrated Dr Cullen, then president of the col- 
 lege, and is considered as a very chaste imitation of the 
 Greek architecture. 
 
 On the summit of the Calton-hill an OBSERVATORY isob&erva- 
 situated, to which the public have access at a moderate 
 expence. It was built by Mr Short, the brother and exe- 
 cutor of Mr James Short, a celebrated optician in London. 
 Mr Short brought to Edinburgh his brother's apparatus, 
 and particularly a large reflecting telescope. He received 
 some assistance from the contributions of individuals, but 
 the work has been left unfinished. Scotchmen hitherto 
 have in general been unable to devote much of their time 
 to those branches of speculative science which do not 
 directly lead to emolument ; and accordingly this establish- 
 ment remains neglected, because the public feel themselves 
 little interested in its object. 
 
 It is to be observed that students attending the Univer- 
 sity of Edinburgh have an opportunity of obtaining assist-
 
 54 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinb-jrg' , ance j n ^e prosecution of their education, not merely 
 Private from the regular professors, but also from a considerable 
 an" Tt"- numDer f men f distinguished talents, who act as private 
 lecturers in the more favourite branches of study. Ana- 
 tomy and chemistry in particular are thus taught with a 
 degree of success which greatly tends to stimulate the ex- 
 ertions of the regular professors. These last, however, 
 possess always a great advantage in the competition for 
 the attendance of students, on account of the necessity of 
 attending their prelections for the purpose of attaining 
 the academical degree of doctor in medicine. 
 
 From the cheapness of education in Scotland at large, 
 and from the facility of obtaining it in Edinburgh in par- 
 ticular, in consequence of its being the seat of the Univer- 
 sity, men of learning, possessing very moderate means of 
 subsistence, abound here ; and accordingly students in easy 
 circumstances find no difficulty in obtaining, at a moderate 
 price, well-informed men who attend them in their apart- 
 ments, and assist them in their studies, and particularly 
 in preparing them to undergo the examination in the 
 Latin tongue, which is necessary to enable them to en- 
 counter the usual examinations previous to obtaining the 
 medical degree. In the mathematics, and every other 
 branch of science and of literature, the means of instruc- 
 tion are found with similar facility. 
 
 It is thus by the combination of a variety of circum- 
 stances that Edinburgh is rendered a distinguished place of 
 resort for the education of youth ; by the example of great 
 literary success; by the united efforts of privileged and 
 unprivileged lecturers and of private teachers; and, last 
 of all, by the city at large containing an assemblage of 
 well-informed persons of all ranks, who respect those lite- 
 rary pursuits to which, at some period of life, most of
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 55 
 
 them have devoted their attention and their time in a less Edinburgh. 
 or greater degree. 
 
 Adjoining to the University, in the southern district of Royal infir- 
 the city, is the ROYAL INFIRMARY. This is an institution m3r y* 
 of a mixed nature, being partly charitable and partly sub- 
 servient to the purposes of medical education. It is pro- 
 bably in this last point of view that it is chiefly of impor- 
 tance. Its beneficial effects as an hospital, which are 
 very great, extend merely to the individuals to whom it 
 imparts relief j but by the- instruction which it affords the 
 means of annually conveying to a succession of students, 
 who proceed from Edinburgh to exercise the medical pro- 
 fession in all quarters of the globe, this hospital is rendered 
 an object of importance, not merely to Edinburgh or to 
 Scotland, but to mankind. It was first opened for the re- Its history. 
 ception of the sick poor on the 6th of August 1729, upon 
 a capital of only L.2000. Its good effects having been 
 speedily felt, the contributors were, on the 27th of August 
 1736, erected into a body corporate, and its funds were 
 gradually augmented by public contributions, by the dona- 
 tions of individuals, and by the sum of L.8000 which in 
 1755 the Lords of the Treasury granted to it for the ex- 
 pence attending the reception of sick soldiers. It parti- 
 cularly deserves notice, as demonstrating the interest 
 which men of rank and influence in Scotland were formerly 
 accustomed to take in those public institutions which have 
 a tendency to promote public education, that, during the 
 infancy of this institution, the Earl of Hopeton annually 
 bestowed upon it the sum of L.400; and he continued 
 this bounty no less than 25 years. But the institution 
 owed most to George Drummond, Esq. who was seven 
 times Lord Provost of Edinburgh. When the house was. 
 building, he is said to have frequently gone to the Cross 
 ef Edinburgh on a Saturday, and to have collected contri-
 
 56 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh, buttons from the principal citizens and gentlemen assem- 
 bled there, wherewith to pay the wages of the workmen, 
 employed during the preceding week, and thus to prevent 
 the building from standing still. The managers of the 
 Infirmary have testified their sense of the value of the 
 efforts which this magistrate made in a variety of forms 
 in favour of the institution, by erecting in their hall a bust 
 of him, with this, inscription : "George Drummond, to 
 " whom this country is indebted for all the benefits which 
 " it derives from the Royal Infirmary." 
 
 Description The house consists of a body and two wings, all of/ 
 house. them three full stories in height, with an attick story and 
 garrets. The body of the house is 210 feet long; the 
 breadth at the middle is 36 feet, and at the ends 24 feet; 
 the wings are 70 in length by 24 in breadth. The whole is, 
 laid out in a judicious and c.ommodious manner. The access 
 to the different floors is by a large stair-case in the centre of 
 the builing, so spacious as to admit of sedan chairs being car- 
 ried upward by means of it, and a smaller stair-case at each 
 end. The apartments of the male and female patients are en- 
 tirely distinct. In them 228 sick people can be accommo- 
 dated, each in a distinct bed. Besides these, and the apart- 
 ments for the necessary officers and servants in the house, 
 there are the manager's room, a consulting room for the 
 physicians or surgeons, a waiting-room for the students, 
 and a theatre, where upwards of 200 students may see 
 chirurgical operations. The medical and chirurgical pa- 
 tients are kept indistinct wards. There are wards for female 
 patients undergoing salivation, and cells for mad' people. 
 There are also cold and hot baths for the use of the 
 patients, and other baths for the citizens at large ; and to. 
 these last the patients in the hospital are never admitted. 
 In the disposition of this whole building nothing has been 
 siore anxiously studied than ventilation.
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 57 
 
 The Royal Infirmary is attended by two physicians, Edinbnrgh. 
 who visit their patients daily in presence of the students. Medical at- 
 The chirurgical wards are attended by members of the in- tei 
 corporation of Surgeons of Edinburgh, called the Royal 
 College of Surgeons. Attendance upon the hospital is 
 considered as a privilege, for which that body stipulated 
 at the first institution of the Infirmary, on account of the 
 experience which it affords an opportunity of acquiring in 
 the performance of difficult operations. This privilege 
 ha^ of late years given rise to violent disputes, and even 
 to very eager litigation. The members of the College of 
 Surgeons formerly attended in rotation, each member ta- 
 king a month of duty, which was afterwards altered to 
 three months ; the whole body, or as many as thought fit, 
 attending at consultations. This arrangement was at 
 length disapproved of by the managers ; who, after consi- 
 derable opposition, succeeded, with the assistance of the 
 courts of law, in establishing a more absolute patronage in 
 themselves, and a more permanent attendance by such sur- 
 geons as they may think fit to select for this duty. The 
 managers appear to have been chiefly moved by the con- 
 sideration that some time and experience are necessary to 
 enable the most skilful surgeon to acquire that coolness 
 and self-command which are requisite in performing ope- 
 rations in a public hall in presence of a great multitude of 
 persons. 
 
 Two wards are set apart in the hospital for clinical CHniol 
 Lectures, or discourses upon the cases of patients. The ec 
 professor, who gives these lectures for the time, is allow- 
 $d to select from the rest of the house, and to lodge in 
 the clinical wards, those patients whose cases he considers 
 us sufficiently curious and instructive to afford matter for 
 useful lectures to the students. Journals of all the cases, 
 in the clinical and ether wards, are kept, stating the
 
 58 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh, symptoms of the patients, the remedies employed, and the 
 progress and termination of the disease ; and every indus- 
 trious student keep's a journal for himself. About 2000 
 patients are annually admitted, of whom little more than 
 one in twenty-five die. 
 
 HJgh Near the Infirmary the Latin School, or what is cal- 
 ool< led the HIGH SCHOOL of Edinburgh, is situated. The 
 first attempt towards its establishment was in 15 19, when, 
 for its encouragement, the Magistrates prohibited the 
 books taught in the High School to be made use of in 
 private schools. Before the end of that century, it was 
 established in its present form, and consists of a rector and 
 four masters. Annually in the month of October boys are 
 received into the first class, and remain with the master to 
 whom they first enter during four years ; after which they 
 are removed into the rector's class, where they remain one 
 or two years. In this way there are fiye classes of diffe- 
 rent years standing, and each master is occupied only with 
 his own class. Once a week the rector visits one of the 
 classes in rotation ; the master of which, at the same time, 
 visits and examines the rector's class. The masters have 
 trifling salaries; the stated fees are 5s. quarterly, though 
 10s. 6d. is the sum now generally given ; and the rector re- 
 ceives quarterly Is. from ail the boys in the four junior 
 classes in addition to the fees of his own class. The school- 
 house consists of five apartments, besides a great hall 
 where the boys meet for prayers, and a room in which 
 a library is kept. It is a plain stone building, in the 
 middle of a considerable inclosed area. There is an an- 
 nual examination of the school in the month of August, 
 at which the Magistrates of the City, the Professors of the 
 University, the clergy, and such men of letters, and rela- 
 tions of the boys, or others as think fit, are allowed to at- 
 tend. The parents and tutors of the boys are at all times
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. _.. 
 
 admitted, when they please, to observe their progress. 
 Nearly 500 boys usually attend this school. 
 
 The Latin language is taught in the High School of Character 
 Edinburgh with great success, and usually with a degree r>niJ- 
 of accuracy which is almost unexampled elsewhere. 
 Young men educated in the great schools and universities 
 of England, frequently acquire a command of this ancient 
 language, and an acquaintance with prosody, which has 
 an imposing effect, and gives them the appearance of supe- 
 rior scholars ; but they rarely or never attain to that preci- 
 sion in the first principles of the language, and that accu- 
 racy in the art of translating it, which is acquired in this 
 school. Hence if they lose for a time their literary habits, 
 the language is apt to be lost to them for ever ; whereas per- 
 sonseducated at this seminary, after they appear to themselves 
 and others to have entirely forgotten the Latin language, 
 are usually able to recover it in a few months, to the effect 
 of enabling them to study, through that medium, the 
 treatises necessary to be perused in the pursuit of the 
 learned professions. 
 
 Besides this school, a considerable number of private 
 teachers in Edinburgh give instructions in Latin, English, 
 writing,arithmctic, and all other departments of education; 
 and in the Canongate there is a regular parish school for 
 teaching Latin, which has often been under the super- 
 intendence of very eminent masters. > 
 
 In the year 1772, the Board of Trustees for the enccu- Acadnny 
 ragement of Manufactures, &c. in Scotland, appointed -^1 
 
 u*" 
 
 Mr Alexander Runciinan, painter, to teach 20 boys or 
 girls drawing, allowing him a yearly salary of L. 120. 
 He was succeeded in this office by Mr Allan, to whom 
 followed Mr Graham. This institution being appropri- 
 ated for the use of manufactures, is not properly a School 
 of Painting. In this last art, however, very eminent
 
 69 MIDLOTHIAN". 
 
 Edinburgh, teachers are to be found in Edinburgh, but no public 
 establishment exists for its encouragement. 
 
 Rkfin? Near the University there is also a RIDING SCHOOL, 
 called the ROYAL ACADEMY FOR TEACHING EXERCISES. 
 The teacher of this Academy receives a salary of L. 200 
 a-year from the crown, and is accommodated with a Ri- 
 ding School of 120 feet in length by 40 in breadth, and 
 stables to a considerable extent. 
 
 Royal So- In Edinburgh there is established, in imitation of that 
 
 CjtV, 
 
 in London, a ROYAL SOCIETY, which has published some 
 volumes of transactions. It contains a number of mem- 
 bers of great respectability : but in Edinburgh men of 
 letters are apt to be extremely jealous and unsociable with 
 regard to each other. This illiberality of temper prevents 
 the Royal Society from being of much value. Great 
 numbers of the most accomplished and active men of let- 
 ters are unconnected with it, while it contains others who 
 have been introduced to it merely by their rank in the 
 world, or the circumstance of having attained to distin- 
 guished literary situations by the patronage of men in 
 power, who of late years have, in this country, displayed 
 little of that anxiety to discriminate and bring into notice 
 men of literary talents, which once formed the most ho- 
 nourable characteristic of the nobles and statesmen of. 
 Scotland. 
 
 Advocates As a literary establishment, the ADVOCATES LIBRARY. 
 ury ' is highly worthy of notice. Sir George Mackenzie had 
 the merit of projecting this institution, which was founded 
 in 1682. In 1695 the collection was considerably en- 
 creased by a donation from William Duke of Qjieensberry ; 
 and it was long usual for men of rank to make presents 
 to it of rare and curious books and other objects. As 
 every advocate at his admission pays a sum of money to 
 he faculty, which at various periods has been augmented,
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 61 
 
 and now amounts to L 150, a part of this money is appro- Edinburgh. 
 priated to the preservation and increase of the library. 
 The statute of Queen Anne also, which establishes the 
 literary property of authors in their books, requires that a 
 copy of each book shall be given gratuitously to this libra- 
 ry. The collection of books is, upon the whole, select, 
 and amounts to nearly 60,000 volumes in all sciences and 
 in several languages* Very eminent men have been 
 keepers of this library, particularly Thomas Ruddiman, 
 Walter Goodall, and David Hume. 
 
 Besides printed books, the Faculty are in possession of 
 a valuable collection of manuscripts, consisting of the re- 
 gisters of many of the Scottish monasteries, of illuminated 
 missals, and of many volumes of original papers relating 
 to the affairs of Scotland, as well as copies of others which 
 have been preserved by Sir Robert Cotton, or are extant 
 in the public offices in England. The Faculty are also 
 possessed of a collection of prints. 
 
 Among other curiosities, the Faculty possess an entire 
 mummy preserved in the original chest. This was pur- 
 chased by the late Earl of Morton, Lord Register of Scot- 
 land, at the expence of L. 300, and was presented by him 
 to the Faculty. 
 
 In 1705 the Faculty purchased and still possess a large 
 -collection of coins and medals. They are chiefly Greek, 
 Roman, Saxon, Scottish, and English ; but no use is made 
 of them. The books in this library are lent out to the 
 members of the Faculty upon their receipts ; and each 
 member may obtain as many books as he thinks fit, sub- 
 ject to the obligation of restoring them at the end of a 
 year. 
 
 In Edinburgh five different Newspapers are printed. 
 Of these, two are published twice every week, two other* 
 ffcree times, and one weekly. Besides these a Royal
 
 62 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh. Gazette is published twice each week. It contains the 
 articles of intelligence published in the London Gazette, 
 together with advertisements relative to bankrupts, whose 
 affairs are under judicial sequestration for the benefit of 
 their creditors. Circulating Libraries, chiefly filled with 
 novels and romances, abound in Edinburgh : And a con- 
 siderable trade is carried on by booksellers and printers. 
 The Encyclopaedia Britannica, one of the greatest works 
 and most lucrative literary speculations of the present age, 
 is carried on here. It was undertaken by- a printer and 
 an engraver; Messrs M'FarqUhar and Bell; who employ- 
 ed to write the articles which it contained, such men of 
 letters as they found willing to undertake the ta^k. The 
 third edition of this monstrous book is in 18 vols. 4to ; 
 12,500 copies were sold. A fourth edition, greatly alter- 
 ed and enlarged, is now in the press. 
 
 CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS. 
 
 tietlot's OF the Charitable Establishments . of Edinburgh, HE- 
 RIOT'S HOSPITAL is the most distinguished. This mag- 
 nificent fabric is the finest and most regular specimen of 
 Gothic architecture left by Inigo Jones, whom James the 
 Sixth brought over from Denmark. It is situated in the 
 southern district, on the summit of the ridge opposite to 
 the Castle-hill. The building consists of a square, whose 
 side measures 102 feet on the outside, leaving an open court 
 94 feet each way in the middle. The north and east sides 
 of this court are decorated with piazzas, and a walk 6^th 
 feet in breadth. This court is paved with square stones, 
 and has a well in the middle. On the north side of the 
 square, and second story, is an effigy of the founder, 
 George Heriot, cut in stone and painted, which the boys, 
 on tue first Monday of June, ornament with flowers, and
 
 MIDLOTHIAN". 63 
 
 keep the day as a festival in honour of their benefactor. Edinburgh.^ 
 Over the gateway is a spire and clock ; and the upper 
 corners of the building on the outside are ornamented with 
 turrets. The windows in number are 200, which are or- 
 namented in such a way that no one is to be found similar 
 to another a circumstance which to persons of taste con- 
 stitutes the chief deformity of the building ; but which the 
 celebrated architect is said to have been under the neces- 
 sity of introducing to gratify the whimsical fancy of one 
 of the executors of the founder, Walter Balcanqual, Doc- 
 tor of Divinity. The chapel, which is on the south side 
 of the building, is extremely beautiful. 
 
 This hospital was founded by George Heriot, a gold- 
 smith in Edinburgh. He received from his father, and 
 by his first marriage, L. 214 : 11 .: 8 Sterling. In the year 
 1597 he was appointed goldsmith to Ann of Denmark, 
 the Queen of James Sixth j and thereafter he became 
 jeweller to the King. He afterwards followed King James 
 to London at his accession to the throne of England in 
 1608. Heriot appears to have married a second wife, 
 with whom he got a dowry of about L. 333. He died in 
 London on the 12th of February 1604, without lawful 
 children. In the infancy of commerce, the profits attend- 
 ing it are very great, and Heriot is supposed to have died 
 possessed of about L. 50,000 ; an immense sum at that 
 period. He left legacies to two natural daughters, and to 
 friends and relations, to a great amount ; the residue of 
 his estate, which amounted to L. 23,625 : 10 : 34, he be- 
 stowed upon the Town Council and Ministers of Edin- 
 burgh, for building and endowing an hospital for the 
 maintenance and education of indigent children, the sons 
 of burgesses of that city. As money bore a considerable 
 interest at that period, L. 30,000 Sterling was expended 
 upon building the house, which was finished in the year
 
 6* MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh 1660- The number of boys maintained in it has beeii 
 Various at different periods, according to the state of the 
 funds of the hospital, and the good management of them. 
 At one period they amounted to 140, and they are still 
 above 100. The boys are instructed in reading and wri-' 
 ting English, and in arithmetic and the Latin tongue. On 
 leaving the hospital, and becoming bound as apprentices, 
 each boy is allowed L. 25 as an apprentice-fee, and re- 
 ceives a farther donation of L. 5 at the end of his appren- 
 ticeship. A kitchen has recently been fitted up in this 
 hospital under the superintendence of Sir Benjamin Thomp- 
 son, Count Rumford, with a stove for drying linen, and 
 cauldrons for supplying boiling water with the least pos- 
 sible waste of fuel. 
 
 tPatsorTs WATSON'S HOSPITAL, which is instituted for the edtt- 
 
 spita ' cation of boys, the children or grandchildren of decayed 
 merchants in Edinburgh, is situated in the neighbourhood 
 of Heriot's Hospital. It is a handsome building, and 
 contains about 60 boys, who receive a very excellent 
 education, generally much superior to what is obtained 
 by the children of gentlemen at a considerable cost in 
 boarding schools. They are taught, by the best masters, 
 English, Latin, Greek, and French, so as to be prepa- 
 red for the university. They are also taught writing, 
 arithmetic, and book-keeping, so as to be qualified for the 
 counting-house ; together with geography, with the use 
 of the globes and maps. Such of them as discover an 
 unusual capacity for literature are allowed L. ]_Q per an- 
 num for five years after they leave the hospital, to assist 
 them in prosecuting their studies at the university. Others, 
 at fifteen or si cteen years of age, are bound apprentices 
 to different employments ; and L. 20 is allowed of ap- 
 prentice-fee. On producing certificates of their good be- 
 haviour, when twenty-five years of age, they receive a
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 65 
 
 "bounty of L. 50. Many of them become opulent citizens, Edinburgh. 
 and fill respectable stations in every department of society. 
 The founder, George Watson, was the son of a merchant 
 in Edinburgh, who left his affairs in embarrassment. Af- 
 ter acting in various situations, young Watson was ap- 
 pointed accountant to the Bank of Scotland, and after- 
 wards treasurer to the Merchants Maiden Hospital, and to 
 the Society for propagating Christian Knowledge. He 
 died in 1723, bequeathing his property, L. 12,000, to the 
 Merchant Company of Edinburgh to build this hospital. 
 The funds having been better managed, are scarcely infe- 
 rior to those of Heriot's Hospital, being worth little less 
 than L. 2000 per annum. 
 
 The CHARITY WORKHOUSE of Edinburgh is a municipal Charity 
 
 ' . Work 
 
 institution, intended for the support of the aged and in- houses. 
 firm poor. It stands in the neighbourhood of the two 
 former hospitals, and consists of a very plain building, 
 which was erected in 1743. The expence was defrayed 
 by voluntary subscription ; and the ordinary mode of , 
 supporting the establishment is by a tax of 2 per cent, on 
 the valued rents of the city, by collections at the church- 
 doors, and other charitable donations, by the labour of the 
 
 \ 
 
 persons residing in it, and by voluntary contributions of 
 the citizens, made in consequence of public intimation of 
 a deficiency of the funds. In the Canongate, and in the 
 parish of St Cuthbert's, there are similar establishments, 
 
 which are supported in the same manner. Upon the ReniarIc * 
 
 , .on such in- 
 
 whole, however, tins mode of supporting the poor by re- stitutions. 
 
 moving them from society, and collecting them in crowds 
 into a public workhouse, is rare in Scotland ; and no man 
 of discernment or humanity would wish to see it generally 
 adopted. It seems indeed the very worst form in which 
 a provision can be made for the poor. It is costly to the 
 public, while it is pernicious to the objects of the charity. 
 VOL. I. E
 
 60 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh. The original establishment occasions a great waste of capi-* 
 tal r and the management, being of public money, never 
 fails to be attended with a certain degree of waste, which, 
 added to the expence of house-keepers and other officers 
 or servants, never fails to render the support of individuals 
 in that situation extremely burdensome to the community. 
 Indeed, a man supported in a workhouse usually receives 
 more from the public, or at least costs more, than he re,- 
 ceived when in good health, and labouring industriously 
 for his bread, and supporting a family by his wages. In 
 the meanwhile, as he has no inducement to industry, or to 
 exert his remaining strength, the value of his labour is 
 trifling, and what he could have done is so much lost to so- 
 ciety. It might afford some justification or compensation for 
 the expence, did it contribute to the comfort and happiness 
 of the poor; but this is never the case. By these establish- 
 ments, they find themselves removed from their families, 
 and from all the connections and sympathies of social life, 
 and shut up amidst a crowd of strangers, who have no in- 
 terest in their welfare. Here, without hopes or prospects 
 either for themselves or their kindred, they speedily lose all 
 the affections that rendered life valuable, and with them all 
 sense of character or duty. Thus they become at once 
 worthless and unhappy. The proper and reasonable 
 mode of giving assistance to the poor is by moderate pen- 
 sions, paid not weekly, which produces improvidence on 
 their part, but monthly, or rather quarterly, always under 
 the condition that they shall not solicit charity. The in- 
 ducement to such exertions of industry as their health or 
 age permits is thus left entire. They remain objects of 
 compassion to their kindred, and none of the ties which 
 bind them to society are dissolved ; their sense of charac- 
 ter remains the same, because they are still in the midst of 
 their former friends and neighbours, and the least possible
 
 MIDLOTHIAN: 67 
 
 - i 
 
 mjury is done to their pride, or their wish to retain the Edinburgh. 
 appearance of independence. Public workhouses have 
 sometimes, it is said, been instituted from a principle of 
 frugality, upon the supposition that few persons would 
 cast themselves for assistance upon public charity at the 
 price of removing into such situations : but this policy is 
 as short-sighted as it is cruel and unjust. When a few 
 individuals of decent character have been compelled to 
 submit to this resource, it loses its terrors : the poor 
 lose entirely their spirit of independence ; and they learn 
 to regard extravagance and idleness as no evilsj as they 
 can always retire into a workhouse at last. 
 
 In the same quarter of the city with the above hospi- Merchants 
 ials is the MERCHANTS MAIDEN HOSPITAL, erected to- Hospital, 
 wards the end of the seventeenth century by voluntary 
 contribution ; to which the Company of Merchants gave . 
 peculiar assistance^ and Mrs Mary Erskine contributed 
 12,000 merks. Its annual revenues are now consider- 
 able, amounting to upwards of L. 1400 Sterling. Seventy 
 girls are maintained in it, who receive the profits of their 
 own work, and a trifling sum on their leaving the house. 
 The building is of a very ordinary character. Near to 
 this is situated the TRADES MAIDEN HOSPITAL, institu- 
 ted soon after the former, destined for the education and 
 support of the daughters of decayed tradesmen. Mrs 
 Mary Erskine contributed also liberally to this hospitaL 
 Fifty girls are maintained and educated in it. 
 
 From the North Bridge is seen, closely adjoining on CM 1 ? 
 the north-east of it, the ORPHAN HOSPITAL. It is render- 
 fed conspicuous by a spire, clock,, and other embellish- 
 ments. It was planned by Andrew Gardner, merchant 
 in Edinburgh, in 1732. It received countenance from 
 the Society for propogating Christian Knowledge, and 
 was assisted by a liberal subscription. Orphan children 
 
 E2
 
 68 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh, are received into it, not under seven years of age, from any 
 quarter of the kingdom, and are not continued after four- 
 teen. Its revenues are inconsiderable, being supported 
 chiefly by small benefactions from charitable persons, and 
 by a part of the sums collected at the church doors. It 
 owed much to the care and activity of the late Thomas Tod, 
 merchant in Edinburgh^ who was long its treasurer. 
 
 Trinity In the neighbourhood of the Trinity College Church 
 
 is the TRINITY COLLEGE HOSPITAL, endowed by the 
 same foundress, Mary of Gueldres. After some disas- 
 ' ters at the reformation, it survived the fate which most 
 other religious and charitable establishments underwent 
 at that period. It was destined for the support of decay- 
 ed burgesses- of Edinburgh, and their wives and unmar- 
 ried children, not below fifty years of age. Forty per- 
 sons are maintained in it, besides a considerable number 
 of out-pensioners. The persons residing in the hospital 
 are very liberally supported^ They are allowed decent 
 cloaths, separate apartments, and a small library. 
 
 Dispensary. The PUBLIC DISPENSARY of Edinburgh is a valuable 
 institution, which was founded in 1776 by Dr Andrew 
 Duncan, physician. It is chiefly supported by contribu- 
 tions from humane persons. Its object is to afford me- 
 dical aid to the poor, whose cases do not require admis- 
 sion into the Royal Infirmary, or whom that institution 
 might not be sufficient to receive. Patients, who are ac- 
 counted proper objects for this charity, receive advice at the 
 Dispensary from the physicians of that charity, who give 
 regular attendance for that purpose, at a certain hour, 
 four days in the week. A full account of the disease of 
 the patient, taken down in writing by the medical assist- 
 ant at the Dispensary, is inserted in a register kept for 
 that purpose ; and to the history of the case there are af- 
 terwards subjoined regular reports of the progress of the
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 69 
 
 disease during the course of the patient's attendance at Edinburgh, 
 the Dispensary, and of the effects resulting from the me- 
 dicines which are employed. The physicians attend gra- 
 tuitously ; and the principal expence of the institution re- 
 sults from the cost of medicines. 
 
 To the south-west of the Castle, near a suburb called G lfc*pk' 
 
 Hospital. 
 
 the Wright's Houses, on the site of a very ancient build- 
 ing, which was demolished to make way for it, GILLES- 
 PIE'S HOSPITAL has lately been erected. Its appella- 
 tion is derived from the founder, an eminent manufactu- 
 rer of snuff in Edinburgh. It is intended for the support 
 of aged persons ; and those bearing the name of the found- 
 er are preferred. It is a neat stone building, executed in 
 a style of moderate expence, with a small tower in the 
 centre and a parapet, and Gothic turrets at suitable dis- 
 tances around the roof. 
 
 Besides these there are to be found in Edinburgh seve- Hos P Ita * 
 
 for the 
 ral charitable establishments, which, though not furnish- Blind. 
 
 d with costly buildings, are not of a less benevolent or 
 valuable nature. Of these, one of the most distinguished 
 is the Hospital- or Workhouse, or ASYLUM as it is called, 
 FOR THE INDUSTRIOUS BLIND j which is supported by 
 the contributions- of charitable persons, and by the price 
 of the articles manufactured in it. Here the blind are 
 taught such trades as may enable them to earn a subsist- 
 ence, or at least aid them in contributing to their own 
 support. They manufacture baskets, matts, &c. ; and 
 some of them have been taught to act as weavers, for 
 which purpose they use the fly-shuttle. 
 
 The MAGDALENE ASYLUM also deserves notice; in Magdalene * 
 which a most laudable attempt has of late years been sy um * 
 made, by a benevolent society, to reclaim, from vice and 
 misery, women who have degraded themselves by public 
 prostitution, but who think fit to retire thither with the
 
 70 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh, view of abandoning their mode of life, and of supporting 
 themselves by industry. This institution is managed 
 with a degree of care and delicacy which does the high- 
 est credit to its patrons. The objects of this charity are 
 kept concealed : they reap the fruits of their own labour ; 
 and every effort is made to procure employment for them. 
 In particular, needle-work of all sorts is executed in it in 
 the neatest manner ; and linen is washed, at moderate 
 prices, for such persons in the city as think fit to transmit 
 - these articles to the society. 
 
 Lying-in Besides all these charities, there is an Hospital in the 
 
 Hospital. c j tv or Lyi n g_i n Women, under the care of the profes- 
 sor of midwifery ; which is an institution analagous to 
 
 that of the Royal Infirmary There is a Society for the 
 
 Relief of the Destitute Sick, which has received consi-r 
 derable public countenance, though it has no appropriate 
 building or local establishment. An institution of a pe- 
 culiar nature, not unconnected with the present subject, 
 
 Repository. ca ll e d the REPOSITORY, ought not to pass unnoticed. It 
 is a shop or ware-room on South Bridge Street, to which 
 ladies in straitened circumstances have an opportunity of 
 sending for sale curious, beautiful, or useful articles of 
 needle-work, with the price affixed. When a purchaser 
 has been found for the goods, the proceeds are transmit- 
 ted in such a manner as to prevent its being known to the 
 public by whom the articles were prepared. This insti- 
 tution has been promoted by the Duchess of Buccleugh 
 and many other persons of rank. 
 
 PUBLIC AMUSEMENTS. 
 
 Theatre AMONG the Public Amusements of Edinburgh, the 
 
 THEATRE ROYAL naturally takes the lead. It stands on 
 the east side of the northern extremity of the Nprth
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. *U 
 
 Bridge. It has a mean external appearance. It was Edinburgh, 
 opened in 1779 at the rate of 3s. for the boxes and pit, 
 2s. for the gallery, and Is. for the upper gallery. It is 
 capable of containing about L. 140. The amusement of 
 the theatre was with great difficulty introduced into Scot- 
 land. The presbyterian clergy at all times opposed rt 
 with much eagerness ; and the magistrates of Edinburgh, 
 in 1727, joined them in endeavouring to expel a company 
 of players from the city ; but they were protected by the 
 courts of law. The opposition still continued, however, and 
 the theatre encountered great difficulties : but the tendency 
 of the age gradually prevailed ; and in the acts of Parlia- 
 ment for the extension of the royalty, a clause was in- 
 serted, enabling his Majesty to licence a theatre at Edin- 
 burgh. We do not account it necessary to give a history 
 of this establishment. It is sufficient to remark, that under 
 various managers of much reputation in this department, 
 among whom were Foote, Diggs, and Stephen Kemble, 
 Edinburgh has been visited by every theatrical performer 
 of distinction from Garrlck downwards. But it is worthy 
 of remark, that, upon the whole, the Scotch have no great 
 fondness for the entertainment of the theatre. The no- 
 velty of the appearance of any very distinguished per- 
 former excites their attention for a short time, and pro- 
 duces crowded houses 5 but in general the theatre is little 
 attended by genteel people in the middle ranks of society, 
 It is chiefly supported in Edinburgh by young men, the 
 junior practitioners of the law, and students at the univer- 
 sity, and by the families of country gentlemen who re- 
 side in Edinburgh during the winter, who go thither oc- 
 casionally as to a place where they are to display them y 
 selves, and to see other persons of their own rank. Nei- 
 ther does this indifference to the theatre, among the Scot- 
 tish nation, any longer result from religious opinions or
 
 72 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh, prejudices. Sober families find more pleasure in domes- 
 tic society, or in the visits of their acquaintances ; and 
 when money is to be expended, the social and more sub- 
 stantial pleasure of giving and receiving good dinners or 
 suppers is greatly preferred. 
 
 Musical So- A MUSICAL SOCIETY was first instituted at Edinburgh 
 in the year 1728. It consisted of seventy members, who 
 united for the purpose of holding a weekly public concert. 
 The members of this society gradually increased to about 
 two hundred. A governor, deputy governor, treasurer, 
 and five directors, were annually chosen by the members 
 for regulating the affairs of the society. Their meetings 
 were held in the hall of one of the city incorporations till 
 the year 1762, when they built a concert-room upon a 
 small scale, after the model of the great opera theatre at 
 Parma, of an oval form, with a concave dome, the orches- 
 tra being at the upper end. The room was capable of 
 containing 500 persons. Very eminent performers were 
 engaged, who received salaries from the society. Admis- 
 sion was obtained to the entertainments of the concert by 
 special tickets, which were not transferable, and served 
 for the night only for which they were granted. In the 
 admission, which was always gratis, except at the benefit 
 concerts given for the emolument of performers, a prefe- 
 rence, was constantly shewn to strangers. The society 
 subsisted between sixty and seventy years, and was es- 
 teemed one of the most genteel entertainments, conducted 
 at the most moderate expence, of any in Britain. At 
 length, however, its meetings were gradually deserted by 
 ' the public, and were at last under the necessity of being 
 
 dropt. This does not' appear to have arisen from any 
 impropriety of management on the part of the directors of 
 this institution, but from a change which had gradually
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 73 
 
 taken place in the state of general society in Edinburgh, Edinburgh. 
 to which this institution had ceased to be adapted. 
 
 When the Musical Society was first established, Edin- Remarks on 
 
 the Musi- 
 burgh was comparatively a small town. It consisted of C aL Society. 
 
 little more than two principal streets, the inhabitants of 
 which were well known to each other. The genteel fa- 
 milies that inhabited it were few ; and most persons of 
 fashion or distinction that had any taste for the fine arts 
 were members of this society. In these circumstances, 
 it could be of little importance, whether the concert, con- 
 sidered as a public amusement, was supported by the sale 
 of tickets authorising admission, or by an annual subscrip- 
 tion of those gentlemen whose families ai< relations were to 
 attend it ; the latter mode gave more respectability to the 
 institution, and even to the city. It prevented, what in 
 those times would have been accounted a great disorder, 
 the intrusion of persons of inferior rank ; while at the 
 same time, as strangers were sure to be gratuitously ad- 
 mitted, a public opportunity was thus afforded of display- 
 ing to foreigners the characteristic hospitality cf the Scot- 
 tish nation. 
 
 In this train affairs continued during a considerable 
 lime ; and the Musical society produced more considerable 
 effects than perhaps ever resulted from any similar insti- 
 tution. A foreign music was not only in a considerable 
 degree substituted, or at least superinduced, to our native 
 and inimitable airs ; but it was rendered to such a degree 
 a branch of fashionable education, that the daughters of 
 all gentlemen, and even of tradesmen, were regularly in- 
 structed in it. ' By degrees, however, the state of society 
 in Scotland followed that of the mighty empire to which 
 we had been united. Commerce altered every thing. 
 It became not unfrequent for young men of low birth to 
 rise, by industry, to the possession of opulence, or to re-
 
 74 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh, turn, at the middle period of life, to their native country, 
 with fortunes accumulated in the distant provinces of the 
 British empire. Such persons in their early days could 
 have no opportunity of acquiring a taste for the refined 
 music practised in the concert-room of Edinburgh ; they 
 could not purchase tickets for money ; and they could 
 not obtain, or were too proud to solicit, them from 
 men of rank, in whose power alone they were lodged. 
 But when the pure blood of the ancient Scottish gentry 
 began to mingle itself with the tide which commercial 
 success, or the spoils of Asia, had exalted, it was disco- 
 vered that an accomplishment acquired by great expence 
 and labour was often under-valued, and might even , be 
 neglected with impunity, as contributing little towards 
 success in life, because it was no longer esteemed by the 
 favourites of fortune. In proportion as new men abound- 
 ed, who had little intercourse with those by whom the 
 concert was managed, that institution became neglected, 
 till at last nobody would undergo, on its account, the 
 trouble of dressing themselves as for a public entertain- 
 ment. 
 
 Upon the whole, however, it is a singular circumstance, 
 that the Scottish nation, who have an ancient, interesting, 
 and beautiful music of their own, and who are at the same 
 time almost universally a literary people, should have so 
 little regard for theatrical and musical entertainments. 
 They have entirely banished instrumental music from 
 their churches ; or, in the sarcastic language of Swift, 
 " Sister Peg faints at the sound of an organ :" they have 
 no public establishments for the support of music : and 
 the coun-tenance they give to the theatre is abundantly 
 parsimonious. In ancient times the case was very diffe- 
 rent. Music, as connected with the animated recital upon 
 the stage of beautiful songs and poetical dialogues, that is
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 15 
 
 to say, the acting of plays, was held by the polished Greeks Edinburgh, 
 in the most extravagant estimation. Their different states 
 were at immense expence in supporting magnificent theatres 
 for plays and musical exhibitions, to which all the people 
 were invited : musicians were held in high esteem, and 
 obtained splendid rewards for their services. The Athe- 
 nian legislator Solon sung at times upon the stage. The 
 Spartans adhered with no less scrupulous exactness to the 
 music of their ancestors than they did to the laws of Ly- 
 curgus. They even punished an artist for attempting to 
 debauch the musical taste of their youth by adding a new 
 string to the lyre. The judicious historian Polybius 
 gravely speaks of a Grecian people, the Cynatheans, as a 
 vile and barbarous race of men, whom all Greece detest- 
 ed, and whose destruction was justly beheld with satisfac- 
 tion ; because, forsooth, they had no taste for music, and 
 no theatrical or musical entertainments. Polybius as- 
 cribes their degeneracy and wickedness wholly to this cir- 
 cumstance. Aristotle speaks no less highly of the im- 
 portance of music ; and Plato, in his plan of a republic, 
 allots no less than three years of every young person's 
 life to the study of music. 
 
 All this now seems very marvellous ; probably in con- 
 sequence of the great alteration which has been introdu- 
 ced into the moral world by two things : First, by the 
 weekly lessons of religion or morality which Christianity 
 has instituted ; and, secondly, by the diffusion of know- 
 ledge which has taken place in consequence of the art of 
 printing. The people at large, in the times of Greece 
 and Rome, had no other opportunities of hearing maxims 
 or sublime sentiments of morality and interesting pieces 
 of history recited, than what was afforded by their theatres, 
 in which the performers appear to have sung the whole 
 pf the beautiful poems which they rehearsed. In such a
 
 *T6 'MIDLOTHIAN'. 
 
 Edinburgh. s tate of things, for a nation to be destitute of public the- 
 atrical entertainments, in which the best poems in their 
 language might be sung for the amusement and instruc- 
 tion of the people, was justly understood to impose upon 
 them the denomination of barbarians ; that is, of an illi- 
 terate race of men. As poetry is now separated from 
 music, and as written information can readily be obtain- 
 ed without going to listen to a public recital in a theatre, 
 every sort of musical, or even literary, exhibition has 
 greatly sunk from its original value. Intellectual im- 
 provement can be obtained by solitary study, with the aid 
 of books, which are cheaply purchased. To these, and 
 to their churches, the people of Scotland have recourse, 
 and neglect those theatrical exhibitions which may amuse 
 the fancy, but have little tendency to convey useful know- 
 ledge, or to produce an enlightened understanding. 
 
 Assembly " For dancing in Edinburgh, ASSEMBLY ROOMS have 
 been repeatedly built of increasing dimensions, in propor- 
 tion to the increase of the population of the city. The 
 first of which we have an account was in a lane, since 
 called the Old Assembly Close, on the south side of the 
 High Street : another was thereafter fitted up in an ad- 
 joining lane, called Bellas Wynd, but -was afterwards used 
 as a guard-room : the present principal Assembly Room 
 was finished in 1787 in George Street. It is a clumsy 
 and awkward building, impressing a character of dullness 
 and bad taste upon the part of that beautiful street in 
 which it is situated. Two assemblies are held weekly in 
 this assembly -house during the winter ; the one called a 
 dancing, and the other a card assembly, though the former 
 is the principal amusement at both. The principal ball- 
 room is ^92 feet long, 42 wide, and 40 in height. There 
 is a tea-room 52 feet long by 35 in breadth, which serves 
 for the dancing-room of the card-assemblies. There are
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 77 
 
 likewise two card-rooms 33 feet by 18, and a grand sa- Edinburgh. 
 loon 24 feet square, as also other smaller rooms. 
 
 Besides this a very large room, formerly used as a cir- 
 cus, has been fitted up by an individual, at the eastern part 
 of the New Town, to serve as a concert-room, and occa- 
 sionally as an assembly room. 
 
 A CIRCUS, for exhibiting feats of horsemanship and 
 pantomimical entertainments, has of late years been usu- 
 ally maintained in Edinburgh A PANORAMA has also 
 been established between Edinburgh and Leith for the 
 permanent exhibition of circular paintings, intended to re- 
 present a full landscape in whatever direction the specta- 
 tor may turn, and thus to attempt in some measure to im- 
 pose Upon the senses. This contrivance was invented by 
 Mr Barker in Edinburgh ; and the first panorama was a 
 view of Edinburgh and its environs from the summit of 
 the Calton-hill. 
 
 A chartered society, styled the ROYAL COMPANY OF Archers. 
 ARCHERS, still exercises an amusement in Edinburgh, the 
 use of the bow, which, before the invention of gun-pow- 
 der, was the principal implement of war. 
 
 There are several societies of archers in England, the 
 chief of which are the Woodmen of Arden and the Toxo- 
 phillte ; but the Scottish Royal Company of Archers is 
 the most remarkable of the kind now existing. It is to 
 England, however, that we must chiefly look for the his- 
 tory and ancient description of this art ; as the English 
 archers appear to have been superior to all others, and to 
 have exercised the bow with the greatest success : nor 
 have there been wanting experienced soldiers who have 
 preferred it to the musket. The bow of the Greeks and 
 Romans, as represented in their reliefs, was a more toy 
 when compared to that employed in Britain ; and accord- 
 ingly this weapon was little used by the ancients. Hence
 
 78 MIDLOTHIAN; 
 
 Edinburgh. Paris in Homer is spoken of contemptuously as an archer ; 
 and the bow was chiefly used by the Parthians and Arabs* 
 whose attacks were desultory. The English armies, on 
 the contrary, were remarkable for the advantage which 
 their superior skill in archery gave them over heavy arm- 
 ed cavalry, as at the battle of Cressy ; and also over infan- 
 try drawn up in phalanx with the formidable weapon the 
 spear, as at the battle of Pinkey. 
 
 With regard to the size of the bow, the Irish statute 
 of Edward IV. which directs that the bow shall not in 
 length exceed a roan's height, is allowed by archers to be 
 judicious. The arrow ought to be half the length of the 
 bow. Hence, although in the ballad of Chevy Chace we 
 read of arrows a yard long, this could only refer to those 
 used by men of six feet high. 
 
 Archers consider an arrow of from 20 to 24 drop weight 
 to be the best for flight, or for hitting a mark at a consi- 
 derable distance. It is made of any hard wood. For 
 the feathers those of geese are preferred, and that the bird 
 should be two or three years old, and the feathers not 
 plucked but spontaneously dropped. Two out of three fea- 
 thers in an arrow are commonly white, being from the 
 gander, while the third is brown or grey ; and this differ- 
 ence of colour informs the archer if the arrow is properly 
 placed. Arrows were anciently armed with flint or metal 
 heads. By the English statutes, men of perfect age were 
 prohibited to shoot at a mark placed at a shorter distance 
 than 220 yards. The bow was of yew, as the most tough 
 \vood ; but the Scottish gentlemen now use bows made of 
 cocoa wood, from the West Indies, as of superior quality 
 to the yew. 
 
 Arrows were kept in sheaves of twenty-four, and 
 were carried in a quiver or case. The archers carried 
 anciently long stakes sharpened at both ends, which they
 
 MIDLOTHIAN, 
 
 stuck into the earth, pointing obliquely towards the 
 my, so as to form a rampart on that side. To prevent the 
 bow-string from striking the left arm, the arm was cover- 
 ed with a piece of smooth leather fastened on the outside 
 of the arm, called a bracer ; and to guard the fingers gloves 
 were worn. The Greeks and Romans do not appear to 
 have drawn the arrow to the ear, like the English, but to 
 the breast. 
 
 The English were compelled, by acts of parliament 
 even in time of peace, to erect butts in every parish, and 
 to shoot on every Sunday and holiday. The king and 
 parliaments having thus compelled the inhabitants of their 
 country to become expert archers, their armies had a si- 
 milar advantage over their enemies to what they would 
 have derived from the exclusive use of fire-arms. In 
 Scotland a similar attention, though, in consequence of the 
 more defective police of the country, not with equal suc- 
 cess, was bestowed by the legislature upon this art. Mer- 
 chants were bound, along with their other goods, to im- 
 port a certain proportion of bows and arrows ; and other 
 sports were restrained lest they should interfere with the 
 practice of archery, which was regularly exercised at what 
 were called the weapon sbaivings. These were assem- 
 blages of the people in military array, and properly armed, 
 which were made by the sheriff of each county twice each 
 year or oftener. 
 
 The ancient records of the Royal Company of Archers 
 having been destroyed by fire about the beginning of the 
 late century, no authentic traces of the institution of this 
 society now remain. It has been said, however, that it 
 owes its origin to the commissioners appointed in the reign 
 of James I. of Scotland for enforcing the exercise of ar- 
 chery in the different counties. These commissioners 
 having picked out some of the most dexterous archers
 
 , 
 
 80 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh. f ro m among the better sort of people, formed them into a 
 company ; and upon perilous occasions, the honourable 
 post was assigned to them of defending the king's person 
 as bodj guards. This rank of the king's principal body 
 guards the Royal Company still claim within six miles of 
 the metropolis of Scotland. 
 
 It is certain that, in 1677, this company was recognised 
 by an act of the Scottish privy council, under the title of 
 " His Majestie's Company of Archers ;" and by the same 
 act a piece of plate of the value of L. 20 Sterling was or- 
 dered to be given to be shot for by them at their annual 
 parades, called weapon shawings, and to be called the king's 
 prize. But in consequence of their avowed attachment to 
 the royal family of Stuart, the revolution under King Wil- 
 liam III. nearly put a period to their existence. The 
 royal prize was withheld, and their parades discontinued. 
 Upon the accession of Oueen Ann, however, the leaders 
 of the Scottish Jacobites restored the society, that, under 
 pretence of exercising the ancient art of archery, they might 
 have an opportunity of holding public meetings and pro- 
 cessions under authority of law. Accordingly, as a so- 
 ciety of archers, with the celebrated Sir George M'Ken- 
 zie, then Lord Tarbat and secretary of state, and afterwards 
 Earl of Cromarty, as their captain-general, they obtained 
 from Queen Ann, in the year 1703, a charter under the 
 great seal, erecting them into a Royal Company, reviving 
 the laws in favour of archery, authorising them to admit 
 members and appoint their commanding officers, and to 
 meet and go forth under their officers conduct in military 
 form, in manner of weapon slowing, as often as they should 
 think convenient. The first time they displayed any mi- 
 litary parade was in 1714, amidst the critical state of 
 public affairs during Queen Ann's last illness. On the 
 14th of June, the Earl of Cromarty, their captain-gene-
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 81 
 
 ral, although then upwards of eighty years of age, and Edinburgh. 
 the Earl of Wemyss, as their lieutenant-general, inarched 
 at the head of about fifty noblemen and gentlemen, clothed 
 in uniform, equipped in military array, and distinguished 
 by their proper standards, from the Parliament Square to 
 the Palace of Holyroodhouse, thence to Leith, where they 
 shot for the silver arrow given by the City of Edinburgh, 
 and returned in similar parade ; having received from the 
 different guards which they passed the same military sa- 
 lutations or honours that are paid to any body of the 
 Icing's forces. But next year, the Earl of Cromarty be- 
 ing dead, the Earl of Wemyss headed a procession, in 
 which above an hundred of the nobility and gentry as- 
 sisted. 
 
 After the rebellion in 1715, the archers discontinued 
 their public parade for some years, but afterwards resu- 
 med it. They were justly regarded with jealousy by go- 
 vernment, as attached to the unfortunate family of Stu- 
 art ; nobody being for many years admitted into their so- 
 ciety that was not supposed to entertain this sentiment. 
 The unhappy differences upon this subject having subsi- 
 ded, the Royal Company once more revived during the 
 present reign. His Majesty, as a mark of his royal pa- 
 tronage and approbation, renewed the royal prize, which 
 was first shot for upon the 28th of July 1788 by a nume- 
 rous and respectable meeting, and was won by James 
 Gray, Esq. writer in Edinburgh. 
 
 Thereafter the Woodmen of Arden and the Toxophilite 
 admitted the members of the Royal Company to the free- 
 dom of their societies, and reciprocal diplomas were in re- 
 turn granted by the Royal Company ; so that these three 
 principal societies of archers in Britain are united into one. 
 
 The prizes belonging to the Royal Company, and which 
 are annually shot for, are, 1. A silver arrow, giveu by the 
 
 VOL. I. F
 
 82 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh, town of Musselburgh, which appears to have been shot for 
 as early as the year 1603. The victor in this, as in the 
 other prizes except the king's prize, has the custody of it 
 for a year, then returns it with a medal appended, on 
 which are engraved any motto and device which the gain- 
 er's fancy dictates. 2. A silver arrow given by the town 
 of Peebles A. D. 1626. 3. A silver arrow given by the 
 city of Edinburgh A. D. 1709, 4. A silver punch-bowl 
 of about the value of L. 50, made of Scottish silver at the 
 cxpence of the company A. D. 1720. And, 5. The 
 king's prize above mentioned, which becomes the absolute 
 property of the winner. All these prizes are shot for at 
 what is termed rovers, the marks being placed at the dis- 
 tance of 185 yards. 
 
 Besides these, there is another prize annually contended 
 for at butt or point-blank distance, called the Goose. The 
 ancient manner of shooting for this prize was y a living 
 f goose was built in a turf butt, having the head only expo- 
 
 sed to view ; and the archer who first hit the goose's head 
 was entitled to the goose as his reward. But this custom, 
 on account of its barbarity, has been long ago laid aside ; and 
 in place of the goose-head, a mark of about an inch dia- 
 meter is affixed upon each butt ; and the archer who first 
 hits this mark is captain" of the butt-shooters for a year. 
 
 The affairs of the company are managed by a president 
 and six counsellors, who are chosen annually by the whole 
 members. The council are vested with the power of re- 
 ceiving or rejecting candidates for admission, and of ap- 
 pointing the company's officers civil and military. 
 
 The Royal Company now consists of above 1000 mem- 
 bers, among whom are most of the Scottish nobility of 
 the first distinction. A number of the company meet 
 weekly during the summer season in Edinburgh, in the 
 Meadows, where they exercise themselves in shooting at
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 83 
 
 butts or rovers : And in the adjoining ground they have a Edinburgh, 
 handsome building, erected within these thirty-two years, 
 with suitable offices, whither they adjourn after their ex- 
 ercise, and where they hold their elections and other meet- 
 ings relative to the business of the society. 
 
 The uniform of the Royal Company of Archers is tar- 
 tan, lined with white, and trimmed with green and white 
 fringes ; a white sash, with green tossels ; and a blue bon- 
 net, with a St Andrew's cross and feathers. The company 
 have two standards. The first of these bears on one side 
 Mars and Cupid encircled in a wreath of thistles, with this 
 motto, " In peace and war ;" on the other, a yew tree, 
 with two men dressed and equipped as archers, encircled 
 as the former ; motto, Dat gloria vires. The other stand- 
 ard displays, on one side, a lion rampant gules, on a field 
 or, encircled with a \vreath ; on the top, a thistle and 
 crown ; motto, Nemo me impune lacesset. On the other, 
 St Andrew on the cross on a field argent ; at the top, a 
 crown ; motto, Duke pro patria periculum. 
 
 The GOLF is an amusement said to be peculiar to Scot- Golf, 
 land. Here it is very ancient. By a statute of James 
 the Second, in 1457, it is prohibited, that it may not in- 
 terfere with the weapon shawings ; that- is, with the mi- 
 litary exercise of archery. It is commonly played on rug- 
 ged ground covered with bents, or short grass, upon the sea- 
 shore, called in Scotland Links. The game is usually play- 
 ed by parties of one or two on each side. Each person 
 provides himself with balls and a set of clubs. The ball 
 is extremely hard, and about the size of a tennis ball. 
 The club with which the ball is usually struck is slender 
 and elastic, crooked at the head, which is faced with horn, 
 and loaded with lead to render it heavy. A set of clubs 
 consists of five in number; a play club, a scraper, a spoon, 
 an iron-headed club, and a short club called sputter. The 
 
 F2
 
 84 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh, second, third, and fourth of these are adapted for removing 
 the ball from the various inconvenient situations into which 
 it may come in the course of the game. The putter i* 
 used where a short stroke is intended. The golf is play- 
 ed thus : Small holes are made in the ground at the dis- 
 tance of about a quarter of a mile from each other, and in 
 such a direction as to encompass the whole field. The 
 game is won by the party that lodges his ball in the dif- 
 ferent holes in succession with the fewest strokes. The 
 art of the game consists, first, at the outset from each hole, 
 of striking the ball to a great distance, and in a proper di- 
 rection, so that it may rest upon smooth ground ; and, se~ 
 condly, which is of the greatest importance, when near the 
 hole, of so proportioning the force and direction of the 
 stroke, or putting as it is called, that the ball may with few 
 ', strokes be driven into the hole* The game is played at 
 
 Leith Links, and upon a piece of ground south from Edin- 
 burgh, which receives the appellation of Bruntsfield Links. 
 There is a Company of Golfers, who play annually for a 
 silver club, originally given them by the Town- Council 
 of Edinburgh in 1744. This game affords an active, 
 but not a violent, exercise in the open air, and is there- 
 fore not unsuitable to the sedentary habits of the citizens 
 of a large town. 
 
 Caledonian Edinburgh is also in some measure the head-quarters of 
 Hunt. a Company of Hunters, called the CALEDONIAN HUNT, 
 composed of the first nobility and gentry, who meet occa- 
 sionally in different parts of the country. Such a com- 
 pany has subsisted at times in Edinburgh ever since the 
 Restoration ; but it has repeatedly been broken up, in 
 consequence of the club indulging in habits of extrava- 
 gance and intemperance, which induced the members to 
 become weary of it. 
 
 Horse Races are held at Edinburgh during a week
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 85 
 
 every summer. To this amusement his Majesty contri- Edinburgh, 
 butes a purse of 100 guineas. The remaining prizes, Leith 
 which amount to 50 guineas each, are contributed by the 
 City of Edinburgh, and by subscriptions of the nobility 
 and gentry. The race-course is upon the shore at Leith, 
 on a place which the tide leaves at low water. The hour 
 of the race is therefore changed every day, as the tide be- 
 comes later so as to leave the sands dry. The ground, 
 however, is heavy and fatiguing for horses which do not 
 possess considerable strength. 
 
 We have already mentioned walking as one of the amuse- 
 ments of this city ; for which it is well suited, in consequence 
 of the beautiful side pavement of its streets. These, in 
 the New Town, are not crowded with passengers, on ac- 
 count of the size of the single houses occupied by genteel 
 families, which prevents that quarter of the city from be- 
 ing very populous, in proportion to the territory which it ^ 
 covers. Around the city also there is a variety of ground 
 well adapted to this exercise. In particular, on the south 
 of the city, where was anciently the Borough Loch, a con- - 
 siderable extent of ground is laid out, under the appella- 
 tion of the Meadow, and is surrounded by a walk shel- 
 tered with trees. The walk which surrounds the Mea- 
 dow is 2770 yards, or upwards of a mile and a half, in 
 length. The extensive territory occupied by Arthur's 
 Seat, Salisbury Craigs, and the Calton-hill, from the free 
 air and the beautiful and extensive prospects which they 
 afford, also presents great inducements to this, which is 
 perhaps the best of all amusements, as farthest removed 
 from the pernicious habits of gaming, which many other 
 amusements are apt to produce ; and as being at once the 
 kind of exercise most conducive to health, and most ca- 
 pable of being conjoined with the pleasures or the im~
 
 80 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh, provement to be derived either from solitary reflection 
 or from social intercourse. 
 
 StBernard's As an inducement to the same exercise, rather than on 
 Well. 
 
 account of any medical virtues belonging to it, may be 
 
 mentioned the mineral spring called ST BERNARD'S WELL, 
 which is situated to the north-west of the New Town, in 
 the deep and beautiful glen or ravine in which the Water 
 of Leith runs. This spring has a slight resemblance in 
 flavour to the washings of a foul gun-barrel, and appears to 
 contain sulphurated hydrogen, which evaporates in boil- 
 ing, so as to leave the water fit for every ordinary pur- 
 pose. It had fallen into neglect till about fifteen years 
 ago ; when one- of the judges of the Court of Session, 
 Lord Gardenstone, who imagined he had derived benefit 
 from its waters, expended a considerable sum in erecting 
 over it a very massy building of free stone, surmounted 
 by a temple in the ancient taste, in which is placed a sta- 
 tue of Hygeia, the goddess of health. But as the statue 
 is colossal, and is too nearly approached by the foot-path 
 which passes the building, it has a clumsy appearance. 
 As it is erected, however, in a romantic situation, beside a 
 small river, whose precipitous and woody banks are in 
 some places finely ornamented, and everywhere beautiful, 
 the new building greatly excited the attention of the public 
 to the supposed virtues of the spring ; and it speedily became 
 a place of such general resort, that every morning, during 
 the summer season, the way towards it was seen crowded 
 with persons resorting thither, who certainly derived be- 
 nefit, if not from the water, at least from the fine air 
 which they breathed, and the exercise they enjoyed. This, 
 like other fashions, however, soon declined ; and its de- 
 cline was hastened not a little by an injudicious attempt 
 to render the use of this mineral spring still more general
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 87 
 
 than it actually was. A pamphlet was published by a Edinburgh, 
 physician, in which the waters of St Bernard's Well were 
 represented as a specific or universal remedy for almost 
 all the maladies incident to the human frame ; and an 
 anxious enumeration was given of the most loathsome dis- 
 eases for which these waters had proved a complete re- 
 medy. The result was, that the well was in a great mea- 
 sure deserted ; because nobody wished a suspicion to be 
 entertained, that they were afflicted by any of the mise- 
 rable distempers for which it was represented as a cure. 
 The mischievous pamphlet, however, was gradually for- 
 gotten j and St Bernard's Well is frequented, in the sum- 
 mer months, by a considerable number of persons of both 
 sexes, who find it an agreeable termination to an early 
 walL. 
 
 The sands to the eastward of Leith, which when the 
 sea retires are of considerable extent, afford the best op- 
 portunity to the inhabitants of Edinburgh for exercise on 
 horseback. 
 
 In the New Town there is a TENNIS COURT : and we 
 are under the necessity of mentioning, that in the Grass- Cock-fight* 
 market there is a cock -pit, which is at times made the in ' 
 scene of the cruel and contemptible amusement of cock- 
 fighting, and of the practice of gambling which accompa- 
 nies it. Persons engaged in business, however, or of so- 
 ber manners, and a respectable character, are ashamed to 
 appear in it, and could not do so without reproach. It is 
 chiefly supported by the gentlemen of the turf, and by a. 
 part of the strangers who at all times abound in Edin- 
 burgh. The 'l^nnis Court, above mentioned, has of late 
 been used for this barbarous entertainment.
 
 88 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 ^T b v u ?~' BANKING COMPANIES. 
 
 There are three Banking Companies in Edinburgh esta- 
 blished by statute, or by royal charters. These are, the 
 Bank of Scotland, commanly called the Old Bank, the 
 Royal Bank of Scotland, and the British Linen Company. 
 Bank of The BANK OF SCOTLAND, commonly called the OLD 
 BANK, was erected by Act of Parliament, A. D. 1695. 
 By i the statute of erection, the company was empowered 
 to raise a joint stock of L. 1,200,000 Scots, or L. 100,000 
 Sterling, for the purpose of carrying on a public bank. The 
 smallest share which any person could hold in the bank 
 was declared to be L. 1000 Scots ; and the largest sum 'for 
 which any one was allowed to subscribe was L. 20,000 
 of the same money. L. 8000 are declared to be the qua- 
 lification necessary to entitle any one to be elected govern- 
 or ; L.6000 deputy governor; and L. 3000 for each di- 
 rector. The management of the affairs of the company 
 was vested in a governor, deputy governor, and twenty- 
 four directors ; and in choosing these managers, each pro- 
 prietor was declared to have a vote for every L. 1000 of 
 stock held by him. 
 
 The capital or stock of the company being found not 
 large enough to answer the purposes of a commercial 
 country, they, in 1774, obtained an act, enabling them to 
 enlarge their stock. By this act they were empowered 
 to double their original stock, or to raise it in whole to 
 L. 2,400,000 Scots, or L. 200,000 Sterling. Each person 
 already holding shares was allowed to fill up the new ca- 
 pital to be subscribed for, in so far, and to the same ex- 
 tent, as he already held shares in the original stock. What 
 remained not filled up was tp be sold to the highest bid- 
 der amongst the proprietors of the old stock, provided no 
 one should possess in whole above L.40,000 Scots of stock ;
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 89 
 
 and if any still remained unsubscribed for, any one might Edinburgh. 
 subscribe that inclined. By the same act, too, the double 
 of the former sums was declared to be requisite as qualifi- 
 cations entitling the members to be governors or directors 
 of the company, or to be their electors. 
 
 The office of this company has hitherto been held in aOfficeofthe 
 house down a narrow lane at the south side of that part of Scotland, 
 the High Street called the Lawn-market ; but, at a great 
 expence, they have erected for their accommodation a 
 building which will speedily be ready to be occupied, and 
 which is situated to the northward of the High Street, in 
 full view of Prince's Street. This is at once a magnifi- 
 cent and beautiful fabric. At the commencement of the 
 building, very serious difficulties were experienced, in 
 consequence of the same circumstance which formerly an- 
 noyed the architect of the North Bridge ; but which had 
 been forgotten or overlooked till the recollection of it 
 was on this occasion revived. When a foundation was 
 sought for this building, it was found that the whole earth 
 on that side of the ridge on which the High Street stands 
 was not natural, but had been brought thither when the 
 ground in the neighbourhood was originally laid out for 
 building. The consequence was, that after cutting down 
 the side of the hill in search of solid ground to an im- 
 mense depth, the hill above gave way, and overwhelmed 
 the foundation that had been cleared out. The rubbish 
 was no sooner removed than the side of the hill again 
 gave way repeatedly; so that the task of digging the foun- 
 dation was several times renewed. In the meanwhile, the 
 earth above, to some distance towards the High Street, 
 began to open, and to discover marks that the soil was all 
 unsound, and had been undermined. Some very lofty 
 buildings, deprived of the support which they had recei- 
 ved from the weight of earth adjoining to their founda-
 
 90 #T MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinborgli. tions, next began to give way. The inhabitants removed, 
 and the houses were under the necessity of being taken 
 down. The great wealth of this company, however, en- 
 abled them to avoid the ridicule which would have attended 
 a desertion of their enterprise. A sufficiently firm founda- 
 tion of natural clay having been at last obtained, the building 
 was rapidly urged. It was reared in the most solid manner. 
 Enormous quantities of mortar and massy stones were bu- 
 ried for ever, and a fabric carried upwards, capable of re- 
 sisting the incumbent weight of the mountain. The back 
 of the building is towards Prince's Street ; and here, while 
 erecting, it had the disadvantage, from its vast height, of 
 having somewhat the aspect of a tower. This effect, 
 however, is now removed by restoring the earth for the 
 purpose of covering up the lower part of it, and by a wall 
 of considerable height in the nature of a curtain, which 
 has been added to augment its apparent breadth. It 
 forms, upon the whole, a beautiful and most superb fa- 
 bric. As a work of magnitude, it is seen to most advan- 
 tage from the mound of earth which connects the Old and 
 the New Town, at that part of the mound which is in the 
 direction of the north-west angle of the building. Here the 
 eye is filled by the full view of two sides of the fabric, 
 and by a display of its great height. The result of which 
 is, that as a magnificent and stupendous structure, it seems 
 to have no rival in this country. Its southern front, of 
 which the height is only three stories, is very elegant. If 
 any fault exist, it consists of a superfluity of ornament un- 
 suitable to a structure of such magnitude. The ornaments, 
 however, are chiefly seen on that side where the greatness 
 of the building is concealed ; but unfortunately there is 
 placed at the summit of the whole a globe or cupola, 
 which is seen from Prince's Street, and which, from its 
 trifling size and the vast height at which it is placed, has
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 91 
 
 very much the diminutive appearance of a pin-cushion. Edinburgh. 
 
 This banking company has established branches in 
 every considerable town in Scotland, excepting Glasgow, 
 which, in consequence of an amicable adjustment to avoid 
 rivalship, is left to the Royal Bank. By agreement, the 
 latter has a branch at Glasgow, and no branch in any other 
 town in Scotland. 
 
 The ROYAL BANK was established in the following Royal Bank 
 manner : By the articles of union, Scotland was declared 
 to be liable to the same duties which were levied by way 
 of customs or excise in England. As these duties had, in. 
 the latter of these nations, been appropriated for the dis- 
 charge of debts contracted by England before the union, 
 it was found reasonable to give Scotland an equivalent 
 for- this additional burthen. The sum, given by way of 
 equivalent, was ordained to be paid for certain purposes, 
 and to certain persons or bodies corporate, mentioned in 
 the articles of union and in posterior statutes. The pro- 
 prietors of these sums, to the extent of L. 248,550 Ster- 
 ling, were erected into a body corporate, under the name 
 of the Equivalent Company ; and the said sum of L.248,550 
 was declared to be the joint stock of the company. Upon 
 application by this company, they obtained a royal char- 
 ter, empowering such of them as inclined to subscribe 
 their shares in the joint stock for that purpose, to carry on 
 the business of banking. By this charter the subscribers 
 to this banking business were, in A. D. 1727, erected into 
 a body corporate, to be called, " Tie Royal Bank of Scot- 
 land." They were vested with the requisite powers, and 
 the management of the company's affairs declared to be in 
 a governor, deputy governor, nine ordinary and nine ex 
 traordinary directors. The qualifications of these mana- 
 gers were declared to be, that of the governor to hold 
 stock to the extent of L. 2000 ; of the deputy governor,
 
 02 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh. o f L. I^QQ ; o f the ordinary directors, of L. 1000 ; and of 
 the extraordinary directors, of L.500. The sum origi- 
 nally subscribed was L. 111,000 ; but by a charter passed 
 in favour of the Royal Bank, A. D. 1738, explaining- 
 the privileges formerly bestowed upon them, and enabling 
 them to increase their capital, they were empowered to 
 raise their stock to a sum not exceeding in whole, when 
 joined to their original funds, L. 150,000. By the char- 
 ter of erection of this company, a share of L. 300 entitles 
 a proprietor to one vote, one of L.600 to two, of L. 1200 
 to three, and of L. 2000 to four ; and no proprietor can 
 have more than four votes. In consequence of the jea- 
 lous and narrow policy, which till of late years was so 
 common among commercial companies, when the Royal 
 Bank was first erected, that company purchased up all 
 the notes of the Bank of Scotland of which they could lay 
 hold, and made such a run upon this bank as reduced it to 
 considerable difficulties. To avoid such distresses for the 
 future, the Bank of Scotland, on the 9th November 1730, 
 began to issue L.5 notes, payable on demand, or L.5 : 2 : (5 
 six months after their being presented for payment, in the 
 option of the bank. On the 12th of December 1732, 
 they began to issue notes with a similar clause. The 
 other banking companies in Scotland found it convenient 
 to follow the example. Bank-notes were universally fra- 
 med with these optional clauses. They were issued for 
 the most trifling sums, and were currently accepted in 
 payment, insomuch that notes for 5 s. Sterling were per- 
 fectly common, and silver was in a manner banished out 
 of the country. To remedy those abuses which had crept 
 inter the banking business, an act of Parliament was pass- 
 ed, A. D. 1765, prohibiting all promissory notes payable 
 to the bearer under L. 1 Sterling ; and prohibiting and 
 declaring void all the optional clauses,
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 93 
 
 The BRITISH LINEN COMPANY, with a capital of Edinburgh. 
 L. 100,000, was incorporated by royal charter in 1746, British LI- 
 with a view to encourage the manufacture of linen in "en Com. 
 
 . pany. 
 
 Scotland. By the constitution of this company, its affairs 
 are declared to be under the management of a governor, 
 deputy governor, and five directors. It is declared a ne- 
 cessary qualification in the governor to be possessed of a 
 share in the company's stock to the amount of L. 1000 j 
 of the deputy governor, L. 500 ; and of each director, of 
 L. 300. A share of L. 200 entitles a proprietor to vote in 
 the choice of these managers, of L.500 to two votes, and 
 of L. 1000 to four votes ; but it is declared that no pro- 
 prietor shall possess more than four votes. 
 
 This company carries on the business of banking, and 
 issues promissory notes like the two former companies ; 
 but the banking business is carried on separately from 
 the linen trade. The Linen Hall remains in the Canon- 
 gate ; but the apartments of the bank are removed to a 
 lane on the south side of the High Street, above what was 
 called the Nether-bow Port. 
 
 When the great political and imperial establishment, 
 the Bank of England, was authorised, first by the Privy 
 Council, and thereafter by the legislature, in 17Q7, to re- 
 fuse payment of their promissory notes in specie, the 
 Edinburgh public banking companies ventured to do the 
 same from necessity. No bad consequence resulted from 
 the measure ; and nobody attempted by legal measures to 
 compel payment in terms of their obligations. 
 
 Promissory notes, payable on demand, have also been Private 
 long issued in Edinburgh by a private banking house, 
 that of Sir William Forbes, Sir James Hunter, and Com- 
 pany ; and their notes have possessed a most extensive 
 circulation. When at the commencement of the war oc- 
 casioned by the French revolution in 1793, the common
 
 94. MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinb ur gh.p e0 pk^ who held great numbers of the notes of this house, 
 took a sudden alarm, or rather prejudice, against pa- 
 per money, and made a run upon the house ; the other 
 banking houses agreed, in case it should be necessary, to 
 support it with their whole credit. A proof was thus af- 
 forded of the enlightened spirit to which commercial men 
 had attained ; which enabled them to perceive, that their 
 own success depends, not, as they formerly supposed, 
 upon the ruin, pjut upon the increasing riches of each 
 other j and that one part of a community cannot be inju- 
 red, without the misfortune extending itself in some mea- 
 sure to the whole. 
 
 Besides these there are several private banking houses 
 of great reputation in Edinburgh, which do not issue pro- 
 missory notes for small sums payable on demand, but 
 which carry on the other branches of the banking trade, by 
 transmitting money, discounting bills, and accommodating 
 individuals with cash accounts. This last is a practice of 
 great mercantile utility, and is in some measure peculiar 
 to Scotland. It is of the following nature : A merchant, 
 a manufacturer, or other person engaged in business, grants 
 a bond to a banking house, with two or more sufficient 
 sureties, obliging himself to repay whatever sum he shall 
 at any time, below a certain amount, borrow from that 
 house. In consideration of this obligation, the banking 
 house honours the draughts of the merchant occasionally 
 to the extent of the stipulated credit or cash account ; and 
 for these sums interest is paid to the banking house at the 
 rate of 5 per cent. On the other hand, the merchant 
 makes payments to the banker when it suits his con- 
 veniency, even of such small sums as L. 20 or L. 30 ; 
 and if at any time the balance is in his favour, he re-' 
 ceives no higher interest than 4 per cent.- He does his"" 
 whole business at that banking house ; and if they is-
 
 MIDLOTHIAN 1 . 03 
 
 sue notes, he assists, by his transactions, in putting 
 into circulation. The effect of the whole is, that the 
 banker is secure of ultimate payment by the sureties to 
 the original bond granted by the merchant ; while the 
 merchant is enabled to lay out his whole capital in trade, 
 and, in case any sudden demands come upon him, to rely 
 upon the banker for accommodation to the extent of his 
 cash account. Thus established traders, who can find se- 
 curity, can at all times depend upon a reasonable accom- 
 modation from banking houses. They are not, as in 
 many cities on the continent, under the necessity of re- 
 taining sums of money in a strong box, ready to encounter 
 sudden demands upon .them, or to enable them to make 
 purchases that appear uncommonly advantageous : Nei- 
 are they exposed to the inconvenience by which mer- 
 chants, in times of mercantile distress, are apt to be em- 
 barrassed, in consequence of the timidity of bankers who 
 decline to discount their bills. A merchant who has a 
 cash account holds a bill that is perpetually good in the 
 estimation of the banker. 
 
 These cash accounts, which are granted to persons of 
 every profession who have frequent money transactions, 
 are extremely favourable to the credit and extension of 
 paper currency. By means of his cash account, every 
 man of business in Scotland is indebted to some of the 
 banking houses. The consequence of which is, that he 
 cannot hesitate to take their notes, because he can always 
 pay with them in full the debt that he himself owes at 
 the bank. In Edinburgh the employment of a banker is 
 much respected ; because this city, being little subject to 
 the vicissitudes of commerce, bankers enjoy a certain pro- 
 fit, and encounter little risk. Excepting in one or two 
 instances, therefore, the bankruptcy of a banker has 
 scarcely occurred ; and they are usually, or rather always, 
 very prosperous- men, .'''
 
 96 MIDLOTHIAN". 
 
 Sl^S MUNICIPAL INSTITUTIONS OF EDINBURGH. 
 
 BY its municipal constitution, Edinburgh is divided into 
 several districts. Of these, the ancient Royal Borough, 
 or Royalty as it is called, is the head. It consists of the 
 High Street to the head of the Canongate, of the Cowgate, 
 and Grass-market, with their adjoining lanes. The ma- 
 gistrates of this ancient district, in the character of Barons, 
 or Lords of all the rest, appoint inferior magistrates, who 
 govern the Canongate, the suburbs of Portsburgh and the 
 Potter-row, and the town of Leith, under the appellation 
 of Baron Bailies. Edinburgh, strictly so called, that is, 
 the ancient Royal Borough, has a municipal government, 
 consisting of what is called the Town-Council. This body 
 . x consists of thirty-three persons. Of these, twenty-five 
 
 constitute the ordinary council, which alone manages many 
 of the city's affairs. The remaining eight are extraor- 
 dinary members. 
 
 Town- The TOWN-COUNCIL is composed of two bodies of 
 
 men, merchants and tradesmen. Originally no distinction 
 appears to have existed in r,oyal boroughs between these 
 two bodies. The boroughs were in former times counte- 
 *V nanced and favoured by our kings, to afford a kind of ba- 
 lance against the overgrown power of the nobles. The 
 whole burgesses possessing property in a town were con- 
 sidered as the king's immediate vassals. His protection 
 was necessary to them against the power of the neigh- 
 bouring barons ; while at the same time, by their num- 
 bers, they brought an important accession of strength to 
 the royal cause in all political disputes. Persons living 
 in boroughs, all of whom were probably burgesses in early 
 times, appear to have been considered in the general cha- 
 racter of merchants, or persons gaining their bread by the 
 sale of commodities. Nor was any distinction made
 
 among theiil on account of the manner in which they them- Edinburgh. 
 selves procured the commodities which they sold, whether 
 by their own skill and industry in originally manufacturing 
 or fashioning them, or by importing them from distant 
 countries into the borough. The boroughs were at first 
 governed by town-councils elected by the citizens or bur- 
 gesses ; but factions having arisen in the boroughs, in 
 consequence of this practice, an act of the Scottish Parlia- 
 ment, under James the Third, 1469, cap. 30. authorised, 
 under some restrictions, the old council to elect the new. 
 This statute was probably little regarded ; and almost 
 every Scottish borough has a constitution peculiar to it- 
 self. As they have a general resemblance, however, an 
 account of that of Edinburgh will afford a tolerable idea 
 of the nature of these municipal constitutions. 
 
 In many respects the magistrates of boroughs are still fncorpora- 
 . considered as immediate dependents or servants of the 
 crown, particularly in the forms by which property in bo- 
 roughs is transferred. A burgess selling his house deli- 
 vers it to the magistrates, as the king's commissioners or 
 bailies, and they deliver the possession to the purchaser. 
 It was probably under some notion of this sort of their ^* 
 immediately representing the king, that the town-councils 
 of Scottish boroughs assumed the privilege, which they 
 still exercise, of granting charters, styled seals of cause, 
 to particular classes of tradesmen^ called crafts, or com- 
 panies of arts, constituting them into separate incorpora- 
 tions. These incorporated trades gradually grew into 
 importance in the several boroughs ; and at last a distinc- 
 tion came to be made between them and the merchants, 
 properly so called, who merely buy and sell, but do not 
 exercise any branch of art or manufacture. The incor- 
 porations created by the town-councils appear at last to have 
 insisted upon being allowed to sit, by their representatives, 
 VOL. I. G
 
 8 MIDLOTHIAN, 
 
 Edinburgh, in the body which bestowed upon them a political exist- 
 ence. The municipal constitution of Edinburgh, which 
 was not ultimately fixed without many struggles, is so 
 contrived as to preserve a sort of balance between the 
 merchants or persons who sell commodities, and the incor- 
 porated tradesmen. 
 
 Merchant The merchants of Edinburgh were not erected into a 
 ompany. ^ Q ^ cor p ora t e> distinct from the general incorporation of 
 the borough, till the 19th October 1681 ; when they re- 
 ceived a royal charter,, under the name of the COMPANY 
 OF MERCHANTS IN THE CITY OF EDINBURGH, The 
 charter authorises them to elect a president, who is called 
 the Master of the Merchant Company, together with 
 twelve assistants, a treasurer,, clerk, and officer. The 
 company were empowered to purchase lands, to make 
 bye-laws, to levy a tax upon apprentices and members, 
 chiefly for the support of their poor. This incorporatioa 
 has no right to elect a representative to sit in the Town- 
 Council y but the principal members of that body, to be- 
 come qualified for their offices, must be merchants, and 
 consequently members of the Merchant Company. 
 
 Fourteen ^ ie mcor P orate ^ trades are fourteen in number ; and 
 
 incorpora- &SLC }i trade elects, under certain restrictions, a president, 
 tions. . . 
 
 called its Deacon, by whom it is represented in the Towrj- 
 
 CouneiL They take precedency of each other in the or- 
 der in which they are here enumerated. 1st, The ROYAL 
 COLLEGE OF SURGEONS. The surgeons and barbers were 
 erected into a corporation by a charter, or seal of cause, 
 from the Town-Council of Edinburgh, dated 1st July 
 1505. King James the Fifth,, on 13th October 15C6, ra- 
 tified the charter, or seal of cause, in favour of the sur- 
 geons. Queen Mary exempted them from serving upon 
 juries, and from mounting guard for the defence- of the 
 borough. On 25th February 1557, the surgeons and
 
 MIDLOTHIAN^ 99 
 
 apothecaries were united bj an act of the Town-Council Edinburgh. 
 into one community. After that period the members ap- 
 pear to have abandoned their business as barbers ; though 
 they still possessed the exclusive privilege of exercising 
 it. This occasioned an act of council of the 26th July 
 1682, recommending to this corporation to supply the 
 town with a sufficient number of persons qualified to slave 
 and cut hair, who should continue dependent upon the 
 surgeons; But in the year 1722,- the surgeons and bar- 
 bers were separated from each other in all respects, ex- 
 cept that the barbers are still obliged to enter their ap- 
 prentices in the register kept by the surgeons. 
 
 By a charter of his present Majesty ^ dated 14th March 
 17 7 S, this incorporation was erected of new j under the name 
 of the Royal College of Surgeons of the City of Ediiiburgb. 
 This charter establishes a scheme of provision for the wi- 
 dows and children of the members. By this scheme, be- 
 sides certain sums belonging to the Royal College, which 
 are allotted to it, each member is obliged to pay L. 5 
 a-year towards it during all the days of his life. If he 
 die before making four yearly payments, neither his wi- 
 dow nor children receive any supply from the fund ; but 
 if he survive that period, and leave a widow, she is en- 
 titled to L. 25 yearly during her widowhood only. If he 
 die a widower, leaving children, they are entitled in whole 
 to L. 100. The meetings of this company are held in 
 their own hall in the High School yards. By one of their 
 ancient statutes ratified in parliament, and which is un- 
 derstood to be still in force, no person is allowed to practise 
 pharmacy or surgery in certain of the south-eastern coun- 
 ties of Scotland, till he has undergone an examination and 
 been found qualified by this body. 
 
 2d, The GOLDSMITHS were originally incorporated with 
 the hammermen. The period of their separation is uncer* 
 
 G2
 
 100 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh, tain ; but it was previous to 1581, as in that year a charter 
 from the Town-Council prescribed to them minute and judi- 
 cious regulations concerning the receiving of apprentices, and 
 working in gold and silver. The importance of this incorpo- 
 ration, considered as manufacturers, has lately declined, in 
 consequence of the superior advantages possessed by the 
 English artists from their great capital, and the division of 
 labour which is established in their manufactories. Hence 
 vast quantities of articles of jewellery goods are import- 
 ed from England, and sold in the shops here, to supply 
 the demand produced in this city by the great resort of 
 wealthy people from all quarters. Two brothers, Messrs 
 Cunningham, at the head of the Earthen Mound, are un- 
 derstood to be at present the only manufacturers of plated 
 goods in Scotland. 3*/,The SKINNERS were erected into a 
 corporation by the Town-Council of Edinburgh on or before 
 the year 1586. And, tb f The FURRIERS were incorpo- 
 rated by the same body ; but at what time is unknown. 
 
 5tb, The HAMMERMEN were erected into a corpora- 
 tion by a charter, or seal of cause, from the Town- 
 Council of Edinburgh, of the 2d May 14S3. This com- 
 munity at that time comprehended the following crafts : 
 blacksmiths, goldsmiths, saddlers, cutlers, and armour- 
 ers. There are now comprehended in it the black- 
 smiths, cutlers, saddlers, locksmiths, armourers, pewterers, 
 sheersmiths, watchmakers, goldsmiths, hookmakers, pin- 
 makers, beltmakers, founders, braziers, coppersmiths, and 
 white iron smiths. This corporation meets in their hall 
 in the Cowgate, called the Magdalen Chapel. This cha- 
 pel is situated near the head of the Cowgate on the south 
 side of the street. It was founded by Michael Macquhan, 
 a citizen of Edinburgh, who, being greatly afflicted by dis- 
 ease and oppressed by age, appropriated the sum of L. 700 
 Scots towards erecting a charitable foundation, to which
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 101 
 
 various persons promised contributions which they ne- Edinburgh. 
 ver paid. Janet Rynd, relict and executrix to Mac- 
 quhan, was induced to accomplish the design of her de- 
 ceased husband, by adding L. 2000 Scots to the sum which 
 he had granted. With this money she erected, on the 
 site of a ruinous hospital called Maison Dteu, an hospital 
 and chapel for the accommodation of a chaplain and se- 
 ven poor men ; and endowed it with a perpetual annuity 
 of 138 merks Scots, arising out of certain lands and tene- 
 ments. She dedicated her new foundation to Mary Mag- 
 dalen ; and by her deed of settlement, dated 12th Feb- 
 ruary 1547, she granted it in trust to the incorporation of 
 hammermen in Edinburgh, with whom it still remains. 
 They employ the chapel as their place of meeting ; and 
 the small fund appropriated to it they devote to the sup- 
 port of their own poor. 
 
 6tb and ~ifb, The WRIGHTS AND MASONS form a 
 single incorporation j but they have a double represen- 
 tation in the Town-Council. One deacon is annually 
 chosen to represent the wrights, and another to repre- 
 sent the masons. They were incorporated by a seal of 
 cause from the Town-Council, dated 15th October 1475. 
 The privileges granted to this incorporation have been 
 repeatedly confirmed by royal charter. It is common- 
 ly known by the name of- the United Incorporation of 
 Mar^s Chapel. It consists of the following crafts : 
 wrights, masons, bowyers, glaziers, plumbers, uphol- 
 sterers, painters, slaters, sievewrights, and coopers. This 
 community formerly had in Niddry's Wynd a hall, 
 which, having been built upon the ruins of a chapel an- 
 ciently dedicated to the blessed Virgin, was called Mary's 
 Chapel, and gave its name to the incorporation. When 
 the South Bridge was built, the hall was necessarily pull- 
 ed down. A new one was erected in a lane to the west- 
 ward of the Bridge, to which the name of Mary's Chapel
 
 102 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh. h as been transferred. Stb, The TAILORS possess several 
 charters from the Town-Council ratified by the Scottish 
 kings ; but the time of their first incorporation is un- 
 known. 9th, The BAKERS possess a charter from the 
 Town-Council in 1522, which mentions their having 
 been in possession of previous charters^ then lost. IQtb, 
 The FLESHERS are a very old incorporation ; but the 
 time of their institution is unknown. It appears, how- 
 ever, that as early as 1488 regulations for them were es- 
 tablished by the magistrates. At that time they appear to 
 have been dealers in fish as well as flesh. They reject 
 the appellation of butchers, which they account harsh and 
 murderous lltb, The CORDINERS or SHOEMAKERS are 
 one of the oldest incorporations in Edinburgh. Maitlard 
 / places their institution in 1449. 1 2tb, The WEAVERS were 
 incorporated by a charter from the Tpwn-Counil, dated 
 31st January 1415. The petition for their charter states, 
 , that they had framed certain articles " for the honour and 
 " love of God, of his mother the virgin Mary, and of 
 " Saint Sovrane ;" and prays a ratification of these ar- 
 ticles. Among others care is taken to enact, " that the 
 " priest shall get his meat." It appears that, in the times 
 of popery, each incorporation had an altar in the church 
 of St Giles, together with a priest or chaplain who attend r 
 ed it. The chaplain got his victuals by going about from 
 house to house among the members of the incorporation 
 alternately. ISta, The WAUKERS were originally cloth- 
 iers. Their employment has now descended down to the 
 milling and scowering of cloth. They were incorpora- 
 ted by the Town-Council on the 20th of August 1500. 
 The HATTERS were united with them in 1672. 14/&, The 
 BONNET-MAKERS were incorporated by the Town-Coun- 
 cil in 1530. By the fashion of wearing hats, their busi- 
 ness has been ruined. The DYERS were united with this 
 incorporation in the year 1640. The CANDLE-MAKERS
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 1*03 
 
 Incorporated by act of council, 5th September 1517 ; Edinburgh, 
 but they have no representation in the council. It will 
 also be observed that several new trades remain necessa- 
 rily unrepresented in the council, as booksellers, printers, 
 engravers, grocers, vintners, and others. 
 
 The Town-Council is elected in the following manner : Election of 
 r- t r 111 _. the Town, 
 
 r irst the fourteen incorporations meet by themselves ; and Council. 
 
 each incorporation makes out a list (or /eet, as it is called) 
 of six persons, out of which the deacon of each incorpo- 
 ration must be chosen. These fourteen lists or leets are 
 laid before the ordinary council of twenty-four, who strike 
 off three names from the six, and return the lists so abrid- 
 ged to the different incorporations ; and this is termed 
 shortening of the leets. Out of the leets thus shortened 
 the incorporations choose their respective deacons, who 
 are then presented to the ordinary council of twenty-four ; 
 who out of the fourteen deacons choose six of them to be 
 members of the ordmary eounci), upon which the six coun- 
 cil deacons of the former year walk off. The next step 
 in the election is the choice of three merchants and two 
 trades counsellors. This is performed by the ordinary 
 council of twenty-four ; but the merchants and trades coun- 
 sellors of the former year do not, upon the choice of their 
 successors, immediately withdraw, but vote along with 
 them in the remaining steps of the election. There are 
 then thirty members who proceed to the next step of the 
 election, which is to make up leets, out of which the lord 
 provost, dean of guild, treasurer, and bailies, must be 
 chosen. For this purpose a list is made up of three per- 
 sons, one of whom must be elected provost. A similar 
 list is made up for the election of dean of guild ; a third, 
 like the former, for the election of the treasurer , and a 
 list of twelve, out 01 which the four bailies must be cho- 
 -sen all of which persons, in the leets for provost and ma- 
 gistrates, must be merchants. The leets being made up,
 
 104 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh, these thirty, and joined to them the eight extraordinary 
 council deacons, making in all thirty-eight persons, pro- 
 ceed to the choice of the magistrates for the ensuing year. 
 As the new part of the council, ordinary and extraordir 
 nary, is now filled up to this extent, 
 
 6 Council deacons 
 
 3 Merchant counsellors 
 
 2 Trades counsellors, and 
 
 8 Extraordinary council deacons 
 
 19 in all, 
 
 fourteen more members remain to be chosen to make up 
 the full council of thirty-three. Of these the following 
 eleven are chosen on the first Tuesday after Michaelmas 
 (2pth September j : The lord provost, either a new per- 
 son elected into that office, or the present one continued j 
 four bailies ; four old bailies, their offices borne by the 
 four bailies of the former year of course ; the dean of 
 guild, either a new person elected, or the present one of 
 course..; the treasurer, either a new person elected, or the 
 present one of course. Hence, if the three offices of lord 
 provost, dean of guild, and treasurer, should all happen to 
 be supplied with new persons, instead of eleven vacancies 
 in the council being filled up on the day already mentioned 
 there would be fourteen, which would render the council 
 complete ; for the persons who were formerly provost, 
 dean of guild, and treasurer, would, for the ensuing year, 
 become old provost, old dean of guild, and old treasurer ; 
 but if no new persons are elected to be provost, &c. then 
 there are none to fill up the places of old provost, &c. of 
 course; which therefore is done, either at the next or some 
 subsequent meeting, by the ordinary council of twenty- 
 three or twenty-four. The number is thus various ; be- 
 cause it so happens that a new provost, dean of guild, and 
 treasurer, do not come into council in the same year, but a
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 105 
 
 new provost and dean of guild the one year, and new trea- Edinburgh, 
 surer the other, alternately. 
 
 The office of Lord Provost of Edinburgh has at times 
 been held by men of very great respectability, whose ac- 
 tivity and public spirit have much contributed to the im- 
 provement of the city. At the same time it is to be re- 
 marked, that this city, from the account now given of its 
 municipal constitution, can scarcely be expected to be at 
 all times under the management of its most distinguished 
 inhabitants. The merchants and the trades hold the go- 
 vernment between them, and are in some measure balan- 
 ced against each other. As Edinburgh is not a manufac- 
 turing town, but is supported by the families of rank 
 which resort to it, by the practitioners of the law, by the 
 officers of the national government, and by the university 
 established in it, the tradesmen or manufacturers of Edin- 
 burgh necessarily hold a place of very inferior import- 
 ance in the community. With regard to the merchants, 
 they are seldom such properly so called, but merely shop- 
 keepers, such as grocers, booksellers, drapers, &c. ; and 
 these hold the higher offices of the magistracy. The per- 
 sons properly entitled to the designation of merchants be- 
 longing to Edinburgh usually have their residence at 
 Leith. It is true, the Leith merchants are members of 
 the Merchant Company, and eligible to the magistracy of 
 Edinburgh ; but in consequence, probably, of the distance 
 of their dwellings from the centre of the city, they have 
 never been of any municipal importance, and attain to no 
 higher offices than those of magistrates or bailies of Leith, 
 acting by deputation from the Town-Council of Edin- 
 burgh. 
 
 In the meanwhile, as the members of the learned pro- 
 fessions, especially of the very wealthy and numerous pro- 
 fession of the law, together with the men of property who
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh, reside in Edinburgh, without devoting themselves to any 
 particular profession, are all excluded from the rank of 
 magistrates of Edinburgh ; it sometimes happens that 
 these magistrates possess less weight in the community 
 than their situation might be expected to command. Their 
 conduct and measures are frequently exposed to unmerited 
 obloquy ; and they find a difficulty in carrying into effect 
 the most necessary measures. Their political importance, 
 as electors of a member of parliament, is even perhaps 
 hurtful to their respectability ; because it operates as a 
 temptation to statesmen, or to men of rank, to interfere in 
 their elections, and to endeavour, if possible, to remove 
 men of independent fortunes or character from the magis- 
 tracy to make way for their own political or personal ad- 
 herents. 
 
 Police. .The POLICE of Edinburgh has hitherto been defective ; 
 and the tranquillity of the city has in ordinary times de- 
 pended more upon the good morals of the inhabitants thsn 
 upon any arrangement adopted for their protection. Of 
 old, the citizens performed a species of personal service 
 for defence of the town, called ivatclnng and warding. 
 By tliis the trading part of the inhabitants were bound to 
 keep watch in person alternately during the night, to pre- 
 vent or suppress occasional disturbances. In the progress 
 of manners this personal attendance was found extremely 
 inconvenient ; and the citizens were convinced that their 
 own ease would be promoted, and the city more effec- 
 tually protected, by a commutation of their services in- 
 to money, to be paid by them for maintaining a regular 
 guard. 
 
 City Conform, to this idea, the Town-Council, in A. D. 
 
 1648, appointed a body of sixty men to be raised, whereof 
 the captain was to have a monthly pay of L. 11 : 2:3 
 Sterling, two lieutenants of L. 2 each, two Serjeants of
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 107 
 
 L. 1, 5s. three corporals of L. 1, and the private men of Edinbmgh. 
 15s. per month. No regular fund being provided to de- 
 fray the expence, the old method of watching and ward- 
 ing -was quickly resumed ; and those on whom .this ser- 
 vice was incumbent were become so relaxed in their dis- 
 cipline, that the privy council informed the magistrates, if 
 they did not provide a sufficient guard for preserving or- 
 der in the city, the king's troops would be quartered in it. 
 Upon this forty men were again (lo"79) raised as a town- 
 guard. This body was, in the year 1C 8 2, augmented to 
 108 men at the instigation of the Duke of York. The 
 appointment of the officers was vested in the king, who 
 was also declared to have a power of marching this corps 
 wherever he thought proper. To defray the expence of 
 this company, the council imposed a tax upon the citi- 
 zens, and the imposition was ratified by the king. Upon 
 the revolution, the Town-Council represented to the estates 
 of parliament, that they had been imposed upon, or com- 
 pelled, to establish a town-guard, and complained of it as a 
 grievance which they wished to have removed. Their 
 request was granted ; and the citizens had recourse once 
 more to watching and warding. So speedily, however, 
 did they repent themselves of the change, 'that the very 
 next year they applied for the authority of parliament to 
 raise, for the defence of the city, a corps of no fewer than 
 126 men, and to assess the inhabitants for discharging the 
 expences. Since that period the number of this corps, which 
 is called the town-guard, has been very fluctuating, and 
 of late amounts to only 75 private men. From the great ex- 
 tension of the city and suburbs within these last forty years, 
 the city-guard has become completely inadequate to the care 
 of its numerous streets and lanes during the night. In E- 
 dinburgh very few shop-keepers of .any consequence inha- 
 bit the house in which their shops are situated. Thus pro-
 
 108 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 A 
 
 Edinburgh, perty of immense value is left under no other protection 
 than that which an ordinary locked door affords ; and 
 hence it has occasionally happened, from there being no 
 watch in the public streets, that very great depredations 
 have been committed, by shops being entered into with 
 false keys. This is the more likely to occur in the most 
 public streets j because, after the shops are shut, Edin- 
 burgh is often extremely ill lighted during the night a 
 circumstance to be ascribed to two causes : the deficiency 
 or mismanagement of the revenue allotted to that object ; 
 and the exemption from city taxation which in Edin- 
 burgh is enjoyed by almost the whole members of the 
 profession of the law a privilege established in their fa- 
 vour in former times when lawyers were few, and when 
 the courts of justice, being ambulatory, required to be 
 tempted by such an inducement to fix their residence per- 
 manently in one city. It has been proposed of late, and 
 the community at large have assented to the necessity of 
 the measure, that a general system of police should be 
 adopted for protecting, lighting, and cleaning the streets. 
 As the magistrates of the ancient royalty are aware, that a 
 reluctance might exist to entrust to them the funds or the 
 power requisite to carry into effect such an institution, it 
 has been agreed, that the heads of some other public bo- 
 dies, together with a representation of the more wealthy 
 inhabitants, shall undertake this trust. 
 
 The REVENUES of the Incorporation or Town-Council 
 o f Edinburgh form a very intricate subject, upon which 
 much has been said and even written. The affairs of all 
 public bodies are usually conducted in a profuse and ne- 
 gligent manner ; and as the magistrates of royal boroughs 
 in Scotland are not accountable in any legal process to 
 their fellow-citizens for the management of the revenues 
 with which they are entrusted, it naturally follows, that
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 109 
 
 the revenues of the city of Edinburgh should in gene- Edinburgh, 
 ral have undergone the fate of similar public establish- 
 ments. At the same time, as this borough has frequently 
 been divided by faction, the conduct of its magistrates has 
 often been scrutinized with an unjust asperity, which, 
 however, has in general produced the beneficial effect of 
 preserving it more tolerably correct than is said to have 
 occurred in more obscure boroughs. 
 
 The proper revenue of the city of Edinburgh consists 
 partly of certain duties or taxations ; such as the impost 
 on wines, the shore-dues at Leith, the duties collected at 
 the flesh, poultry, fish, meal, and other markets ; the an- 
 nuity, or ministers stipend ; partly of their landed pro- 
 perty, such as Leith and Bruntsfield Links, Calton-hill, and 
 Meadows, with some houses and shops in Edinburgh and 
 Leith ; partly of their feu-duties, as those of the mills on 
 the Water of Leith, of the houses in the New Town, See. ; 
 partly of what is paid for private water pipes. Besides 
 these, there is a statutory revenue arising from a tax of 
 two-rence Scots on every Scots pint of ale or beer brewed 
 within the city or imported into it The debts of the city 
 are very great ; and disputes have of late occurred between 
 different parties in the Town-Council about their amount, 
 in the same way as in Parliament about the amount of the 
 national debt. 
 
 The city-treasurer of Edinburgh, who is, in virtue of Treasurer 
 
 _, c , n- ^ -t an< ^ Cham- 
 
 his office, a member ot the 1 own-Council, is no moreberlain. 
 
 than town's cash-keeper. To collect the revenues, and 
 keep a state of them, is the duty of a different officer. As 
 the branches of the city's revenues are various, and many 
 of them consist of very numerous but trifling articles, 
 it was found impossible for the treasurer, during his con- 
 tinuance in office, to acquire a thorough knowledge of the 
 town's affairs. Besides, had he understood them fully,
 
 110 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh. s i{\\ their multiplicity required a labour and attention in- 
 compatible with the management of a separate business. 
 For these reasons the Town-Council, in A. D. 1766, ap- 
 pointed an officer with an adequate salary, whose sole bu- 
 siness it should be to collect and keep an accurate state of 
 the city's revenues. This officer is called the CITY CHAM- 
 BERLAIN. 
 
 Authority The Magistrates of Edinburgh still possess very ample 
 2*trates. a " powers i n the administration of justice. By some of their 
 old charters,- particularly by one from James the Third, 
 whom they rescued from imprisonment in the Castle^ the 
 most extensive authority,- legislative, judicative, and exe- 
 cutive, is bestowed upon them ; and in consequence of 
 grants from successive sovereigns, which in barbarous 
 times they contrived to interpret very extensively, they 
 issued edicts, tried offences committed against these edicts, 
 and, as executive officers, they saw their own sentences 
 put into execution. They granted monopolies of all sorts ; 
 such as the exclusive privilege of keeping stage-coaches 
 to run between Edinburgh and Leith, of japanning, of 
 printing burial letters, of printing newspapers on certain 
 days of the week, and many others. By an edict in 
 March 1695, they prohibited women from selling ale or 
 other liquors, and ordained that no vintner should em- 
 ploy a female servant. They repeatedly prohibited wo- 
 men from wearing plaids under heavy penalties, and from 
 tucking up any part of their cloaths over their heads. 
 They ordained (l9th July 1593), that young women, 
 who, as daughters of burgesses, were entitled to the free- 
 dom of the city, if they did not enjoy an unspotted fame 
 at the time of their marriage, should forfeit the freedom 
 of the city, both for themselves and their husbands ; and 
 by another edict they declared, that such young men as, 
 having finished their apprenticeship, should marry the
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. Ill 
 
 .Daughter of a freeman, should be admitted member's of the Edinburgh, 
 guild ; but if they married the daughter of any other per- 
 son, or did not marry at all, they should not be received 
 into that fraternity till they had undergone an additional 
 servitude of eight years. During the first rage of the re- 
 formation from popery, also, they made various violent 
 and even sanguinary statutes against the adherents of the 
 ancient faith. 
 
 The Lord Provost cf Edinburgh is styled Right #coar- Rank, &c. 
 
 able, and is high sheriff, coroner, and admiral, within t r 
 
 city and liberties, and the town, harbour, and road of 
 Leith. He has a jurisdiction in matters of life and death. 
 He was an officer of the Scottish parliament, is president 
 of the convention of royal boroughs, colonel of the trained 
 bauds, commander of the city-guard and of Edinburgh 
 jail. Within the city he has the precedency of all the 
 nobility and great officers of state upon all occasions, walk- 
 ing on the right hand of the King, or of his Majesty's 
 commissioner, and has the privilege of having a sword 
 and mace borne before him. The magistrates are justices 
 of the peace and sheriffs depute ; and the Town-Council 
 are patrons of the university, and electors of the city's re- 
 presentatives in Parliament. They have the right of pre- 
 senting to all offices of trust, honour, or emolument, de- 
 pending upon the city. 
 
 Th^ Lord Provost and Magistrates have one or other of 
 them an extensive civil, and a still more ample criminal 
 jurisdiction. The courts held by them are, the criminal 
 court, the bailie court, the ten merk court, and the dean 
 of guild court. 
 
 The powers of the Lord Provost of Edinburgh and of Criminal 
 the Bailies, who are considered as his deputies as judges-''" 
 of crimes, are extremely extensive, though of late they 
 have been less frequently exerted. Instances exist on re-
 
 112 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 -Edinburgh. corc t o f trials before them for murder, and all inferior 
 crimes, such as house-breaking, theft, forgery, using of 
 false keys, lifting dead bodies from the grave, celebrating 
 irregular marriages, publishing defamatory libels, &c. 
 Bailie What is called the BAILIE COURT is held by one 
 of the four bailies, who sit for three months alternately. 
 In this court actions for debt are competent to any amount 
 against a party who is an inhabitant of Edinburgh. This 
 court tries frauds against the city's revenue, and has a power 
 of valuing and selling ruinous houses within the borough, 
 that they may be rebuilt in case the proprietors shall re- 
 fuse to rebuild them. 
 
 Ten Merk What is called the TEN MERK COURT is held by one 
 Court. Q j^g b a ili es . It s name expresses the extent of its juris- 
 diction ; the sum of lls. l^d. being the highest amount 
 for which any action can be brought before it, excepting 
 actions for servants wages. This court meets weekly. A 
 party condemned to make payment must do so imme- 
 diately, or go to prison. 
 
 Dean of The DEAN OF GUILD COURT regulates buildings with- 
 in borough, and is very necessary in Edinburgh ; where 
 the height of the houses, and the manner in which they 
 are crowded together, occasions many disputes. The bu- 
 siness of the Lord Dean of Guild, as he is called, is to 
 take care that the buildings within the city be erected ac- 
 cording to law ; that encroachments be not made upon 
 the public streets ; also, to judge between adjoining pro- 
 prietors concerning the limits of their respective proper- 
 ties ; to consider the state of buildings, whether they be 
 in such condition as to threaten damage to those dwelling 
 in them, or to the neighbourhood ; and to grant warrant 
 for repairing, pulling down, or rebuilding them, according 
 to the circumstances of the case. 
 
 The dean of guild has a council of five appointed to
 
 MIDLOTHIAN* 113 
 
 him, whose opinions he consults ; but if it be a matter of Edinburgh, 
 much importance, as the ordering a house to be pulled 
 down as ruinous, he does not proceed but upon the verdict 
 of a jury of fifteen men, half merchants half tradesmen, 
 who are specially called for the purpose. 
 
 As the bailies and dean of guild of Edinburgh, who act Town's as* 
 as judges in those courts, cannot be supposed qualified, sessors * 
 from their education or habits, to decide upon the elabo- 
 rate written pleadings which are frequently laid before 
 them in questions of importance, the Town-Council al- 
 lows a salary to four ordinary assessors, who are mem- 
 bers of the faculty of advocates ; and these gentlemen de- 
 termine all such causes. The magistrate only annexes his 
 subscription, to give authority to the decision. His Ma- 
 jesty's advocate and solicitor are at times consulted as ex- 
 traordinary assessors. 
 
 As the Town-Council of Edinburgh are superiors of Baron bai 
 the Canongate, Portsburgh, and Leith, they appoint cer- 
 tain of their own number bailies of these boroughs of ba- 
 rony. They are called the Baron Bailie of the Canon- 
 gate, Portsburgh, ts>c. The one appointed for Leith is 
 called the Admiral of Le itb ; because within that district 
 he has a jurisdiction in maritime affairs. The baron bai- 
 lies appoint one or two inabitants of the respective baronies 
 their substitutes. These are called resident bailies. They 
 hold courts in absence of the baron bailies for discussing 
 civil causes of small moment, and deciding in petty of- 
 fences. 
 
 Edinburgh has a PRISON adjacent to the church of St Prisott 
 Giles, which was built by the citizens in 1561, and desti- 
 ned for the accommodation of the parliament and courts 
 of justice, and for the confinement of debtors and of crimi- 
 nals. By the change of manners, it has long^ been unfit 
 even for the last of these purposes. Since 1640 this build- 
 
 VOL. I. H
 
 114 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh, ing has been used solely for a jail. The apartments In it 
 are narrow and miserable ; but of late years the magis- 
 trates have put them within into a state of cleanness^ 
 which in former times was unknown. Without, it is 
 one of the greatest deformities of the city. It stands 
 in the middle of the High Street, and exhibits an ob- 
 ject which, both from its destination and its architec- 
 ture, is equally displeasing. An intention has long ex- 
 isted to erect a new prison upon a better plan, adjoining 
 to the courts of justice ; but the want of money, which in 
 this world obstructs many good and many evil designs, 
 has hitherto impeded the accomplishment of this object. 
 
 In the middle of the Canongate is a court-room for the 
 magistrates of that district" and a PRISON. These were 
 built in the reign of James the Sixth. This prison is well 
 aired, and has some decent apartments. Debtors of the 
 better sort are usually taken to it. 
 
 Bridewell. ^ n ^ e Cal ton-hill, to be seen from the North Bridge, 
 is a correction-house or BRIDEWELL, built within these 
 few years. It is a strong stone fabric. The principal 
 part of the building is in the form of the letter D, with a 
 house for the governor at some distance opposite to the 
 northern or rectilineal part of it. The whole is surround- 
 ed by lofty walls, betwixt which and the house is an area 
 laid out as a garden. 
 
 This is said to be one of the most complete buildings of 
 the kind in Britain. It consists of five stories ; the upper- 
 most of which is used as an hospital for sick prisoners and 
 for store-rooms, &c. The other four stories are laid but 
 in the following manner : A passage goes along the middle 
 of the semicircular part of the building with apartments 
 on each hand. The apartments on the outward side of 
 the curvature are smaller than those on the inner side. 
 They are double the number, and are used as separate
 
 tf. 115 
 
 bed-chambers for each of the persons confined. The a- Edinburgh. 
 partments on the inner side of the semicircle, of which 
 there are thirteen in each story, are allotted for labour. 
 They have a grate in front, and look into the inner 
 court. Opposite to them, in the flat side <5f the build- 
 ing, is a dark apartment with narrow windows, from 
 which, without being seen, the governor can see how the 
 prisoners in the apartments for work are employed. The 
 court, or space in the middle between the flat and semi- 
 circular part of the building, is roofed in at the top ; and 
 a great part of it is covered with glass, so as to light the 
 whole. On the floor of the area is a stove, which during 
 winter heats the whole apartments allotted to labour. 
 There is also a pulpit, from which a chaplain preaches on 
 
 Sundays ; and the prisoners come into the front apart- 
 
 j *t. 
 ments to attend the service. 
 
 The bed-chambers, looking outwards t6 the country, 
 are lighted by a long narrow window in each. The win- 
 dow is glazed. The frame in which the glass i fixed is 
 of iron. It turns on pivots fixed at the top and bottom, 
 so as to be opened and shut at pleasure. Each bed-cham- 
 ber, which is about eight feet long by seven broad, is fur- 
 nished with a bed and a bible. The frame of the bed is 
 of iron, and the bed consists of a straw mattress of the best 
 quality. The whole floors and partitions of the "building 
 are of stone. No wood is used excepting for the doors 
 of the apartments. There are cells, however, for soli- 
 tary confinement for male criminals, in which the frames 
 of the beds are of wood, lest, by breaking them, tools or 
 weapons of a dangerous nature should be obtained. Large 
 cisterns, supplied with water from the city's reservoir, are 
 placed at the top of the house, from which the water is 
 distributed to the different stories, and to a kitchen,^ ash- 
 ing house, and baths, on the ground floor. 
 
 H2
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh.^ The institution is managed with great care. Besides- 
 being superintended by the magistrates of Edinburgh, the 
 sheriff of the county once each month visits every corner 
 of it. It is kept in a state of the most perfect cleanness. 
 The prisoners, when first received, are clothed in a uni- 
 form belonging to the place ; and their own clothes, after 
 being cleaned, are preserved for them till their dismission. 
 They remain during the day in the apartments allotted to 
 labour, from which they are always dismissed as soon as 
 it becomes dark to their bed-chambers. The women 
 spin, and the men pick oakum. Their food consists of 
 oatmeal porridge with small beer for breakfast and sup- 
 per ; and for dinner, of broth made of fat and vegetables, 
 resembling what in Scotland is called shearer's kail (reap- 
 er's broth.) Those that exert any tolerable industry are 
 allowed bread to their broth, and also a larger portion of 
 porridge. Only one death has occurred in the house du- 
 ring the last four years ; and in that case the individual 
 who died had come into Bridewell under a complication 
 of diseases. In truth, the food, clothing, good air, and 
 comfortable lodging, which are enjoyed in this place, are 
 far superior to what the greater number of its inhabitants 
 can expect to obtain on their return to the world at large. 
 To reside here, therefore, is a punishment from moral and 
 not from physical causes ; that is to say, because it is 
 attended with the loss of freedom and of society > and be- 
 cause it is a place of infamy. 
 
 Royal Ex- For public business the city of Edinburgh is furnished 
 with an EXCHANGE, on the north side of the High Street, 
 adjoining to the spot where the cross formerly stood. It 
 was begun to be built in 1754, and finished in 1761, at an 
 expence of L. 3 1,5 00, including the price of some ruinous 
 houses, which were pulled down to make way for it. 
 The EXCHANGE is an elegant building of a square fU
 
 .--; ..-.-: 
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 117 
 
 ' -.^^ ^^.^ 
 gure, with a court in the centre. The principal part of Edinburgh. 
 
 the building forms the north side of the square, and ex- 
 tends from east to west 111 feet over wall, by 51 feet 
 broad. Pillars and arches, supporting a platform, run 
 along the south front, which faces the square, and forms a 
 piazza. In the centre, four Corinthian pillars, whose 
 bases rest upon the platform, support a pediment, on 
 which the arms of the city of Edinburgh are engraved. 
 This building is to the south, or main front, 60 feet ; but, 
 by reason of the extreme inequality of the surface, is to the 
 northern 100 feet high. The extreme dimensions of the 
 whole building amount to 182 feet south and north, by 
 111 feet east and west upon the north front, but upon the 
 south front 147 feet. This fine building has never an- 
 swered the purpose for which it was intended. Instead of 
 assembling here for business, the merchants and others 
 still continue to meet upon the open street, where the cross 
 formerly was, and where they remain exposed to all the 
 severity of the weather^ as their ancestors did before the 
 means of obtaining better accommodation were prepared. 
 In the view which we have given of the High Street, the 
 front of it is seen on the left. The station of the spectator 
 is nearly in front of it. 
 
 Adjoining to the North Bridge, on the steep declivity Markets, 
 of the hill, are the MARKETS of the city for the sale of 
 butcher's meat and fish. They ascend by flights of steps 
 one above another. The fish market is lowest ; and far- 
 ther up the hill, but communicating with it by an open 
 stair, is one division of a butcher's market, which com- 
 municates in like manner with another division higher up; 
 and that with a still higher area, in which veal and poul- 
 try are sold. Above this last is the market for vege- 
 tables. The whole is thus laid out in a manner and situ- 
 ation as convenient as .he territory on which the city of
 
 118 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh. Edinburgh stands will permit. The markets are kept in 
 good order. 
 
 For butcher's meat there are three market-days each 
 week, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday ; and on these 
 days the greatest proportion of business is done. The in- 
 stitution of market-days is of great importance in a bo- 
 rough. On ordinary days, the members of the different 
 incorporations possess the exclusive privilege of supply- 
 ing the market with all sorts of commodities ; and were 
 this privilege strictly adhered to, the natural effects of 
 monopoly would convert every borough into a desart. 
 On market-days strangers, are allowed to expose their com- 
 modities to sale, and thus to enter into competition with 
 the privileged burgesses ; a circumstance which obliges 
 the latter to deal reasonably with their fellow-citizens, 
 And as the magistrates derive a revenue from strangers 
 bringing goods to market, they are led to protect and en- 
 courage the institution : accordingly there are market- 
 days established in Edinburgh for all sorts of commodi- 
 ties ; Tuesday for oat-meal, in a market-place in the Cow- 
 gate j the same day for woollen yarn in the part of the 
 High Street called the Lawn-market , Wednesday is ap- 
 pointed for horses and cattle, and also for grain, shoes, &.c. 
 in the Grass-market, and wooden utensils on the High 
 Street below the Tron Church, &c. 
 
 POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS. 
 
 WITH regard to its Political Establishments, it may be 
 remarked, that Edinburgh to this day exhibits the whole 
 institutions and arrangements peculiar to the capital of an 
 independent kingdom ; the person of the sovereign and of 
 
 Palace of a legislature being all that is wanting. In particular, the 
 
 Holyrood- . 
 
 house. royal palace of Holyroodhouse, a residence of our ancient
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. , 119 
 
 kings, still remains a monument of the good taste and of Edinburgh, 
 the magnificence of our forefathers. 
 
 This building has undergone various changes. The 
 north-west towers were built for a royal residence by 
 James the Fifth. It was afterwards burnt by the English 
 in the minority of Mary Queen of Scots, but was speedily 
 repaired, and was rendered a more extensive building than 
 the present. It consisted of five courts ; great part of 
 these, however, were burnt by Cromwell's soldiers. It 
 was ordered to be repaired at the restoration ; accordingly 
 the principal part of the present fabric was designed by 
 Sir William Bruce, a celebrated architect in the reign of 
 King Charles the Second, and the work was executed by 
 Robert Mylne, who was interred and has a monument in 
 the park adjoining to it, or rather in the burying ground 
 of the ancient monastery. 
 
 The Palace is a magnificent stone fabric, consisting of aDescriptioa 
 square, on all sides decorated with piazzas, and a spacious^ e P a " 
 walk. We have given a view of the interior of the 
 square. The western part or front consists of two lofty 
 double towers, joined by a beautiful low building or gal- 
 lery, adorned with a double ballustrade above, in the middle 
 whereof is a magnificent portico decorated with high stone 
 columns, which support a cupola in form of an imperial 
 crown, underneath which is a clock. Above the porch 
 or principal entry are the royal Scots arms, as borne be- 
 fore the union. The other three sides of the square are 
 lofty and noble, of three stories in height. The great 
 stair-case is equal in grandeur to the rest of the building. 
 The gallery on the north side is 150 feet long ; but the 
 breadth is only 27^, and the height 18. This apartment 
 is hung with pictures of a race of an hundred and eleven 
 monarchs through an imaginary series of two thousand 
 years. They are of no value, and many of them are
 
 120 MIDLOTHIAN 1 . 
 
 Edinburgh, much defaced. This is said to have been owing to Ge- 
 neral Hawley's having thought fit, after the defeat of the 
 royal army which he commanded at Falkirk, to quar- 
 ter his beaten troops in the gallery of this palace ; and 
 they who had fied before undisciplined and ill-armed 
 Highlanders here manifested their loyalty by defacing and 
 cutting in pieces what was supposed to be the representa- 
 tions of the Scottish monarchs. The same well-discipli- 
 ned troops, about a fortnight thereafter, burnt down the 
 royal palace of Linlithgow, after enjoying in it a night's 
 lodging. Here also is the room in which the elections of 
 the Scottish peerage are at present held. It was anciently 
 the royal dining room ; adjoining to it is a drawing room 
 and state bed.-chamber. The rooms are wainscotted with 
 oak ; and the festoons of flowers and foliage over the 
 doors and mantle-pieces are well executed. Near to the 
 long gallery, in what are called Lord Dunmore''s lodgings, 
 is a celebrate.d painting of Charles the First, and his queen 
 in a sort of Vandyke riding habit ; a horse for his Ma- 
 jesty and a palfry for the Oiieen are also introduced ; the 
 whole in a very masterly manner. Here are also full 
 length pictures of their present Majesties by Ramsay, 
 
 This magnificent palace, after having long been applied 
 to no useful purpose, and threatening to fall into decay 
 from being no longer possessed and kept in repair, was 
 recently rendered interesting and conspicuous by beco- 
 ming the retreat of a part of the first royal family in Eu- 
 rope, whom the terrible career of the French revolution 
 had compelled to retire to this sanctuary for insolvent debt- 
 ors. . The east part, together with the south wing, con- 
 tains the suit of chambers which the Count d'Artois 
 {Monsieur), and the nobility and clergy who attended 
 him, inhabited. These have been fitted up with consi- 
 derable elegance. Excepting these, the only apartments.
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 121 
 
 which are worth viewing are those belonging to the Duke Edinburgh. 
 of Hamilton, hereditary keeper of the palace. Stran- 
 gers are usually led into Queen Mary's apartments, in 
 the second floor of which her own bed still remains* It 
 is of crimson damask, bordered with green silk tassels 
 and fringes, and is now almost in tatters. The cornice of 
 the bed is of open figured-work, but of a light execution. 
 Close to the floor of this room, a piece of wainscott, about 
 a yard square, hangs upon hinges, and opens a passage to a 
 trap-stair, which communicates with the apartments be- 
 neath. Through this passage Lord Darnly and the other 
 conspirators rushed to murder Rizzio. The Queen was 
 then supping, with the Countess of Argyle and Rizzio in 
 attendance, in a closet off her bed-chamber about twelve 
 feet square, the present porth-west tower of the palace. 
 Rizzio was forced out of the closet, dragged through the 
 bed-chamber into the chamber of presence, where, being 
 pierced with redoubled wounds, he expired. 
 
 Adjoining to the Palace are to be seen the beautiful Go- Chapel of 
 
 , . . r 1 *-Ti i ^-11 1 r TT i Holy rood- 
 
 true rums of the Chapel or Church of Holyroodhouse, h ollsc . 
 which is all that now remains of the wealthy Abbey of 
 Holyroodhouse (domus sanctce crucis}. We have given a A AO ~ 
 view of the chapel, and have represented entire the inner - . ^ *< 
 stone work of the great window, though it was broken 
 down within these few years by a violent gust of wind. 
 The abbey of Hclyroodhouse was founded by King David Ancient ab- 
 the First, A. D. 1128, and was richly endowed. He 
 bestowed on the canons regular of St Augustine, to which 
 order it belonged, the church of Edinburgh castle, and 
 those of St Cuthbert's, Corstorphine, Duddingston, and 
 Liberton in the county of Midlothian, and of Aerth in 
 Stirlingshire. The priories of St Mary's Isle in Gallo- 
 way, of Blantyre in Clydesdale, of Rowadill in Ross, and 
 of Crusay, Oronsay, and Colunsay In the Western Isles,
 
 12? MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh. ^ SQ fcelengod to them. King David granted to the ca- 
 nons the privilege of erecting a borough between the town 
 of Edinburgh and church of Holyroodhouse, which still 
 retains the name of the Canongate, with a right to hold 
 markets in it. He also gave them portions of land in dif- 
 ferent parts, with a most extensive jurisdiction, and a right 
 of trial by duel, and the fire and water ordeal. He allot- 
 ted to them certain revenues, payable out of the Exche- 
 quer, and out of other funds, with the fishings, and the pri- 
 vilege of erecting mills on the Water of Leith, which, from 
 the name of the body in which the privilege was vested, 
 are still termed the Canon, mills. 
 
 Besides the grants already mentioned, various privileges 
 were bestowed on this abbey by succeeding sovereigns ; 
 so that it was deemed the most opulent religious founda- 
 tion in Scotland. Its annual revenues at the reformation 
 were 442 bolls of wheat, 640 bolls of beer, 560 bolls of 
 oats, 500 capons, 2 dozen of hens, 2 dozen of salmon, 12 
 loads of salt, besides a number of swine, and about L. 250 
 Sterling of money. 
 
 At the reformation the superiority of the Canongate, 
 North Leith, and a part of the suburb of Pleasance, and 
 barony of Eroughton, were vested in the Earl of Rox- 
 burgh. The Town-Council of Edinburgh purchased 
 these superiorities from the earl, A. D. 1636, and obtain- 
 ed a charter of confirmation of the same from King Charles 
 the First, A. D. 1639. 
 
 The church of Holyroodhouse suffered considerably 
 when the English burned down the palace upon their in- 
 vasion by sea, A. D. 1544. However, both church and 
 palace were speedily repaired. At the restoration, King 
 Charles, or rather his brother the Duke of York, after- 
 wards James VII. having resolved to rebuild the palace, 
 and at the same time* to give the church a complete re-
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 123 
 
 fair 1 , ordered that it should be set apart as a chapel royal in Edinburgh. 
 all time coming, discharging it from being used as the pa- 
 rish Church of the Canongate, which it had hitherto been. 
 It was accordingly fitted up in a very elegant manner : A 
 throne was erected for the sovereign, and twelve stalls for 
 the knights of the order of the thistle ; but as it was ac- 
 commodated with an organ, and as mass had been cele- 
 brated in it ia the reign of James the Seventh, the popu- 
 lace, giving way to their fury at the revolution, destroyed 
 the ornaments of the inside of the church, leaving nothing 
 but the naked walls. They even broke into the vault 
 which had been used as the royal sepulchre, in which lay 
 the bodies of King James the Fifth, of Magdalene of 
 France his first queen, of the Earl of Darnley, and others 
 of the monarchs and royal family of Scotland. They also 
 broke open the leaden cofiins, and carried off the covers, 
 but left the rest. Those walls which could withstand or 
 were spared by the fury of a mob, have since been brought 
 to the ground through the extreme unskilfulness of an ar- 
 chitect. 
 
 As the roof o^ the church was becoming ruinous, the 
 Duke of Hamilton, kc; italic keeper of the palace, repre- 
 sented its condition to the batons of Exchequer, and craved 
 that it might be repaired. To this effect an architect and 
 mason were consulted. The walls of the church were 
 already six hundred years old, ai;d were in a frail condi- 
 tion ; yet these persons sagely proposed, instead of putting 
 a light slate roof on it, to cover it with flag stones ; to sup- 
 port which, no small quantity of stone-work would be ne- 
 cessary about the roof. They accordingly gave in a plan 
 and estimate of the work, amounting to L. 1003, which 
 was approved of by the barons of Exchequer, 7th August 
 1758. The new roof soon injured the fabric. A report 
 was made to the barcns by another architect in A. D.
 
 124 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh. 1766, that the church would speedily become ruinous if 
 the new roof was not taken off, as the walls had never been 
 intended for so vast a load. Nothing was done in conse- 
 quence of this report ; and the roof fell in on the 2d De- 
 cember 1768. 
 
 King's The environs of the abbey of Holyroodhouse were for- 
 merly considered as a sanctuary to criminals ; and they 
 still afford an asylum for insolvent debtors. Adjoining 
 to the palace there is an extensive park, first enclosed by 
 James the* Fifth, all of which is a sanctuary. This is a 
 very singular piece of ground to be in the near neighbour- 
 hood of a populous city. It is little else than an assem- 
 blage of rude and lofty hills, rocks, precipices, morasses, 
 and bogs, crowded together into a narrow compass. In 
 the memory of people not long since dead, the level stripe 
 at the foot of the hill, which, from the Duke of York's 
 . having delighted to walk in it, bears the name of the 
 Dttke^s iualky and was covered with tall oaks ; but now 
 there is not a single tree in its whole boundaries. Indeed 
 it is extremely doubtful, if, except at the bottom, there 
 were ever any trees on these hills ; the height of the 
 ground and barrenness of the soil being very unfavourable 
 for their growth. 
 
 St Antho- At no great distance from the palace, at the foot of the 
 By s chapel. g reater ^j]]^ are st m seen> on the summit of a small and 
 
 rugged hill, the ruins of the Chapel and Hermitage of St 
 ANTHONY. The hermitage was a beautiful Gothic build- 
 ing, well suited to the rugged sublimity of the sequestered 
 spot on which it stands. It was 43 feet long, 18 broad, 
 and 18 high. At its west end was a tower, 19 feet square, 
 and about 40 feet high. The whole, however, is passing 
 rapidly into complete decay, though it has still the aspect 
 of a venerable and romantic ruin. 
 
 These hills, over which not only the insolvent debtors
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 125 
 
 residing in the sanctuary/ but the public in general pos- E^nburgh. 
 sess the privilege of rambling at large, form an object of 
 some curiosity. Some sequestered spots are to be found 
 among them which exhibit a portion of the rudeness and 
 solitude of a wild and uncultivated territory, while at the 
 same time they are actually situated not only in the midst 
 of a populous country, but within a mile of 80,000 people. 
 We have already noticed the varied and extensive pros- 
 pects which they afford from different points, too numerous 
 to be mentioned in written dessription. One circumstance, 
 however, ought not to pass unnoticed : This park or col- 
 lection of hills has of late years been subdivided by stone 
 walls of masonry into inclosures of a moderate size. In 
 forming the inclosures, steps or styles have indeed been 
 left for passengers ; but these have been formed in such a 
 manner as to render it at all times difficult, and in windy 
 weather not a little dangerous, to pass from one field into 
 another. Thus the benefit of the park, as a place of ex- , 
 ercise, is in a great measure lost to valetudinarians. In- 
 deed a considerable effort and some courage are necessary 
 to pass the lofty and slippery styles which have been 
 formed over the stone wails most recently erected. 
 
 These hills possess considerable treasures worthy of the 
 investigation of the mineralogist and the botanist. Basaltic 
 columns are to be seen at one spot overhanging a foot-path, 
 that leads from Edinburgh to the village of Duddingston. 
 The rocks chiefly consist of the kind of stone here called 
 whin-stone, which is used for paving the streets,- and which 
 was at one time sent by sea to London for that purpose. Va- 
 rious mineral strata are found below this rock, with speci- 
 mens of jasper and other stones. As a considerable variety 
 of climate exists within this park, which includes some fer- 
 tile valleys, together with a mountain of 700 feet in height, 
 the utmost variety of plants have been discovered in it, 
 both aquatic and alpine, and all intermediate sorts, to the
 
 126 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh, amount of above 400 species. On the south it is bound- 
 Dudding- ed and adorned by a lake, called Budding t ton loch, which 
 oc ' in winter is resorted to bj young men from Edinburgh for 
 the amusement of skating. This lake produces a very exten- 
 sive variety of indigenous plants. The chief uses, however, 
 of these botanic treasures has hitherto been, that by decay 
 and resolution, they form at the bottom of the loch or lake 
 a rich black mud, which constitutes an excellent manure. 
 Strong reeds grow at the west end of the lake in great 
 abundance and luxuriance, and cover above four acres of 
 ground. These have been employed by weavers to sup- 
 ply their looms, and form besides a most valuable thatch 
 for any species of houses ; which, by the strength and 
 hardness of the fibres, resists the attacks of sparrows, mice, 
 and the common vermin which infest and deface straw 
 . roofs. This lake is in summer covered with flocks of 
 coots, which when young form a tolerable variety for the 
 table. They remain till the closing of the ice totally ex- 
 cludes them from the water, when they emigrate to the 
 sea, and return with the first thaw. Wild duck, teal, and 
 water hens, also frequent the lake. Swans, originally im- 
 ported tame, breed in it prolifically, and form one of its 
 picturesque ornaments. The fish which are found in the 
 lake are, pike, perch, and a profusion of eels ; twenty do- 
 zen of which have been killed in an evening by the aid of 
 a barbed spear, trident, or rather sexdent. 
 
 In Edinburgh, as the capital of Scotland, besides a royal 
 palace and park, the whole other remnants or memorials 
 of departed royalty are still found. In the Cowgate the 
 Scottish MINT still exists ; and although money is no 
 longer coined there, the succession of officers of the Mint, 
 who have apartments in it, is still kept up ; but they are 
 now nothing more than sinecure places. A bell is, how- 
 ever, rung by the proper officer at the hours at which the 
 servants of the Mint in former times repaired to their em-
 
 MIDLOTHIAN, 127 
 
 ployment. Within these few years the gates were 
 carefully every evening as in former times, till this prac- 
 tice was complained of as inconvenient by the modern in- 
 habitants. 
 
 There is also a commander in chief, with a suitable stafl^ Military, 
 usually appointed over the army in Scotland ; and he na- 
 turally resides at Edinburgh. There is entrusted to him 
 the command of the whole military force stationed in Scot- 
 land It may also be remarked, that, in addition to the 
 king's troops stationed in the castle, and in barracks to the 
 eastward of the city, there are volunteer corps of inhabi- Volunteer* 
 tants, who have taken up arms for the national defence, 
 and are regularly clothed and disciplined, to the amount of 
 betwixt three and four thousand effective men. One regi- 
 ment of 1100 consists of gentlemen furnishing their own 
 uniform, and receiving no pay, who are all dressed on 
 field days in the finest scarlet. There are also several 
 companies of sharp-shooters elegantly dressed, besides a 
 body of volunteer cavalry. The remainder of the volun- 
 teer corps receive an allowance from government in pro- 
 portion to their attendance ; but the officers in all the corps 
 are gentlemen who serve gratuitously. 
 
 There have been bodies of armed volunteers in Edin- 
 I 
 
 burgh at different periods ; at the revolution, during the 
 rebellion in 1745, and during the American war. On this 
 last occasion they assumed the appellation of the Edin- 
 burgh Defensive Band. In the end of the year 1794, in 
 consequence of the war of the French revolution, the sys- 
 tem was taken up on a more extensive scale. A regiment 
 f gentlemen was formed, and afterwards in 1797 some 
 other regiments of an inferior class of persons were en- 
 rolled and disciplined. During the short interval of tran- 
 quillity under Mr Addington's administration, they were 
 all dismissed, but were again resumed upon the com-
 
 128 MIDLOTHIAN* 
 
 Edinburgh, mencement of -the present war with Bonaparte. The ap 
 pearance of the regiments under arms is accounted not in- 
 ferior to that of the troops of the line ; and there is little 
 doubt that, in case of invasion, providing they were not 
 injudiciously employed in distant firing, which might pro- 
 duce disorder, but brought to the charge aux armes blanches^ 
 without burning gun-powder, their individual sense of cha- 
 racter, together with their personal strength, aided by the 
 coolness and intrepidity natural to northern nations, would 
 render them at least a match for any equal number of men 
 that could be brought against them. 
 
 Court of There exists in Edinburgh, as in former times, a com- 
 ession. pi e t e establishment for the administration of justice. The 
 principal courts of law are three in number : A civil, a cri* 
 minal, and a revenue or exchequer court. The supreme ci- 
 vil court is styled the COURT OF SESSION. This court was 
 established in its present form in 1532. In former times, as 
 Scotland was always in danger of losing its independence 
 by an English invasion, the Scots were accustomed to look 
 for protection and assistance to France j and the institutions 
 of that country were therefore favourite objects of imita- 
 tion. Hence the Court of Session appears to have been 
 instituted, in some measure, after the model of the ancient 
 French parliaments. This court Was appointed to consist 
 of fifteen ordinary judges, seven churchmen, seven lay. 
 men, and a president, whom it behoved to be a church- 
 man. Besides these, the lord chancellor had a right to 
 preside and vote in that court when he thought proper ; 
 and the king might also appoint three or four peers of the 
 realm extraordinary lords, as they were called, with a 
 power to take their seats on the bench, and vote when they 
 thought proper ; a privilege which he never failed to 
 exercise. This part of its constitution was a great nui- 
 sance. Men, ignorant of the laws in general, and unac- 
 quainted with the particular cases in which they interfe-
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 129 
 
 red, who had no salary for their trouble, and who on these 
 accounts could not be expected to attend the court but 
 when instigated by personal interests or political views, 
 were not ashamed to take their places amidst experienced 
 judges, and to thwart the ordinary course of justice. This 
 pernicious part of the institution was abrogated since the 
 accession of the House of Hanover. The judges of this 
 court are now appointed by the crown from among the 
 body of advocates or barristers of at least five, or writers 
 to the signet of ten years standing ; but, in practice, in- 
 stances of the latter being raised to the bench are extremely 
 rare. The court at present consists of a president and 
 fourteen other judges. Each of the fourteen sits for a 
 week alternately in the outer bouse. The judge so sitting 
 is called the lord ordinary ; and except certain causes sup- 
 posed to be of peculiar interest and importance, or to which 
 the law allows unusual dispatch, which can at once be 
 brought before the whole lords, he discusses all the new 
 causes that are put in to the roll during the week that he sits 
 in judgment. These causes are seldom determined upon 
 a single hearing ; and the judge has a power of altering his 
 own sentence as often as he inclines. Each of the lords 
 comes once or oftener in the week to the outer house, to 
 hear pleadings, or give judgment upon those causes which 
 came first before him when he sat as lord ordinary ; and 
 upon which many written cases, or representations as they 
 are called, may have already been laid before him. If the 
 parties do not acquiesce in the lord ordinary's judgment, 
 which in matters of any importance is often the case, ap- 
 plication is made for altering the sentence by a printed pe- 
 tition, which is presented to the whole lords. Besides pe- 
 titions, various printed papers are produced, under the titles 
 of states, cases, proofs, informations, answers, replies, and 
 duplies : yet not notwithstanding these voluminous pa- 
 VOL. I. I
 
 13 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh, pers, the lords will often hear pleadings in the same cause, 
 and these so diffuse as to occupy the court during a whole 
 week, sometimes three weeks. Indeed it is a misfortune 
 attending the mode of conducting business before this court, 
 that its multiplicity is so great as to make it impossible 
 for the judges to do their duty without subjecting them- 
 selves to very slavish drudgery. 
 
 jurisdiction The Court of Session, or, as they are called, the Lords 
 
 of the Court ,. ~ .,,,.. ..,..,. 
 
 of Session, or Council and Session, possess a supreme civil jurisdic- 
 tion, liable, however, since the union, to the review of the 
 House of Lords. This mark of subjection before that pe- 
 riod was not imposed upon them ; for, by the law of Scot- 
 land, no appeal lay from the Court of Session to the Par- 
 liament. They da not judge maritime nor consistorial 
 causes, nor those which are proper to a court of freehold-, 
 ers, or the Lord Lyon in the first instance ; but the decrees 
 of these different courts are subject to their review. They 
 possess a criminal jurisdiction, not only in those matters 
 which may arise incidentally in civil causes, such as per- 
 jury and forgery, but also in the crimes of usury, deforce- 
 ment, or resistance to the officers of the law, wrongous im- 
 prisonment, fraudulent bankruptcy, and others ; and al- 
 though they cannot indeed punish capitally, yet whipping, 
 imprisonment, pillory, and perpetual banishment, are clas- 
 sed among the number of the punishments which they 
 once inflicted. 
 
 Their power is chiefly important upon this account, that 
 they act both as judges and jury ; and that they act at 
 once as a court of law and as a court of equity, not bound 
 by strict forms when they appear inconsistent with justice. 
 In virtue also of a statute, empowering the Court of Ses- 
 sion to make rules for regulating the procedure which oc- 
 curs before them, and for the speedy execution of justice, 
 they exert a kind of legislative authority. By edicts, call-
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 131 
 
 ed acts of sederunt, they npt only regulate the forms of Edinburgh, 
 procedure before the court, but, like the Roman praetors, 
 they declare the principles upon which, in certain cases, 
 they intend to administer justice. Thus, by one of these 
 acts of sederunt, they superseded an express act of parlia- 
 ment, which regulated the mode of removing farmers 
 from their possessions, and established a new mode. By 
 other acts of sederunt, they ordained that all bankrupts 
 should continually wear an upper coat, of which the one 
 half should be of yellow cloth, and the other of brown, 
 and upon their heads a party-coloured cap of the same 
 sort. They understand themselves to be in some measure 
 successors of the Scots privy council, and as entitled to 
 provide a remedy for every evil or irregularity that may 
 occur in society, against which no other provision is made. 
 Accordingly they have frequently fixed the prices of pro- 
 visions, and have given authority to magistrates to compel 
 all inn-keepers and dealers in poultry to declare upon oath 
 at what prices they had sold poultry, dressed or undres- 
 sed ; so that it might be discovered whether the standard 
 prices were conformed to. Upon the death of commissa- 
 ries in the ecclesiastical courts, and of sheriff-deputes, they 
 have been in use to grant commissions to persons to exercise 
 these offices till they were of new filled up by the crown. 
 
 In ancient times, the great defect in the constitution of 
 this court was that, obtaining their places from the crown, 
 and consequently by means of political influence, and 
 amounting at the same time to a considerable number of 
 persons not under the inspection or controul of a jury, the 
 judges were extremely apt to sacrifice the interests of justice 
 to those of their patrons and kindred. Accordingly Bishop 
 Burnet mentions in his time an instance of a nobleman of 
 high rank, who was - ccused of anxiously endeavouring to 
 influence the nomination of the judges of the Court of Ses- 
 
 12
 
 132 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh. s i on? because he had many important law-suits in depen^ 
 dence. Nor does it appear that justice was administered 
 in this court with a complete purity, excepting by the 
 English commissioners during the usurpation, till the le- 
 
 English ju- gislative union between Scotland and England. Here we 
 
 ris;>ru- . , , . . r, 11 ,,. 
 
 dence. cannot avoid taking notice 01 that truly honourable cir- 
 cumstance, which is the highest glory of the English na- 
 tion, and gives them a moral superiority over every other 
 people ; that is, the correct administration of justice which 
 at least in civil causes they at a very early period of their 
 history established in their country. Hence arises their 
 habitual respect for their magistrates, and their fair and 
 equitable conduct in commercial dealings, \\liich ensures 
 at once their prosperity and the tranquillity of their coun- 
 try. Every man acquires an independence, and at the same 
 time a moderation, of character ; the natural result of the 
 persuasion, that he has no other master than law and rea- 
 son, aud that every other upright and industrious man en- 
 joys similar security witli respect to him. This first and 
 most complete of all political blessings the English nation 
 liave gained, not merely for themselves, but they have dif- 
 fused it wherever their influence has extended. And thus 
 they have given rise to a train of prosperity,) not founded 
 upon the character of individual rulers, but upon public 
 and general virtue. It could only be from the circum- 
 stance of their possessing the law of England as their rule 
 for administering justice, that the American states, with 
 scarcely a shadow of political government to controul or 
 influence their, conduct, were enabled, by the mere habit 
 of giving obedience to law and to reason, to pass 'through 
 the late tempestuous period of revolutionary politics free 
 from war abroad or a convulsion at home. It is from the 
 ~ame cause that English colonies almost uniformly and 
 vapidly prosper. No sooner did.Scotland come into com-
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 133 
 
 plete Contact with the English nation by the treaty of Edinburgh, 
 union, and obtain a right of appeal from Scottish courts to 
 a court in which an English judge presided, and in which 
 English lawyers could along with our own appear as prac- 
 titioners, than the spirit of clanship was banished from the 
 Scottish courts : they immediately assumed the character 
 of impartiality which they found to prevail in the supreme 
 court of review. Accordingly, the defects which now ex- 
 ist in the supreme civil court of Scotland seem to be 
 chiefly these, that the office of a judge in it is intolerably 
 laborious, and that the process is somewhat tedicus. 
 
 In England, where a jury, called from among the mass of 
 the people, acts as a constant spy or check upon the judges, 
 and where, in proportion to the extent, the riches, and the 
 population of the country, they are extremely few in num- 
 ber, the judges avoid as far as possible incurring any sort 
 of responsibility, and shelter themselves, either by lea- 
 ving cases to the conscience of the jury, or by taking care, 
 in the opinions which they deliver, to repose upon the 
 authority of their predecessors. When a previous deci" 
 sion can be pointed out, fixing the rule of judgment in any 
 particular question at issue, the eloquence of counsel is 
 from that instant disregarded : and, in the words of Sir 
 George M'Kenzie, the cause is dispatched in an instant, 
 like a hare seized in her den ; because the judge contents 
 himself with getting quit of the matter by stating that to be 
 law which had formerly been called law. If the public are 
 dissatisfied with their law as thus established, they are at 
 liberty to have recourse to the legislature for an alteration. 
 
 In the supreme civil court in Scotland, the judges, who 
 hold their places for life, not being attended by a jury, 
 upon whom to throw the decision, are anxious to prevent 
 their own determinations from becoming suddenly final. 
 They review them with anxiety, and endeavour to render
 
 13* MIDLOTHIAN 1 . 
 
 Edinburgh, them acceptable to the public, from the intelligence and 
 fairness with which they are pronounced. Hence it is 
 probable, that in this court causes are far more carefully 
 investigated, and an ultimate decision pronounced with 
 more correctness and deliberation, than in the southern 
 part of the island ;, but this very circumstance prolongs 
 the discussion, rendering it tedious to the parties and la- 
 borious to the judges. As almost all the cases of any con- 
 sequence, also, are finally decided in a court consisting of 
 fifteen men, who are compelled by statute to deliberate in 
 public, such a number of persons cannot fail to entertain, 
 and frequently to express, contradictory opinions. Hence 
 some people have been< disposed to regard the court as too 
 much resembling a popular assembly, in which precedents 
 are in danger of being rashly undervalued. 
 
 At the same time, as the judges of this court must by 
 its constitution consist of professional men, precedents are 
 respected,, though not in that implicit manner that is done 
 by the English judges under the inspection of a jury, and 
 without the countenance of a numerous court. The deci- 
 sions, therefore, of the Court of Session are quoted in the 
 pleadings of lawyers, and possess considerable authority 
 with the judges ; but they are seldom understood so very 
 completely to decide a case as in England, or to render 
 the efforts of eloquence or of reason utterly unavailing. 
 
 Something similar may be discovered in the judicial 
 establishments of Greece and Rome. In Athensr, the judi- 
 cial authority appears to have been lodged in very nume- 
 rous assemblies of the people ; the consequence of which 
 was, that they had eloquent pleaders, but that their law 
 never grew up,, by a train of precedents, into an establish- 
 ed system of jurisprudence. In a new assembly, under 
 the influence of a new orator or pleader, the principle 
 which had been settled was completely reversed, and
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 135 
 
 laid open for future discussion. In Rome, on the con- Edinburgh. 
 trary, the judicial authority was vested in a single judge, 
 the praetor, or at most in a few prastors. He decided, like 
 the English judges, upon the law, and remitted the fact to 
 the cognisance of arbitrators, of whom a list was annually 
 made up, and who consisted, like the persons liable to serve 
 on English juries, of nearly the whole citizens of unexcep- 
 tionable character. As the praetor, like the English judges, 
 did not always venture to encounter public criticism by 
 deciding questions from his own judgment, but sheltered 
 himself under the opinions of his predecessors in office, 
 the Roman law grew up, like the law of England, into 
 a system of great magnitude and of venerable authority. 
 This had never occurred among the Greeks, for the reason 
 already mentioned, that their crowded tribunals daily 
 overturned what their predecessors had established. 
 
 The supreme civil court in Scotland possesses a mixt 
 character between the Greek and the Roman systems of 
 jurisprudence. The tribunal consists cf professional men^ 
 who are sufficiently few in number to establish by their 
 decisions a system of law possessing considerable influ- 
 ence ; at the same time the judges are sufficiently nume- 
 rous to leave room for the effects of future eloquence, and 
 to prevent the law, upon many points, from becoming ab- 
 solutely fixed and certain. 
 
 The salaries of the judges of this court are not high in 
 proportion to their trouble and their rank. That of the 
 president is at present L. 3000, and of the other judges 
 L. 1280. Such of them as are judges of the criminal 
 court have a further salary on that account. 
 
 The practitioners before this court are, as in England, Practltlon- 
 b'arristers, called advocates, and attorneys, who receive j.^" 
 the appellation of agents or men of business. The advo- 
 cates are persons of liberal education, who undergo exa-
 
 136 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 . 
 Edinburgh, rmnations upon the Scottish and Roman laws : they als'e 
 
 pay upon their admission a sum of money, which has been 
 increased at different periods, and at present, including 
 perquisites to inferior officers^ amounts to nearly L. 170. 
 The agents, who conduct the causes, but are not pleaders, 
 are of different orders. The first class are styled writers 
 Writers to or clerks to his Majesty's signet. They possess the ex- 
 & Ci b ' elusive privilege of writing summonses and other writs 
 which pass in the king's name. They serve an appren- 
 ticeship of five years, paying an apprentice fee of L. 100, 
 and sums to the society of writers to the signet amounting 
 to an additional sum of L. 110. They also undergo an 
 examination at their admission. There is likewise an in- 
 corporated society of solicitors before the supreme courts, 
 who serve an apprenticeship of three years, and pay 
 a moderate sum at their admission. In addition to these, 
 every advocate is entitled to nominate a first clerk, who 
 possesses the privilege of acting as an agent before the 
 court. 
 
 Character It has probably arisen from the competition for respec- 
 l-.- t ^Il raC "tability to which this division into classes or orders has 
 
 tiiioncrs* 9 
 
 given rise, that Scotland has been the first country in mo- 
 dern Europe that has produced a class of practitioners in 
 the secondary department of the law, who are generally 
 considered as possessing uncommon respectability, and are 
 extremely jealous of their personal reputation. The writers 
 to the signet, as a body, precede the others in rank ; but the 
 emulation of personal respectability produces a conside- 
 rable degree of equality in the different orders of practition- 
 ers before this court. The same character also communi- 
 cates itself in a very great degree to the inferior officers of 
 the law, to whom the execution of the decrees of the cotfrt 
 are entrusted, called messengers at arms. We hear much in 
 England of the inhumanity of bailiffs, and of the habitual
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 cruelty of their characters. In Scotland nothing similar is Edinburgh 
 known. Unless on suspicion of a design to fly from the 
 kingdom, no man's person is arrested for a civil debt till af- 
 ter a full discussion in a court of law. The attorney or agent 
 who obtains the decree against him is a man of character, 
 jealous of his own reputation, and who will not rashly be- 
 come accessory to any act of severity. The messenger at 
 arms whom he employs naturally participates in the same 
 sentiments, and considers the laws of humanity as para- 
 mount to every other obligation. If an insolvent debtor 
 is imprisoned, he can compel his creditors, on a surrender 
 of his property, to afford him subsistence in prison ; and, 
 by a formal action, in which he brings proof that the 
 events which occasioned his bankruptcy have not been 
 fraudulent or criminal, and that he has made a fair surren- 
 der of his effects, he may obtain a decree of the Lords of 
 Council and Session, protecting his person, though not his 
 property, against the effect of any prior debts. Thus no 
 practitioner of the law in Scotland, and no judge when 
 compelling fulfilment of civil obligations, is under the ne- 
 cessity of hardening his mind against the feelings of hu- 
 manity ; because he knows that he is not delivering up a 
 human being to the misery of hopeless imprisonment, as 
 is often done under the law of England in similar cases. Court of 
 
 The supreme criminal court of Scotland is called the JU! 
 COURT OF JUSTICIARY. It has a power of reviewing the 
 decisions of all inferior courts ; but it is understood that 
 no appeal lies against its decrees to the House of Lords. 
 Anciently the Justice j4yre y or Court of Justiciary, was 
 the supreme court, civil as well as criminal ; and causes 
 of both kinds were tried in it by juries. It retained its 
 civil jurisdiction some time after the institution of the 
 Court of Session; but it is now abolished. The judges 
 in it formerly were, the Lord Justice General, Justice
 
 138 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh. Clerk, and certain assessors added to them by the privy- 
 council, who were chosen from among persons not versant 
 in the laws, and whose commissions only lasted during 
 the particular trials upon which they were appointed to 
 preside. A constitution so highly improper was altered 
 by Charles II. and the court modelled into its present 
 form. It now consists of the Lord Justice General, who 
 is always a peer of the most distinguished rank or influ- 
 en^e, the Lord Justice Clerk, and four Commissioners of 
 Justiciary, who are also Lords of Session. The office of 
 Lord Justice General bears a similar relation, in the Court 
 of Justiciary, to that of one of the extraordinary lords for- 
 merly in the Court of Session, and, like these too, ought 
 to be abolished, were it not on account of the trial by jury 
 used in this court, which renders the office harmless. 
 
 The judges of this court go on circuit to the principal 
 districts of the country, where they hold courts twice 
 a-year. Upon these circuits they possess a civil juris- 
 diction, by way of appeal, in causes below L. 12 Sterling, 
 
 Form of and in these they proceed without a jury. 
 
 proce ure. j n cr j m i na j trials before this court the peremptory chal- 
 lenge, that is, the power of setting aside jurymen without 
 assigning a reason, is not allowed to the accused party ; 
 but in every other respect the form of procedure is more 
 favourable to him than in England. He must be served a 
 fortnight before his trial with a full copy of the indictment? 
 with a list of the witnesses against him, and of the names 
 of forty-five men, out of whom the jury of fifteen are to 
 be appointed. He is also in every case, contrary to the 
 English law, allowed the assistance of counsel, who, be- 
 sides examining and cross examining the witnesses, have 
 the privilege of addressing the jury after the counsel for 
 the crown has ended. This last privilege, in cases where 
 men little accustomed to judicial procedure are to be ad-
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 139 
 
 dressed upon points of law, and questions relative to 
 import and validity of testimony, is evidently of such im- 
 portance, that an able pleader by means of it might some- 
 times find it no difficult matter to render it almost imprac- 
 ticable to obtain a conviction of the party accused, were 
 it not that its effect is in some measure done away by the 
 liberty allowed to the presiding judge of addressing the 
 jury after the pleadings are closed, and of pointing out 
 any fallacy or sophistry in the train of argument that has 
 been employed. The necessity of doing so, however, is 
 apt to give to strangers an unfavourable impression of the ' 
 character of the judges when compared with that of their 
 brethren in England, where the judge is under the neces- 
 sity of acting as a kind of counsel for the person accused^ 
 on account of his having the assistance of no other counsel. 
 The Scottish practice, however, is incomparably the most 
 favourable for the person standing on his defence ; be- 
 cause the judge, if convinced of his innocence, will not op- 
 pose him ; and there is always a chance that the pleadings 
 of the counsel for the accused party may prevail in the 
 mind of the jnry over the opinion of the judge when gi- 
 ven on the side of condemnation. Court of 
 
 In the COURT OF EXCHEQUER revenue causes alone are exche ^ us * 
 tried. It was established in its present form in conse- 
 quence of the treaty of union, and trials proceed in the 
 English manner. The judges of this court are, the High 
 Treasurer of Great Britain, with a Chief Baron and other 
 four Barons, who must be either Serjeants at law or Eng- 
 lish barristers, or Scottish advocates of five years standing. 
 All may plead before this court who can practise in the 
 Courts of Westminster Hall or in the Court of Session. 
 
 The whole members of these three courts, with the- 
 practitioners before them, constitute an incorporation call- 
 ed the College ofjustice, which was instituted by James
 
 \ MIDLOTHIAN* 
 
 Edinburgh-the Fifth. The judges of the Court of Session are stylecl 
 senators of this college or incorporation. It includes ad- 
 vocates, writers to the signet, agents, the first clerks of 
 advocates, the clerks of the courts, and the attorneys in ex- 
 chequer. The whole members of this incorporation, 
 forming the most wealthy and not the least numerous class 
 of persons in Edinburgh, possess the privilege, as already 
 noticed, of paying no taxes to the city of Edinburgh for the 
 support of the clergy, the city guard, lighting the streets, 
 or any other purpose ; and it will readily be believed that 
 this privilege has greatly contributed to render the police 
 of Edinburgh defective* 
 
 Parliament The three supreme dourts were long accustomed t6 
 meet in the house formerly appropriated to the Scottish 
 parliament, and which was built by the city of Edinburgh. 
 The court of exchequer is now removed to certain apart- 
 ments in the Royal Exchange. The present parliament 
 house, where the courts of session and justiciary sit, was 
 begun A. D. 1631, and completed A. D. 1640 at the ex- 
 pence of L. 11,600 Sterling. The parliament house is 
 built in the shape of the letter L. It is 133 feet long by 
 98 broad in the widest end, and 60 in the narrowest; and, 
 from the singularity of the area on which it is reared, al- 
 though the buildings -be 60 feet high, yet upon the north 
 and east sides, which are the main fronts, it is but about 
 40 feet above ground. The great hall is 122 feet long by 
 49 broad. Over one of its entrances facing the east are 
 the arms of Scotland well cut on stone, with Mercy and 
 Truth on each side for supporters ; and this inscription, 
 Stant bisfelicia regna, importing that these virtues make 
 kingdoms happy ; and under the arms this motto, Unio uni- 
 cnum, relating not only to the union of the tv/o crowns, but 
 signifying that their influence was necessary to the main- 
 tenance of it. The room for the meeting of parliament
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 141 
 
 had on that occasion an high throne for the sovereign or Edinburgh, 
 royal commissioner, with benches on each side for the 
 nobility and bishops, and forms conveniently placed in 
 the middle for the commoners. Without the area there 
 was a pulpit for sermons to the parliament on particular 
 occasions, and behind the pulpit a large partition for others 
 besides the members to hear the sermons and debates of 
 the house, when they thought fit to allow it. It must be 
 observed, that the parliament of Scotland consisted but of 
 one bouse, composed of the three estates, anciently the lords 
 spiritual, the lords temporal, and barons and commission- 
 ers from the boroughs ; but after the revolution, of the 
 lords temporal, the barons or knights of the shire and the 
 boroughs, who sat and voted together. In the east wall 
 of this room is a marble statue of the Lord President For- 
 Les in his robes, erected by the faculty of advocates. 
 The practitioners and others attending the court assemble 
 hsre j and it forms for the city of Edinburgh a kind of 
 public exchange during the session of the courts, at which 
 men of business of all kinds meet. One or more judges 
 sit in different parts of it to decide the causes that come 
 before themselves. Adjoining to this apartment are the 
 rooms for accommodating the whole court of session or 
 inner house, and the court of justiciary. The lowest floor 
 of the parliament house is entirely under ground. It is 
 laid out in six apartments, in which the advocate's library 
 is accommodated. 
 
 The records of the courts of session and justiciary areRegitcrf- 
 preserved in a splendid building called the REGISTER lcd " 
 OFFICE. The public records of Scotland have suffered 
 many disasters. When Edward the First almost subdued , 
 the kingdom, he carried off or destroyed its ancient re- * 
 cords, that no proof or marks of its independence might 
 remain. At a future period, Oliver Cromwell conveyed
 
 142 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh, the greater part of the records then existing to London. 
 Upon the restoration, a vessel carrying back to Scotland a 
 great part of these papers was shipwrecked ; but some 
 that came in other vessels arrived safe. The public ar- 
 chives being in general preserved in apartments under 
 ground, or in wooden buildings, the Earl of Morton, then 
 lord register of Scotland, to avoid the danger of this mode 
 of preservation, obtained by a grant from his Majesty 
 L. 12,000 Sterling out of the money arising from the for- 
 feited estates, to be applied towards erecting, upon a plan 
 that should render it indestructible by fire, a building 
 in which the national records might be safely preserved. 
 The sum granted having lain at interest for nine years, 
 a plan of a building was made out by Robert Adam, Esq. 
 architect ; and the foundation-stone was laid on the 27th 
 of June 1774 by Lord Frederick Campbell, lord register. 
 This ceremony was performed under a discharge of can- 
 non, in presence of the lord provost and magistrates, the 
 judges of the courts of session and exchequer, and a vast 
 crowd of spectators. 
 
 This is accounted by far the most beautiful of Mr 
 Adam's designs. It has been correctly executed, and fi- 
 nished with beautiful hewn stone. It is situated at the 
 east end of Prince's Street, 40 feet back from the line of 
 the street, and looks along the North Bridge. The front 
 is in length from east to west 200 feet, and the breadth of 
 the building is 120 feet, including the diameter of the 
 dome. What is built is only one half of the plan intend- 
 ed. In the centre is a large dome 50 feet in diameter, ai:d 
 SO in height. At each corner of the front is a little pro- 
 jection with a Venetian window ; and on the top a beau- 
 tiful stone ballustrade, with a small cupola. In the mid- 
 dle is another projection, three windows in breadth, and 
 four Corinthian pilasters, supporting a pediment, within
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 143 
 
 which there is a representation, in a composition, of the Edinburgh, 
 arms of Great Britain. The front is ornamented with a 
 fine entablature of the Corinthian order. The dome is 
 lighted from the top by a window 15 feet diameter, the 
 frame of which is of copper. The roof is divided into com- 
 partments richly ornamented with plaster of Paris work. 
 In the walls within are numerous arched divisions, dispo- 
 sed into presses, for holding the records ; the access to which 
 is by a gallery that encircles the whole building. Under 
 the dome there has lately been erected an elegant marble 
 statue of his present Majesty by the Hon. Mrs Darner. 
 
 There are two elegant stair-cases leading to the various 
 chambers, where the records are kept and the apartments 
 for the clerks. The number of these divisions, when the 
 plan is completed, exclusive of passages, stair-cases, and 
 water-closets, is ninety-seven, which are all arched be- 
 low and accommodated with fire-places. 
 
 There is also established at Edinburgh an ADMIRALTY Admiralty 
 COURT ; the judge of which has the power of appointing 00 
 deputies. His decrees are subject to the review of the 
 court of session in civil, and to that of the court of justi- 
 ciary in criminal cases. He has a jurisdiction in all ma- 
 ritime causes ; and by prescription he has acquired a ju- 
 risdiction in mercantile causes not maritime. He is decla- 
 red by statute to be his Majesty's justice-general upon 
 the seas, and in all creeks, harbours, and navigable rivers, 
 beneath the first bridge. 
 
 The COMMISSARY COURT of Edinburgh was instituted Commls- 
 by Queen Mary, and is the general consistorial court for sary court * 
 Scotland. It consists of four judges, nominated by the 
 crown from among the faculty of advocates. It has an 
 universal jurisdiction in questions of marriage and divorce, 
 and reviews the decrees of local commissary courts. ' Be- 
 sides its universal, it has a local jurisdiction over Edin-
 
 144 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh, burgh and the four adjacent counties on the south side of 
 the Forth. Its nature is to sanction the appointment of 
 executors, and to ascertain debts contracted relating to the 
 last illness and funeral charges of persons deceased, or ob- 
 ligations arising from testaments, or claims dfc persons re- 
 quiring aliment out of the effects of a person deceased. It 
 decides in actions of scandal, and upon all debts which do 
 not exceed L.40. 
 
 I>yon court. The L.YON COURT was anciently of much importance. 
 The Lord Lyon, king at arms, was an officer of high rank 
 and antiquity. His oflice and station in Scotland are si- 
 milar to that of garter king at arms in England. At the 
 coronation of his present Majesty, the lord lyon and gar- 
 ter king at arms walked abreast immediately preceding 
 the lord great chamberlain of England. Of old the lord 
 lyon was employed in carrying public messages to foreign 
 states ; and it is still his province to assist at declaring 
 war, proclaiming peace, &c. He derives his name from 
 the lion rampant, the armorial bearing of the Scottish 
 kings, which he bears on his variegated robes. He was 
 anciently installed into his office with the ceremony of a 
 coronation. The officers serving under the lord lyon are, 
 heralds, pursuivants, and messengers at arms. It is the 
 business of the last of these to execute all summonses be- 
 fore the court of session, to apprehend the persons of 
 debtors, and, in general, to perform the executive parts of 
 the law. It is the province of the lord lyon to adjust 
 matters of precedency, to marshal persons walking in pub- 
 lic procession, to inspect the coats of arms of the nobility 
 and gentry, to punish those who assume arms not their due, 
 to bestow coats of arms upon persons deserving, to grant 
 supporters to peers, or other persons of distinguished rank, 
 and to take cognisance of offences committed by messen- 
 gers at arms in the course of their office.
 
 illDLOTHIAK. 145 
 
 The office of lord lyon is now held as 1 sinecure, 
 the business is committed to deputies, who exercise a ju- 
 risdiction over messengers *.t arms, to the effect of depri- 
 ving them o^ their office ; bat the business of heraldry ha- 
 ving now fallen into disrepute, genealogies are said to have 
 been sometimes enrolled in the books of the lyon court, 
 and coats of arms granted, in a very negligent manner. 
 
 Edinburgh being the chief town of the county is the Sheriff 
 seat of a SHERIFF COURT. The Sheriff was -anciently"' 
 the king's lieutenant, and enjoyed an extensive jurisdiction 
 both civil and criminal ; but of late years a separate lord 
 lieutenant is appointed, who with his deputies takes the 
 management of military affairs. In former times, the sheriff 
 reviewed the decrees of the baron courts within his terri- 
 tories. He mustered those military companies, or bodies 
 of militia, whose exercises were known by the name of 
 weapon sbanuirtgs. He received, and still continues to 
 receive, from the collectors within his dis$ict, the old 
 royal revenues, which he pays into the exchequer. iJe 
 summons a jury of forty-five persons, out of whom the 
 court of justiciary selects fifteen to sit upon trials held be- 
 fore them. He returns, as member of parliament for the 
 county, the person having a majority of suffrages upon the 
 roll of freeholders. He establishes, by the assistance of 
 a jury, the Jiars y or rates which must be paid for grain 
 fhat ought to be delivered when no precise price is stipu- 
 lated. He has a civil jurisdiction, which, however, does 
 not extend to contests for the property of landed estates ; 
 and a criminal one in cases of theft and other crimes of 
 lesser moment. The office is now exercised by a judge call- 
 ed the sheriff-depute and by his substitutes. The sheriff- 
 depute is appointed by the crown. He must be a member 
 of the faculty of advocates of at least three years standing. 
 
 Besides these courts there is annually held at Edinburgh 
 VOL. I. K
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh. a representative assembly called the CONVENTION OF 
 Convention ROYAL BOROUGHS. In ancient times the judgments of 
 boroug s^ ma gi s t ra t es o f boroughs were liable to the review of 
 the chamberlain of Scotland and his court of the four bo- 
 roughs. This was an officer of great dignity and exten- 
 sive jurisdiction. He kept the accounts of the royal re- 
 venues and expences ; and he held circuits, or chamberlain 
 ayres (as they were called), in the different boroughs, for 
 the purpose of reviewing the decrees- of the magistrates,, 
 of hearing complaints against them for mismanagement of 
 the public revenue, and for regulating the police ; but the 
 decrees of the chamberlain were themselves liable to be 
 reviewed by the court of the four boroughs. This court,, 
 in which the chamberlain presided,, was composed of cer- 
 tain burgesses of the towns of Edinburgh, Stirling, Ber- 
 wick, and Roxburgh, who were appointed to meet annu- 
 ally at Haddington, to decide, as a court of the last re- 
 sort, upon appeals taken from the chamberlain ayres, aud- 
 io deliberate and determine upon all matters respecting 
 the common welfare of any of the royal boroughs. When, 
 the office of chamberlain was suppressed, the power of 
 reviewing the decrees of magistrates of boroughs was left 
 to the ordinary courts of law. The management of the 
 funds, or property of the boroughs, was left without con- 
 troul ; a circumstance which has given rise to many dis- 
 putes in- Scotland ; but the power which the chamberlain, 
 and his court exercised of regulating matters respecting the 
 welfare of the boroughs, was transferred to the. convention 
 of royal boroughs. 
 
 This court was instituted in the reign, of King James 
 the Third, and appointed to be held yearly at Inverkei- 
 thing. It does not appear, however, from the records of 
 the convention, that it met earlier than the year 1552. By 
 a. statute of James the Sixth, this convention was appoint-
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 141 
 
 ed to meet four times in the year in any borough they Edinburgh. 
 thought proper ; and, to avoid confusion, it was ordained 
 that only one commissioner should appear for every bo- 
 rough except Edinburgh, which should have two. By a 
 subsequent statute, a majority of the boroughs, or the city 
 of Edinburgh with any other six, were empowered to call 
 a convention as oft as they thought proper ; and all the 
 other boroughs were obliged to attend it under a penalty. 
 
 The powers of the convention relate chiefly to the esta-i 
 blishment of regulations concerning trade and manufac- 
 tures ; and, in particular, they have repeatedly renewed A 
 kind of commercial treaty with the town of Campvere in 
 the Dutch province of Zealand. As the royal boroughs 
 pay a sixth part of the Scottish land-tax, the convention 
 is empowered to consider the state of trade in the indivi- 
 dual boroughs, and to proportion their share of the land-tax 
 accordingly. Like all other political bodies, this conven- 
 tion has at times attempted to extend its powers. They have 
 attempted to assume the important power of regulating 
 and altering the political constitutions of the boroughs, of 
 judging in all questions between boroughs, and between 
 burgesses among themselves, or concerning the election of 
 the magistrates, or their management of the public reve- 
 nues or other concerns. But upon the most important of 
 these points their authority has been restrained by the 
 courts of law. 
 
 In Edinburgh, as the capital of Scotland, are held the General As- 
 
 meetings of the supreme ecclesiastical court, called the semb 'y f , 
 
 the church. 
 
 GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE CHURCH. It consists of re- 
 presentatives from all the ecclesiastical bodies in Scotland, 
 and also from the royal borough's ; a considerable majority 
 of which members are clergymen in orders : the rest 
 are laymen, who have been created in some parish what 
 is called ruling elders ; a term expressive of their being 
 
 K2
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh, laymen or lay elders, and not clergymen, who are teaching 
 elders. This representative body, to which the king an- 
 n.u.aUy sends a nobleman as his representative, under the 
 appellation, of high commissioner, was once of great politi- 
 cal importance ; but in consequence of a variety of cir- 
 cumstances, it has of late become very manageable, and is 
 of little weight. At the close of this work we shall give 
 an account of the singular republican constitution of which 
 it is the head. 
 
 Leith. t^iT^isthe port of Edinburgh. It stands at the mouth 
 of a small river of that name, and appears to have been an- 
 ciently called Inverleith. This word Inver, prefixed to 
 the name of a river, is a frequent appellation in Scotland 
 of a town near the mouth of the river, or its confluence 
 with another river. It is said to be of Gaelic derivation. 
 The field of etymology, however, is. very wide, and al- 
 ways leaves room for conjecture. In the present in- 
 stance, for example, it is just as probable that the word 
 Inver is of French as of Gaelic derivation. It may im- 
 ply that the town is adjacent (envers} to the river. The 
 Harbour is formed by the conflux of the Water of Leith 
 with the sea. The depth of the water at the mouth 
 of the harbour is at neap tides about nine,, but in high 
 spring tides about sixteen feet. It is entirely a tide har- 
 bour ; the water in the river being too trifling to give 
 any important aid towards the navigation. About the be- 
 ginning of the late century, the magistrates of Edinburgh 
 improved, the harbour at a great expence, by extending a 
 stone piqr to a considerable distance into the sea. In the 
 year 1117 they farther improved it by erecting an addi- 
 tional stone quay towards its west side. It is accommo- 
 dated with wet and dry docks, and other, conveniences for 
 ship-building, which is there carried on, to some extent ; 
 and vessels come hither to be repaired 
 quarters of the East coast of Scotland.
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 149 
 
 Leith consists of two parishes, called South and North Edinburgh. 
 Leith, from their situation upon different sides of the ri- 
 ver. In South Leith, the greatest part of the town is in- 
 eluded ; and also a considerable country district extending 
 southwards towards Arthur Seat, and including the an- 
 cient parish of Restalrig. South Leith contains in its South 
 suburbs many fine houses belonging to wealthy merchants, el * 
 and one or two streets, of this description ; but in general 
 the town is laid out in an irregular form with narrow 
 streets and lanes, which are usually extremely dirty. As 
 Leith has at all times been dependent upon Edinburgh, its 
 police and other public affairs have been ill conducted- 
 The only market for butcher's meat is a spot which aij 
 individual has appropriated to that purpose with a view to 
 derive profit from letting the stalls in it. Leith is also 
 extremely ill accommodated with regard to fresh water. 
 The water in the wells is neither good nor abundant ; and 
 the inhabitants have never adopted any rational plan for 
 supplying themselves from a distance. Maitland men- 
 tions, that in his time, about the year 1750, they levied 
 money by a voluntary contribution, and brought water in 
 a leaden pipe of an inch and a half Itore from a lake in the 
 parish, called Lochend. This lake is about 500 yards i 
 length, and half as much in breadth. It is of considerable 
 depth, and is said to abound in perches, pikes, and eels. 
 The water of it, however, was never good, 'for a reason 
 remarked by Maitland, that it seems to be supplied, net 
 by springs, but merely by the rain and snow which fall 
 upon the neighbouring fields ; the water from which 
 merely stagnates in this piece of low ground. When the. 
 great improvements, by means of the bridges, were car- 
 rying on in Edinburgh, the people of Leith contributed 
 to the expence of these works, on condition that they 
 should receive a share of the new supply of water that
 
 156 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh, was about to be brought into Edinburgh ; but, as they 
 were to receive no water till Edinburgh was fully sup- 
 plied, when they were to obtain the superfluity, they 
 were necessarily disappointed ; as it could scarcely hap- 
 pen that a large city like Edinburgh, which was rapidly 
 increasing, should ever be found to have too much water, 
 Maitland had suggested to the people of Leith the pro- 
 priety of bringing their water in pipes from a plentiful 
 spring at the foot of the rocks of Arthur Seat and Salis- 
 bury Craigs ; but they had disregarded this judicious pro- 
 posal. The same advice was renewed to them at the 
 time the South Bridge of Edinburgh was building, by the 
 late Earl of Haddington, to whom the right of pasturage 
 of these mountains hereditarily belongs ; and his Lord- 
 ship offered to consent, gratuitously, to their using the 
 springs and cutting the ground for this purpose. But the 
 town-council of Edinburgh had sufficient influence to 
 prevail with the people of Leith to trust to the hope of 
 obtaining a supply of water from Edinburgh. The con- 
 sequence was, that after laying pipes to Edinburgh, they 
 got no water, and were under the necessity of remaining 
 contented with the bad water of Lochend. This water is 
 growing daily worse, and must probably soon be altogether 
 pernicious and unfit for use. Much bad water from the 
 suburb called Quarry Holes already passes into it ; and if 
 the city should extend in that direction, it will be impos- 
 sible to prevent the natural declivity of the soil from con, 
 veying towards it much rain water from the streets. 
 Restalrig. South Leith has a parish church, in which the cure is 
 served by two clergymen. As Leith once formed a part 
 of the estate of Logan of Restalrig, it was situated in that 
 parish. The ruins of the church of Restalrig are still to 
 be seen about a mile to the eastward of Edinburgh. This 

 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 151 
 
 -church was founded b j James the Third in honour of the Edinburgh. 
 Trinity and the Virgin Mary, and was endowed by the 
 three succeeding monarchs. It was furnished with a dean, 
 nine prebendaries, and two singing boys. The building was 
 highly ornamented with statuary and sculpture, represent- 
 ing the objects of religious worship. When the General 
 Assembly of the -church, in 1650, zealously ordered all 
 churches to be purified of the relicts of popery, a report 
 was made to them by a committee, that it would be im- 
 possible to accomplish the object with regard to this 
 church without injuring the fabric ; upon which the Ge- 
 neral Assembly ordered it to be pulled down, and entirely 
 demolished, as a monument of idolatry ! Some fragments 
 of the walls, however, still remain. The church -yard is 
 still sometimes used as a burying place. In the middle 
 of it there is a spacious vault of a circular figure, with 
 yew trees on its - top, which was originally the family 
 vault oi Logan of Restalrig, and now belongs to tlie Earl 
 of Murray. In consequence of the zealous mandate of 
 the General Assembly, the inhabitants of South Leith 
 resorted for worship to the chapel of St Mary, which 
 was afterwards declared by authority of parliament to 
 be the parish church of the district. It is a spacious 
 handsome building, and is kept in good order. As it was 
 found insufficient for the inhabitants, they erected, in 1172, 
 a chapel of ease for a clergyman upon the establishment 
 of the church of Scotland. The officiating clergyman is 
 nominated by his audience, and his salary is paid by means 
 of the rents of the seats in the chapel. The dimensions of 
 this building within the walls are 72 feet by 52. 
 
 There is also an episcopal chapel at Leith ; and, as in 
 all towns of any consequence in Scotland, there are some 
 meetings of presbyterian dissenters. 
 
 Leith, being a dependency of Edinburgh, has no other 
 
 .v^nv-^V'K "... -y -
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh public buildings of any Importance excepting a prison, at 
 which a guard is usually stationed from the regiment upon 
 duty for the time in the castle of Edinburgh ; and a cus- 
 tom-house for the sake of the trade at the port : neither 
 pf which buildings are at all remarkable. 
 
 jncorpora- Mary of Lorrain, queen dowager and regent of Scot- 
 
 JLeith. fend, divided the inhabitants of Leith into four classes, 
 and erected them into incorporations. These were the 
 mariners, maltmen, trades, and traffickers. The first of 
 these consisted of ship-masters an$ sailors ; the second, of 
 malt-makers and brewers ; the third, of coopers, smiths, 
 bakers, wrights, &.c. ; and the fourth, of merchants and 
 shop-keepers. Of these incorporations, that of the ma-, 
 riners now makes the principal figure, in consequence of 
 their possessing considerable funds, and of their occa- 
 sional interference in the regulation of affairs relative to 
 navigation. Opposite to South Leith church there is a 
 large house belonging to them, called the Trinity House, 
 from its having anciently been an hospital dedicated to the 
 Holy Trinity. Some of their poor were formerly kept 
 here ; but they have adopted the more judicious mode of 
 supporting them as out-pensioners. 
 
 Leith Bank Of late years the principal merchants of this town hav* 
 established a banking house, called the Leitb Banking Com~ 
 pany, for the accommodation of each other, and of persons; 
 engaged in trade. The company issues notes fpr small sums 
 payable to the bearer, and does business to a considerable 
 extent. This company is at present erecting a stately and 
 elegant building to be used as a banking house. The Bri- 
 tish Linen Company has also a branch established here. 
 
 South Leith is joined to North Leith by a draw-bridge 
 thrown across the harbour. Formerly the connection wa^ 
 formed somewhat higher up the river by a stone bridge 
 9.f three arches, which appears to have been founded by 
 Robert Ballantyne, abbot othe monastery of Holyrood?
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 house, abppt the year 1403. North Leith originally be- Edinburgh, 
 longed to the parish of Holyroodhouse ; but in the year 
 1630 a part of the parish of St Cuthbert's was annexed to 
 it, and it was made a separate parish. This parish con- North 
 sists of about 170 acres, and includes the villages of North 
 Leith and Newhaven. It is in the parish of North Leith 
 that it has been thought practicable or advantageous to ex- 
 tend the harbdur of Leith j and accordingly very extensive 
 works for that purpose are now carrying on, though with 
 what success time only can determine. In the meanwhile, 
 however, they threaten to produce the dangerous effect of 
 augmenting the bar at the mouth of the old harbour, by 
 means of a depositation of sand, which, within these two 
 years has been made there by the action of the tides. Thi* 
 accumulation of sand has already considerably narrowed the 
 entrance to the harbour. At Newhaven, which is about half 
 a mile to the westward, and is a small fishing village, the 
 water upon the coast is deeper than at Leith. Hitherto the 
 passage boats from Midlothian to Fife, and which belong- 
 to Kinghorn in Fife, have sailed from Leith across the 
 Frith to the harbour of Pitcur near Kinghorn. This pas-i 
 sage has always been found extremely inconvenient, on 
 account of its being interrupted many hours every day in 
 consequence of the tide retiring from Leith. It has there- 
 fore been resolved to remove the passage to Newhaven on 
 the side of Midlothian, where no such inconvenience caa 
 exist ; and to Burntisland on the opposite coast, which is 
 an excellent harbour. With this view a high road h| 
 been opened from Edinburgh directly to Newhaven, in-, 
 stead of the circuitous road by Leith j and a bridge ha 
 been thrown over the Water of Leith at the point where 
 this road crosses it. 
 
 North Leith has a parish church ; an old building now 
 about to be pulled dowg,. A part of it was anciently call.,
 
 154 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh. ec } the Chapel of St Ninians, and was, like a part of the pa- 
 rish, a dependency othe abbey of Holyroodhouse. The 
 Citadel most remarkable object, however, in North Leith is the ci- 
 tadel, or remains of a fortification erected there by Oliver 
 Cromwell. The traces are to be seen of some of the bas- 
 tions, together with a strong gate, which still forms the en- 
 try to the buildings called the Citadel. After the restora- 
 tion, the fortifications were in a great measure demolished ; 
 and the site of them granted to the Duke of Lauderdale, 
 then Time minister for Scotland to Charles II. To gra- 
 tify the rapacity of this unprincipled minister or favourite, 
 the T'-wn-Council of Edinburgh, in the year ltio'3, were 
 tinder the necessity of purchasing the area of the fortifica- 
 tions at the price of L. 6000 Sterling ; at that period in 
 Scotland an enormous sum of money, and sufficient to 
 have purchased a \ery lau'e 1 1< d estate. 
 
 Battery. Towards the close of the American war, in conse- 
 quence of an alarm occasioned by the appearance of Paul 
 Jones in the Frith with three armed vessels, a battery of 
 nine guns was erected to the westward of the citadel for 
 the purpose of defending the harbour of Leith. A party 
 of artillery constantly reside at this battery, which is kept 
 in excellent order ; and of late a considerable park of ar- 
 tillery has been stationed here. 
 
 Newhaven. In consequence of the superior depth of water at New- 
 haven, it might probably have proved a successful rival to 
 the harbour of Leith, 'ad not such an event been prevent- 
 ed in early times by the influence of the city of Edin- 
 burgh, and more lately in consequence of the difficulty 
 of removing the great establishments or houses and ware- 
 houses of merchants which have been fixed at Leith. 
 James the Fourth erected at Newhaven a yard or dock 
 for ship-building, and a harbour for the reception of ves- 
 sels ; and it then received its present appellation. A cha-
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 155 
 
 pel was also erected and dedicated to the Virgin Mary Edinburgh, 
 and St James. The people of Edinburgh, having be- 
 come apprehensive that this port might prove prejudicial 
 to their harbour of Leith, purchased it from King James 
 the Fifth, which necessarily prevented its further improve- 
 ment. The chapel fell into ruin after the reformation ; 
 but its area is still used as a burying ground by the inha- 
 bitants. 
 
 On the side of North Leith the sea, or Frith of Forth, Encroach- 
 has a great tendency to encroach upon the land ; and to ^ nt 
 resist its farther progress, it has of late been found neces- 
 sary to erect very powerful bulwarks of stone. In the 
 year 1595, the Links, or level ground adjoining to New- 
 haven, and betwixt that village and Leith, were let at a 
 yearly rent of six merks Scottish money, and in the same 
 year the Links of South Leith were let at thirty merks. 
 The Links of Newhaven must therefore have been one 
 fifth of the dimensions of those of Leith, which form a 
 very extensive territory ; whereas at present the Links 
 between North Leith and Newhaven have totally disap- 
 peared. A road has only been preserved at a great ex- 
 pence ; and what must formerly have been a plain of con- 
 siderable magnitude is nothing more than a waste, which 
 is twice daily flooded by the tide, and is thickly strewed 
 with fragments of stone, from around which the mould or / 
 soil has been completely washed away. 
 
 Edinburgh can in no respect be considered as a manu- Mar.ufac- 
 facturing town ; a circumstance which greatly limits the tures> 
 commerce of the port of Leith ; because no cargoes can 
 here be procured to carry abroad to those countries from 
 which goods are imported. Notwithstanding that this is 
 true in general, several commodities are prepared in this 
 city and its neighbourhood to a considerable extent in parti- 
 cular branches. The most remarkable of these is the distil.
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh, lation of ardent spirits from grain ; a most pernicious art, 
 which has been carried to higher perfection in Scotland 
 than anywhere else in the world. The Earl of Lauder- 
 dale, in his Inquiry into the Nature and Origin of Public 
 Wealth, observes, " That the progress made of late years 
 in Scotland in the art of distilling spirits, affords a strong 
 illustration and example of the vast resources of human 
 ingenuity in abridging labour by mechanical contrivances. 
 
 " In the year 1785, a proposal was made to collect the 
 duty on the manufacture of spirits in Scotland by way of 
 licence, to be paid annually for every still according to its 
 size, at a fixed rate per gallon, in lieu of all other duties. 
 
 *' The London distillers, men the most experienced in 
 their profession, who agreed to the rate of the licence on 
 the gallon, supposed to be equivalent to the former duties, 
 declared themselves from experience satisfied, that the 
 time for working stills with benefit was limited to an ex- 
 tent perfectly well known, and that whoever exceeded 
 these limits would infallibly lose upon his materials and 
 the quality of the goods what he gained in point of time j 
 and in conformity to their opinion, the duty was, in the 
 year 1786, settled upon the supposition that stills could; 
 be discharged about seven times a- week. 
 
 ** Two years after this, in a memorial presented to the 
 lords commissioners of the treasury, the same men alleged, 
 that the Scottish distillers had, by the ingenuity of their 
 contrivances, found means to discharge their stills upwards 
 of forty times a-week : And we since know, from a re- 
 port made to the lords commissioners of the treasury in 
 the year 1799, that a forty-three gallon still was brought 
 to such a degree of perfection as to be discharged at the 
 rate of once in two minutes and three quarters, which is 
 almost twenty-two times in an hour. It appears from 
 this report, that the operation of distillation was capable
 
 151 
 
 of being performed in a still shorter time, and that the Edinburgh, 
 quality of the spirit was nowise injured by the rapidity of 
 the operation." 
 
 It is indeed a singular circumstance to see in the vtci- On Scotch 
 nity of Edinburgh, in different places, vast piles of build- 
 ing, consisting of immense granaries, with great works 
 for carrying on the different operations of malting, mash- 
 ing, and fermenting enormous quantities of grain ; and aH 
 this in subserviency to a single pot of a moderate size, 
 which is used as a still. The whole art of distilling with 
 that prodigious rapidity to which the Scottish- distillers 
 have attained depends upon this simple principle, that wa- 
 ter or any other liquid is heated or brought to the boiling 
 point and evaporated with a rapidity proportioned to the 
 shallowness of the liquor. This consideration^, as an. im- 
 portant practical truth, appears to have been first eSecto- 
 ally and completely understood by the Scottish distillers; 
 and in proportion as government increased the duty upon 
 stills, they made their stills broader, and the liquor ia 
 them shallower : So that, by running off or forming the 
 spirits with prodigious rapidity, they paid no more duty 
 upon the liquor which they produced when government 
 imposed L. 108 upon every gallon that a still could con- 
 tain, than they had formerly done when, a tax of L. 3 per 
 gallon was imposed, or even than they did when the duty 
 was only 30s. The still now resembles a large frying 
 pan of three or four inches in depth, with the cover so ad- 
 apted as to allow the exhaling spirits very freely to. ascends 
 Afire of prodigious intensity is kept constantly below the 
 still. That the fermented ale in the still may not burn, 
 and thereby give a bad taste: to the. spirits, it is constantly 
 stirred by an apparatus^ whereby metal chains ace. dragged 
 along and around the whole bottom of the still. There, is 
 also a somewhat, similar apparatus, for breaking the- froth
 
 158 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh. O r scum w hen the liquor in the still reaches the boiling 
 point. These two sorts of stirring apparatus or tools work 
 within the still, but are moved by means of handles which 
 communicate with the open air by very tight apertures. 
 , The still must not be allowed, to become dry fo^ a moment } 
 as in this case, not only would the spirits be tainted with a 
 burnt flavour, but from the intensity of the fire under it, the 
 copper bottom would instantly be brought into fusion and 
 destroyed. Hence the most correct attendance is necessary, 
 that before the still is completely emptied, new liquor 
 may be admitted. No rectifying still is used ; but the 
 spirits, after being formed by a first distillation, are again 
 thrown into the still, and are understood to come off suffi- 
 ciently pure. They come over in a full and rapid stream. 
 
 Distillation After all, it is believed that this art has scarcely yet reach- 
 ed its ultimate degree of perfection. On the 2d of August 
 1802, Mr Charles Wyatt of London appears to have ob- 
 tained a patent for conducting the process of distillation by- 
 forcing the steam of boiling water through jhe liquor in- 
 tended to be distilled. From the description given of 
 his process, the patentee does not appear to have exerci- 
 sed it practically, or to have carried it to any perfection ; 
 but there is no doubt that it is capable of being improved 
 in such a way as in all probability to supersede the or^ 
 dinary mode of distillation. In autumn 1801, that is, 
 about eleven months previous to the date of the patent, 
 the editor of this Work applied this mode of distillation 
 to the formation of volatile alkali, and found it to succeed 
 admirably. Its advantages, when applied to the distilla- 
 tion of ardent spirits, would be these, that it would super- 
 sede the necessity of that dexterous management, which in 
 the present process is necessary to avoid burning the li-. 
 quor, and to prevent the foulness of the still. With a 
 moderate expence of fuel, it allows the process to be con-
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 159 
 
 ducted with the utmost possible rapidity. No pernicious Edinburgh. 
 accident can ever occur from the negligence of servants. 
 The still may even be formed of a wooden vessel ; and all 
 the operations of stirring the liquor and breaking the 
 froth are avoided. Last of all, the quality of the spirits is 
 secured, so 'as to be at all times the best possible, on ac- 
 count of the moderate heat employed in their formation. 
 
 The distilleries belonging to Edinburgh are three : One 
 belongs to Mr Stein at Canon Mills ; and two are con- 
 ducted by two brothers, Messrs Haig, the one at Lochrin 
 near the Meadow, and the other upon the Water of Leith 
 below Canon Mills. 
 
 From this pernicious though ingenious manufactory we Brewerie* 
 willingly turn to one of a more advantageous nature, 
 which for the welfare of the community, it were much to 
 be wished could supersede the former ; that is to say, the 
 trade of brewing ale, which has of late years been carried 
 to great perfection in Edinburgh. Formerly a brewer, 
 who had established his works in the southern district at 
 the Pleasance, Mr Bell, was more celebrated than any 
 other in Scotland for the preparation of malt liquor ; but 
 his ale had the fault of being extremely intoxicating. Mr 
 Giles of Leith afterwards acquired great reputation for 
 preparing ale of uncommon beauty, capable of being pre- 
 served for a long period. It is understood, however, to 
 be chiefly acceptable to persons of a peculiar taste, on ac- 
 count of its bitterness, arising it is supposed from the large 
 quantity and strong boiling of the hops used in its prepa- 
 ration. But the ale which has acquired the highest repu- 
 tation, and is now bought up with great avidity in Lon- 
 don and other distant markets, is that prepared by two 
 brothers who carry on business separately, Messrs Young- 
 er. When properly managed, this ale is as transparent as 
 Sherry, without froth or sediment, and of such a moderate
 
 166 
 
 MIDLOTHIAN 1 . 
 
 Candles 
 and soap. 
 
 Edinburgh. degree of astringency or bitterness as to be universally 
 acceptable. It were well that, in consequence of its grow- 
 ing celebrity and popularity, it could find its way into ge- 
 neral use among the lower class of people to the exclusion 
 of ardent spirits. A most gross and even immoral error in 
 legislation was unfortunately committed in the budget of the 
 yeal803 ; by which heavy duties were imposed upon malt 
 and ale, while at the same time ardent spirits Were taxed 
 proportionally with great mildness. An error of this sort 
 is- truly a misfortune to the community ; as it discourages 
 a growing manufacture of a most valuable sort, and gives 
 encouragement to one which an enlightened and virtuous 
 government would labour to destroy. 
 
 Candles and soap are manufactured in Edinburgh and 
 Leith to a considerable extent. It would seem, however, 
 that in those parts of the country in which the ingenuity 
 of men- is chiefly directed towards the acquisition of 
 wealth by means of manufactures, greater skill is attain- 
 ed in arranging the different branches, or conducting the 
 detail of business. It is certain at least, that although 
 the soap 'manufacturers of Paisley must come to Leith 
 to purchase their materials ; yet they for many years 
 have been able to supply the public with soap of a su- 
 perior quality, or at least of a- superior appearance, to 
 that prepared at Leith, and to sell it in Edinburgh at the 
 same prices. 
 
 It is now about half a century since a house for baking 
 sugar Was established at Edinburgh, and another at Leith. 
 A manufactory has also long been carried on in Leith, 
 which consists of the preparation of different sorts of glass; 
 In the middle of the century before last, chopiri Bottles 
 were sold at 4s. 6d. per dozen, and other bottles in pro- 
 portion. Soon afterwards this article was begun to be 
 manufactured in North LeitH, where chopiii' bottles 
 
 Sugar ba 
 king.
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. , 16i 
 
 sold, A. D. 1707, at 2s. 6d. per dozen, and so pf opor- Edinburgh, 
 tionably. The present old Bottle House Company was N 
 established A. D. 1746. They began to work in the 
 bottle-house at North Leith ; but it being burnt down du- hisH 
 ring the first year of the partnership, the company, in the 
 year 1747, built a new brick -house on the sands of South 
 Leith ; and the demand for bottles increasing, they built 
 an additional one A. D. 1764. This business gradually 
 came to be accounted so prosperous, that about the year 
 1790 a new company was instituted. Both companies 
 prepare crystal as well as green glass, and have a conside- 
 rable number of furnaces. It is upon the whole under- 
 stood, however, that a general rule obtains .in Scotland 
 with regard to this and to every other branch of trade or 
 manufacture, that it is seldom attended with great profit 
 when it is requisite that it be conducted by a large compa- 
 ny of subscribers, who are under the necessity of entrusting 
 the care of the business to managers and other servants. 
 
 Linen was for some time accounted the staple manufac- Linen ma- 
 ture of Scotland ; and, as a branch of domestic industry, Iiufacturc - 
 considerable quantities of it are still prepared by private fa- 
 milies for their own use, though by no means in the same 
 proportion as was done by the more active and thrifty 
 housewives of former times. The market is now chiefly sup- 
 plied from Ireland : at the same time the manufacture is 
 still advantageously carried on by a few persons in Edin- 
 burgh. There is no woollen manufacture in Edinburgh, 
 excepting that of stockings, which, however, are not pre- 
 pared in sufficient quantities to supply the consumption. 
 The manufacture of carpets and of broad cloth has at dif- 
 ferent times been carried on, but has been ultimately a- 
 bandoned. Leather is prepared in different parts of the Leather, 
 suburbs and in Leith to a considerable extent ; and seve- 
 ral citizens have risen to no small degree of opulence bjr 
 
 VOL. I. L
 
 162 falDLOTHIAtf. 
 
 Edinburgh. t hi s branch of business. A trade has also of late year* 
 been carried on to a considerable extent, which consists of 
 the manufacture and exportation of shoes < 
 
 Hardware. W are almost entirely supplied with cutlery and jewel- 
 lery goods from England. Messrs Cuningham near the 
 Earthen Mound are the only persons, as already mention- 
 ed, who continue to carry on the business of plating goods. 
 Two or three cutlers prepare surgeons instruments, ra- 
 zors, and other delicate tools, with considerable reputa- 
 tion. Watch-makers, brass-founders, tin-plate workers, 
 and others, carry on business with success ; but by no 
 means to such extent as to supply the whole consump- 
 tion. Between Edinburgh and Leith two considerable" 
 iron founderies are established, in which cast iron goods 
 are prepared. A button manufactory has also been esta- 
 blished of late years ; and a pin manufactory has existed 
 during a considerable period. 
 
 sal ammo- In Edinburgh a manufactory has long been successfully 
 carried on of sal ammoniac and Glauber's salts, and mu- 
 riatic acid or spirit of sea salt. The sal ammoniac is well 
 known to consist of two ingredients, volatile alkali and 
 muriatic acid. The volatile alkali, vulgarly called spirit of 
 hartshorn, is obtained by the lixiviation of soot and distil- 
 lation of the liquor with quicklime. The muriatic acid or 
 spirit of salt is obtained from the residuary liquor which 
 is left in the salt pans in the process of the manufacture 
 of salt from sea water which is carried on upon the neigh- 
 bouring coast. Tins residuary liquor, called bittern, is of 
 a very mixt nature. It contains large quantities ofsul- 
 phat of magnesia, together with muriat of magnesia and 
 common salt. Sulphuric acid or oil of vitriol being 
 mingled with it, the muriatic acid comes over in distilla- 
 tion, and leaves a residue, consisting of sulphuric acid uni- 
 ted with magnesia and with soda. This residue is cryi-
 
 tallized, and sold under the name Glauber's salts. They Edinburgh, 
 are more bitter and purgative than the true Glauber's salts. 
 Vast quantities of them are exported to London. The 
 muriatic acid being united with the volatile alkali* and 
 evaporated and sublimed^ forms the common sal ammo- 
 niac. 
 
 Magnesia alba is also manufactured in the neighbour- Magnesfcu 
 hood of Edinburgh. It is obtained from the bittern or 
 residuary liquor of the salt works already mentioned* 
 Different processes are employed in this manufacture by 
 different chemists. The magnesia is precipitated from 
 the bittern> either by a solution of the purest American 
 pearl ashes or by volatile alkali. In the former mode of 
 proceeding, the solutions are mingled at a heat of about 126 
 degrees of Fahrenheit's thermometer ; to which they ari 
 brought partly by heating the bittern, and partly by ming- 
 ling it with boiling water. A large quantity of magnesifi, 
 is made at once ; and it is washed by being placed in a 
 wooden frame, or large square vat or chest> with a false bot- 
 tom ; the upper bottom of which consists of a wooden grate 
 covered with a cloth of fine linen. A stream of water is al- 
 lowed to run slowly through the magnesia during ten ojf 
 twelve hours, great care being taken all the while to prevent 
 the mass from breaking or falling into holes* If it is al- 
 lowed to stand till it is cold before the stream of water is 
 turned on it; the whole mass crystallizes^ or acquires a gritty 
 texture, and is incapable of being washed. When thoroughly 
 washed, that is, when the water has continued to flow for 
 some time tasteless from it, it is cut into large pieces, and 
 these are dried upon wooden frames in a stove. After 
 the lumps are dried, the crust which forms upon their out- 
 side is scraped off, and they are packed in boxes for sale. 
 The part which is scraped off is grated down to powder 
 by passing it through wire-cloth. The powder is sold at 
 
 L2
 
 MIDLOTHIAN, 
 
 Edinburgh. a cheaper rate than that which is in lumps, because it Is 
 not so easily preserved in that state. It is apt to attract 
 moisture from the atmosphere, and to acquire an unplea- 
 sant smell ; but this may be removed by drying it in a 
 heated apartment. The properties of good magnesia are, 
 that it be extremely white, light, and tasteless. The two 
 former of these properties are easily attained ; because it 
 is always abundantly white and light when precipita- 
 ted by means of a solution of pearl ashes of a due degree 
 of strength, and when not disturbed unnecessarily, or bro- 
 ken down after the precipitation. The most difficult part 
 of the process consists of the lixiviation, or of washing out 
 the salts from the magnesia ; and in this part of the pro- 
 fess it is said thai some London manufacturers still greatly 
 excel the Scotch. 
 
 When the magnesia is precipitated from bittern by 
 means of volatile alkali, the process differs chiefly in con- 
 sequence of the additional labour of preparing the alkali. 
 It is obtained from the urine of cattle, which is preserved 
 in casks or cisterns till it become putrid. It is then dis- 
 tilled with the addition of quicklime, and volatile alkali is 
 produced j which, however, ought to be rectified or puri- 
 fied by a new distillation before it is used. The volatile 
 alkali thus produced does not precipitate magnesia from 
 bittern till it is aerated or united with carbonic acid or fix- 
 ed air. This is performed by putting about a third of 
 the quantity meant to be used into a shallow vessel of 
 lead, and by passing along the surface of it a stream of 
 smoke from a charcoal fire ; an operation which must be 
 performed very gently tcr avoid evaporation. When this 
 quantity is sufficiently aerated, it i& mingled with the re- 
 mainder of the alkali, and the whole is fit for use. The 
 operation then proceeds in the same manner as with pearl. 
 ashes ; but care is taken not to allow the washings of the
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 1C? 
 
 magnesia to run to waste or to be lost. They are care- Edinburgh, 
 fully received into casks sunk in the ground, or pits lined 
 with stone well cemented. The liquor washed off from 
 the magnesia consists, in this operation, of a sulphat and 
 muriat of ammonia. When distilled with the addition of 
 quicklime, it yields volatile alkali of a purer sort than 
 can be prepared directly from the urine of cattle, even af- 
 ter a great variety of distillations ; because in all these 
 distillations a portion of volatile oil comes over with the 
 alkali, and is never fully got rid of till the alkali has 
 been combined wilii an acid. The volatile alkali obtain- 
 ed from the washings of the magnesia is in this process 
 treated as before ; that is, about a third of it is aerated, 
 or impregnated with fixed air by means of the smoke of 
 burning charcoal or coke of pit-coal. The quantity thus 
 aerated or impregnated, when mingled with the rest of 
 the alkali, renders the whole fit for precipitating magne- 
 sia or forming it from bittern. As there is a considerable 
 waste of alkali every time that the operation is repeated, 
 on account of its volatile nature, it is always necessary to 
 keep up the stock by a fresh supply of alkali prepared 
 from urine, which is mingled with the rest at every ope- 
 ration. 
 
 The magnesia prepared in this last mode by means of 
 volatile alkali, is never so light or spongy as that prepa- 
 red by means of pearl ashes, or by means of soda, which 
 answers equally well, and is sometimes used. The infe- 
 rior quality of the magnesia, prepared by the second of 
 the above processes, seems chiefly to arise from two cir- 
 cumstances ; the first of which is, that the volatile alkali 
 formed in the way now mentioned never is united to a 
 sufficient quantity of fixed air, whose presence always 
 greatly augments the volume or bulk of any quantity of 
 magnesia, to which it attaches itself in the act of precipi-
 
 Edinburgh, tation. The second cause of inferiority results from the 
 impurity of the alkali, which is never entirely freed from 
 foreign matter, consisting of a volatile oil. This magne- 
 sia, however, is bought up in London, and supplies the 
 West India market, and that of the continent of Europe. 
 
 o-T of yi- During a considerable number of years a manufacture 
 of oil of vitriol, or sulphuric acid, has been carried on in 
 the neighbourhood of Edinburgh. Crude sulphur, beat 
 to powder (not sublimed sulphur), is mingled with unre- 
 fined saltpetre, and is burned in chambers formed of sheet 
 lead. The chambers are large, and a small quantity of wa- 
 ter is placed in the bottom of them, in such a way as to re- 
 main there broad and shallow. The chambers have several 
 openings ; and into each aperture a porcelain sawcer, filled 
 with a mixture of saltpetre and sulphur, is placed. The 
 mixture is set on fire, and the opening instantly closed. The 
 saltpetre maintains the combustion of the sulphur without 
 the aid of the external air, and the smoke gradually unites 
 with the water in the bottom of the chamber. When it 
 is found, by slightly opening the chamber, that the smoke 
 has subsided, the process is again renewed, or new por- 
 tions of saltpetre and sulphur are put into the chamber and 
 set on fire. A large capital is requisite for this business ; 
 because a great number of chambers must be used to con- 
 duct it with activity. When the constant burning of por- 
 tions of sulphur and saltpetre in any chamber has been 
 carried on during five or six weeks, the water or liquor 
 on the floor of the chambers is accounted sufficiently im- 
 pregnated with^the acid. It is then drawn off, and pour- 
 ed into stout leaden boilers, where it is brought to a statp 
 of ebullition; at which it is continued till a drop of water, 
 falling tipon the liquor, hisses in the same manner as when 
 water is dropt upon heated iron. The liquor is at this 
 ^me extremely hjgh-cojoured. It is next removed into
 
 MIDLOTHIAH. 167 
 
 glass retorts, which are placed in a sand-bath upon a lon 
 furnace formed of bricks. In these retorts, which are 
 formed of stout bottle or green glass, the liquor is boiled 
 till it become perfectly transparent, which happens in 
 about thirty-six hours. It is then nearly twice the weight 
 of an equal bulk of water. It is poured into very large 
 bottles, which for safety are enclosed in wicker baskets ; 
 and in these it is sold under the . appellation of concentra- 
 ted oil of vitriol. 
 
 An article of modern luxury, which has gradually be- Coache*, 
 come extensive, has, during a considerable number of 
 years, formed a considerable branch of manufacture in 
 Edinburgh ; that is, the construction of coaches or car. 
 riages to be drawn by horses. Coaches are said to have 
 been first introduced into Britain A. D. 1580. A coach 
 %s mentioned as coming to Scotland in the suite of the 
 English ambassador A. D. 1598 ; but the first intro- 
 duction of these carriages for the use of the people was in 
 1610. At that time Henry Anderson, an inhabitant of 
 Trail Sound or Stralsund in Pomerania, offered to bring 
 from that country coaches and waggons, ivitb horses to 
 draw, and servants to attend them, provided an exclusive 
 privilege qf keeping these carriages was secured to him. 
 To this effect a royal patent was granted him, conferring 
 an exclusive privilege for 1 5 years of keeping coaches to 
 run between Edinburgh and Leith ; for it was only for 
 these towns that this vehicle seems then to have been in- 
 tended ; and it was made unlawful to take more than two 
 pence Sterling for the fare i of each passenger. Coaches 
 gradually abounded so much in Scotland, that upon the 
 approach of the king's commissioner to Edinburgh in 
 1700, he was met eight miles from the city by a train of 
 forty, coaches, the greater part of which were drawn by 
 six horses. At that time, however, the art of coach-ma-
 
 108 MIDLOTHIAN", 
 
 Edinburgh, king consisted only in repairing coaches that had been 
 made at London ; and afterwards a few clumsy carriages 
 were begun to be built. But in the year 1738, Mr John 
 Home, coach-maker, who had carried on the business for 
 some time, went to London, where he completely instruct- 
 ed himself in that art. He returned to Edinburgh provi- 
 ded with suitable working tools, which till then were not 
 so much as known in this city, and he altered his mode of 
 conducting the business ; so that instead of one man being 
 employed as formerly to execute the different branches of 
 the work, he allotted distinct hands to the constructing of 
 each part of the carriage ; by which means the tradesmen 
 soon became expert in their respective departments. 
 
 In this manner the art of coach-making was brought to 
 a degree of perfection, that not only enabled the coach-ma- 
 kers of Edinburgh to supply the nobility and gentry of 
 Scotland with carriages, but also encouraged their expor- 
 tation, chiefly to the West Indies and the north of Europe. 
 Household It is scarcely necessary to remark, with regard to such 
 furniture. a c j tv as J^nkm-gh^ that cabinet and upholstery work 
 must necessarily be made to a considerable extent. It is 
 an observation, however, of some importance, that some 
 tradesmen in this department in Edinburgh are said to 
 carry on business to a greater extent than those in the 
 same rank of employment in London. This is ascribed to 
 the degree of equal luxury which prevails in the greater 
 part of the society in Edinburgh ; in consequence of 
 which, though very splendid equipages do not so greatly 
 abound, yet genteel families enter into a more general ri- 
 valship in those articles of expence which consist of or- 
 dinary dress, household furniture, and the luxuries of the 
 table. 
 
 Cordage I* 1 consequence of the demand produced by the ship- 
 VuiJdiR P ~ P* n & at keith, ropes or cordage are manufactured there
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 with considerable success ; and the business of ship-build- Edinburgh 
 ing, as already mentioned, is carried on with some ac- 
 tivity. 
 
 With regard to the foreign trade of Leith, it is necessa- Porags 
 rily laid under great difficulties, and much limited, in con- 
 sequence of the want of manufactures to supply cargoes 
 to vessels outward bound. It is in consequence of this 
 circumstance that it has been found impracticable to esta- 
 blish any great intercourse with North America ; although 
 this trade is highly advantageous to Britain in general, as 
 affording a market for articles of ordinary cloathing and 
 consumption, which it is of importance for a country to 
 prepare skilfully and in abundance, on account of the ten- 
 dency which their cheapness has to facilitate the progress 
 of population, and the increase of the useful arts. An 
 American vessel in want of a cargo never puts into Leith, 
 where it is in vain to expect one : she proceeds with great- 
 er probability of success to the Clyde, which, being at 
 the great seat of the Scottish manufactures, affords a bet- 
 ter prospect of a demand for an opportunity of exporta- 
 tion ; and still more readily she proceeds to Liverpool, 
 where she can always be certain of obtaining a cargo of 
 salt. 
 
 The trade of Leith chiefly consists in the importation of import F. 
 -various articles intended to be consumed in a luxurious 
 country and capital. Immense quantities of timber are Timber, 
 for every purpose imported from the shores of the Baltic. 
 It is certain that in former times Scotland greatly abound- 
 ed in forests in all parts of the country ; and even on very 
 high mountains mosses are found containing large trees, 
 which have been preserved unconsumed for ages by being 
 soaked or macerated in the astringent liquor given forth by 
 the moss plants by which they are surrounded. Some of 
 these forests appear to have been suddenly cut down as fat
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgk back as the times of the Roman invasion of the island j 
 others existed till within a century and a half of the pre-. 
 sent date ; and it is evident, that in the remotest isles tim- 
 ber trees grew to the sea beach. But our ancestors, partly 
 perhaps to clear the country of what they accounted an 
 impediment to agriculture and to pasturage, and partly 
 with a view to the extermination of the multitudes of ban- 
 ditti by whom it was infested, so totally destroyed the fo- 
 rests, that till within these last fifty years the greater part of 
 Scotland was destitute of valuable plantations ; and it has 
 been found extremely difficult to restore timber in the dis- 
 tant islands, and upon exposed situations on the sea shore, 
 and on mountain tops. At present, in consequence of the 
 attention of men of property having beeri directed to that 
 object, Scotland has become, upon the whole, a well 
 wooded country. Still, however, the plantations are so 
 recent, that in the whole New Town of Edinburgh, upon 
 the erecting of which between three and four millions 
 Sterling have been expended, it is believed that not a 
 single house has been fitted up with Scottish timber ; 
 the whole having been brought from the territories of 
 Russia or Denmark. 
 
 , &c. From the Baltic also large quantities of tallow, flax, and 
 hemp, are imported. Flax and flax-seed are likewise im- 
 ported largely from Holland. Tar also continues to be 
 imported from the Baltic, notwithstanding the invention 
 by Lord Dundonald of a mineral substitute for this in- 
 gredient, which we shall have occasion afterwards to no- 
 tice. It is often the destiny of ingenious men to labour 
 more successfully for the future generation than for them- 
 selves, or for the age in which they live. This substi- 
 tute for vegetable tar, which is now neglected, will pro- 
 j^ably hereafter be regarded as a valuable invention, as ii ,
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. Ill 
 
 has a powerful tendency to prevent ship-timber from de- Edinburgh. 
 cay in all climates, and even between the tropics. 
 
 Notwithstanding the large quantities of iron produced 
 by the different furnaces throughout Scotland, considerable 
 quantities of this most valuable of all metals still continue 
 to be imported from Russia and Sweden. In particular, the 
 malleable or soft iron produced in Sweden, where metal- 
 lurgy has long been well understood, and charcoal of wood 
 is used, cannot yet be dispensed with in this country for the 
 preparation of steel, or of ordinary tools by blacksmiths. 
 
 From the south of Europe, particularly from Portugal, Wine* 
 wine is directly imported into Leith. Ip former times, 
 claret of the best quality, and other French wines, were 
 imported in abundance ; and for fifty years after the treaty 
 of union, government, in consideration of the habits of 
 the people, and of the poverty of the country, avoid- 
 ed enforcing here the payment of the duties upon French 
 wines. They were consequently In very general use, 
 and were attended with the happy effect of prevent- 
 ing the consumption of spirituous liquors. These last 
 gradually came into vogue after port wine had been for- 
 ced by the revenue laws upon the public. It would seem, 
 that in the northern climates the taste for strong liquors 
 is very powerful ; and that if the people are not permit- 
 ted, or rather encouraged, to use fermented liquors of a 
 generous quality, they will infallibly betake themselves 
 to those of a more ardent and destructive nature, which 
 are the more dangerous as containing the power of intoxir 
 cation in a very concentrated state. 
 
 Oranges, lemons, and dried fruits, are imported to Leith FTO* 
 in vast quantities from the Portuguese territories and the 
 Mediterranean. Apples also are imported from England ; 
 Because upon this eastern coast little fruit is cultivated. 
 A fe\r vessels make voyages to the West Indies, and bring
 
 It0 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh, home valuable cargoes of the rum and sugar of these 
 islands. But the trade to that quarter still labours under 
 great disadvantages, as already mentioned, in consequence 
 of the want of manufactures in this part of the country. 
 
 Population. The population of Edinburgh and Leith has been enu- 
 merated at different periods ; and its progressive state is 
 worthy of notice. By a paper in the possession of the 
 session clerk of Edinburgh, entitled, " A list of the hail 
 possessors (of houses) in the different parishes," the num. 
 ber of families, in the year 1618, appears to have been as 
 follows : 
 
 In the north-west parish"] 
 north ditto . . , 
 north-east ditto 
 south-west ditto 
 south ditto . . 
 
 "Tolbooth . . . . , 513 
 High Church . . 389 
 
 College 470 
 
 Old Grey Friars 672 
 Old Church ... 625 
 
 south-east ditto J i_Tron 664 
 
 Total .... 3333 
 
 The Old Town of Edinburgh at that time consisted of 
 the above six parishes only ; consequently the preceding 
 list contained every family then living in what was pro- 
 perly to be called the city of Edinburgh ; that is, the 
 ancient royalty. On the supposition that there were at 
 that time even six individuals in each family, the total 
 number of souls would amount to 19,998, which gives but 
 # poor idea of the situation and importance of Edinburgh 
 at that period. If we reckon the Canongate to have con- 
 tained 2500 inhabitants, the parish of St Cuthbert's 7000, 
 and those of South and North Leith 6000 souls, the total 
 number of inhabitants in Edinburgh and its neighbour- 
 hood was 35,500 in 1678. 
 
 The Rev. Dr Blair communicated a paper, containing
 
 lis 
 
 an enumeration of families and examinable persons in 
 city of Edinburgh, apparently taken in 1722, in which the 
 aumbers in each parish of that city were thus stated : 
 
 Examinablo 
 Families. Persons 
 
 Tolbooth parish .......... 701 2418* 
 
 New Church ditto ......... 581 2447 
 
 College Church ditto ........ 876 2851 
 
 , >, , ,. 
 
 Tron Church ditto ......... 718 3001 
 
 Lady Yester T s ditto ......... 683 1853 
 
 Old Church ditto .......... 55T 1924 
 
 - 
 
 Haddo's Hole or Little Church ditto 554 1918 
 
 East Grey Friars ditto . . ..... 651 2245 
 
 New Grey Friars ditto ....... 474 1668 
 
 Total . . . 5975 20336- 
 
 Adding the usual proportion of one- fourth, of the exa- 
 minable persons for children, the number of the inhabi- 
 tants in the city of Edinburgh, in 1722, appears to have 
 amounted to 25,420, or somewhat less than 4-i- to each 
 family ; and if we allow 15^000 for the suburbs and the 
 
 environs, the total would be 40,420 souls. 
 
 ' 
 
 In 1755, at the desire of the late Dr Webster, an actual 
 enumeration of the inhabitants of Edinburgh was made, 
 when the numbers stood thus : 
 
 In the Old Town of Edinburgh . . . 31122 
 ti the Canongate ........... 450O 
 
 In St Cuthbert's or West Kirk parish 12168 
 In South Leith ..... , ...... 7200 
 
 In North Leith ............ 2205 
 
 Total . . . 57195 
 
 Soon after the Statistical Account of Scotland was se,t 
 n foot, the ministers and elders of six parishes of the
 
 KdinborgKcity of Edinburgh (the High Church, Old Church, Littld 
 ""' Church, Lady Yester's, Old Grey Friars, and St Andrew's) 
 and the parishes of St Cuthbert's, South and North Leithj 
 with the view of promoting this work, made an enumera- 
 tion of the inhabitants within their respective bounds. 
 The number in sii of the ten parishes in Edinburgh being 
 in this manner actually ascertained, sufficient data were 
 from thence supposed to be afforded for estimating the 
 number of families and of individuals in the remaining 1 
 four parishes ; and the result of this enumeration and cal- 
 culation is exhibited in the following table of the popula- 
 tion of Edinburgh and its environs in 1791; 
 
 frattulie*. Males. Females. Total. 
 
 High Church parish 476 
 
 Old Church ditto ...... 496 
 
 Little Church ditto ..... 498 
 
 Lady Tester's ditto ..... 583 
 
 Old Grey Friars ditto .... 878 
 
 St Andrew's^ New Town, ditto 1243 
 
 Tolbooth Church ditto * . . 500 
 
 Tron Church ditto . . * . . 467 
 
 College Church ditto . ; ; . 662 
 
 New Grey Friars ditto . . . 631 1351 1566 2917 
 
 Total in the city of Edinburgh 6434 12661 17057 29718 
 
 951 
 920 
 882 
 961 
 1534 
 2905 
 933 
 875 
 1349 
 
 1294 
 1251 
 1254 
 112S 
 1892 
 4301 
 1378 
 1283 
 1710 
 
 2245 
 2171 
 2130 
 2089 
 3426" 
 7206! 
 2311 
 2158 
 3059 
 
 In Canongate parish . . 
 In St Cuthbert's ditto . , 
 In South Leith ditto . . 
 In North Leith ditto . . , 
 
 Total . 
 
 In Edinburgh castle , . . . . 
 In the hospitals, charity work- 
 house, infirmary, and pri- 
 son of Edinburgh 
 
 Total. 
 
 1552 2700 3500 6200 
 
 7133 15571 17376 32947 
 
 2893 5494 5938 11432 
 
 642 1059 1350 2409 
 
 18654 37485 45221 82706 
 624 223 841 
 
 1333 
 
 48*86
 
 MtDLOTHIAtf* 
 
 115 
 
 la consequence of the act of the 41st Geo. IIL is 00, Edinburgh, 
 entitled, " An Act for taking an Account of the Popula- 
 tion of Great Britain, and the Increase or Diminution 
 thereof," an enumeration took place of the inhabitants of 
 Edinburgh ; of which the following was the result : 
 
 Families. Males. Females. Total. 
 St Andrew's parish . . . . 1932 4294 6619 10973 
 
 Canongate ditto 1391 2361 3316 5677 
 
 College Church ditto 789 1431 1833 3264 
 
 St Cuthbert's ditto 7007 13313 16323 29636 
 
 Charity Workhouse 28-46 74 
 
 Grey Friars, New 764 12O1 1340 2541 
 
 Ditto, Old 536 
 
 High Church 440 
 
 Tron Church 567 
 
 Lady Tester's 573 
 
 Leith, South 2873 
 
 Ditto, North 804 
 
 Magdalene Asylum 1 
 
 New North Church 463 758 
 
 Old Church 526 790 
 
 Royal Infirmary - 
 
 Tolbooth parish 328 896 
 
 Tolbooth, Canongate 12 
 
 6765 12044 
 1873 322S 
 
 27 
 1130 
 1130 
 
 1783 
 
 Total 
 
 18993 35361 47199 82560 
 
 On this last occasion, it was ascertained that the number 
 of inhabited houses, in the city and town of Edinburgh, 
 consisted of 9002 ; those uninhabited, amounted to 383 ; 
 the number of persons chiefly employed in agriculture, 
 amounted to 1540 ; a circumstance which arises from in- 
 cluding in the enumerations the inhabitants of the parishes 
 of South Leith and St Cuthberts, and the gardeners of these 
 districts. The number of persons chiefly employed in
 
 176' MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh, trade, manufactures, or handicraft, amounted to 13,920. 
 
 All other persons, not comprised in the two preceding 
 
 classes, amounted to 66,910. 
 
 The summary of these enumerations or calculations 
 
 of the population of Edinburgh and suburbs is, that it 
 
 amounted in A. D. 
 
 1678 to 35,500 
 
 1722 40,420 
 
 1755 57,195 
 
 1775 . . . 70,430 
 
 1791 84,886 
 
 1801 82,560 
 
 It is to be remarked upon this last enumeration, that it 
 represents the population as inferior to what it had been 
 when the numbers of the people were investigated with a 
 view to the compilation of the Statistical Account of Scot- 
 land under the patronage of Sir John Sinclair. At the 
 same time it may be observed, that during these ten years 
 a very considerable number of additional buildings had 
 been erected in Edinburgh, and nobody doubts that the 
 population has encreased. To account for the discrepan- 
 cy in the two enumerations, it is necessary to remark, that 
 when the Statistical Account was compiled, the families in 
 St Cuthbert's parish were not enumerated, but calculated 
 from the proportions between the families and individuals 
 in the city of Edinburgh ; a circumstance which appears to 
 , , have occasioned an error to the amount of between 2 and 
 3000. In the next place, the population of the castle, 
 amounting to nearly 900, is not included in the enumera- 
 tion under the statute. Lastly, it is to be remarked, that 
 there is no doubt the enumeration made by act of Parlia- 
 ment was defective to the amount of some thousands ; for 
 this reason, that very great industry was used to defeat its
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 177 
 
 object. Several new laws had been enacted very recently, 
 by which individuals found themselves subjected to taxa- 
 tion, or to serious personal inconveniences ; such as the 
 hair-powder tax, the income-tax, and the militia laws. 
 To carry into effect the statutes relative to these objects, 
 various enquiries had been made by public officers con- 
 cerning the individuals resident in every district. The 
 result was, that when the enumeration came to be taken 
 under the statute, every body feared that some new tax 
 was impending, and, as far as possible, carefully concealed 
 their numbers and names. This was more particularly 
 done with regard to young men, for whom apprehensions 
 were entertained that they might be called upon for ser- 
 vice in the militia. Such concealment is extremely easy, 
 and must even occur to a certain degree, unintentionally, in 
 every enumeration of the inhabitants of Edinburgh, on 
 account of the great numbers of individuals who reside as 
 lodgers in different houses. As the residence of these per- 
 sons is temporary, they are frequently not considered or re- 
 ported as belonging to the family. 
 
 HISTORY. 
 
 EDINBURGH is one of the most ancient cities in the north 
 of Europe. Its origin is not correctly ascertained by his- 
 torians or antiquaries, or rather it appears to have grown 
 up into some degree of importance in those turbulent and 
 barbarous ages of the European History, of which few re- 
 cords remain, and little is worthy of being remembered. 
 Some circumstances, however, tend to involve in peculiar 
 obscurity the history of this city. It is situated in the 
 Roman Province called Valentia ; which included the ter- 
 ritory between the two celebrated Roman walls of Hadrian 
 on the south, which crossed the island from Newcastle to 
 Carlisle, and the wall of Antoninus on the north, from 
 
 VOL. I. M
 
 118 MIDLOTHIAN; 
 
 d:"burg'-. Carriden on the Forth to Dunglass on the river Ciydct 
 This territory also, at a future period, belonged to the Pictsj 
 and was conquered from them by the Scots under Kenneth 
 the Second. As Edinburgh is situated within 54 miles of the 
 English border, its neighbourhood was the scene of many 
 sanguinary conflicts, during several centuries, between the 
 two hostile nations that possessed the northern and the 
 southern divisions of the island. Thus, during 10 or 12 
 centuries, this part of the country was wasted by perpetual 
 hostile incursions, devastations, and bloodshed, of which 
 no record could be kept ; or if any trace of written history 
 remained, it was obliterated by the policy of Edward I. of 
 England, who endeavoured to complete the conquest of this 
 country by the removal or destruction of every public record. 
 
 Origin and It is probable, that the singular rudeness of the territory 
 
 name of . _. . . . , . . . . 
 
 Edinburgh on which Edinburgh is situated, with its precipices and 
 abrupt declivities, which render it extremely inconvenient 
 for an extensive capital, were the very circumstances which 
 originally led to its establishment, as, by rendering it of easy 
 defence, they contributed to its preservation in very barba- 
 rous times ; at least there is little doubt that the most rug- 
 ged part of it, that is to say the castle, is the most ancient. 
 The oldest appellation given to this fortress, is * The Cas- 
 tle of Agnes's hill.' It was likewise distinguished by the 
 appellation of Castrum puellarum, or * The Maidens Cas~ 
 tie,' from its being the residence of the daughters of the 
 Kings of the Picts till the time of their marriage. The 
 name of the city has generally been ascribed to Edwin, a 
 Saxon prince of Northumberland, who began his reign in 
 the year 617, and conquered much territory from the Picts. 
 hieen Margaret, the widow of Maleolm Canmore, is 
 s.aid to have taken refuge in the castle along with her cliil- 
 dren, and died there a few days after her husband was 
 slain. Donald Bain, tne uncle of Malcolm's children, 
 Kaving seized the government, besieged the castle, in which
 
 MIDLOTHIAN* 
 
 the heir to the crown resided. The usurper presuming, Edinburgh, 
 from the steepness of the rock, that Malcolm's children 
 could escape only by the gates> ordered these alone to be 
 guarded : but those in the garrison knowing this, con- 
 veyed the body of the Queen through a postern gate on 
 the west side of the Castle to the church of Dunfermline, 
 where it lies interred ; and the children escaped to Eng- 
 land, where they were protected and educated by their 
 uncle Edgar Atheling. 
 
 In an old charter of David the First in 1128, this city Origin of 
 is denominated Edwinesburg, and appears to have been a* ^ Canoa * 
 borough. That prince granted to the canons of the ab- 
 bey of Holyroodhouse 40 s. yearly out of the King's re- 
 venues, payable by the borough of Edwinesburg, and also 
 one half of the tallow, lard, and hides of the beasts killed 
 in Edinburgh. He also bestowed upon these canons the 
 privilege of erecting a borough between the abbey of 
 Holyroodhouse and the town of Edinburgh, with power 
 to try crimes there by duel, and by fire and water ordeal. 
 This part of Edinburgh remains, as already mentioned, to 
 this day a separate jurisdiction from the more ancient part 
 of the city, and from its original lords retains the name 
 of the Canongate. 
 
 In the reign of William the First, styled William tie 
 Lion, Edinburgh castle was surrendered to the English in 
 consequence of the excessive attachment of the Scots to 
 the person of their monarch. That prince, in an attempt 
 to recover from Henry the Second of England a part of 
 Northumberland, was taken prisoner at the battle of Aln- 
 wick. The Scots, impatient of the captivity of their King, 
 purchased his freedom by surrendering the independence 
 of the nation. Many hostages, and some of the chief gar- 
 risons in Scotland, and among these the castle of Edin- 
 burgh, were delivered as pledges for the performance of 
 
 M2
 
 
 IS* I MIDLOTHIAN'. 
 
 i 
 
 Edinburgh this dishonourable treaty. But upon William's marriage 
 with Ermengarde, cousin to King Henry, the treaty was 
 annulled, and Edinburgh castle was restored and given in. 
 dower to the Queen. 
 
 A Parha- j n ^ e re jgn of Alexander the Second, a Parliament was 
 
 ment first 
 
 held here, for the first time held in Edinburgh in 1215 ; and in 1239, 
 a legate from Pope Gregory the Ninth presided at a pro- 
 vincial synod held at Edinburgh. In 1255, the castle of 
 Edinburgh was selected as a residence for the daughter of 
 Henry the Third of England, who was betrothed to the 
 young Scottish King Alexander the Third. She complain- 
 ed of her dwelling, however, as a sad and solitary place 
 without verdure. 
 
 Capture by Upon the death of the Maid of Norway, rrandchild to 
 
 the English 
 
 Alexander the Third, the celebrated contest for the suc- 
 cession to the crown commenced bet ween Bruce andBaliol ; 
 which was the source cf a train of the most dreadful cala- 
 mities to Scotland, in consequence of the enterprising am- 
 bition of their English neighbours, who seized this op- 
 portunity of attempting to establish a permanent ascen- 
 dancy over Scotland. Edv/ard the First supported Baliol 
 as the competitor most willing to surrender the indepen- 
 dence of his country. Edward succeeded in the tem- 
 porary subjugation of Scotland. In 1296 Edinburgh 
 castle was besieged, and fell into his hands, and was re- 
 tained by the English 20 years. It was recovered by Sir 
 Thomas Randolph, Earl of Murray, in the following man- 
 ner : The castle of Edinburgh had for governor Piers 
 Leland, a knight of Gascony. Randolph blockaded it so 
 closely, that all communication witn the adjacent country 
 was cut off ; the garrison, suspecting the fidelity of Leland, 
 thrust him into a dungeon, and chose another commander 
 in. his stead. 
 
 Recapture. Matters were in this state -when one Willkm Fraak pr&-
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 sented himself to Randolph, and offered to show him how Edinburgh. 
 the walls of the castle might be scaled. This man, while 
 young, had resided in the castle, and having an amorous 
 intrigue in the neighbourhood, had been wont to descend 
 the wall during the night by means of a ladder of ropes, 
 and through a steep and intricate path to arrive at the foot 
 of the rock. The road, though amidst perilous precipices, 
 had become familiar to him, and he still retained a perfect 
 remembrance of it. Randolph, with thirty men, under- 
 took the enterprizje of scaling the castle at midnight. 
 Frank was their guide, and the first who ascended the sca- 
 ling ladder. Before the whole party could reach the sum- 
 mit of the wall, an alarm was given ; the garrison ran to 
 arms, and a desperate combat ensued ; but their governor 
 having been slain, the English yielded. 
 
 Leland, the former governor, being released from his im- 
 
 1*1 * i rt < 
 
 prisonment, entered into the service of the Scottish nation ; 
 and King Robert ordered the castle to be demolished. 
 The same prince demolished all the other fortresses which 
 he recovered from the English, that they might not for 
 the future serve, when taken, to enable an invading enemy 
 to retain the country in a state of subjection. This policy 
 demonstrated great sagacity as \vell as intrepidity on the 
 part of that prince. Fortresses on the frontier of a coun- 
 try may be useful for its defence, but history demonstrates, 
 that in the interior they have always proved dangerous to 
 its independence. When an invading enemy has no for- 
 tified place to which to retire, what he gains in cne battle 
 may be lost by another ; which is not the case when he is 
 enabled in the centre of the country to wait quietly for re- 
 inforcements : and accordingly the Scottish kings found it 
 safest to rest their independence upon the military spirit 
 and the patriotism of their people^ which they endeavoured 
 in every form to encourage.
 
 1S2 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh. I n 1335, Edward the Third, to support Baliol's claim- 
 to the crown, and his own pretensions to the superiority of 
 Scotland, invaded the country with a powerful fleet and 
 army. The fleet entered the Forth, and the towns on both 
 sides of the Frith were plundered and burned. The Scots 
 were unable to oppose the English army, and retired with 
 their cattle and such goods as they could transport to the 
 mountains and forests in the interior of the country. The 
 result was, that the English monarch no sooner departed, 
 than the garrisons he had left were assailed by continued 
 insurrections. Edward returned the following year with a 
 
 Battle of the great army, and proceeded the length of Perth. While he 
 
 Borough . _, _ . 
 
 rouir. lay in camp there, Guy, Count or Namure, came with a 
 large body of foreigners to the assistance of Edward. He 
 proposed passing through Edinburgh in his intended route 
 to Perth ; but the Earl of Murray the governor encoun- 
 tered his forces on the borough muir in the neighbourhood 
 of that city. The conflict was sharp, and the Scottish ar- 
 my were well nigh overpowered, when a reinforcement, col- 
 lected by William de Douglas, came to their assistance. The 
 Count of Namure's force? gave way. They retreated to 
 Edinburgh in order of battle, fighting gallantly, and hotly 
 pressed by the Earl of Moray. Part of them were driven 
 through the spot where Bristo-port now stands, and flying 
 doxvn the street, at present known by the name of the Can- 
 dlemakers-roiv, made the best of their way to the rock 
 where the castle then lay in ruins. The rest fled through 
 St Mary's Wynd. They were encountered in that narrow 
 lane by Sir David de Anand, a gallant Scottish knight, 
 and suffered great slaughter. Those who escaped joined 
 their companions on the rocks of the castle. They killed 
 their horses, and with their carcasses piled up a sort of 
 rampart to defend them from the attack of the Scots army, 
 who there as it were besieged them ; but, being destitute 
 #f provisions and lodging, as well as exhausted by the;
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 183 
 
 fatigues of battle, on the next' morning they surrendered, Edinburgh, 
 requiring no other stipulation than that they should not be 
 put to the sword. The Earl of Murray allowed them to 
 depart, exacting their promise that they should never more 
 bear weapons against David Bruce ; and with a gallant 
 courtesy, not unusual in these times, he accompanied the 
 Count of Namtire, to whom he restored his effects, to the 
 borders of Scotland, that he might be placed out of danger. 
 
 On his way back to England, Edward the Third rebuilt Castle re* 
 the castle of Edinburgh ; but, in the year 1341, it was re- u ' ' 
 covered by a stratagem by four gentlemen, one of whom 
 was William de Douglas, who h^.d contributed to the vic- 
 tory in the borough muir. One of the gentlemen, pre- 
 tending to be an English merchant, went to the governor 
 of the castle, and informed him, that he had got a cargo of 
 wine, strong beer, and biscuit, exquisitely spiced, in his 
 vessel just arrived in the Forth ; which provisions he re- 
 quested the governor to purchase, He produced as a 
 specimen a bottle of wine and another of the beer. The 
 governor relished the liquors, and agreed about the price. 
 The pretended merchant was to deliver the provisions next 
 morning early, that he might not be intercepted by the 
 Scots. He came accordingly at the time appointed, at- 
 tended by a dozen of armed followers under the disguise 
 of sailors, and the gates were opened for their reception. 
 Upon entering the castle, they contrived to overturn the 
 carriage upon which the provisions were supposed to be 
 heaped, and instantly killed the porter and sentinels. Upon 
 the sound of a horn, the appointed signal, Douglas, with 
 a band of armed men, sprung from an ambush in the 
 neighbourhood, and rushed into the castle, where, having 
 joined their companions, the garrison, after a sharp con- 
 flict, were mostly put to the &word, arid the fortress re* 
 orered by the Scots.
 
 134 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh. These wars with England forced the Scots into an al- 
 liance with France, to which they remained long very 
 faithful, and of which they were frequently the dupes ; 
 because, in all the quarrels between these rival states, 
 the Scots were induced to take a part. Scotland was re- 
 duced extremely low by the repeated invasions of the 
 
 Ancient English ; and the manners of its inhabitants in general 
 
 State of 
 
 Scotland, became very barbarous. A French historian describes 
 
 the state in which, in the reign of David the Second, Scot- 
 land was found by the ambassadors from France, who came, 
 accompanied with a train of nobility and a body of sol- 
 diers, to endeavour to prevail with the King of Scots to 
 invade England. In Scotland, the historian remarks, that 
 the natives resemble wild and savage people, shunning ac- 
 quaintance with strangers, envious of the honour or profit 
 of any one beside themselves, and perpetually jealous of 
 losing the mean things they have. Ke says, that hardly 
 , any of the nobility kept intercourse with the French, ex- 
 cept the Earls of Douglas and Murray : That Edinburgh, 
 although by this time the first city in Scotland, could not 
 accommodate the attendants on the French embassy, many 
 of whom were obliged to seek lodgings at Dunfermline, 
 and other towns at still greater distances : That the French 
 knights complained grievously of their wretched accom- 
 modation ; no comfortable houses, no soft beds, no walls 
 hung with tapestry j and that it required all the prudence 
 of the French commander to restrain their impatience for 
 leaving so miserable a country: That when they wanted 
 to purchase horses from the Scots, they were charged six, 
 nay even ten times the price for which these horses would 
 have been sold to their own countrymen : That when the 
 French sent forth their servants a-foraging, the Scots would 
 lie in wait for them, plunder them of what they had ga- 
 thered ; beat, nay even murder them : That they could not 
 find saddles nor bridles, leather to make harness, nor iroa
 
 MIDLOTHIAN;- 183 
 
 to shoe their horses ; for that the Scots got all such articles Edinburgh, 
 read/ made from Flanders : That in their military excur- 
 sions they carried along with them no provision of bread 
 nor wine, nor pots nor pans ; for they boiled the cat- 
 tle in their hides : That upon their precipitately quitting 
 their camp on the borders, the English found in it the car- 
 cases of 400 beasts, mostly deer, and 300 cauldrons made 
 of their skins, with the hair still on them, stretched on 
 stakes, filled with water, and the flesh put in them ready to 
 be boiled : That they found also 1000 spits with flesh for 
 roasting, and 5000 pair of shoes, made of raw leather, with 
 the hair still on them. 
 
 In proportion, however, as the independence of Scotland Edinburgh 
 became established, and the hostile incursions of the Eng- j> ^J^ 
 lish were suspended, Edinburgh gradually rose into con- 
 sideration. Its situation in the south of Scotland, at a 
 sufficient distance from the English border to secure it from 
 surprise, while it was near enough to be accounted a pro- 
 per position for superintending the defence of the king- 
 dom, probably contributed to render it a royal residence, 
 and laid a foundation for its becoming the ordinary seat of 
 government. The Kings of Scotland dwelt in it ; par- 
 liaments were frequently held here ; and in every respect it 
 grew, towards the close of the 14th century, to be consider- 
 ed as the capital of the kingdom. Hence the Scottish 
 princes endeavoured to render themselves popular with the 
 citizens of Edinburgh, and bestowed upon them many pri- 
 vileges. Robert the Third conferred upon the whole bur- 
 gesses of Edinburgh the singular privilege of building 
 houses to themselves within the castle, probably as a place 
 of retreat and safety against hostile invasion. As early 
 as the year 1329, Robert the First granted to the citizens 
 qf Edinburgh the harbour and mills of Leith. But it 
 would appear that his Majesty was not considered as pro-
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh, prietor of the banks of the river, or of the shore adjoining 
 to the harbour ; on which account the inhabitants of Edin- 
 burgh were under the necessity of purchasing from Sir 
 Robert Logan of Restalrig the banks or waste piece of 
 ground extending from the walls of the houses to the river, 
 to be converted into wharfs or quays for the convenience of 
 
 Lp - lt L ac " shipping and landing of goods and merchandise; with a 
 right to make ways or roads through the lands of Restal- 
 rig, for the carrying of gopdsand merchandise to and from 
 the port of Leith, together with a power of keeping shops 
 for the sale of bread, wine, wax, silk, and other mercan- 
 tile commodities ; and a liberty to erect granaries for the> 
 preservation of corn within the town of Leith. 
 
 an;l oppres- As the situation of Leith upon the banks of the Forth is 
 led, 
 
 more convenient for trade than that of Edinburgh, at twa 
 
 miles distance from the river, the narrow spirit of mer- 
 cantile jealousy anciently induced the citizens of Edin- 
 burgh to devise various expedients to prevent the inhabi- 
 tants of Leith from carrying on trade. Not satisfied with 
 the above grant from Logan, by which they were empow- 
 ered to keep shops and sell goods in Leith, the citizens of 
 Edinburgh purchased from Logan, says Maitland, an ex- 
 clusive and very inslaving grant ; whereby the inhabitants 
 of Leith were not only restrained from carrying on any 
 sort of commerce, but even from keeping of warehouses - r 
 nay, such was their bondage, that they were not allowed' 
 "to keep inns or houses for the entertainment of strangers. 
 And that nothing might be wanting to depress the in- 
 habitants of Leith, the town-council of Edinburgh, in the 
 year 1485, ordained, that no merchant of Edinburgh pre- 
 sume to take into partnership an inhabitant of Leith, un- 
 der the penalty of 40s. to the church, and to be deprived 
 of his freedom of the city for the space of one year ; and, 
 as if all these efforts of oppression were insufficient, it was
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 187 
 
 by the said council enacted, that " none of the revenues Edinburgh, 
 of Edinburgh be let to an inhabitant of Leith, nor any of 
 the farmers of the said revenues presume to take a Leither 
 as a partner in any contract relating to the same ; nay, not 
 to take any person of Leith into his service in that re- 
 spect, under the penalties aforesaid." From that time the 
 inhabitants of Leith must have long remained in a state of 
 depression, from which they did not emerge till the tur- 
 bulent times of the Reformation, when Leith came to be 
 accounted important, as a convenient harbour for land- 
 ing the French or English troops that were sent to the as-r 
 si stance of the popish or the reforming party. 
 
 But though sufficiently poxverful to oppress Leith, Edin-.E<!inbnrg^ 
 burgh itself was still an insignificant city. James the C! 
 Second was crowned at Edinburgh during his minority, 
 and was for some time a prisoner in the castle. This 
 prince afterwards, in 1450, first bestowed on the commu- 
 nity the privilege of fortifying the city by surrounding it 
 with a wall ; he at the same time authorised the magis- 
 trates to defray the expence of this work by a tax upon 
 the inhabitants. The original wall of the city of Edin- 
 burgh began at the foot of the north-east rock of the cas- 
 ile, where the ruins of a small fortress are still to be seen ; 
 from thence the wall proceeded eastward along the footof 
 <he hill adjoining to the North Loch, till it came nearly 
 opposite to the head of the High Street. From this placo 
 to the present North Bridge, the city was defended by the 
 North Loch ; but from thence to the head of the Canon- 
 gate, the kind of defence is unknown. From the North 
 Loch, opposite to the upper end of the High Street, the 
 wall advanced southward to the summit of the hill, where 
 it was intersected by a gate of communication between the 
 town and the castle. From this gate the wall proceeded 
 along the southern brow of the hill, pointing to the south-
 
 188 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh, east to the middle of what is now called the West Bow, 
 from the arched gate anciently placed there ; from thence 
 it proceeded still eastward along the face of the hill, till it 
 reached what is now called Gray's close ; from which it 
 crossed the High Street obliquely to Leith Wynd. Here a 
 continued range of houses, and afterwards a wall, formed 
 the defence of the city. 
 
 Rescue of James the Third having prematurely attempted to go- 
 vern the kingdom, independently of the great and turbulent 
 barons, by the aid of ministers, who were persons of mean 
 birth, gave offence to his nobles, and was ultimately con- 
 fined by them in the castle of Edinburgh during nine months. 
 His brother Alexander, Duke of Albany, had at first join- 
 ed the party of the nobles ; but finding himself of little 
 consequence in the regency which they had appointed, he 
 repaired secretly to Edinburgh with a few friends ; and 
 having called upon the citizens to join him in rescuing their 
 captive Prince, they rose in arms, and by an unexpected 
 assault made themselves masters of the castle. James 
 the Third was not ungrateful for a service which w r as at- 
 tended with the immediate restoration of his authority. 
 He granted two charters in favour of the provost, council, 
 and community of Edinburgh, stating the services they had 
 done him ; and therefore granting to the provost the office 
 of hereditary sheriff within the city, with ample jurisdic- 
 tion, and all the fines and escheats arising from the oflke. 
 He also granted to the council powers, to make statutes and 
 bye-laws for the good government of the borough, an ex- 
 emption from certain duties, and a right to exact custom 
 upon several species of merchandise in the port of Leith. 
 The only reddendum or rent prestable by the council for 
 these ample privileges, was the annual celebration of a 
 funeral mass in St Giles's church for the King's soul, and 
 those of his progenitors and successors.
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 189 
 
 As a perpetual memorial of the loyalty and bravery of Edinburgh. 
 the citizens of Edinburgh upon this occasion, the king 
 bestowed upon them a banner or standard, with a power 
 to display the same in the defence of their king, their coun- 
 try, and their own rights. This flag was long known by 
 the humble appellation of the Blue Blanket. It is still 
 preserved, and is exhibited in the Magdalen Chapel as a 
 curiosity. 
 
 In the year 1497, the venereal disease, imported into Lues Vene;; 
 Europe by the Spaniards, had not only reached Edinburgh, 
 but become so formidable, that on the 22d of September 
 an edict was published by the town-council, under the king's 
 authority, banishing all the infected to Inchkeith ; it being 
 at that time imagined that this distemper, like the plague 
 or small-pox, might be communicated by being merely in 
 company with an infected person. 
 
 It will probably be accounted not unworthy of notice, 
 that in 1500, the wages of a master mason in Edinburgh 
 were tenpence Sterling, and of a journeyman, ninepence 
 weekly. One penny was the price of 12 Ib. of 'the finest, 
 or of 20 Ib. of a coarser sort of wheaten bread. 
 
 The citizens of Edinburgh suffered their share in the 
 calamity in which the unfortunate expedition against the 
 English, undertaken by James the Fourth, involved all 
 Scotland. They laboured at once under the two great 
 
 scourges of mankind, war and pestilence. The king, from Battle of 
 
 ... Floudcn. 
 a romantic notion of honour, resolved to make an hostile 
 
 invasion upon England ; nor could the tears and entreaties 
 of his queen and his people prevent him from rushing to 
 destruction. He assembled his army in the borough 
 muir. The Earl of Angus, provost, and all the magis-, 
 trates, with a number of the citizens, joined the army. 
 Delegates were appointed to discharge the office of pro- 
 vost and bailies during the absence of these magistrates. 
 On the 10th of September 1513, being the day after the
 
 190 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh. f ata } battle of Flouden, the news of that event, and of the 
 fall of the king, and the principal nobility, arrived at 
 Edinburgh. The citizens were filled with consternation^ 
 and expected the country to be immediately overrun by a 
 victorious enemy. The persons exercising the magistracy 
 appear to have acted with considerable vigour on this 
 trying occasion. While the pestilence appears to have been 
 raging in the city, while at the same time the nation was 
 filled with confusion arid alarm, the town-council issued a 
 proclamation, commanding all the inhabitants, capable of 
 bearing arms; instantly to assemble in their best military 
 accoutrements^ and to march and join their provost, under 
 the penalty of forfeiture of their lives and goods. What 
 number was sent to the army on the frontiers in conse- 
 quence of this order, does not appear : That they did not 
 all march is evident ; because, to prevent the town 
 from being insulted by advanced parties of the enemy, 
 another order by the town-council was issued, requiring 
 all citizens^ at the tolling of the common bell, to repair in 
 their military dress to the house of the president, to be 
 ready to act in defence of the town. At the same time it 
 was commanded, that women should abstain from clamour- 
 ing in the streets, and that they should either attend to their 
 business at home, or repair to the church at the stated 
 hours, to pray for success to the army. The council also 
 ordained, that 24 men should be raised and maintained as 
 a constant guard for the city, and that the sum of L. 500 
 Scots should be levied to fortify the town, and to purchase 
 artillery to resist the enemy. 
 
 Second In consequence of this last resolution, the city of Edin- 
 
 burgh was surrounded by a new wall, which has remained 
 to our own times, and a great part of which still exists. 
 After the town had been fortified in the reign of James the 
 Second, the citizens, either in consequence of encreasing 
 numbers, or of a passion which seems still to adhere t*
 
 HIDLOTHIAIT, 101 
 
 them for having houses without the borough, very speedily Edinburgh, 
 erected the Cowgate, which in these times was accounted a 
 magnificent street, and was inhabited by persons of the 
 first distinction. After the battle of Flouden, the Cow- 
 gate, with the lanes adjoining to it, and the broad street at 
 its western extremity, called the Grassmarket, were inclu- 
 ded within the city by the new wall. This new wall is to 
 be seen, commencing upon the south-east side of the rock 
 of the castle ; thence it descends obliquely across the valley 
 to the south, where the gate left in it received the appella- 
 tion of the West Port ; from thence it ascends ta the brow 
 of the southern ridge, and, turning eastward,' it proceeded 
 along the north side of the gardens of Heriot's Hospital 
 and the Grayfriars church-yard to Bristo port ; and from 
 Bristo port, advancing in the same direction, it still encloses 
 the buildings of Argyle square. It has been pulled down 
 to make way for the buildings of the new College ; but it 
 still remains to the south of the Royal Infirmary and the 
 High School. At the Pleasance, that is to say, at the foot 
 of the Cowgate, it turns northward towards the eastern 
 extremity of the most ancient wall. Thus it appears, that 
 the wall reared after the battle of Flouden was chiefly, or 
 rather solely, constructed for the purpose of defending the 
 Grassmarket, together with the Cowgate and its adjoining 
 lanes. At a future period, in the year 1620, the magis- 
 trates purchased about ten acres of ground on the south- 
 west of the city, on the summit of the southern ridge 
 \vhere Heriot's Hospital and the Charity work-house 
 now stand : an additional wall was built to include this 
 newly-purchased territory within the limits of the city's 
 fortifications. 
 
 In the year 1532, the town-council agreed with two Causeway 
 Frenchmen to make a causeway at the rate of 30s. Scot- 
 tish money the rood. " Were it not," says Maitiand, " a 
 prevailing tradition, that the first causeway in E
 
 192 MIDLOTHIAN". 
 
 Edinburgh W as made by one Merlin a Frenchman, I would declare 
 for this being the first time the High Street of Edinburgh 
 was paved." Soon after this period, the town-council 
 agreed to furnish 300 citizens complete! y armed, to be 
 ready at all times to join the king's army against his an- 
 cient enemies the English. 
 
 Reforma- u t shortly thereafter, one of those great convulsions 
 
 tion from 
 
 Popery. occurred in the moral world, by which the local pre- 
 judices of particular states are swallowed up and forgotten 
 amidst the agitation produced in the human mind by more 
 important interests. The unsuccessful attempts of the 
 English monarchs to subjugate Scotland, had produced in 
 the two nations a most vehement hereditary animosity ; in 
 consequence of which they regarded each other as natural 
 enemies, in whose faith little confidence was to be placed ; 
 and the Scots, as the weaker party, were led on every oc- 
 casion to seek the protection, and to adhere to the policy 
 of France. But new sentiments and views now suddenly 
 rose in the minds of men, and rapidly undermined the 
 prejudices created by ages of hostility. 
 
 Origin and During the decline of the Roman empire, and amidst 
 
 Popery. the calamities which mankind endured from the irruptions 
 of the barbarians of the east and of the north, a singular 
 fabric of superstition had been reared in Europe. Devo- 
 tion, like every other sentiment of the human mind, is apt 
 to be carried to excess ; and this most readily occurs in 
 calamitous times, when it is regarded as the means of pro- 
 pitiating the protection of invisible powers, to which their 
 sense of weakness induces men on such occasions, with un- 
 usual earnestness, to resort. In what have justiy been sty- 
 led the dark ages, mankind endeavoured to foster and aug- 
 ment this passion in themselves and in each other. With 
 this view they erected magnificent temples. They fur- 
 nished these temples with whatever could impose upon 
 the senses.* the imagination. Images, paintings, mn-
 
 MIDLOTHIAN 1 * 
 
 ?ic, and the attendance of persons who have devoted their Edinburgh. 
 lives to devotional austerity, are all brought together 
 to excite, as highly as possible, the reverence of men for 
 the objects of their worship. All this was done by our 
 ancestors during the most unfortunate period of the his- 
 tory of Europe ; that is to say, amidst the irruptions 
 of the barbarians, and the feudal anarchy which succeed- 
 ed these irruptions. The more their miseries increased, 
 the more anxious were they to build churches, monaste- 
 ries, and other establishments, which, by imposing upon 
 their imaginations, might increase the influence of an irra- 
 tional devotion* A natural consequence followed from 
 this : The ministers of religion^ who were set apart for 
 the care of such establishments, and who were of course 
 led to assume a character of unusual purity of manners and 
 unbounded devotion, acquired extreme power over the 
 minds of men. By uniting themselves into a sort of con- 
 federacy under the chief priest of the city of Rome, which 
 had obtained a sort of prescriptive claim to be the seat of 
 sovereignty in Europe, they were enabled to adopt joint 
 measures for increasing the devotion of mankind, and along 
 with it their own power and riches. In the first steps of this 
 progress, the clergy were undoubtedly filled by the same 
 sentiments of piety which they wished to inspire into 
 ethers ; but their character in this respect appears to have 
 ultimately undergone a great alteration. It is often difficult, 
 by means of reason alone, to banish a strong passion from, 
 the human mind, although this is readily accomplished 
 by means of another passion. Accordingly the passion of 
 ambition speedily supplanted in the minds of the leading 
 ec'clesiastics of Europe every sentiment of devotion ; and 
 hence the history of several ages amounts to little else 
 than a detail of the contest for superiority in temporal 
 power which occurred between princes and priests. Du- 
 VOL. I. N
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh. r i n g these c intests, the latter never forgot entirely the prin- 
 ciple which gave rise to their power. They endeavoured 
 earnestly to increase the magnificence of the temples, and to 
 adorn them with the most costly efforts of human art. Ar- 
 chitects, painters, and sculptors, were eagerly encouraged 
 oh account of the effect or tendency of their labours to im- 
 pose upon the imaginations of mankind. Music also was- 
 assiduously cultivated. The finest instruments and the 
 best performers were sought out, and placed in the temples,, 
 to give solemnity to religious worship. At the same 
 time, marvellous tales were propagated of deliverances ob- 
 tained from every calamity by the prayers of priests, or 
 by touching their relics, and by devotional austerities. In 
 every dispute about matters of opinion, that side of the 
 question was adopted which partook most of the marvel- 
 lous, and thereby had the greatest tendency to pi'omote' 
 habits of devout credulity and unthinking amazement 
 among men. By the united force of all these engines, a 
 system of superstition was reared of wonderful duration 
 and influence ; and the confederated priesthood who con- 
 ducted it obtained the chief management in all affairs, and 
 contrived to acquire for their own order, in all countries, a 
 large proportion, and in Scotland little less than one-third, 
 of the territory of the state. 
 
 Causes of This was certainly the worst possible condition of hu- 
 , If? man affairs ; because society was ruled by a great body 
 of men, whose interest it was to preserve the human 
 mind in a state of perpetual imbecility and pious cre- 
 dulity. But extreme evils are apt to produce their own 
 remedy. The clergy established to a certain degree the 
 dominion of law for the purpose of repressing the mi- 
 litary power, which was chiefly, though not exclusive- 
 ly, in the hands of their lay rivals. But this very cir- 
 cumstance, by giving security to property and encou- 
 raging industry, gave exercise to the talents of men,.
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 and tended to substitute the pursuit of wealth, or the pas- Ed ' inbur g b ; 
 sion of avarice, to that devotion which had once almost 
 exclusively possessed the human mind. The encourage- 
 ment given to the fine arts of architecture, painting, mu- 
 sic, and along with the latter the encouragement of poetry, 
 called forth wonderful efforts of ingenuity, and thus pla- 
 ced the human mind in a state of progressive improve- 
 ment. Thus the very arts which were employed to per- 
 petuate superstition contributed to its ruin, because they 
 produced ingenious men capable of detecting its absurdi- 
 ties. After all, however, the clergy were their own worst 
 enemies. The safe possession of power and riches in a 
 state of idleness had gradually produced their usual effects, 
 that of an entire licentiousness, and even open profligacy 
 of manners. All reverence for the persons of the priests 
 being lost, their functions could not long remain the ob- 
 ject of veneration. Hence mankind seemed, about the 
 period of which we are now treating, as it were, to awa- 
 ken from a dream of superstition in which they had slum- 
 bered for ages. Men of penetrating minds, of whom there 
 are at all times a sufficient proportion in the world, found 
 it easy, at this critical season, to expose a part of the gross 
 delusions into which mankind had fallen ; and to prove to 
 their cotemporaries, that instead of paying due homage to 
 the power that presides over nature, they had actually been 
 dishonouring him, by comparing him to images, and sup- 
 posing him to inhabit the temples which they had built. 
 The priests in the meantime, by long habits of security, 
 had lost not merely that austerity of manners which origi- 
 nally rendered them venerable, but also those arts of dis- 
 putation by which they had formerly been able to im- 
 pose upon the weak understandings of their hearers. The 
 consequence was, that they were driven off the field with 
 wonderful facility. The very passion of devotion, which 
 
 N2
 
 190 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh, had formerly created and supported their power, now turn-* 
 ed against them ; and the greater its vehemence, the more 
 violent was the persecution to which they were exposed. 
 In Scotland in particular, where the manners of the people 
 were rendered unusually turbulent by a weak government, 
 by frequent foreign wars, and by domestic convulsions, 
 the ministers of the ancient faith were treated with exces- 
 sive severity. The altars, images, musical instruments, 
 and magnificent churches, were involved in general ruin 
 by the fury of the multitude, whose devotion had now ta- 
 ken a new turn ; and the priests were driven away as im- 
 postors, who had erected engines of idolatry unworthy of 
 the divinity, and degrading to the human mind. Still, 
 however, by having the government of the state in some 
 measure in their hands, by the possession of immense 
 riches, and by retaining their influence over the minds of 
 a part of the community, the catholic priesthood were 
 enabled to make a formidable stand ; and we are not to 
 suppose, because the reformation of religion was violent, 
 that it either occurred without gradual preparation, or 
 without that mustering of parties, and those symptoms of 
 discontent and projects of change, which usually precede 
 and give warning of the approach of great convulsions. 
 
 Invasion By t ^ ie death of James the Fifth, his infant daughter, the 
 
 under Hen- celebrated Mary Queen of Scots, succeeded to the throne, 
 ry Vlll. 
 
 This event suggested to Henry the Eighth of England the 
 
 plan of annexing Scotland to his dominions, which had so 
 often been tried without success in former times by the Eng- 
 lish monarchs. He proposed a marriage between his son Ed- 
 ward and the young Queen of Scots ; but he accompanied 
 the proposal with impolitic conditions of submission to his 
 government on the part of Scotland, which were calcula- 
 ted more to kindle than to soothe and conciliate the jea- 
 lousy of a fierce and irritable people, who had long
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 struggled for independence. Still, however, his proposals Edinburgh. 
 Were by no means regarded with that universal indigna- 
 tion which they would once have excited. A small, but 
 growing, party foresaw in his government the downfal of 
 the popish clergy, whose luxury, pride, and profligacy, 
 had rendered them extremely unpopular ; and the nobles 
 already devoured in imagination the spoils of the church, 
 which they naturally expected would be divided among 
 them, as had been done among the nobles of England. 
 The treaty was accordingly concluded : but the clergy, 
 on the other hand, were equally aware of the consequences 
 of the proposed alliance ; and Cardinal Beaton, archbi- 
 shop of St Andrews, the primate of Scotland, contrived to 
 prevent its accomplishment. The furious spirit of Henry 
 the Eighth could ill brook a disappointment which at once 
 mortified his ambition and insulted his pride. A fleet of 
 two hundred sail, with a powerful army on board, entered 
 the Forth to take vengeance on his enemies. The Eng, 
 lish army landed near Royston, and in their way to Leith 
 were opposed by a small body of Scots, whom they spee- 
 dily put to flight ; after which they took possession of 
 Leith. On the second day thereafter they marched for 
 Edinburgh. On their approach to the city they were met 
 by the provost, who offered, in the name of the citizens, 
 to evacuate the town, and to deliver the keys to the com- 
 mander of the English forces, provided they might have 
 liberty to carry their effects along with them, and that the 
 city should be saved from fire. The English general re- 
 jected the terms ; and required from the citizens an abso- 
 lute and unconditional submission of their lives and pro- 
 perties. The provost replying, " It were better the city 
 should stand on its defence," was commanded to retire. 
 The Nether Bow gate was assaulted and beat open ; a 
 dumber of the inhabitants were killed ; the English pro-
 
 19S MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh ceeded with their heavy artillery against the castle, which 
 returned a fire so well directed and vigorous as obliged 
 them to desist from the attack. Being baffled in their at- 
 tempts upon the castle, they took vengeance upon the city 
 with double fury, and a devastation almost incredible com- 
 menced. They set it on fire in so many places, that the 
 smoke obliged them to leave the town. They returned, 
 however ; and, for three successive days, exerted their ut- 
 most efforts towards its total destruction. For seven miles 
 round Edinburgh the country was laid waste. The pa- 
 lace of Holyroodhouse, the castles of Craig Millar and 
 Roslin, and the pier of Leith, which was then entirely of 
 wood, were burnt. Hardly a house or village within that 
 space escaped the flames. While the army proceeded with 
 this barbarity by land, the fleet was not idle ; but, scour- 
 Ing the Forth, almost every village from Fifeness to Stir- 
 ling was plundered and burnt. At last, satiated with 
 cruelty and rapine, they retired, carrying with them not 
 only the spoil which they got by land, but also all the 
 ships and vessels in the Frith. 
 
 Invasion Not satisfied with this eiFort, the English government, 
 'vardVl " a ft er Henry's death, persisted in what was in these times 
 justly styled a rough sort of courtship. With a view to 
 intimidate the Scots into a compliance, the Duke of So- 
 merset, three years thereafter, in 1547, entered Scotland 
 with a powerful army. He gained a victory over the 
 Scots at Pinkie on the borders of East Lothian, and from 
 thence marched against Leith and Edinburgh ; which had 
 so rapidly recovered, that they were again become objects 
 of plunder. These ill-judged efforts, however, only tend- 
 ed for a time to aid the Popish cause, and to throw the 
 kingdom into the arms of France, along with the young 
 queen, who was married to the dauphin. 
 
 So large a portion of the territory of Scotland was the
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 property of ecclesiastics, and their power and influence 
 were so firmly fixed, that the reformed opinions at first 
 spread very slowly, because they could in no quarter be 
 openly avowed. The celebrated reformer, John Knox, at John Knos. 
 length returned in 1555 from Geneva, where he had been 
 educated. He preached in private to the friends of the 
 reformation, and expatiated with vehemence against the 
 impiety of those temporizing measures which the power 
 of the clergy had hitherto induced men to adopt. He 
 himself, however, was speedily under the necessity of fly- 
 ing from the kingdom ; but this did not prevent the pro- 
 gress of the new opinions. The dangerous weapons of 1'optsh rit 
 \vit and ridicule, for which the pageantry of the Ro- 
 mish church, and the licentious lives of its clergy during 
 that age, afforded ample scope, were employed with sue- 
 cess against it ; so that the populace were inspired with 
 such contempt for what they had formerly accounted most 
 sacred, that they wantonly defaced the images of the Vir- 
 gin Mary, the Trinity, and St Francis, in St Giles's 
 church. On this account, in 1556, Mary of Lorrain, 
 queen dowager and regent of the kingdom, wrote from 
 Aberdeen a violent letter, requiring the provost, bailies, 
 and council of Edinburgh, to discover the authors of cer- 
 tain odious ballads and rhymes lately published, together 
 with the destroyers of the sacred images. Affairs, how- 
 ever, were now in such a state, that the current of popu- 
 lar opinion could not be resisted. In 1558, the clergy 
 made great preparations, as usual, for celebrating, on the 
 1 st of September, the anniversary of St Giles, the patron 
 saint of Edinburgh. As they were not without appre- 
 hensions that the new converts might disturb the proces- 
 sion, they intreated the queen-regent to honour the solem- 
 nity with her presence, which they imagined would over- 
 awe the populace. This was agreed to. When the day
 
 20t MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh. came> an ^ every thing was in readiness for the procession, 
 the clergy, both secular and regular, repaired in great 
 state to the shrine of St Giles, to bring forth his statue to 
 be carried in triumph. It was now discovered that some 
 of the reformers, during the preceding night, had stolen 
 the image ; and it was even said that they had cast it into 
 the North Loch. This occasioned considerable confu-i 
 sion ; but that St Giles might not lose a triumph, or the 
 clergy submit to the ridicule of having their procession 
 defeated, a small image was borrowed from the Grey Fri- 
 ars, which the reformers among the mob called in deri- 
 sion Young St Giles. The procession being attended by 
 the queen-regent and a multitude of priests and monks, 
 with music, was conducted peaceably till towards the 
 close ; when the queen having withdrawn, the mob dis- 
 mounted the image, and attacked the attendants. Then, 
 according to John Knox, " Dagon was left without head. 
 or hands ; down goes the cross ; off go the surplices, round, 
 caps, and cornets, with the crowns ; the grey friars ga- 
 ped ; the black friars blew ; the priests panted and fled ; 
 and happy was he that got first to the house j for such a 
 - sudden fray came never among the generation of antichrist 
 within this realm before." 
 
 Proceed- Affairs were now approaching fast to a crisis. The re- 
 f rm i n g preachers appear to have understood well the na-f 
 ture of the Roman Catholic religion, and the source of its 
 influence over the human mind ; they attacked, therefore, 
 all those sensible objects, and all that apparatus of magni- 
 cent temples, statues, relics, music, robes, processions, 
 and splendid ceremonies, by which it imposed upon the 
 imaginations of men. Persons of little discernment have 
 censured the reformers as barbarous, because they encou- 
 raged the multitude to deface the finest monuments of hu- 
 JBW.I art. But however valuable these might be in themr
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 201 
 
 Stives, they were here rendered absolutely pernicious, on Edinburgh 
 account of the use to which they were applied, that of en- 
 slaving the human mind to a degrading superstition. In 
 assailing a religion which addressed itself to the passions 
 and imaginations of men, and imposed upon their senses by- 
 means of a magnificent apparatus, there existed no other 
 mode of carrying on the attack with success, than that of 
 demolishing the instruments by which it was supported. 
 Accordingly no bad consequences resulted to Scotland 
 from the destruction of the fabrics, or of the institutions 
 which had been reared by the Roman Catholic supersti-r 
 tion. The establishment of the liberty of the press, which 
 the first reformers supported, proved of more value to 
 mankind^ by diffusing the best means of intellectual ex- 
 ertion, than all the efforts of ingenuity which had for- 
 merly been exerted' in the improvement of the fine arts 
 which gratify the imagination, but convey little instruc- 
 tion to the understanding. 
 
 The proselytes of the religious reformers having en-, 
 creased in number, they assumed the name of the Congre- 
 gation, and entered into an agreement for their mutual sup-r 
 port in propagating their tenets, in demolishing the build- 
 ings, and interrupting the solemnities, by which the catho^- 
 lie priesthood had hitherto supported their power. Their Lo-di of 
 chiefs were styled the Lords of tie Congregation; and be- ^i" 61 ** 
 coming confident in their own strength, they advanced in 
 arms towards Edinburgh in the month of July 1559. 
 The queen-regent found it necessary to come to an agree- 
 ment with them ; by which each party consented, that the 
 separate religions should be exercised unmolested till the 
 I Oth of the following month of January. At the same 
 time, the magistrates of Edinburgh prevailed with the 
 lords of the congregation to spare their churches to be 
 employed in the protestant worship ; and, in order to pre-
 
 MIDLOTHIAN". 
 
 Edinburgh. ven t the populace of the country from tumultuously en- 
 tering the city, the gates were shut, excepting the Nether 
 Bow arid the West port, which were strongly guarded. 
 
 French In the meanwhile, both parties endeavoured to strength. 
 
 Leith* m en t^ 611186 ^ 8 ' The queen-regent perceived the impor- 
 tance of which the town of Leith might become as an 
 inlet to forces from France, where the young queen re- 
 sided with her husband. Some troops of that nation were 
 stationed there, and had already thrown up some works 
 around it ; but the queen-regent now began to fortify it 
 in a regular and expensive manner, and endeavoured 
 to render herself popular with the inhabitants. She grant- 
 ed them letters patent, empowering them to choose ma- 
 gistrates for the government of the town, and divided 
 the inhabitants, as already mentioned, into four incor- 
 porations. She likewise purchased from Logan of Res- 
 talrig the superiority of the town and links, with the 
 view of erecting Leith into a royal borough, to render it 
 altogether independent of Edinburgh. These measures 
 greatly excited the jealousy of the lords of the congre- 
 gation, who assembled in October of the same year to en- 
 deavour to crush the preparations making against them. 
 Having assembled at Edinburgh, they ventured formal- 
 ly to declare the queen-regent suspended from her office 
 for mal-administration, by introducing foreign forces to 
 Siege of enslave the nation. They next summoned the garrison 
 Leith. O f Leith to evacuate the town. No regard was paid to 
 their summons, and they resolved to attack the fortifi- 
 cations. The town-council of Edinburgh, which had at 
 all times been extremely jealous of the prosperity or in- 
 dependence of Leith, contributed 2,000 merks towards the 
 enterprise. The attack was meant to be made chiefly by 
 means of scaling ladders, which were prepared in St Giles's 
 church, which was now used for the reformed worship. 
 It would appear, that notwithstanding their hostility t
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 03 
 
 the Roman catholic hierarchy, the first reforming clergy Edinburgh, 
 did not at once lay aside all the superstitions which it had 
 introduced. They weakly and impoliticly prognosticated 
 an unfavourable termination to the expedition, on account 
 of the impiety which had been committed in preparing 
 the scaling ladders in a church. Their party, however, 
 advanced to the attack under the cover of their artillery ; 
 but when they came to apply their scaling ladders to the 
 walls, they were found to be too short. Their antagonists, 
 the French garrison, who possessed superior military disci- 
 pline, sallied forth upon them, and a rout cf the reforming 
 party ensued. They were driven towards Edinburgh, and 
 over the country. To prevent the entrance of the enemy 
 into Edinburgh, the gates of the city were shut against 
 the fugitives, which greatly augmented the confusion. 
 
 The lords of the congregation next applied to England A id obtain, 
 for assistance ; and the counsellors of Queen Elizabeth on 
 readily discerned the importance of the existing crisis, by 
 which she might be enabled to overturn in an instant the 
 alliance between France and Scotland, which had subsist- 
 ed for some centuries, and which had proved extremely 
 embarrassing to the English monarchs in all their conti- 
 nental wars, by forcing them to occupy a large proportion 
 of their troops in the defence of their own frontier against 
 the incursions of their turbulent northern neighbours. 
 
 O 
 
 Accordingly Elizabeth sent a body of English troops to 
 the aid of vhe lords of the congregation: and the new pas- 
 sions which had arisen in the minds of men, now induced 
 Scots and English troops, who for ages had only met in 
 hostility, to co-operate cordially in a common object. The 
 town-council of Edinburgh contributed, in April 1560, 
 L. 1600 Scots as a month's pay for 400 men to be em- 
 ployed in the reduction of Leith. After various assaults 
 and skirmishes, the French troops receiving no assistance 
 from their own country, were under the necessity of sur-
 
 204 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh, rendering the fortifications of Leith, and of departing front 
 the kingdom. 
 
 By the death of the queen-regent, which happened at 
 this time, and the expulsion of the French troops, the lords 
 of the congregation were left masters of the kingdom ; for 
 ()ueen Elizabeth, not to excite jealousy, or to injure the 
 value of the service which she had performed, immediate- 
 ly withdrew the English forces. A parliament was as- 
 sembled at Edinburgh ; and the reformers now established 
 by law their confession of faith, and instantly proceeded 
 to authorise in their own favour a portion of that religious 
 intolerance and persecution of which they had so loudly 
 complained when exercised against them. The town- 
 council of Edinburgh resolved not to be behind the par- 
 liament, and issued an act or edict, ordering all papists and 
 whoremongers to be banished from the town ; the former, 
 after being exposed at the market-cross for six hours, and 
 the latter, after being carried in 3 cart as a spectacle along 
 the principal streets, for the first offence ; to be burned 
 on the cheek for the second ; and to suffer death for the 
 third offence. The deacon of the fleshers was actually, in 
 obedience to this act, soon thereafter carted for adultery. 
 During the times of popery in Scotland, the Sunday 
 had been employed, not merely as a day of amusement, 
 .but all fairs and markets were regularly held upon it. Aa 
 act of the council of Edinburgh corrected this abuse with- 
 in their jurisdiction, by ordering that no goods should be 
 sold, nor shops or taverns opened, during divine service. 
 Arrival of In 156J, the unfortunate Mary Queen of Scots arrived 
 Qjuecn >Ma- n j ief tur b u l en t kingdom ; in which she found the religion 
 which she had been taught in France become an object of 
 abhorrence. On the Sunday after her arrival, the mob of 
 Edinburgh raised a tumult at the palace, and could scarce- 
 ly be restrained from interrupting divine service, or even 
 from hanging the priest ; and the magistrates of Edinburgh
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 205 
 
 Renewed their edict, and commanded all papists and whore- Edinburgh, 
 mongers to leave the city in 48 hours. The. queen sent 
 a letter to the town-council, complaining of an edict so in-* 
 jurious to those of her religion ; upon which they again 
 renewed the proclamation, with this difference, that instead 
 of 48 hours, the same persons were now required to leave 
 the city and liberties, under the penalty of being carted, 
 burned on the cheek, and banished the city for ever. 
 This so much provoked the queen, that she sent an order, 
 directing the town-council instantly to deprive the provost 
 and bailies of their offices, and to elect others in their stead* 
 The council, who appear to have been at once petulant 
 and pusillanimous, immediately obeyed the order. The 
 queen at the same time issued a proclamation, granting li- 
 berty to all good and faithful subjects to repair to or re- 
 main in Edinburgh at their pleasure ; which gave occasion 
 to Knox to make this pleasant observation : " And so 
 murderers, adulterers, thieves, whores, drunkards, idola- 
 ters, and all malefactors, gets protection under the queen's 
 wings, under colour that they were of her religion, and 
 so got the devil freedom again ; whereas before, he durst 
 not have been seen in day-light upon the common streets." 
 The severity of manners, which in Scotland resulted 
 from the peculiar character which the reformation of re- 
 ligion had assumed, in consequence of its being carried 
 through by the populace under the direction of a set of 
 clergy for whom no liberal pecuniary emoluments were 
 provided, and who aspired to distinction by austerity and 
 enthusiasm, gave rise on the following year to an edict of 
 the town-council ; by which it was ordered, that all adul- 
 terers and fornicators, without distinction, should be ap- 
 prehended and committed to the iron-house, there to be 
 fed with bread and water for the space of one month ; the 
 former to be banished the town for ever, and the latter to 
 be whipt at the cart's tail, and banished the town, till the
 
 300 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh, magistrates and church were thoroughly satisfied with their 
 reformation. The crime of adultery was soon after made 
 capital by parliament. 
 
 The zeal against popery also continued, notwithstand- 
 ing the efforts of the court. The archbishop of St An-, 
 drews was imprisoned for saying and hearing mass ; and 
 Sir James Carvet, a popish priest, being apprehended for 
 celebrating mass in the Cowgate, was twice pilloried at the 
 market-cross of Edinburgh, arrayed in his sacerdotal robes, 
 and with a chalie in his hand. He was attended by the 
 Common hangman, and severely treated by the mob. 
 
 In these tempestuous times, it appears that the govern- 
 ment acted with no regard towards law or the rights of 
 communities, and thereby gave to the populace an ex- 
 ample of disorder. Queen Mary repeatedly interfered 
 without disguise in the election of the magistrates of 
 dinbiu-gh, directirjg who were to be chosen, and even 
 ordering the deposition of individual magistrates. This 
 was done without assigning any special reason. It be- 
 longs rather to general history than to such a work as the 
 present, to take notice of all the disorders of these times. It 
 appears, however, that notwithstanding their religious zeal, 
 the citizens of Edinburgh were not upon the whole dis- 
 affected to this unfortunate queen, even after the mys- 
 terious death of her husband Darnley had excited in- 
 vincible suspicions against her character. And after an 
 association to avenge his death had been formed under the 
 appellation of the Solemn League and Covenant, at the head 
 of which were the earls of Morton and Athole, w T e find 
 that Edinburgh was considered as a place in which it 
 would not be safe long to treat her person with disre- 
 spect. Accordingly, after the battle, or rather surrender, 
 at Carberry hill, and the flight of Bothwell, when she had 
 delivered herself to the disaffected party, they did not 
 venture to confine her in Edinburgh more than one night.
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 201 
 
 On this occasion, however, she was grievously insulted by Edinburgh, 
 the populace, who accused her of having a share in the 
 murder of her husl jid, and reproached her with having 
 married his murderc . Others exposed a flag, wherein Queen M 
 was painted the corpse of the late king lying under atree, ry ? " 
 with the prince Ill's son on his knees before him, with the 
 motto, 'Judge and revenge my cause t Lord ! At this sight 
 Maty was struck with great terror, and intreated the peo- 
 ple to consider that she was their native princess, and that 
 they would respect her as such, and not abuse her. But 
 she was hurried away from the city before her misfortunes 
 had leisure to produce a change in the sentiments of the 
 multitude. Her infant son, James the Sixth, was proclaim- 
 ed king; and the earl of Morton, who had been at the head 
 of the insurgents, was appointed regent. His first object 
 was to obtain possession of the castle ; which was sold to 
 him by the governor, and Sir William Kirkaldy was ap- 
 pointed in liis stead. 
 
 The queen's party, however, gradually gained strength, Cml war. 
 and was joined by Kirkaldy, the governor of Edinburgh 
 castle. The two parties, under the appellation of king's 
 men and queen's men, alternately obtained possession of 
 the city, which became the scene of frequent battles, or 
 rather skirmishes. The king's party was even under the 
 necessity of having recourse to the dangerous aid of queen 
 Elizabeth ; who gladly seized the opportunity of holding 
 Scotland, and the next heir of her crown, in a state of per- 
 petual dependence and alarm. An English general was 
 sent down to the assistance of the regent. 
 
 In 1511, the queen's forces, under the earl of Huntly 
 and others, were in possession of Edinburgh, while the 
 Earl of Morton occupied Leith. Various encounter* 
 occurred between tte opposite parties, and much slaugh- 
 ter took place in the suburbs of the city. Each party 
 put to death as traitors the prisoners that fell into their
 
 208 MIDLOTHIAN 
 
 Edinburgh, hands ; but being at length weary of this unprofitable 
 slaughter, a truce took place ; at the end of which, the Earl 
 of Morton having got possession of the citj, a constant 
 warfare was made from it against the castle ; which was at 
 last besieged in form bj Scots and English troops, with a 
 train of English artillery. The castle was attacked by 
 means of five batteries, placed at considerable distances 
 from each other on the highest grounds to the south, the 
 west, and the north, from Heriot's hospital to where the 
 new town is situated. After a siege of 33 days, when 
 the fortifications were in a great measure demolished, and 
 the water had failed, the governor surrendered to the 
 English general by capitulation : But, contrary to the 
 articles of the capitulation, the governor was treacherously 
 delivered up by queen Elizabeth to the Scottish regenty 
 by whom, he was tried and put to death as a traitor* 
 
 Morton speedily rendered himself unpopular by acts of 
 rapacity, and by the jealousy with which ne attempted to 
 establish his power at the expence of the lives of those 
 whom he accounted his enemies. He was at last (A. D. 
 1577) under the necessity of resigning the government 
 into the hands of the young king. His brother, who was 
 governor of Edinburgh castle, resolved to hold out, and 
 attempted to provide provisions against a siege ; but the 
 citizens of Edinburgh having opposed his design, and at- 
 tacked his soldiers, he surrendered the castle upon recei- 
 ving a pardon ; which, according to the barbarous policjr 
 of the times, did not ultimately afford him protection. 
 State of the The situation of James the Sixth, like that of every 
 kingdom. Scottish king, was extremely perplexing. The country 
 was filled with numerous powerful barons, who set the 
 law at defiance. So far from being in condition to admi- 
 nister justice, and to endeavour to civilize a restless and 
 semi-barbarous people, the kings found great difficulty in 
 protecting themselres. Various attempts, during the, earlj 
 
 \
 
 part of his reign, were made to deprive James the Sixth Edinburgh. 
 of his freedom ; for the purpose of using what authority 
 he possessed as an engine in the hands of a faction, or 
 Some powerful chief* The Earl of Morton, in little more 
 than a year after he resigned the regency, went to Stirling 
 castle, where the king resided. Having contrived to ob- 
 tain the command of the garrison, he seized and confined 
 the king's person there, and resumed his former authority. 
 The king having written to Edinburgh, complaining of 
 his confinement, great commotions were instantly excited. 
 The citizens threatened to march to his relief, and Morton 
 found it necessary to bring the king to Edinburgh. He 
 was received with much pageantry ; which, while it de- 
 monstrated the loyalty of the citizens, is worthy of being 
 recorded on account of its tendency to give a correct idea 
 of the pedantry and fantastic taste of the times. 
 
 The citizens were ordered to appear in rich dresses, and Ancient 
 
 Pageantry, 
 the streets to be decorated with tapestry and rich arras 
 
 work. The king, arriving in the neighbourhood of the 
 city, dismounted without the West Port, where the magis- 
 trates, uncovered, received and conducted him into the 
 town under a magnificent canopy of purple velvet. At 
 the West Port he was saluted by a person representing 
 King Solomon^ attended by a numerous train in Jewish 
 habits, with the two women striving for the child ; thence , 
 proceeding to the West Bow, there was seen suspended 
 therein a large polished brazen globe, from which, in a 
 machine, descended a Cupid^ who presented him with the 
 keys of the city gates, made of silver, in a silver bason, 
 accompanied with an excellent concert of music. Arri- 
 ving at the Tolbooth, he was harangued by persons re- 
 presenting Peace, Plenty, and Justice, in the Greek, La- 
 tin, and Scottish languages; and at his entering St GILES'S 
 church, his Majesty was addressed by Religion in the Hc- 
 VOL. I. O
 
 MIDLOTHIAN.- 
 
 Edinburgh, -fireiv' tongue ; arrd after sermon, he repaired to the 
 
 ket cross, where Bacchus, on a gilt hogshead,, was distrr-" 
 buting wine in bumpers amongst the people, under the 
 sound of trumpets and loud acclamations of the citizens. 
 At the Nether Bow was erected the nativity, and over it 
 the genealogies, of the Scottish kings from Fergus I. Du- 
 ring the procession the streets were bestrewed with flowers^ 
 , . whil& the ordnance in the castle loudly proclaimed the 
 king's welcome, 
 
 Edinburgh i t appears,, that at this time the Scottish monarch could 
 
 the support 
 
 of the scarcely,, for ordinary service, command any other force 
 than that which the city of Edinburgh occasionally pro- 
 vided. In the beginning of the year 1580 he obtained 
 from the Town-Council of Edinburgh a guard of 100- 
 men. Thinking himself still insecure, he obtained from 
 the same body, speedily thereafter, this guard to be 
 doubled. Having seized the Earl of Morton as a prison- 
 er, the king was afraid to detain that powerful nobleman, 
 so near to his own person as the castle of Edinburgh, and 
 wished him conveyed to Dumbarton ; but he had no 
 other mode of accomplishing this object than by applying 
 once more to the Town-Council of Edinburgh for 100 men 
 to convey the deposed regent to his place of imprisonment 
 in the west. 
 
 The good terms that subsisted between this monarch 
 and the people of his capital did not long continue with- 
 out interruption. The clergy appear to have been the 
 chief causes of dissension. They attempted to establish- 
 over the people an influence superior to that of the mo- 
 narch ; and he found them on all occasions the chief ob- 
 stacles to his measures. A mutual jealousy was speedily 
 excited, and displayed itself on every occasion. The Earl 
 of Gowrie having seized the person of the, king, kept him 
 in confinement, and directed affairs at his pleasure* The
 
 HhbLOTHIAN; 211 
 
 lergy joined thsir influence to that of the faction which Edinburgh. 
 had obtained possession of the king's person. When 
 Henry the Third of France sent an ambassador to Edin- 
 burgh, to endeavour to obtain the restoration of the king 
 to his independence, the clergy insulted the ambassador 
 in their sermons ; and when the king desired the magis- 
 trates of Edinburgh to entertain the gentlemen of the em- 
 bassy, the clergy ordained a fast to be observed on the day 
 fixed for the entertainment, and endeavoured to keep the 
 people all day in church by the length of their sermons. 
 When the king had escaped from the power of Gowrie 
 and his associates, the clergy still persisted in approving 
 the conduct of that party, and openly accused the king of 
 perverting the laws both of God and man* Still, how- 
 ever, the city of Edinburgh appears to have been the 
 king's principal resource in every respect. The Town- 
 Council was in such good credit, that they borrowed mo- 
 ney at 5 pet cent, when the ordinary rate of interest a- 
 mounted to double that sum* When the Duke of Len- 
 nox's two sisters arrived from France, the king quartered 
 them for fifteen or twenty days upon the Town-Council, 
 who agreed with certain persons to maintain the ladies du- 
 ring the time required. When the celebrated Spanish ar- 
 mada approached the coast of Scotland, the Town-Coun- 
 cil, besides ordering the citizens to arm themselves, im- 
 mediately raised 300 men, and provided funds for their 
 subsistence as a military body. They also entertained an 
 embassy from Navarre at a considerable expence. On a 
 treaty of marriage being concluded between King James 
 and the Princess Ann of Denmark, the Town^Council 
 were at the expence of sending a vessel, properly fitted 
 out, to convey her home. The king had commanded 
 them to entertain the royal bride and her retinue till the 
 palace of Holyroodhouse could be fitted up for her re- 
 
 02
 
 212 WlDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh, ception. This burden was avoided bj presenting to his 
 Majesty the sum of 5000 merks. When the marriage 
 was solemnized in the church of St Giles, the Town- 
 Council presented to the bride a jewel of considerable va- 
 lue, which the king had deposited with them in security 
 for a large sum of money which he had borrowed from 
 them. The king farther commanded them to entertain 
 the Danish ambassadors who attended the queen. 
 
 It is not wonderful that a prince, thus accustomed to le- 
 vy money from his subjects arbitrarily whenever he found 
 occasion for it, was ill pleased with the constitution of 
 England w.hen he became monarch of that kingdom, and 
 was offended with the obstinate adherence of the parlia- 
 ment there to their ancient privilege of holding the pub- 
 lic purse, and of giving no money to the prince unless in 
 consequence of public discussion. 
 
 When the king's eldest son, Prince Henry was born, 
 who died without coming to the throne, the Town-Coun- 
 cil of Edinburgh, in 1594, presented to the king ten tons 
 of wine to celebrate the prince's baptism, and sent 100 of 
 the inhabitants richly accoutred to Stirling to attend as a 
 guard at the ceremony. When, in 1596, the Princess Eliza- 
 beth was born, who was afterwards wife to the unfortunate 
 elector palatine, king of Bohemia (and from whom our pre- 
 sent royal family is descended), the king invited the ma- 
 gistrates of Edinburgh to the christening ; and the Town- 
 Council, in return, granted an obligation upon the com- 
 munity to pay to the princess the sum of L. 10,000 Scot- 
 tish money at her marriage ; which was accordingly paid, 
 seventeen years thereafter, in 1513. 
 
 Sedition of In the meanwhile the disputes between the king and 
 y ' the clergy were still going on. The popish nobility of 
 Scotland had entered into a conspiracy to assist the Spa- 
 nish invasion of England j and their leaders were banish-
 
 MIDLOTHIAN". 213 
 
 cd for a short time. On their being suffered to return, Edinburgh. 
 the clergy throughout the kingdom sounded the alarm of 
 the danger from popery. In particular, one Black, a mi- 
 nister at St Andrew's, in a sermon, declared that the king, 
 by permitting the return of the popish lords, had demon- 
 strated the treachery of his own heart : he said that all 
 kings were the devil's children ; that Satan ruled the Scot- 
 tish court ; that Queen Elizabeth was an atheist ; that the 
 nobility were enemies to the church, and the lords of ses- 
 sion a set of miscreants and bribers. 
 
 Black was summoned to answer for his sermon before the 
 privy council ; but he insisted, that the conduct or language 
 of a clergyman in the pulpit could only be tried before the 
 ecclesiastical courts. The king found himself too weak to 
 inflict any punishment upon Black ; and his brethren the 
 clergy, instead of censuring his conduct, ordained a solemn 
 fast to be kept to avert impending judgments on account 
 of the ill treatment of the faithful pastors of the church. 
 The ministers of Edinburgh were not behind their bre- 
 thren in zeal ; and their fears were wrought upon by a 
 fictitious letter, which intimated that the king had some 
 dangerous scheme on foot against them. The result was, 
 that on the ensuing Sunday, Walter Balcanqnall, whose 
 turn it was to preach, inveighed against the treachery of 
 the king's ministers ; and, addressing himself to the no- 
 bility then present, called upon them to imitate the con- 
 duct of their ancestors in supporting zealously their reli- 
 gion ; and requested the principal persons present to meet 
 at the end of the service, to assist himself and his col- 
 leagues with their advice. At this meeting a petition was 
 prepared, and ordered to be presented to the king by two 
 noblemen, two gentlemen, and two ministers. The per- 
 sons who presented the petition treated his Majesty with 
 little ceremony ; and a multitude of people crowding int*
 
 MIDLOTHIAN, 
 
 Edinburgh. the apartment, the king was under the necessity of very- 
 suddenly withdrawing into another, of which he ordered 
 the doors to be shut. When the populace learned tha 
 their petition was likely to be disregarded, their rage be- 
 came very great ; and if they had not been restrained by 
 their deacon convener, there was great danger that they 
 would have forced open the doors, and destroyed the king 
 and -til that were with him. Sir 'Alexander Hume, the 
 provost, who had bsen confined to his house, hearing of 
 the king's danger, came forth, and with much difficulty 
 prevailed with the multitude to disperse. 
 
 The King The king took care to avoid a second petition by re- 
 flies from / 
 Edinburgh, moving from Edinburgh to Linlithgow. Here he issued 
 
 a proclamation, stating, " That the king, considering the 
 late treasonable uproar, moved by factious persons of the 
 ministry of Edinburgh, who, after they had uttered the 
 most seditious speeches in the pulpit, did convene a 
 number of noblemen, barons, and others, in the Little 
 Church, and sent some of the number to his Majesty, 
 being then in the upper session house, using him in a most 
 irreverent manner, and with speeches ill becoming any sub- 
 ject ; and that a multitude of the townsmen, by persuasion 
 of the' said ministry, had treasonably put themselves in 
 arms, intending to bereave his Majesty and his council oi 
 their lives did think the said town an unsafe place for 
 the ministration of justice ; and therefore ordained the 
 lords of session, the sheriff, and commissioners of justice, 
 with their several members and deputies, to remove them- 
 selves forth of the town of Edinburgh, and be ready to re- 
 pair to such places as should be appointed ; commanding, 
 in like sort, all noblemen and barons to dispatch them to 
 their houses, and not presume to convene, either in that or 
 any other place, without his Majesty's licence, under the 
 pain of his Higness's displeasure."
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 215 
 
 As the desertion of the city by the Court, and the officers Edinburgh, 
 of the law, threatened to affect very seriously the interests 
 -of the inhabitants, it greatly cooled their religious zeal. The 
 ministers in vain attempted to procure an association of 
 the nobility and gentry in their defence, and were under 
 the necessity of -flying to England. A meeting of parlia- 
 ment was called at Edinburgh ; and the tumult having been 
 declared high treason, a resolution was adopted to com- 
 mence a. criminal process against the incorporation. Thir- 
 teen members of the town- council, as representing the 
 whole, were ordered to surrender themselves for trial at 
 Perth. One of them having failed to appear, the town 
 was declared guilty of rebellion, and the city revenues 
 'were sequestrated for the king's use. The whole affair Reconcilia- 
 -ended in an agreement, that the city should pay to the kingK nd c 
 20,000 merks, and that the houses of the ministers- of the ^"7- 
 Edinburgh, which stood together, and were a rallying point 
 for the mob, should be surrendered to the king ; and that 
 4he clergy ehould be compelled for the future to reside in 
 separate quarters of the city. 
 
 From that period till the accession of James to the throne Union of 
 of England, in con-sequence of the death of Queen Eliza- theerown ** 
 beth, nothing of importance relative to the city seems to 
 have occurred. On the Sunday previous to his departure, 
 the king went to the church of St Giles, as if to take a 
 solemn farewel of -the subjects -of his native kingdom. 
 The minister preached an appropriate discourse ; and the 
 people seeming to be much moved, the king addressed 
 them at the end of the service ; and in a speech express- 
 ed his great attachment to them ; requested them not to be 
 dejected on account of his departure ; and promised, that 
 as his power of serving them was now increased, they 
 should derive a proportionable advantage from his li- 
 berality.
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh. The removal of the Court is an event of singular im* 
 Removal of portance in the history of Edinburgh and of Scotland, 
 the court, -j-^ two kingdoms of Scotland and England had existed, 
 during several ages in a state of animosity, which was never 
 entirely free from some sort of active hostility, at least 
 upon the borders of the two kingdoms. The English, 
 monarchs had in vain attempted to subjugate Scotland ; 
 but, by the circumstance of the Scottish king becoming 
 heir to the English crown, the Scots considered themselves 
 as having, in the person of their monarch, made an acqui- 
 sition of England ; whereas, in truth, England acquired 
 them as a dependant state. For a short time, indeed, the 
 Scots, who followed the court of their monarch, derived 
 no small profit from the countenance of a. prince who was 
 their countryman, and had become the sovereign of a 
 wealthy people. But the family of this prince speedily 
 became Englishmen, and knew Scotland only as a pro- 
 vince of their dominions, of which England w^s the cen- 
 ter and the capital. Had the French in former times, in- 
 stead of contending obstinately in defence of their salique 
 law, that is, of the exclusive succession of males to their 
 crown, admitted the right of succession through females, 
 and even conceded the right of the Royal Family of Eng- 
 land to succeed to the throne of France, England must have 
 experienced precisely the same humiliation that ultimate- 
 ly occurred to Scotland. The Royal Family, residing 
 in the greatest and most populous and wealthy part of 
 {heir dominions, would have speedily become Frenchmen, 
 and England would have sunk into a province of France. 
 The celebrated battles of Cressy and Agincourt, of which 
 the English boast to this day, were stupidly fought by 
 them for the purpose of accomplishing their own subjuga- 
 tion ; and the chief misfortune which the French sustained, 
 of their not being sufficiently beaten, or that
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 217 
 
 these battles did not enable the English monarchs to seat 
 themselves firmly on the French throne. 
 
 From the time of the departure of the monarch, Scot- State of 
 land remained, till the legislative union under Queen Anne, 
 in a most unhappy state. The Scottish language became 
 a provincial dialect, Edinburgh became little better than a 
 mere provincial capital ; or, if it ever emerged into notice, 
 it was by its misfortunes, that is, by becoming the seat of 
 anarchy, or of some form of civil discord. In the mean- 
 while, the Scottish nobles, no longer able to contend with 
 effect against their prince, now become the monarch of a 
 powerful people, lost their ancient spirit of independence, 
 and became converted into greedy landlords, who collect- 
 ed with eagerness their revenues to expend them in a dis- 
 tant capital. Literature and arts fell into decay ; all the 
 evils of the ancient political institutions of the country were 
 aggravated. The nobles were slaves to the prince, while 
 at the same time the people, subjected to the territorial juris- 
 diction of the nobles, enjoyed none of that protection and 
 security which a great monarchy is calculated to give to 
 the inferior orders of men. These evils might have been 
 almost entirely prevented or compensated, by extending 
 the benefit of the English constitution to Scotland, that is, 
 by uniting the legislatures of the two countries. The 
 king is said to have proposed this measure ; but the pride 
 of Englishmen revolted against the idea of receiving 
 Scotchmen into their parliament, or allowing to their an- 
 cient enemies to share the name of Englishmen. They 
 
 /** A ' it " 
 
 were ultimately brought to think rationally upon this sub- 
 ject only by their usual bugbear, the terror of a French 
 invasion ; the fear of which has at all times been found 
 sufficient to induce the English nation toj submit to any 
 sacrifice. 
 
 Jn il\Q year 1604, we find that the pestilence raged in
 
 
 2iS MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh. Edinburgh .to a great degree ; so that it was necessary t 
 compel, by the highest penalties of the law, the persons 
 elected into the magistracy to accept of their offices. No- 
 thing farther worthy of notice appears to have occurred 
 during many years ; and by the removal of the court, and 
 of the factions by which the country was divided, Edin- 
 burgh enjoyed a degree of tranquillity formerly unknown 
 to this turbulent people. In 1618, King James returned 
 
 James VI. ^ o visit his native country, and toenioy the pleasure ofex- 
 
 jevisits . " . 
 
 Edinburgh, hibitiag to the Scots the splendour of an English monarch. 
 He was received at the West Port by the town-council in 
 their robes, and by the principal citizens dressed in black 
 velvet. The deputy town-clerk, John Hay, addressed the 
 king in a long speech - 9 in which his Majesty was compared 
 to David and Solomon, and to the Roman Caesars ; and 
 was told, that his government was the quintessence of 
 skill in ruling ; that the hills and groves were refreshed 
 by the dew of his presence ; and that the senate-house of 
 the planets had been convened at his birth, to bestow 
 upon him all possible perfections. At the same time, 
 what was perhaps still more acceptable than this speech, 
 the sum of 10,000 merks was presented to the king in a 
 silver bason, to render his heart propitious to this ancient 
 city. The king appears to have spent at this visit a part 
 of his time at Stirling in his favourite amusement of scho- 
 lastic disputation, with persons sent thither from the uni- 
 versity of Edinburgh ; and distinguished himself great- 
 ly by his skill in punning ; which appears in that age to 
 have been a very fashionable accomplishment. 
 Charles L , The next royal visit with which Edinburgh was honour- 
 Ediabur h e( * was ^ roni Charles the First in 1633. He was received 
 with the most absurd pageantry ; a person in female attire, 
 representing Caledonia, addressed him under a triumphal 
 arch, in along rhyming speech, at the West Bow. At the
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 2l 
 
 west end of the tolbooth was a second triumphal arch, on Edinburgh, 
 which were painted 109 kings of Scotland. Mercury was 
 represented conducting Fergus the first king of Scotland ; 
 who, in a grave speech, gave many good advices to Charles 
 as his successor. At the Cross a mount was raised, repre- 
 senting Parnassus adorned with rocks and trees ; a stream of 
 water, representing Helicon, issued from a fountain between 
 the two tops of the mount ; two bands of music, with an or- 
 gan, were placed on the south side, and on the north side 
 sat Apollo and the nine muses. Apollo pronounced a 
 panegyric upon the king, and then presented him with a 
 whole volume of panegyrics, composed for the occasion by 
 the members of the university ; after which the muses 
 sung a song in his praise. 
 
 At the Is! ether Bow, under a third triumphal arch, the 
 king was addressed in congratulatory speeches by persons 
 representing the seven planets. The expeuce of the king's 
 entry, together with a present made to him, cost the city 
 L. 41, 439, ~( s. Scots, We may remark once for all, that 
 L. 12 of Scots money is equal to L. 1 Sterling. 
 
 The troubles which agitated the reign of Charles the 
 First began in Edinburgh. At the reformation from po- 
 pery, the property of the church was seized by the nobles, 
 who obtained at various periods their possession, to be con- 
 firmed by grants negligently bestowed by the different kings. 
 The consequence was, that the Scottish presbyterian clergy, 
 having no proper provision from the state, were under the 
 necessity of securing a scanty subsistence by ingratiating 
 themselves with the people ; which they did, by practising 
 austere manners, and by representing, in an odious light, 
 the luxury and vanity of kings and nobles, of whom they 
 endeavoured to render themselves independent. Charles 
 wished, as a politician, to subdue their turbulent spirit. 
 The most obvious mode of accomplishing this object evi- 
 dently consisted of holding out to them objects of personal
 
 220 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 / * 
 
 Edinburgh, avarice or ambition, by establishing wealthy benefices, 
 such as he found in England. He was also himself a 
 conscientious sectary, rigidly attached to the govern- 
 ment of the Christian church, by bishops. Influenced by 
 both of these views, he made considerable efforts to res- 
 cue a part of the ancient property of the church from the 
 hands into which it had fallen, and to establish in Scot- 
 land the forms of the church of England. To the first of 
 these views the clergy could have no objection ; but a large 
 body of them, together with the people at large, had ac- 
 quired an invincible antipathy against all church digni- 
 ties and ecclesiastical ceremonies, which they considered 
 as allied to popery. The king established a regular and, 
 complete arrangement of ecclesiastical dignities ; and the 
 23d of July 1637 was appointed for introducing the new 
 service into the church of St Giles. On this extraordinary 
 occasion, the lord chancellor, the two archbishops of St 
 Andrews and Glasgow, the privy counsellors, the bishops, 
 the lords of session, and a vast concourse of people attend- 
 ed. No sooner had the dean of Edinburgh, James Hannah, 
 appeared in his surplice, than a great tumult was excited 
 in the church, chiefly by the women present, who inter- 
 Jenny GeJ- ru pted the service by their noise. The bishop of Edin- 
 iless refer- |j ur gh wen t m t o the pulpit, and reminded the people of the 
 sanctity of the place ; but an old woman, named Janet 
 Geddes, casting at his head the stool upon which she sat, 
 exclaimed, " Out, thou false thief, wouldst thou say mass 
 at my lug (ear)." The magistrates at length succeeded 
 in turning the turbulent part of the multitude out of the 
 church, and the service proceeded ; but with great inter- 
 ruptions, in consequence of the noise which was kept up 
 by throwing stones against the doors and windows, and by 
 incessant cries to pull down the pope and antichrist. When 
 the congregation was dismissed, the bishop was withdiffi-
 
 Culty rescued from the popular fury. This transaction is Edinburgh, 
 known in Scotland to this day by the name of " Jenny 
 Geddes's reformation." It was the commencement of a 
 sanguinary civil war, which terminated in the destruction 
 of the monarch and the suspension of the monarchy ; and 
 ought undoubtedly to remain as a warning to princes and 
 magistrates to remain satisfied with the dominion they 
 possess in this world, without attempting, in any case, to 
 quarrel with their people on account of the speculative 
 notions which the latter may entertain concerning futurity. 
 
 During the autumn which succeeded the event above- 
 mentioned, the liturgy was used for some time quietly in 
 the churches of Edinburgh ; but about the middle of October^ 
 when the city began to be more crowded with inhabitants, 
 the opposition to the new service was resumed. To repress 
 this opposition, and particularly to prevent any concourse of 
 persons to Edinburgh on account of religious matters, the 
 privy-council of Scotland issued, on the 17th of October, 
 no less than three proclamations. By the first, they ordered 
 all persons, who had come to Edinburgh on account of 
 ecclesiastical affairs, to return home under the penalty of 
 being denounced rebels ; the second, appointed the court 
 of session to be removed to Linlith'gow ; and the third, or- 
 dered an obnoxious pamphlet to be called in and burned. 
 
 These proclamations, especially that for removing the 
 court of session from Edinburgh to Linlithgow, served 
 only to exasperate without intimidating the people. On Tumults 
 the following day, the bishop of Galloway was insulted 
 by the multitude on his way to a meeting of the privy- 
 council. Having with great difficulty reached the council- 
 chamber, he and the other privy-counsellors were be- 
 sieged there by the mob. The lords of the privy-council 
 sent secretly to request assistance from the magistrates and 
 town-council ; but it was soon found that the magistrates
 
 222 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh, themselves stood in no less need of assistance. Their* 
 council-chamber had been broken into' by the multitude ; 
 and they were threatened with immediate destruction, if 
 they did not instantly subscribe a petition against the ser- 
 vice-book ; a' demand with which they were at last under 
 the necessity of complying. In the meanwhile, the earl 
 of Traquair, lord treasurer, with the earl of Wigton, left 
 the privy-council to go to join the magistrates of the city ; 
 though for what good purpose does not appear* They 
 found, that the magistrates had obtained their liberty ; but 
 they themselves, in attempting to return, were insulted by the 
 furious multitude, who shouted from all sides, " God de- 
 fend all those who will defend God's cause, and God con- 
 found the service-book and all maintainers of it." 
 
 i"iiwulted." *^ e ^ or ^ s > m imminent danger, assured the populace, 
 that they would represent their grievances to his majesty : 
 but when they perceived that the people treated with con- 
 tempt an order to disperse, on pain of the royal displea- 
 sure, they felt the necessity of having recourse to entrea- 
 ties and supplications. Before this measure was adopt- 
 ed, the fury of the multitude had encreased to such a 
 height, that the lord treasurer was assaulted and thrown 
 down ; his hat, cloak, and white staff taken from him ; 
 and, had he not been soon taken up by certain of his 
 friends, he must have been trod to death. In this woeful 
 state, Traquair, without hat, cloak, or staff, was conduct- 
 ed to the council-chamber, where the bishop of Orkney ; 
 and other privy-counsellors were attending their fate. 
 The privy-council were under the necessity of at last send- 
 ing to solicit the protection of some of the popular nobility 
 and gentry, who were most violent in opposition to the 
 measures of the Court. This they were fortunate enough 
 to obtain ; and the multitude, who respected the chiefs of 
 their own party, quietly suffered the privy-counsellors to
 
 MIDLOTHIAN'. 225 
 
 foe conducted to their own houses. The privy-council 
 met on the same afternoon at the palace of Holyroodhouse, 
 and issued a proclamation, prohibiting public convocations 
 of people within the city : but this was disregarded, and 
 the privy-council, having no troops under their command, 
 were under the necessity of seeking safety, by retiring to 
 Stirling. A royal proclamation was next issued, pardon- 
 ing past offences, and commanding peaceable behaviour ; 
 but wherever it was published, it was solemnly protested 
 against. Edinburgh was now crowded with people ; and, 
 in imitation of the measure which had been adopted upon 
 the murder of the Earl of Darnley, a " Solemn League The COTC- 
 and Covenant" was entered into. This was a bond or na 
 instrument subscribed and sworn to by all ranks of per- 
 sons ; whereby they renounced popery, engaged' to resist 
 all religious innovations, and to stand by each other against 
 all opposition. At the same time, a declaration was in- 
 serted, disclaiming all hostility to the king, and expressing 
 a resolution to defend his person and authority ; though 
 it was equivocally added, that this was to be done in the 
 preservation and defence of the true religion. All ranks- 
 of perspns hastened with the utmost eagerness to subscribe 
 and swear to the performance of this covenant. They at 
 the same time arranged themselves into different clubs at 
 Edinburgh, according to their different ranks ; and these 
 clubs were denominated tables, the representatives of 
 which governed the whole kingdom. 
 
 The king found it necessary, from his weakness, ari- 
 sing from want of troops and money, and the disaffection 
 of his English subjects, to temporise with the Scottish co- 
 venanters. He sent down the Marquis of Hamilton to 
 hold a parliament and the general assembly of the clergy. 
 He was met some miles from Edinburgh by an immense 
 multitude of covenanters, who wished to display their
 
 S24 , MIDLOTHlA-ff. 
 
 Edinburgh, strength, and of whom about 60,000 were now assembled 
 at Edinburgh. They refused to abandon their covenant, 
 invited the commissioner himself to subscribe it, and re- 
 fused to permit the English service to be read before him 
 in the chapel of Holyroodhouse. ^The commissioner re- 
 turned to London without accomplishing any division 
 among the covenanters ; and the king found it necessary, 
 by royal proclamation, to discharge the use of the ob- 
 noxious service-book. 
 
 CnrilWar. Ju November 1638, a general assembly of the church, 
 which xvas attended by the most powerful laymen in the 
 kingdom, was held at Glasgow. Here the whole bishops 
 were deprived, episcopacy abolished, and all persons or- 
 dered to sign the covenant under the penalty of excom- 
 inunication ; and, in the beginning of the following year, 
 a meeting at Edinburgh of the different estates of parlia- 
 ment unanimously resolved upon war against the royal 
 Authority. Troops were levied ; the castle of Edinburgh, 
 being destitute of provisions, surrendered, and Leith was 
 fortified. The king made a feeble attempt to reduce them 
 by means of English forces ; but the disaffection of his 
 English parliament, who gave every countenance to the 
 Scottish covenanters, enabled the latter successfully to 
 set him at defiance. When the civil wars began in 
 England, the covenanters sent an army of 20,000 men 
 into England to assist the parliament. It is not the pro- 
 vince, however, of a work of this sort, to enter into a 
 detail of the transactions whieh occurred in this part of 
 the island during the momentuous period now under con- 
 sideration. For this reason, we shall not here take notice 
 of those alternate reverses, in consequence of which, some 
 of the most distinguished leaders of both parties, such as 
 Montrose and the two Argyles, were brought to the scaf- 
 fold. It is sufficient here to observe, th*t after the fall of
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Charles the First, his son was immediately proclaimed Edinburgh. 
 at Edinburgh ; and having come over from Holland, he 
 was teazed by the fanaticism of the clergy till the time 
 when he was driven out of Scotland by Oliver Cromwell. 
 In consequence of the defeat of the Scottish army at Dun- 
 bar, in 1650, Edinburgh once more sunk into a state of 
 tranquillity and insignificance till the restoration in 1660. 
 Charles the Second's government was extremely tyranni- Charles the 
 cal in Scotland. He restored episcopacy, which was still g 0ve rn- 
 odious to the people ; and nearly one half of the clergy in mcnt - 
 Scotland were suddenly dismissed from their benefices for 
 refusing to conform to it. The privy-council assumed the 
 power of banishment to the foreign settlements ; enor- 
 mous fines were imposed on account of non-attendance 
 upon public worship ; and arbitrary imprisonment was 
 carried by them to a great length. Some trifling rebel- 
 lions were excited, which were followed by endless san- 
 guinary executions. As the quarrel was of a religious na- 
 ture, the sufferers were considered by themselves and their 
 party as earning a crown of martyrdom. The effect of 
 the whole was, that the royal family of Stuart became 
 utterly odious to the Scottish presbyterians ; vand to this 
 day, among the religious and well-informed part of the 
 common people in the south of Scotland, their memory is 
 regarded with the utmost abhorrence. 
 
 The news of the landing of the Prince of Orange in Revolution, 
 England was received in Scotland by the presbyterians, 
 who formed the great body of the people, with unbounded 
 joy. Their leaders nocked to Edinburgh from all quar- 
 ters. Great severities were exercised Upon papists, epis- 
 copals, and upon all friends to the unhappy and exiled 
 royal family of whatever denomination. The Earl of 
 Perth, chancellor^ fled from Edinburgh ; and the govern- 
 ment fell entirely into the hands of the revolution party. 
 
 VOL. I. P
 
 22O MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh. A m ob rose ; drums were beat through the city ; the in- 
 habitants assembled in great multitudes ; they proceeded 
 to demolish the chapel of Holyroodhouse, but were oppo- 
 sed by a party of about 100 men stationed in the abbey, 
 and who adhered to the interest of James-. The mob 
 pressing forward were fired, upon by this party ; about a 
 dozen were killed, and thrice as many wounded : upon 
 which they fled for the present,. but quickly returned with 
 a warrant from some lords of the privy-council. They 
 were headed by the magistrates, town guard, trained bands, 
 and heralds at arms v who required Wallace, the captain of 
 the party, to surrender ; and' upon his refusal, another 
 skirmish ensued, in which Wallace's party was defeated, 
 some being killed, and the rest made prisoners. Then 
 there was nothing to resist the fury of the multitude. The, 
 abbey church and private chapel were robbed and de- 
 spoiled of their ornaments, the college of the Jesuits al- 
 most pulled in pieces, and the houses of the Roman ca- 
 tholics plundered. 
 
 The government of the nation as well, as of the city was- 
 at this time in some measure dissolved. The magistrates- 
 of Edinburgh possessed little of the public confidence ; be- 
 cause, although they very eagerly offered their services to 
 the Prince of Orange, yet they had been elected under the 
 influence of the opposite party, and had recently declared 
 their resolution to stand by the sacred person of King 
 James. It was therefore found necessary,, for the preser- 
 vation of public tranquillity, that some of the most re- 
 spectable inhabitants should come forward, and endeavour 
 to preserve the tranquillity of the city. Accordingly the 
 members of the profession of the law, called the college of 
 justice, took up arms ; and, having organized themselves 
 as a military body, preserved tranquillity in Edinburgh. 
 But the Duke of Hamilton, who zealously supported the 
 
 \
 
 revolution, was jealous of this body on account of the at- Edinburgh, 
 tachment of its most distinguished members to the banish- 
 ed monarch. He therefore procured from the new go- 
 vernment an order for disbanding them. 
 
 Edinburgh was at this time the capital of an indepen- New go- 
 dent kingdom ; and accordingly political intrigues occur- 
 red here similar to those which took place in England re- 
 lative to the establishment of the crown. The Duke of 
 Hamilton, at the head of the revolution party, publicly- 
 introduced several companies of foot into the city. The 
 castle was in the meanwhile preserved for some time for 
 the exiled monarch by its governor, the Duke of Gor- 
 don ; but being ill supplied with provisions, it speedily- 
 surrendered. A convention of estates was, in March 1689, 
 held in Edinburgh ; which declared, that King James ha- 
 ving altered the constitution of the kingdom, by the exer- 
 tion of arbitrary power, had forfeited his right to the crown ; 
 which they settled upon William and Mary. They also 
 abolished the episcopal form of church government ; they 
 ordained a new election of the magistrates and council of 
 Edinburgh to be made in St Giles's church by poll of the 
 burgesses who were liable for public burdens ; and they 
 dismissed several ministers of Edinburgh from their 
 churches, because they refused to pray for the newly ap- 
 pointed sovereigns. As is usual amidst the reaction of 
 political parties, freedom suffered no less from its zealous 
 and avowed friends than it had done from its declared ene- 
 mies. Many of the adherents of the exiled family were 
 exposed to severe persecution, and some of them were 
 long detained in prison. The liberty of the press was no 
 less trampled upon by the new party than it had been by 
 their predecessors. Still, however, this might justly be 
 styled a bloodless revolution, if that could with propriety 
 be called a revolution which altered nothing in the ordi- 
 
 P2
 
 328 MIDLOTHIAN^ 
 
 Edinburgh, nary arrangements of society, or in the established laws of 
 the kingdom, excepting merely with regard to the person 
 of the prince, who was driven from the throne on account 
 of the violation of these laws. 
 
 Edinburgh appears to have continued in a state of to- 
 lerable quietness till towards the close of King William's 
 reign and the commencement of that of his successor, 
 when the failure of the attempt to establish a Scottish co- 
 lony at the Isthmus of Darien in America, and afterwards 
 the accomplishment of a legislative union with England, 
 excited considerable disturbances. 
 
 African In 1695, a company had been established for trading to 
 
 company. Africa and the Indies. In 1696, L. 400,000 Sterling was 
 subscribed as the funds of this company by persons resi- 
 ding in Scotland ; and six ships of considerable force sail- 
 ed from the Frith of Forth. The news of their having 
 effected a settlement on the Isthmus of Darien arrived on 
 the 25th of March 1699 ; and as the whole kingdom ap- 
 pears to have entered with singular enthusiasm into the 
 project, this event was celebrated with the most extrava- 
 gant rejoicings. The new company, however, soon met 
 with the most violent opposition. King William was ex- 
 tremely hostile to it ; and the English, Dutch, and Spa- 
 niards, were uncommonly active in their efforts to prevent 
 the establishment of a rival in their colonial enterprises. The 
 petitions to the king by the company and by the Scottish 
 parliament were totally disregarded. But upon the news 
 being received of the defeat of the Spaniards, who attack- 
 ed our settlement, a mob rose, obliged the inhabitants of 
 Edinburgh to illuminate theii windows, committed out- 
 rages upon the houses of those who did not humour them 
 by compliance, secured the avenues to the city, and pro- 
 ceeded to the Tolbooth ; the doors of which they burnt, 
 and set at liberty two printers, who had been confined for
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 22$ 
 
 printing pamphlets reflecting on the government. When Edinburgh. 
 it was afterwards understood that the company were dri- 
 ven from their settlement, their capital lost, and their 
 hopes utterly extinguished, the Scots were seized with a 
 transport of fury ; violent addresses were presented to the 
 king ; and the mob were so outrageous, that the royal 
 commissioner to parliament and officers of state found it 
 prudent to retire for a few days, lest they should have 
 fallen a sacrifice to popular fury. 
 
 The African company still continued their trade to dif- 
 ferent quarters ; but found themselves, after the accession 
 of Qiieen Anne, still exposed to ill treatment abroad. A 
 ship belonging to them was seized in the Thames. Ha- 
 ving in vain solicited restitution from the English ministry, 
 the company obtained authority from the government in 
 Scotland to seize, by way of reprisal, a vessel (Captain 
 Green commander) belonging to the English East India 
 company, which put into the Forth. The unguarded 
 speeches of the crew, in their cups or their quarrels, made 
 them be suspected and accused ; and, after a full and legal March i6th 
 trial, they were convicted of piracy, aggravated by murv 
 der, and that committed upon the master and crew of a 
 Scottish vessel in the East Indies. Still, however, the evi- 
 dence upon which they were condemned was by many 
 thought slight, and intercessions for royal mercy were used 
 in their behalf. But the populace were enraged that the 
 blood of a Scotchman should be spilt unrevenged. On 
 the day appointed for the execution, a vast mob sur- 
 rounded the prison. The lord chancellor was attacked, 
 the privy-council were intimidated, together with the ma- 
 gistrates of Edinburgh ; and it was found absolute^ ne- 
 cessary to appease the enraged multitude by the execu* 
 tion of the criminals. 
 
 The misfortunes of the African company, together with
 
 30 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh, other causes of offence, all of which the jealousy of the 
 Animosity Scots, as the weaker state, led them to interpret in the 
 England worst point of view against the English government, seem 
 at this time to have been rapidly hastening to rekindle the 
 ancient animosities between the two kingdoms, and might 
 probably have produced an attempt towards a separation 
 in the order of succession to the two crowns. Queen 
 Anne's ministry saw the necessity of endeavouring to unite 
 more closely than formerly, by a political union, the whole 
 of the British island, and to take from the Scots their ral- 
 lying point of a separate legislature. 
 Propriety It has hitherto been one of the defects attending every 
 
 ot an union. ....... ,., , . , r 
 
 . tree political institution, that it has not admitted 01 an ex- 
 tension of empire without endangering a loss of liberty. 
 The English nation, who have always been jealous of in- 
 novation, were unwilling to receive strangers into their 
 legislature ; and were chiefly induced to do so at this pe- 
 riod from the reasonable apprehension that the Scots 
 might return to their ancient alliance with France. In 
 other respects, the empire of England was at this time en- 
 gaged in a progress towards a great but gradual enlarge- 
 ment. In North America, colonies had been established, 
 which, twenty years before the close of the existing century, 
 were to assume a name and a rank among powerful and 
 prosperous nations. Settlements had also been begun in the 
 West India islands, and an East India company had been 
 established; which undoubtedly enjoyed the hope of being 
 able, at a future period, after the example of the Portu- 
 guese and the Dutch, to acquire for themselves a territo- 
 rial Asiatic sovereignty. In Europe also, Ireland was 
 growing to be a great kingdom ; and Scotland, the ancient 
 pnemy and rival of England, was subject to the same mo- 
 narch. Still, however, no attempt had yet been made to 
 reduce into one mass the scattered fragments of this great
 
 MIDLOTHIAN-. 
 
 growing body. The English politicians satisfied them- Edinburgh. 
 delves with seeing separate constitutions, in imitation of 
 their own, everywhere established. There was a Scottish 
 parliament and an Irish parliament ; and every Ameri- 
 can colony and .West India island had its separate house 
 of representatives, and a council established after the mo- 
 del of the House of Commons and of Peers in England, 
 superintended by a governoror commissioner, who repre- 
 sented the king. Thus the empire consisted of a set of 
 fragments or patches, legally bound together only ; by a 
 very limited executive power, and in reality preserved ia 
 a state of union merely by the weakness of each of the parts 
 considered- separately-, and the necessity of looking towards 
 England for protection. Later events have now demon- 
 strated, that to enable the race of Englishmen, or rather 
 of Britons, to remain permanently united, it would have 
 been necessary to model the English legislature in such a 
 way, as, that when any distant settlement attained to a cer- 
 tain degree of strength, its separate legislature should be 
 dissolved, and representatives from it received into the 
 general legislature of the empire. This measure, with re- 
 gard to Scotland, appears only, however, to have been ad- 
 opted as a matter of present expediency at the commence- 
 ment of the eighteenth century, and has never been re- 
 ceived as a general rule or measure of imperial policy. 
 The consequence of which has been a political disjunction 
 of the British race on the two sides of the Atlantic. Nor 
 was the measure adopted with regard to Ireland till it was 
 forced upon England by the fear of French encroachment. 
 
 In general, the union was in Scotland favoured by theTumuIti 
 whig or presbyterian party, on account of the nomiiiation 
 ef the house of Hanover to the succession of the throne 
 of England, which 1 ad already taken place there. Still, 
 however, the proposal of removing from the kingdom all
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 semblance of its ancient independence, excited general re- 
 luctance to the project, and gave rise in Edinburgh to very 
 violent commotions. No sooner were the articles of the 
 treaty printed than universal uproar ensued. The Duke 
 of Queensberry, who presided in the parliament of Scot- 
 land as royal commissioner, with every partisan of the 
 union, was insulted and exposed to the utmost personal 
 danger ; while those who headed the opposition were fol- 
 lowed with the loudest acclamations. The mob attacked 
 the house of Sir Patrick Johnston, one of the representa- 
 tives of the city of Edinburgh ; and he himself escaped 
 with great difficulty from falling a victim to their fury. 
 It was found necessary to draw together a considerable ar- 
 my ; and even with this assistance, together with the so- 
 vereign expedient of modern politicians, that of money, the 
 proposed union was with great difficulty effected, some of 
 the votes being carried only by the narrowest possible ma- 
 jority. 
 
 Rebellion Edinburgh remained quiet till the accession of the pre- 
 1 1?IlJ ' sent royal family, when the violation of the ancient law 
 of hereditary succession to the crown excited a slight re- 
 bellion in Scotland. On this occasion, the town-council 
 of Edinburgh provided for the security of the town and 
 the support of government, by ordering the city walls and 
 gates to be repaired and fortified ; the sluice upon the 
 North Loch to be dammed up, and trenches to be made ; 
 the town guard to be augmented ; the trained bands to be 
 armed ; 400 men to be raised and maintained at the city's 
 expence ; and armed vessels to be fitted out, to assist the 
 lung's ships in preventing the rebel army from crossing 
 the Forth. 
 
 Sept. 36. The enterprise began on the part of the rebels with an 
 unsuccessful attempt to seize Edinburgh castle by sur- 
 prise. The run upon the bank of Scotland was so great,
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 233 
 
 that they stopt payment on the 19th September, and or- Edinburgh, 
 dered their notes to bear interest from that date. About 
 1500 men, under the command of Brigadier M'Intosh, 
 were conducted over the Forth in open boats, with so 
 much art and address as to land in East Lothian safely, 
 and without interruption from the armed vessels which 
 cruized along the coast to obstruct their passage. M'Intosh, 
 with his troops, took possession of Seaton house in East 
 Lothian. They marched towards Edinburgh ; but found 
 it so well guarded and fortified as to make it imprudent 
 to risk an assault : upon which they repaired to Leith, and 
 fortified the citadel. The Duke of Argyle marched with 
 his forces, intending to dislodge them ; but being unpro- 
 vided with cannon, he was obliged to desist from his at- 
 tempt. He threatened to return reinforced with artillery ; 
 and the rebels thought proper to evacuate the citadel. Six 
 thousand troops, which had been demanded from the states 
 of Scotland, soon arrived at Edinburgh to support govern- 
 ment. After some trifling rencounters at different parts of 
 the country, this rebellion languished and expired. 
 
 The next remarkable occurrence in Edinburgh was the The Por- 
 celebrated mob, or rather conspiracy, which put to death 
 John Porteous, captain of the city guard, in 1736. The 
 discontents occasioned by the union, and by the violation 
 of the hereditary succession to the crown, were not yet en- 
 tirely extinguished ; and these were chiefly kept up by the 
 extension to Scotland of the English revenue laws. Some 
 smuggled goods had been seized and lodged in the king's 
 warehouses : two of the smugglers afterwards, during the 
 night, broke into the warehouse, and carried off their own 
 goods, but without touching any other article. Being ap- 
 prehended, they were tried and convicted, and sentence of 
 death was pronounced against them for this offence ; which 
 appeared to the populace of a very venial nature. At that
 
 234 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh, time, it was customary on Sundays to convey prisoners 
 under sentence of death to an adjoining church, to attend 
 divine service. While there, with a guard soldier on each 
 side of them, one of the smugglers suddenly started up 
 and sprung from the guard. His companion, whose name 
 was Wilson, instantly seized the two guard soldiers, and 
 held them fast till his associate, who was favoured by 
 the congregation, made his escape. Wilson was convey- 
 ed back to prison ; and, on the day appointed, was execu- 
 ted in the Grass-market. On that occasion, some boys pelt- 
 ed the executioner with stones ^ a thing at that time very 
 usual on these occasions. Captain Porteous hastily and 
 intemperately -ordered the city guard to fire upon the spec- 
 tators : but the soldiers, unwilling to do mischief, fired 
 over the heads of the populace. Their enraged officer, 
 however, obliged them to level their pieces, arid to fire 
 right among the crowd ; of whom six were killed and 
 eleven dangerously wounded. In consequence of this act, 
 Captain Porteous was tried for murder and condemned. 
 Queen Caroline, who was at that time regent during the 
 king's absence in Hanover, granted to the criminal a re- 
 prieve for six weeks. It was now recollected, that on a 
 variety of similar occasions, those who had committed the 
 greatest crimes, ostensibly in the service of government, 
 had been accustomed in Scotland to receive the royal coun- 
 tenance and protection, while at all times the criminal re- 
 cords had been swelled with prosecutions of rioters, carried 
 on at the expence of the crown. It was generally belie- 
 ved, that when the day appointed for the execution of Cap- 
 tain Porteous should arrive, a new reprieve, or rather a 
 pardon, would make its appearance. It was even rumour- 
 ed that on the morning of that day he was to be conduct- 
 ed for greater safety to the castle under a guard. 
 
 A sort of conspiracy appears, on this occasion, to have
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 35 
 
 been entered into among the lower orders of the people to Edinburgh, 
 prevent the escape of Porteous. One of the persons pre- 
 sent, and who assisted in putting Porteous to death, gave 
 the following account of the transaction many years after- 
 wards. He resided in the upper part of Lanarkshire, and 
 had a relation killed by the fire of the town guard. On 
 the day preceding that of Porteous's death, a whisper went 
 through the country, upon what information or authority 
 this person knew not, that on the succeeding evening an 
 attempt was to be made at Edinburgh to put Captain 
 Porteous to death. To avenge the blood of his relation, he 
 accounted himself bound in duty to share the risk of the at- 
 tempt, because he understood that the power of govern- 
 ment was to be exerted to prevent justice from being done. 
 On the following day, therefore, he proceeded on foot to 
 Edinburgh, and stopt till towards the evening in the sub- 
 iirb called the West Port, which he found crowded with 
 country people ; all of whom, however, appeared to keep 
 aloof from each other, so that there was no conversation 
 about the cause of their assembling. At a later hour, he 
 found the inferior sort of inns in the Grass-market full of 
 people, and saw many persons, apparently strangers, lurk- 
 ing in the different lanes. About eleven at night, which 
 at that period was a very late hour, the streets became 
 crowded with men ; parties of whom silently run to and 
 fro, and, 1 as he understood, seized upon the city guard, and 
 secured the gates, to prevent the entrance of the military 
 quartered in the suburbs. Thereafter the greater part of 
 the crowd proceeded to the prison ; the door of which they 
 burnt open by setting fire to a barrel of tar 'which they 
 rolled close to it. Having entered the prison, they dis- 
 missed the whole prisoners excepting Porteous, whom they 
 threatened with death. In the meanwhile an attempt was 
 made by .some gentlemen (the magistrates and the mem-
 
 MIDLOTHIAN 1 . 
 
 Edinburgh, ber of parliament for the city, Mr Lindsay) to prevail with 
 the mob to desist from their undertaking ; but the gentle- 
 men were driven off,Porteous was dragged out of the prison, 
 and led along to the ordinary place of execution in the 
 Grass-market. As the multitude descended along with him 
 down the West Bow, some of the mob knocked at the door 
 of a shop and demanded ropes. A woman, apparently a 
 maid-servant, thrust a coil of ropes out of the window 
 without opening the door of the shop. A person wearing 
 a white apron, which seemed to be used for disguise, gave 
 in return a piece of gold as the price of the ropes. Ha- 
 ving arrived at the Grass-market, they cast the rope over a 
 dyer's posf near the place of execution. Here some dispute 
 occurred among the mob, whether any time should be al- 
 lowed to the prisoner to address himself in prayer to God 
 as a preparation for eternity. Some of the populace con- 
 tended that he was entitled to no such indulgence, on ac- 
 count of the sudden manner in which he himself had sent 
 others out of the world, to make their appearance before 
 the great judge of the quick and the dead. A short pe- 
 riod was at last allowed to this unhappy man to spend in 
 devotion, within a pircle formed by the surrounding mul- 
 titude. He was also permitted to deliver to a person known 
 to him some money and other articles, which he wished 
 to send to his relations. After which he was immediate- 
 ly hung up on the dyer's post ; and after waiting a few mi- 
 nutes, till his life appeared gone, the multitude suddenly, 
 and with the utmost quietness, dispersed. 
 
 Efforts to Information of this outrage was received at court with 
 deatlf of C the utmost indignation. It was there represented as a pre- 
 Porteous. me( jitated insult on government. Several expresses were 
 dispatched to his Majesty, then at Hanover. A pardon 
 was promised to offenders if they would discover'^ their ac- 
 complices, and also a reward of L. 200 for each person so
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 231 
 
 apprehended and convicted ; and it was resolved to make Edinburgh. 
 the city feel the weight of ministerial vengeance. 
 
 The lord provost of Edinburgh was taken into custody, 
 and was not admitted to bail till after nearly three weeks 
 of confinement. He was commanded to attend the House 
 of Lords, along with the four bailies of Edinburgh. Three 
 of the lords of justiciary were likewise commanded to at- 
 tend. A bill was brought in for disabling Alexander 
 Wilson, Esq. lord provost of Edinburgh, from holding 
 any magistracy, for confining him to close custody for a 
 year, for abolishing the city guard, and taking down the 
 city gates. This bill passed the House of Lords, notwith- 
 standing the vigorous opposition of the Duke of Argyle 
 and others. In the House of Commons, however, it was 
 differently treated. The clauses against the lord provost, 
 for abolishing the city guard, and taking down the gates, 
 were left out ; and instead of them, a fine of L. 2000, to 
 be granted to Porteous's widow, was imposed upon the 
 city. Even as thus amended, it was only carried by the 
 casting vote of the chairman of the committee of the whole 
 house. 
 
 It is a remarkable circumstance, and gives a singular 
 view of the character of the Scottish nation, and of that 
 respect for public opinion and for personal reputation for 
 which they are distinguished, that no discovery was ever 
 made of any individual engaged in this conspiracy, not- 
 withstanding the high reward offered to informers, and the 
 multitude of persons engaged in the transaction. It is ob- 
 vious, that the parties concerned must have considered 
 themselves as acting justly, and the country at large must 
 have been of the same opinion. 
 
 The next event of public importance that occurred in Rebellioa 
 the city was in the year 1 745, when the unfortunate Prince m 
 Charles Edward attempted, by the assistance of a handful
 
 238 MIDLOTHIAN". 
 
 Edinburgh, of Highlanders, to take possession of the throne of his an- 
 cestors. The town-council having been informed, in a 
 letter from one of the secretaries of state, that a scheme 
 existed to invade these kingdoms by the eldest son of the 
 pretender, they assured his Majesty of their fidelity in a 
 loyal address ; and upon information of his being landed 
 in the north, they prepared for a vigorous defence of the 
 city. The city guard was augmented to one hundred and 
 twenty-six men ; the trained bands were ordered to be in 
 readiness at the shortest warning ; application was made 
 to his Majesty, and leave granted, to raise and maintain 
 by subscription 1000 men, who were to be under the di- 
 rection of the lord provost and council ; a part of the king's 
 forces were brought into the neighbourhood of the city ; 
 its walls were ordered to be repaired, ditches to be thrown 
 up ; and inn-keepers and others who let lodgings were re- 
 quired to give exact lists of the strangers residing in their 
 houses. 
 
 On the 13th of September, the young pretender, with 
 his small Highland army of less than 2000 men, crossed 
 the Forth a few miles to the westward of Stirling. Ad- 
 vice of this event being received at Edinburgh, all was in 
 a state of hurry and confusion ; the cash of the two banks, 
 the books of the public offices, and the most valuable ef- 
 fects of many private citizens, were removed to the castle 
 of Edinburgh for security ; the city guard, together with 
 those enlisted in the city's regiment, were ordered to re- 
 pair at the first notice to a particular place of rendezvous. 
 Nine companies of volunteers had also been formed ; and 
 these, "with about 200 men from the county of Midlothian, 
 were appointed to be in readiness. On the 15th of Sep- 
 tember, news arrived that the advanced guard of the re- 
 bel army had arrived at Linlithgow, and that Gardiner's 
 regiment of dragoons was retreating before them. Gar-
 
 MIDLOTHIAN". S&9 
 
 diner's regiment, together with another regiment of dra- Edinburgh* 
 goons, both Irish, having taken post at Coltbridge, a mile 
 to the westward of Edinburgh, the city's regiment, with 
 the town guard,, was sent out to join them, in the hope of 
 arresting the progress of the Highlanders ; but on the ap- 
 proach of the latter, the two regiments of dragoons were 
 seen in full retreat passing along the north side of the city, 
 where the New Town now stands. This spectacle, to- 
 gether with the flight of the most considerable inhabitants,. . 
 spread a panic throtighout the city. The rolunteers, af- 
 ter some intriguing,, agreed to disperse themselves ; and a 
 meeting of the inhabitants was called in an aisle of St 
 Giles's church, to deliberate about the measures to be ad- 
 opted. A message from the pretender was received, re- 
 quiring a surrender of the town. A deputation was sent 
 to the rebel camp to negotiate for the safety of the city* 
 Nothing was agreed upon ; and the deputation was sent 
 back from the city r to endeavour to obtain more favour- 
 able terms. The deputation returned ; and while they 
 were reporting the answer they had received to the as- 
 sembled inhabitants, by which an immediate surrender 
 was required, the hackney coach in which they had tra- 
 velled was returning about four o'clock in the morning of 
 the 17th of September to the dwelling of its owner in the 
 Canongate. The Nether Bow Port was opened to allow the 
 carriage to pass ; and at that instant, without noise or tu- 
 mult, 800 Highlanders, under Cameron of Lochiel, rushed-Thc city 
 in, marched along the street, dismissed. and discharged the taken< 
 city guard, and took peaceable possession of the whole ci- 
 ty. On the same day the rebel army arrived at the king's 
 park; and Prince Charles took possession of the palace of 
 Holyroodhouse. The rebel army observed tolerable dis- 
 cipline ; but some contributions were levied upon the 
 ity, though to no great amount. The regular camp of
 
 240 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Edinburgh, the Highlanders was established at Duddingston ; from 
 whence they marched, on the 20th of September, to at- 
 tack a regular army, superior to themselves in number, at 
 Prestonpans. Though totally undisciplined and half arm- 
 ed, they gained a complete victory, which they did not 
 abuse. No hostilities occurred between them and the 
 castle of Edinburgh till the 25th of the same month of 
 September ; when the garrison having been alarmed by 
 some noise among the rocks, probably from goats scramb- 
 ling there, the castle guns were fired upon the High- 
 land guard at the West Port. This induced Prince Charles 
 to cut off the intercourse between the city and castle. 
 The latter had been so scantily stored with provisions, in 
 consequence of the negligence of government, that the 
 governor of the castle feared that he might speedily be re- 
 duced to surrender by famine. This produced some ne- 
 gotiation, in which the governor of the castle threatened 
 to fire upon the city, if his communication with it should 
 The castle be suspended. This threat was executed. A severe can- 
 _ nonading against the city was commenced, which filled all 
 
 quarters with terror and tumult. After a number of per- 
 sons had been killed and wounded, and some houses set 
 on fire, and others damaged, Prince Charles had the hu- 
 manity to remove the prohibition of holding intercourse 
 with the castle, for the sake of saving the city and its in- 
 habitants. He left Edinburgh on the 31st of October, and 
 marched for England. In his retreat he did not return by 
 Edinburgh ; so that this city suffered no farther inconve- 
 nience from the rebellion. 
 
 As the election of the magistrates of Edinburgh had not 
 taken place at the usual period, the royal permission wa 
 granted, upon a petition from the citizens, for a poll elec- 
 tion by the burgesses ; which took place accordingly. 
 Archibald Stuart, Esq. who had been lord provost of the
 
 eity of Edinburgh when the rebels entered it, was brought Edinburgh. 
 to trial before the court of justiciary for malversation in 
 office ; but, after a long trial of six days, he was acquitted 
 by the jury. A starfite was passed, abolishing the whole 
 hereditary or feudal jurisdictions which formerly belong- 
 ed to the great nobility and landholders of Scotland, and 
 transferring them to the royal courts ; a circumstance of? 
 most essential importance to the great source of national 
 prosperity, the fair administ -ation of justice. At the same 
 time, government betrayed its terror of the Highlanders, 
 by prohibiting the use of the dress or garb which had been 
 worn by the Caledonians from the earliest ages, and which 
 alone they knew how to manufacture. 
 
 From this period, the history of Edinburgh fortunately 
 amounts to nothing more than a history of the various im- 
 provements which have taken place, and of the edifices 
 which have been reared in this city ; of which We have al- 
 ready given a concise description. The city gates, or ports 
 as they were called, which were proposed to be demolished 
 as a punishment inflicted on the city for the death of Cap- 
 tain Porteous, have all been long since removed by thtf 
 magistrates as an inconvenient obstruction to the inter- 
 course of one part of the city with the rest. Within tho 
 last forty years, the city has encreased to more than double 
 its former extent ; and it is annually augmenting in its di- 
 mensions, as well as improving in the quality of its build- 
 
 VOL. t
 
 MIDLOTHIAN 
 
 COUNTY. 
 
 / 
 
 WE next proceed to give an account of the SHIRE or 
 COUNTY of EDINBURGH, as distinguished from the CITY. 
 
 THE county of Edinburgh, or Midlothian, which con- 
 tains 360 square miles, OP 230,400 English acres, may in 
 general be considered as consisting of an inclined plane or 
 hanging level, descending towards the Frith of" Forth on 
 the north, or rather on the north-east. Its waters flow in a' 
 direction chiefly from south-west to north-east, excepting^ 
 at the south-eastern part of it, where Gala water, which 
 rises in this county, descends southward towards the Tweed. 
 The north-western part of the county is in general an ara- 
 ble and fertile territory. The southern part of Midlothian 
 is in general bounded by a high, cold y or mountainous tract. 
 On the eastern part of this boundary are the hills of Lam- 
 mermuir and Muirfoot. On- the south-western part is 
 Garnwath muir, and a part of the ' entland hills. The 
 latter, at their eastern extremity, advance into the very 
 center of the county y where they terminate abruptly with- 
 in less than five miles of Edinburgh, which they may be 
 said to overlook. The hill of Caerketan-craig, the most 
 northerly and the nearest to Edinburgh of the Psntland 
 hills, is 1450 feet above the level of the sea ; and the hill 
 of Capelaw, situated to the westward of it, may be about 
 100 feet higher. The Logan house hill, lying still fur- 
 ther west in the range, and the highest of the Pentland hills,, 
 was found, by geometrical mensuration, and by repeated 
 fearometical observations, to be 1700 feet above the level 
 of the sea at Leith, which is only 60 feet less than one- 
 third of a measured mile. The southern hills, at the boun-
 
 MIDLOTHIAN* 243 
 
 dary of this county, are some of them still more lofty* It Waters, 
 contains likewise' scattered over it several hills of mode- 
 rate size, particularly those of Arthur seat and Corstorphine 
 hills, already mentioned. In general, however, Midlo- 
 thian is considered in Scotland as a plain or flat country, 
 though it is by no means, properly speaking, level. The 
 only part of it which can at all deserve that appellation is 
 that to the westward of Edinburgh castle, proceeding into 
 Linlithgowshire. But, even in this direction, the level 
 country is at no place of great breadth from north to south, 
 without being interrupted by ridges or eminences. To 
 the eastward of Edinburgh, the inland teiritory is agreea- 
 bly variegated, by being formed at the distance of every 
 two or three miles into ridges, in a direction from south to 
 north, the whole of which are well cultivated. Each ridge, 
 proceeding to the east, is more lofty than the former, till 
 they terminate in the hills of Lammermuir. Towards the 
 north, that is, upon the coast, the face of the country is 
 rich and beautiful ; but on receding from the sea, it gra- 
 dually loses that aspect, and the mountains are bleak, na- 
 ked, and barren on the south and south-west. 
 
 The waters belonging to this county are of no impor* w aterti 
 tance from their magnitude, but they are rendered interest- 
 ing by the beautiful scenery exhibited almost every where 
 upon their steep woody banks. The most westerly of Amend, 
 them is that denominated the water of Amond ; which in 
 a great part of its course forms in that direction the boun- 
 dary of the county. It rises in the high grounds on the 
 borders of Lanarkshire ; and being fed by a great number 
 of small streams or torrents, it falls into the sea, after a 
 north-easterly course, at the village of Cramond, where, at 
 high water, it is navigable by boats and sloops for about a 
 quarter of a mile. In the greater part of its length, it 
 runs through a country that is rich and beautiful, and in 
 
 0,2
 
 244 
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Waters general level, affording much interesting scenery. O& 
 both sides of the river Almond, but especially on the 
 southern banks from Livingston to its confluence with thtf 
 Sea below Kirkliston, which is a space of at least 14 or 
 15 miles, there have been found many skeletons of thd 
 human body remaining in stone coffins. It appears that 
 the Almond was considered as an important pass, and, or* 
 some extraordinary occasion, was obstinately defended by 
 two contending armies. It is believed, however, that no 
 authentic documents exist, from which the date of the 
 contest alluded to can be ascertained. It may have hap- 
 pened when the Saxons drove the natives to the north side 
 of the Forth ; or when the Picts and Scots were at war ; or 
 when Malcolm, the general heir of the Scottish crown, 
 was attacked by the Emperor Constantine the Fourth. I( 
 may also be remarked, that the banks of this river are at 
 one place described as the scene in former times of the pu- 
 nishment of the witches of Calder. Here the unhappy per- 
 sons, accused of this imaginary crime, are said to have been 
 burned by our barbarous ancestors. 
 
 The next stream of any note is called the Water of 
 Leith. It is to be observed, that the term water is in 
 Scotland usually applied to every stream that is consider- 
 ably above the size of a rivulet ; the term burn is in ouf 
 dialect applied to streams of a lesser magnitude. The 
 distinction between a burn and a water is not correctly- 
 marked ; a burn is sometimes large enough to be used foil- 
 moving corn mills, while, on the other hand, the term wa- 
 ter is applied, as in the case of the Water of Leith, to tor- 
 rents, which, during the summer months at least, are little 
 more than sufficient fot that purpose. The Water of Leith 
 takes its rise in the western extremity of the parish of 
 Currie, on the north side of the Pentland hills, at a place 
 called Leith Head, from three large springs, which receive 
 
 Water f 
 Leith.
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 245 
 
 various additions in their progress : after a course of Watery 
 nearly sixteen miles, it runs into the sea at Leith. As 
 already mentioned, there is upon its banks much of that 
 romantic scenery for which the small rivers in Scotland are 
 remarkable. They usually run at one time in deep nar- 
 row glens, amidst rocks and hanging \\ oods ; and, at an- 
 other, through small level fields called baugbs, fertile in 
 corn and grass. This small stream probably does more 
 work than any other of its size in Scotland. There are 
 Upon it forty-six mills for grinding oat-meal, barley, and 
 flour ; and, in addition to these, there are lint mills, wauk 
 mills, snuff mills, saw mills, and other machines moved by 
 water, to the amount of between seventy and eighty. 
 
 After two small intervening streams, which fall into the 
 sea at Figgat and Maitland Bridge, and which receive on- 
 ly the appellation of burtis, the next water of any im- 
 portance is that denominated the Es&, which enters the Esk. 
 "Frith of Forth near Musselburgh. The term Esk is not an 
 uncommon name for rivers in Scotland, and is said to signify 
 a water in the Gaelic tongue. There are here two streams 
 that receive this appellation; thenorth and south Esk, which 
 unite their waters within the duke of Buccleugh's park, 
 .and flow into the sea two miles below in the parish of In- 
 veresk. Both of them have beautiful wooded banks, adorn- 
 ed with splendid villas of the nobility or gentry. But 
 the north Esk is the most celebrated. It rises on the 
 southern side of Pentland hills above Newhall, about four- 
 teen miles from Edinburgh, and passes by Pennycuik, 
 Roslin castle, Hauthorndean, and Melville castle, to Dal- 
 keith house. Its banks are not only uncommonly roman- 
 tic and beautiful, but they are a sort of classicground. About 
 4he middle of its course, it receives a stream called Glcn- 
 frofs burn, which rises like itself in the Pentland hills ; and 
 proceeding southward falls into the south Esk, wliich, like
 
 246 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Waters, the rest of the waters of this county, has a north-east di- 
 rection. 
 
 Scene of the There is a dispute among our Scottish amateurs, whe- 
 Shephcrd. t^ er ^ e upper part of Glencross burn, or the upper part 
 of the south Esk, near Newhall, forms the scene of the 
 celebrated Scottish pastoral, Ramsay's Gentle Shepherd. 
 The late Lord Justice Clerk, Rae, was a most strenuous 
 advocate for the opinion, that the neighbourhood of New- 
 hall is the proper scene of the Gentle Shepherd. He found- 
 ed his opinion in a great degree upon the circumstance of 
 Ramsay's residence there, and upon the following re- 
 mark of Mr Tytler, in his edition of King James's poems: 
 " While I passed my infancy," says Mr Tytler, " at 
 Newhall, near Pentland hills, where the scenes of this pas- 
 toral poem were laid, the seat of Mr Forbes, and the resort 
 of many of the literati ; at that time I well remember to 
 have heard Ramsay recite, as his own production, diffe- 
 rent scenes of the Gentle Shepherd, particularly the two 
 jirsty before it was printed. I believe my honourable 
 friend, Sir James Clerk of Pennycuik, where Ramsay fre- 
 quently resided, and who, I know, is possessed of several 
 original poems composed by him, can give the same testi- 
 mony. P. S. The above note was shown to Sir James 
 Clerk, and had his approbation." Accordingly, adjoining 
 to Newhall, scenery is found which is thought to resem- 
 ble Habbie's How, and whatever else is described in the 
 Gentle Shepherd. 
 
 Oa the other hand, it is certain, that the public opinion 
 places the scene of the Gentle Shepherd in a much more 
 retired situation, in the very center of the Pentland hills, 
 Upon Glencross burn ; to which, on this account, visits are 
 very frequently paid. The following remarks upon the 
 subject are made in the Statistical Account of the parish 
 of Qlencross : " There is certainly a very strict coinci-
 
 TGtlDLOTHIAff. 
 
 'tlence between the actual scenery of this part of the coun- ^Waters, 
 try and the local circumstances mentioned in the poem. 
 The general description of the scene, as given at the be- 
 ginning of the pastoral, is, A shepherd's village and fields, 
 some few miles from Edinburgh . The West 'Port, men- 
 tioned in the first scene as the road from the village to mar- 
 'ket, fixes the bearing of the -country to the vicinity of the 
 Pentland hills. The first scene is, 
 
 " Beneath the south side of a craigy bield, 
 
 " Where chrystal springs the halesome waters yield ; 
 
 And the second is, 
 
 " A flowry ho wm, between twa verdant braes, 
 " A trotting buniie wimpling thro' the ground." 
 
 " No description -could more exactly characterise the sce- 
 nery in the neighbourhood of \Voodhouselee and Boghall 
 burns. A romantic fall at the head of Glencross water 
 is termed at this day Hobble's How. The ancient tow- 
 er of Fulford, -or Woodhouselee, repaired immediately 
 after the civil wars, and formerly the mansion-house of a 
 knight, may well countenance the supposition of Ramsay's 
 having here fixed the imaginary residence of Sir William. 
 Worthy. After all, however, this a propriation must be 
 allowed to be entirely conjectural, and to rest more upon 
 fancy, pleasing itself in clothing its own pictures in the 
 garb of reality, than upon any basis of evidence. This at 
 least may certainly be affirmed, that if the poet intended at 
 all to appropriate the scenery of his pastoral farther than 
 to the general aspect of the country in the neighbourhood 
 of the Pentland hills, there are no actual scenes which so 
 perfectly correspond to his description as those in the neigh- 
 bourhood of Woodhouselee." 
 
 It appears to us very probable, that the spot here allu-
 
 24ft MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Waters, ded to owes, in.a considerable degree, its reputation of being 
 the scene of the Gentle Shepherd, to this circumstance, 
 that towards the upper part of the glen a small stream of 
 water descends into it from the west, from a precipice or 
 rock of about twenty feet in height. At the summit of 
 .the rock, which is inaccessible on each side of the water- 
 fall, or lin as it is called in the Scottish dialect, are two 
 stunted birch trees ; and beneath, the water spreads into a 
 small bason or pool. This arrangement corresponds with 
 the description in the poem, 
 
 Between twa birks, out o'er a little lin, 
 The v\ ater fa's, and maks a singan din ; 
 A pool breast-deep, beneath as clear as glass, 
 Kisses, with easy whirles, the bord'ring grass. 
 
 At the same time, when the Editor of this Work, a few 
 years ago, with some friends, visited the spot, he made en- 
 quiry at some country people whom he found cutting grass 
 at no great distance beneath the water-fall, whether Hab- 
 bie's How was in that neighbourhood? But, to the no small 
 mortification of the whole party, who had gone thither 
 upon a pedestrian poetical pilgrimage, it was found that 
 these rustics had never heard of any such place. There 
 is no doubt, therefore, that the term Habbie's How in the 
 Gentle Shepherd is altogether imaginary ; and it is ex- 
 tremely probable that the general scenery is so too ; with 
 this exception, that it seems to refer to the tract of the 
 Pentland hills. The importance of the Gentle Shepherd, 
 as containing a correct description of the manners and sen- 
 timents, and a fair specimen of the language of thr com- 
 mon people of the south of Scotland, v-'ill aftbrd a sufficient 
 apology for these remarks. The glen itself, along which 
 Glencross burn or water flows, is no small curiosity, and 
 is not unworthy of being visited by travellers. It is se-
 
 MIDLOTHIAN;. 
 
 veral miles in length, and crosses the whole range of the Agriculture 
 Pentland hills. It is within about eight miks of the Scot- 
 tish capital, and can be conveniently passed on horseback. 
 The traveller proceeds along a narrow winding valley, con- 
 taining a stream of water, and hemmed in by mountains:, 
 which rise on each hand to a prodigious height. At the 
 lower part, it contains a stratum of barytes, the heaviest 
 of all the mineral productions, the metals only excepted. 
 
 The south Esk is scarcely less beautiful than the north 
 Esk ; and has upon its .banks, Arniston, Dalhousie, and 
 Newbattle, all belonging to very eminent Scottish fa- 
 milies. 
 
 To the south-east of the county, the territory becomes 
 very elevated, and the waters from the same neighbour- 
 hood flow partly northward towards the Frith of Forth, 
 and partly southward to the Tweed. 
 
 The soil of the county is extremely various. Upon the Agriod. 
 mountains it is only fit to be used as pasture for sheep. ure " 
 Some of the mountains are covered with heath, and others 
 of very considerable height are green to the summit. It Sol 
 is a general rule here with regard to the arable land ad- 
 joining to the base of any tract of hills, -that the soil on 
 the northern declivity is greatly superior to that upon the 
 south. Thus the lands on the north side of the Pent- 
 land hills are far more valuable than those upon the south 
 side ; and thus also the whole of the Lothians, which have 
 a northern exposure, are more valuable than the lands of 
 the opposite coast of Fife, which are favoured with the 
 more direct rays of the sun. The soil of the arable ' ter- 
 ritory of such an extensive district as Midlothian, must 
 necessarily be very various. Excepting, however, upon 
 the sea-shore, from the eastern extremity of the county to 
 Leith, where it is light and sandy, it seems to be a general 
 rule, that a clay soil or stiff bottom .predominates. To-
 
 MIDtOTHIAff. 
 
 Agricultnrc wards the hills, there is a considerable proportion of muir 
 or mossy soil. Some peculiarities also occur in certain 
 districts, which are not unworthy of being noticed. In 
 Flat soil the parish of Corstorphine, to the westward of Edin- 
 fccrphjne! burgh, there is a considerable tract of very flat land, 
 which is subject to the inconvenience of suffering great- 
 ly from falls of rain occurring early in harvest. To 
 drain those grounds, and thus to subject them complete- 
 ly to culture by the plough, has at different periods 
 been a considerable object of attention to the proprie- 
 tors. So great and inconvenient was the accumulation 
 of waters on these grounds in former times, that in the 
 century before the last, it was made an object of par- 
 liamentary inquiry ; and in 1661, an act of parliament 
 was passed, enjoining a strict attention to the clearing, 
 every two years, what was called the great drain, and em- 
 powering every one interested in it to compel the others, 
 through whose lands it passed, to clear their part. The 
 inconvenience from the superabundance of stagnated wa- 
 fers has in fact been removed ; for so considerable was it, 
 that the Lords Forrester of Corstorphine were accustomed 
 to bring their provisions from Edinburgh 'by water car- 
 riage in a boat from Coltbridge to their house at Corstor- 
 phine, where there are the remains of a very considerable 
 moat or ditch for holding water. But while this evil has 
 been removed, the chief object, viz. to bring the lands 
 into a state of perfect culture, has not been altogether ac- 
 complished. By being brought only into a sort of middle 
 state, a material loss has been sustained. These grounds 
 formerly produced very heavy crops of grass and aquatic 
 plants ; and, before the introduction of broad clover, were 
 the chief supply of the Edinburgh markets for green food 
 for cattle ; whereas, after they were imperfectly drained, 
 they lost this advantage, without becoming excellent arable 
 lands.
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. . 251 
 
 In the parish of Duddingston, in the immediate neigh- Agriculture 
 bourhood of the metropolis, the lands of Prestonfield arep re ston- 
 said to have been the first that were improved in the g( ^. es mco 
 county. The proprietor of that estate was lord provost 
 of Edinburgh about the time of the revolution in 1688. 
 At that period the fulzie, or sweepings, and manure from 
 the streets of the city, were so little valued, or rather the 
 proper use of it was so little understood, that instead of 
 drawing a revenue from it, a considerable sum was paid to 
 some of the farmers in the neighbourhood for removing it. 
 The then proprietor of Prestonfield, Sir John Dick, avail- 
 ed himself of the opportunity to enrich his estate. He 
 undertook to empty or to scour the streets ; and he ap- 
 plied the manure thus obtained to improve the lands of 
 Prestonfield. These he laid down in the most favourable 
 conditions, enclosed, and subdivided. And as it is belie- 
 ved that these were the first inclosed lands in the vicinity 
 of Edinburgh, so it is certain they were the first impro- 
 ved. As they are besides the oldest, so they are still 
 esteemed the best grass pastures about the city, or per- 
 haps any where in Scotland. 
 
 The agriculture of this county may be considered as 
 of three sorts : that of the territory within a few miles of 
 the capital ; that of the rich lands at a distance from the 
 capital ; and that of the cold and muir land districts ad- 
 joining to the hills. 
 
 In the neighbourhood of the capital a peculiar sort of Culture 
 culture prevails, not applicable to the rest of the country."^ 
 In modern and improved agriculture, one of the principal 
 sources of expence, and to which a large capital is requi- 
 site, is the preparation of manure for restoring the ex- 
 hausted fertility of the soil. Hence it becomes necessary 
 to devote a large portion of every farm to the production 
 of food, not for man but for cattle j and to purchase at a
 
 g'52 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Agriculture high price, at the commencement of the winter, a great 
 number of cattle to consume that food ; which they repay 
 in two ways : first, by their own increased value ; and, 
 secondly, by the manure which they produce for enriching 
 the farm. But in the neighbourhood of a great city the 
 ^vhole of this expensive and laborious process is avoided. 
 Manure is procured from the stables of horses, which are 
 there kept as objects of luxury, and also from the streets 
 and other repositories of these unsightly sources of fertir 
 lity. In such a neighbourhood, accordingly, large por- 
 tions of land are not devoted to the production of turnips, 
 cabbages, or other crops, intended to be consumed by cattle 
 upon the farm. In proportion as the agriculture of the 
 county has improved, the value of manure obtained from 
 the city has augmented. In the year 1730, the manure of 
 the streets of Edinburgh sold at twopence per cart ; but it 
 has since risen to ten or twelve times that price, though in 
 most cases it is let by extensive contracts, so that the price 
 is not ascertained. It is to be observed, that the use of 
 town manure, though apparently very convenient, is ne. 
 vertheless attended with some disadvantages. It is a source 
 of much labour and expence, on account of the carriage, 
 and the tear and wear or waste necessarily produced upon 
 the carts and harness of horses, and of the horses them- 
 selves, which are continually upon the road in all wea- 
 thers. By producing a temptation to increase the qiian- 
 tity of white, and to diminish that of green crops, a sort 
 of forcing system of agriculture is introduced, and the land 
 is apt to be brought into a foul state. This is perhaps in- 
 creased by the quantity of seeds of different sorts gathered 
 u-p in the streets of a town, and restored to the land with 
 the manure. It is certain at least, that the fields in the 
 neighbourhood of Edinburgh exhibit a prodigious abun- 
 daace of the annual plants called skeldrics, in all their va-
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 255 
 
 of wild mustard, wild raddish, &c. which 
 them in summer an aspect of the brightest yellow ; and 
 when a field is left in fallow, it is speedily covered with a 
 rich and flourishing crop of these sort of weeds, which 
 must often be cut down with the scythe, on account of the 
 impossibility of completely covering them under furrowf 
 fey means of the plough. In such a case, however, the 
 farmer enjoys some consolation from reflecting, that, in thd 
 way now mentioned, a green crop to be ploughed in is 
 very easily obtained. 
 
 The prevailing crops are, hay, wheat, barley, oats, Croci. 
 beans, peas, potatoes, summer tares, clover, and rye grass. 
 The sowing of bear is entirely abandoned. There is very 
 little flax cultivated, and no rye. Turnips are chiefly- 
 raised with a view to their being sold to the cow-feeders, 
 who supply the city with milk. Cabbages or coleworts 
 are only raised in the most sparing quantities. The roota 
 baga, or Swedish turnip, gradually gains ground. There 
 is but little white clover sown ; there being but little 
 ground laid down for pasture. 
 
 Hay is a favourite crop with the farmers ; because it Hay. 
 never fails to find a ready market in Edinburgh, and be- 
 cauSe it is easily reaped. It is formed of rye grass mixed 
 chiefly with red clover seed, and sown with the preceding 
 crop, whether it consist of wheat, barley, or oats. The 
 rye grass has of late years greatly degenerated. It was 
 formerly perennial ; but it is now never trusted, and would 
 be trusted in vain, during a second year. It is usually al- 
 lowed to ripen its seed before it is cut down ; so that the 
 second crop during the same year consists almost entirely 
 of clover. Notwithstanding the partiality entertained here 
 for a hay crop, it seldom entirely succeeds. In the month 
 of May, cold easterly winds very frequently set m for some 
 weeks, and blast its growth j or an unsteady climate is dpt
 
 254 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Agriculture to prevent its being properly reaped. But such kccidenfs 
 are not extremely injurious to the practical farmer. This 
 bulky commodity cannot easily be conveyed from a dis- 
 tance, so as to produce that cheapness which results from 
 great competition in the market. The effect of a bad sea- 
 son, therefore, is to augment the price very greatly in pro- 
 portion to the scarcity of the commodity. Hence the 
 farmer, as he has always some crop, is amply indemni- 
 fied for any deficiency of quantity by the increased value 
 of what he actually possesses. 
 
 Wheat, &e. Wheat is accounted the most profitable produce ; and 
 much land, naturally very unfit for wheat, is, by the aid of 
 the Edinburgh dung, employed successfully in raising 
 that grain < The dung is usually appropriated to the wheat 
 crop, or to potatoes when they are used as a preparation 
 for it. The wheat is used also after summer fallow, or 
 beans and pease, or after a crop of hay. Beans and peas 
 singly, or mixt together, are raised in considerable quan- 
 tities. On the light land the beans are sown in drills, and 
 regularly horse-hoed ; which is considered as a most ad- 
 vantageous preparation for wheat. Oats and barley are 
 also reared in large quantities ; but the heavy duties upon 
 malt threaten to render this last grain very unprofitable, as 
 it has been found by experience, that Scottish barley ne- 
 ver can be made to rival in quality that which is produced 
 in England, so far as concerns the conversion of it to malt. 
 To ascertain this point with precision, government have 
 lately directed experiments to be made upon a large scale, 
 at the public expence, by two chemists and the professor 
 of agriculture at Edinburgh. 
 
 Potatoes. Potatoes form an important and valuable Crop ; both 
 profitable on account of the facility of disposing of them 
 in Edinburgh, and as an excellent preparation for wheat. 
 The fields of them are very extensive. As they are an
 
 255 
 
 impoverishing or scour rug crop, they are forced by 
 of the city du^g ; but the quantity, oi dung used must be 
 sufficient for enabling the soil to give forth two crops, one. 
 of potatoes and another of wheat. This dung the potato 
 crop alone is expected amply to par, and over and above 
 to afford a considerable profit. If it did. not do so, the 
 farmer would prefer on all occasions the use of summer 
 fallow. Potatoes are here entirely cultivated by the plough, 
 and are regularly horse-hoed. They are also taken out 
 of the ground by means of the plough ; a great multitude 
 of women and children being collected for the purpose of 
 gathering the crop. Thus in a short time the produce of 
 extensive fields is brought home- They are usually pre- 
 served during the winter by being biiried, either in pits,. 
 where the soil is very dry, or by being covered with a 
 mound of earth, over which a corn slack is sometimes 
 built. In any of these ways, they are found, to be suffi- 
 ciently secure from the frost. The amount of this crop is 
 very various in different situations. In very favourable sea- 
 sons and soils, the Scottish acre sometimes produces from 
 50 to 70. bolls, and even upwards. It must be observed^ 
 however, that 7"? Scottish acres are euual to 1000 Eng- 
 lish ; and the boll of potatoes consists of biiteca pecks^ 
 each peck weighing 28 pounds avoirdupois. The kidney 
 potato, of a long shape, with a ved spot at one end, and 
 bearing a white flower, was tor some time a favourite 
 with the farmers, on account of the abundant crops which. 
 it produced ; and it still is much relished by consumers on 
 account of its dry or meally quality : But the farmers 
 now refuse to cultivate it, notwithstanding its prolific cha- 
 racter and good quality ; because it produces very little 
 haulm or few leaves ; in conscience of which, dunnv the 
 summer, the soil where it rrows is left exposed to the ac- 
 tion of the sun and air, which is accounted injurious to it*
 
 356 
 
 MIDLOTHIAN, 
 
 Rotation. 
 
 Agriculture fertility. It would seem in some cases to be a law of n< 
 ture, that when plants produce a large root, they do not at 
 the same time augment proportionably at the summit of 
 the stem. If the pine apple is planted in a large pot, it has 
 a large root and a small stem. Hence the gardeners place 
 the young plants in small penny pots, to augment the size 
 of the fruit. 
 
 No absolutely fixed rotation of crops prevails in this dis- 
 trtqj. The following is not unfrequent : 1st, Fallow with- 
 out dung, of potatoes with dung, where the ground is 
 light or dry ; 2d, Whe'at $ 3d, Beans dunged^ drilled on 
 Eght land, broad cast on the heavy ; 4>th, Wheat ; 5^> 
 Barley ; Gik, Clover and rye grass ; "ltb, Oats ; 8tb, Fal- 
 low or potatoes with dung. It must be remarked, that 
 the practice daily gains ground of sowing wheat upon elo- 
 per ley. 
 
 Of the implements of husbandry, it may be remarked/ 
 that the" small chain plough is chiefly used with two 
 horses, and without a driver. The horses used both for 
 the plough and cart are chiefly of the Lanark and Linlith- 
 gowshire breed, which are valued for their moderate siz* 
 and quick step 1 . One horse carts are much used. It is 4 
 understood that one horse draws twelve hundred weight in 
 a cart with greater ease than two horses, the one yoked 
 before the other, can draw a load of sixteen hundred 
 weights so that this last' mode of using horses is account- 
 id extremely thriftless. The heavy wagons, with several 
 horses a-head of each- other, which of late have appeared 
 here in the military service of government, are considered 
 in Scotland as very clumsy contrivances. Oxen are iw 
 where employed. They are unfit for the draught upon 
 our hard roads ; and on Well cultivated lands, where the 
 soil is pulverised like a garden, and where the draught of 
 the plough requires only a very moderate force, their
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 251 
 
 sluggish pace would seem altogether intolerable to per- Agriculture 
 sons accustomed to the quick and active movements of 
 horses. Indeed, as time is the most valuable of all objects 
 to persons engaged in any active employment, it would 
 be a most unprofitable project to substitute the tedious ef- 
 forts of the ox to the activity and dispatch obtained by the 
 use of the horse* In reaping grain, the sickle is the only 
 instrument employed ; and great numbers of men and wo- 
 men come annually to engage in that sort of employment 
 from remote corners of the Highlands. It may be re- 
 marked, that every farmer has a threshing machine, and 
 also a wind instrument, denominated fanners, for cleaning 
 his grain from chaff. 
 
 In the fertile lands, at some distance from the capital, Culture far* 
 dairy farms, supported by the beneficial mixture of pas- Edinburgh* 
 ture and ploughed lands, are not uncommon. In this case, 
 the whole dung of the farm is generally laid out upon the 
 wheat crop or division ; and summer-fallows are still in 
 use as a preparation for wheat. The succeeding crop is 
 usually beans and peas, followed by a crop of barley or 
 oats. With these grass-seeds are sown ; after which the 
 land is kept some years in pasture, when it is afterwards 
 broken up with oats, when abundance of dung can be pro- 
 cured. Potatoes are considerably valued on account of 
 the ready market which the great population here affords* 
 Turnips are also everywhere used, particularly as the dis- 
 tance from Edinburgh augments. Drilled beans and clo- 
 ver ley gain ground as preparations for wheat. 
 
 Towards the hills the climate becomes cold, and the Near the 
 soil proportionably ungrateful. In this country, the ef- 
 fect of a high and exposed situation upon the climate is 
 extremely remarkable. A few miles of ascent produces 
 in many places almost as many weeks of difference in 
 the essential point of an early or of a late harvest. 
 
 VOL. I. R
 
 25$ MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Agriculture muir-land parishes, however, by the force of inclosing, 
 and by means of manure, cultivation is rapidly as cer cling 
 the high grounds, particularly towards the south-westeni 
 extremity of the county. In these more exposed situa- 
 tions, the following rotation upon cattle farms is success- 
 ful : 1st, Turnips, eaten by cattle and sheep in a close for 
 making dung ; 2d, Barley or oats ; 3d, Clover, fed down 
 early with sheep and lambs, afterwards cut for hay in the 
 end of summer j 4^, Oats ; 5th, Turnips, &c. This ro- 
 tation supposes a high and exposed gravelly soil unfit fof 
 the production of wheat ; for wherever that valuable grain 
 can possibly be reared, there exists a great eagerness to 
 obtain it. In all places where the soil is tolerably light, it is 
 becoming common to plough down clover ley in a pretty 
 rough state as a most advantageous preparation for wheat* 
 On the high grounds or muir-land parishes, it is thought 
 that the farmers are still too much attached to the use of 
 the plough. In such districts, in the climate of Scotland, 
 all crops of grain are precarious ; and the most advanta- 
 geous mode of using such lands undoubtedly consists of 
 Using the plough, for no other purpose than that of laving 
 them down to grass in the most advantageous state, by 
 means of the manure which the turnip husbandry affords. 
 Periodically, indeed, recourse must be had to the plough, 
 on account of the tendency to run into fog or moss, which 
 occurs in pastures upon exposed situations, where even 
 the spreading of lime upon the surface, though the most 
 approved remedy, does not entirely destroy that weed. 
 
 Wood, &c. I n ancient times, Scotland has evidently been every 
 where covered with wood, as is demonstrated from the re- 
 mains of native timber found still preserved in mosses in 
 lofty situations, where the land has been found sufficiently 
 level to enable water to stagnate, and the moss plants to 
 grow up. It would seem that the tops of those hills which
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 256 
 
 tire of moderate height had been first cleared ; and accord- Agriculture 
 ingly, upon these, the marks of ridges are to this day per- 
 fectly visible. In such situations, at present, it would be a 
 vain attempt to rear any sort of artificial crops ; and their 
 growth, in former ages, can only be explained by the sup- 
 position, that at a time when the surrounding low country 
 was covered with timber, and even the peaks of the high- 
 est mountains were not altogether naked, such places 
 might enjoy sufficient shelter to enable them to produce 
 a crop of oats, which are an extremely hardy grain. At 
 the first clearing of the country, also, the flat tops of the 
 hills being enriched by the mould produced by the fall- 
 ing of the leaves of the trees of the forests during a suc- 
 cession of ages, the soil might exhibit a very different as- 
 pect from what it now does, after having remained for 
 centuries unsheltered* and washed to a state of utter ste- 
 rility by the pelting of the winds and the rains of our 
 northern climate. The forests were considered as an evil 
 in former ages, in two points of view : First, as impeding 
 the use of the plough, and injuring the pasture ; and, se- 
 condly, as affording, in these barbarous times, a retreat for 
 great bands of outlaws and robbers. It was therefore 
 thought that we could never have too little of them. The 
 consequence was, that the bleak winds, sweeping furiously 
 from the sides of the mountains, now rendered naked, 
 made the country cold and sterile, nipt the food of the 
 cattle and the fruits of the labour of the husbandman. 
 Accordingly, in the present times, great efforts are making 
 to repair the mischief by inclosures and plantations. The 
 expence of these operations is the chief obstacle, and this 
 obstacle is increased by the strict nature of the Scottish 
 entails ; in consequence of which a great proportion of the 
 territory of the country is held, not in property, but by a 
 sort of liferent tenure, which greatly discourages expen- 
 
 R2
 
 26 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Agriculture s i v e improvements ; partly because new men, possessed of 
 capital, cannot be introduced; and partly because the 
 possessor of an estate can usually hand it down to his own 
 children only in the event of his leaving male issue, and 
 has no power of disposal. 
 
 Plantations The lower part of the county of Midlothian abounds 
 perhaps fully as much in timber and plantations of every 
 sort as any district devoted chiefly to the plough ought to- 
 do. In the eastern parts of the county, the banks, both 
 of the North and South Esk, abound in extensive and 
 beautiful plantations around the seats of the nobility and 
 gentry upon the banks of these waters. In the western 
 part of the county, also, there are large tracts of valuable 
 plantations, comprehending the extensive pleasure grounds 
 of Addiston, Ratho, Dalmahoy, Hatton, and Bonington. 
 To the south-west of these, Calder wood, which was an- 
 ciently a large forest, is still of considerable extent, con- 
 sisting chiefly of oaks, birches,, Scots firs, and larches. 
 
 Altogether, it is probable that about 5000 acres are 
 planted with forest trees in this county. The quantity of 
 natural wood is trifling,, consisting chiefly of some stripes 
 
 Great trees, along the banks of the different waters. In favourable 
 situations, the forest trees increase in this county to a very 
 considerable size ; of which the following examples arc 
 noticed in the Statistical Account of Scotland. Between 
 Calder house, the seat of Lord Torphichen, and the vil- 
 lage of Midcalder, at the top of the passage which leads 
 by the side of the church-yard, there is a single plain tree. 
 The trunk of it is 14 feet high j the circumference of the 
 thickest part, 18 feet ; and the branches spread them- 
 selves out at least 30 feet on either side. On the whole, 
 it has a grand as well as ancient appearance. 
 
 At Upper Cranston stands a venerable green holly, with. 
 too evident marks of old age and decay. It measure*
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 261 
 
 "7^ feet in circumference, or 2 feet 4.64 inches in diame- Agriculture 
 tef ; and where it divides into branches, the trunk is no 
 more than 1 feet high. At Caick muir there is a thriving 
 beech, 16 feet round, or 5 feet 1.11 inches in diameter ; 
 and at Prestonhall, another 15 feet round, or 4 feet 9.29 
 inches in diameter. These trees, from their near situation to 
 the mansion-houses, seem to have been planted at first in 
 the garden ground ; to which circumstance we must in 
 some measure ascribe the great size they now exhibit. 
 
 In the park around Newbattle abbey, the seat of the 
 Marquis of Lothian, upon the South Esk, are many single ' 
 trees which make a venerable and majestic appearance. [ 
 One of them, a beech, at a yard above the ground meai 
 sures 19 feet in circumference ; the distance between the 
 tips of its extreme branches is 108 feet ; its trunk, before 
 it begins to spread, rises to the height of 22 feet ; and it 
 contains, including its principal limbs, 710 cubic feet of 
 wood : and yet this tree does not exceed the dimensions of 
 many others in the parks. All of them, in their proper 
 season, put forth a close and vigorous foliage ; nor can any 
 thing but a climate and soil the most favourable account 
 for their rising and spreading to such a size. 
 
 A silver fir at Woodhouselee, in the parish of Glencross, 
 perhaps the eldest of its species in the county, was long 
 admired for its beauty as well as size. It was planted in 
 a dry soil in a garden about the first of the last century. 
 In March 1759, at 4 feet above the ground, it measured 
 7 feet 4;[ inches in circumference. In March 1793, at 
 the same height, it measured 11 feet 1* inches. During 
 these 33 years it therefore increased in circumfeier.ee 45 
 inches. Its greatest growth was in the year 1760, when 
 it increased precisely 2 inches. During all the other 
 years its increase in circumference was from 1 inch to i*. 
 inch annually. This fine tree, however, is now upon the
 
 262 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Agriculture decay. It is ascertained, from other instances, that the 
 age of the silver fir is limited in this country to within a 
 century. It is in its greatest perfection when about 80 
 years old ; and if placed in a proper situation, it is ca- 
 pable, during all that period, of increasing upon an ave- 
 rage above a cubic foot of wood annually. From some 
 full grown trees of this kind, lately felled in the south of 
 Scotland, it appeared that timber is more valuable and use- 
 ful than has generally been supposed. 
 
 About the year 1700, there had also been planted at 
 Woodhouselee, and at Greenlaw in the same parish, a 
 considerable number of laburnums. Some of them were 
 cut in the year 1762, and afforded a plank from 10 to 14 
 inches in breadth of very beautiful timber. At both places 
 these trees grew in a high part of the country, in a meagre 
 soil, and in an exposed situation. When they came to be 
 Worked into furniture, a remarkable difference appeared 
 in the quality of their wood, compared to that of labur- 
 nums of the same age which grew at Panmure in Forfar- 
 shire, in a rich soil, and in a low and sheltered situation. 
 Carved work in the Panmure laburnum was executed by 
 the cabinet-maker with the ordinary tools ; but in the 
 Woodhouselee and Greenlaw laburnum, it required the 
 assistance of steel files, from the greater closeness and, 
 hardness of the wood. 
 
 General a- Upon the whole, it may be remarked, with regard to 
 gricuhural ^ e SQ JJ Q t jjj s coun {y an d its management, that a very ac- 
 tive spirit of improvement everywhere prevails. The 
 farmers form a most respectable and well-educated body 
 of men. They hold the rank of gentlemen, and are ge- 
 nerally in affluent circumstances. In former times, in 
 Scotland, when the soil was ill cultivated, and in miserable 
 order, and the farmers a needy class of persons, one or 
 two ill crops in succession reduced them to absolute beg-
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. $63 
 
 garj, and brought to ruin the agriculture of the country-Agriculture 
 such as it was. Little benefit was derived ircm the next 
 good season ; because the frosted or half-rotten grain of 
 the former year was used for seed, as the poverty of the 
 farmers disabled them from sending to a distance for seed 
 of a better quality. Thus while the population of the 
 country at large was much inferior to what it now is, a 
 train of bad seasons was productive of more severe scar- 
 city, and far more cruel distress. Times are now much 
 altered ; the soil being kept in heart, or rich, and in good 
 order, by superior agriculture, resists powerfully the ef- 
 fect of an unfavourable season, and produces at least a 
 half crop or more. What is now accounted a half crop, 
 would anciently in bad, and even in tolerably good sea- 
 sons, have been thought unexampled fertility; For .this 
 half, or rather two-thirds of a crop, the farmer draws in 
 a bad season three prices ; and thus becoming rich by 
 the very means which reduced his predecessors to ruin, 
 he is enabled at all times to preserve his lands in -the 
 best order, and to sow them with the best seed. By 
 his augmented capital, he is also enabled to offer to 
 neighbouring gentlemen a high rent, on condition of re- 
 ceiving permission to break up for a time the whole or 
 a part of the old pastures near their mansion-houses, in 
 which a treasure of fertility has been gradually accumu- 
 lated. The temptation is usually effectual ; and thus the 
 evils attending bad seasons are greatly diminished. The 
 remaining relief is supplied by an extended commerce. 
 It may be observed in passing, that too much care cannot Wealthy 
 be exerted in any country, to make provision that the cul- *^ t t '" 
 ti valors of the soil shall be well-educated men, in affluent * Counu 7- 
 circumstances. It is well known that no trade or manu- 
 facture can be successfully conducted by men destitute of 
 credit or of capital. The same rule holds true with regard 
 to this most important of all employments. At a distance
 
 264 MIDLOTHIAN, 
 
 Agriculture f rom towns, even the expence of producing manure, by buy. 
 ing in and feeding a great stock of cattle, is alone sufficient 
 to occupy a very large capital ; and it is now well under- 
 Stood, that in proportion to the quantity of cattle thus kept 
 on a certain extent of soil, for the purpose of renovating its 
 fertility, may the perfection to which the art of agriculture 
 has attained in a district be fairly estimated. This de- 
 monstrates the absolute necessity of an unpopular practice, 
 that of uniting several small into one large farm, which, 
 during the last half-century, has been greatly practised in 
 this and other counties in Scotland. The remarks of Ar- 
 thur Young, Esq. in justification of the practice, are wor- 
 thy of attention. " Let me demand," says that enlighten- 
 ed agriculturist, " of the advocates for small farms, where 
 the little farmer is to be found, who will cover his whole 
 farm with marl at the rate of 100 or 150 tons per acre ; 
 who will drain all his lands at the expence of L. 2 or L. 3 
 per acre ; who will pay a heavy price for the manure of 
 towns, and convey it thirty miles by land carriage ; who 
 will float his meadows at the expence of L. 5 per acre ; 
 who, to improve the breed of his sheep, will give 1000 gui- 
 neas for the use of a single ram for a single season ; who 
 will give 25 guineas per cow for being covered by a fine 
 bull ; who will send across the kingdom to distant provinces 
 for new implements, and for men to use them ; who employ 
 and pay men for residing in provinces where practices are 
 found which they want to introduce on their farms ? At the 
 very mention of such exertions, common in England, what 
 mind can be so perversely framed as to imagine for a 
 single moment, that such things are to be effected by little 
 farmers ? Deduct from agriculture all the practices tha^ 
 . have made it flourishing in this island, and you have pre-> 
 pisely the management of small farms*." 
 
 # Travels into France, VoL I.
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 265 
 
 All farms here, as in the rest of Scotland, are let at rack- Agriculture 
 rent, or the highest possible annuity that can be obtained ; Mode of 
 though, when every thing else is equal, a preference is given j^'S 
 to the preceding tenant or his family. This at least is done 
 by those proprietors who reside during a part of the year 
 upon their estates, and who almost uniformly enjoy a good 
 understanding with their tenants. The usual endurance of 
 leases is nineteen years, though they are sometimes ex- 
 tended for a valuable consideration to a longer period. On 
 estates that are very strictly entailed, leases are not per- 
 mitted beyond thirty-two years. Many Scottish gentle- 
 men adopt a mode of letting their farms, which . commer- 
 cial men, indisposing of their commodities, would account 
 scarcelyconsistent with fair or honourable dealing, and which 
 is rarely, though sometimes, ad opted in Midlothian. They 
 advertise in the newspapers, that a particular farm is to be 
 let, and they desire that offers of rent may be transmitted 
 to them, engaging to conceal the amount of these offers. 
 Thus the landlord avoids putting any value upon his farm, 
 as a merchant would be thought bound to do upon his 
 goods ; and at the same time a roup is constituted, in 
 which none of the bidders know the amount of each other's 
 offer, and are therefore led to hazard as high offers as pos- 
 sible, that they may not lose the object of competition. A 
 pase is said to have occurred, though not in this county, 
 in which a man, who had formed a great predilection for a 
 property of which his ancestors had been tenants for some 
 centuries, offered so high for a lease, that he exceeded all 
 his competitors to the extent of L. 200 per annum. Still, 
 however, it must not be supposed that the high rent of farms 
 is ultimately an evil ; on the contrary, it has contributed 
 greatly to the improvement of agriculture, and has even ex- 
 alted the rank, the personal independence, and the respecta- 
 bility of farmers. It was a maxim of the celebrated Dutch
 
 266 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Agriculture statesman De Wit, that a people are enriched by being 
 gradually compelled to pay additional taxes. They are 
 thus stimulated to higher exertions of skill and industry. 
 These enable them not merely to pay their additional bur- 
 dens, but to accumulate a large surplus profit. Nothing 
 is more common in Scotland, than to see one farmer almost 
 starving upon a property for which he pays a very trifling 
 rent ; while, at the end of his lease, another shall give more 
 than twice the rent fof the same farm, and shall rapidly 
 become wealthy upon it. The high rents paid for farms 
 bring matters to such a state, that none but men possessed 
 at once of activity, intelligence, and considerable capital, 
 can possibly conduct the employment of agriculture. At 
 the same time, as such men know their own value, that 
 they owe every thing to their own industry, and nothing 
 to the favour of their landlords, (who prefer the man that 
 pays them best), they are led to assume an independence of 
 character, which, beforehand, could not have been expected 
 in men living on the property of another. 
 
 Peculiar No peculiar agricultural processes exist here that are 
 processes. wor thy of notice. Flooding land with water has been tried 
 on one or two spots with success ; but the few waters of 
 Midlothian cannot be spared from the use of machinery 5 
 and their situation, amidst steep declivities, would in no cir- 
 cumstances render them valuable for watering land arti- 
 ficially. A stream that carries down towards the bay of 
 Musselburgh much of the rain water that washes thq 
 streets of Edinburgh, has within these few years been very 
 successfully employed for irrigation, and has converted 
 a tract of waste blowing sand upon the sea-shore into va- 
 luable meadow. The same stream between this spot and 
 the city is in various places conducted into spacious pools 
 or basons ; through which, by flowing slowly, it deposits 
 large quantities of sediment, which is found to be a valu-
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. S61 
 
 able manure, and is annually removed at the end of sum- Agriculture 
 mer, after the current of the stream has for some time been 
 turned aside to permit the sediment to become dry. 
 
 Much land in the vicinity of Edinburgh is devoted to Garden* 
 gardening, to supply the city With vegetables for the table. 
 In former times these were produced almost exclusively 
 upon the sharp sandy soil in the neighbourhood of Mus- 
 selburgh. Near Edinburgh, also, there are extensive nur- 
 series for rearing fruit and forest trees, to supply a part of 
 the numerous plantations, especially of the latter, which 
 are now carrying on upon the high grounds in Scotland. 
 
 The larger fruits, such as apples, pears, See. are not con- 
 sidered upon the east coast of Scotland as a kind of produce 
 which can at all be relied on ; the cold easterly winds, 
 and the spring frosts, very frequently destroying all the 
 hope of a crop. At the same time, these fruits are very 
 juicy, and are better suited for the pastry cook, that is, for 
 baking, than English apples, which are accounted too dry 
 and meally. The small fruits, such as gooseberries, straw- 
 berries, currants, Sec. are here cultivated in vast abun- 
 dance, and are accounted of excellent quality and flavour, 
 far superior to what is found in climates that enjoy a lar- 
 ger portion of the sun's rays. The extensive culture of 
 strawberries is said to have been first introduced upon the 
 sandy banks of the North Esk from Roslin downwards. It 
 is understood that the gardener has not a surer or more 
 profitable crop. They are less injured by our unsteady 
 and wet seasons than other fruits ; they never indeed fail 
 altogether, as is sometimes the case with regard to the lar- 
 ger fruits. 
 
 The western parts of this county to the northward Minerals, 
 of the Pentland hills are deficient in coal. In different 
 places, howerer, abundance of lime-stone, iron-stone, and 
 sand-stone, usually termed free stone, are found. The
 
 268 MIDLOTHIAN 1 . 
 
 ^Minerals. Pentlands, and "other large mountains, consist of different 
 sorts of basaltic stone or whin-stone, granite, and other 
 strata, which are usually termed primitive rocks, whereas 
 
 Great coal the other fossils occupy the valley. The eastern division 
 of this county contains one "of the most extensive and rich 
 fields of coal that is any where to be found. It extends 
 from the sea-shore at Musselburgh, on both sides of the 
 north Esk, about 15 miles inland to the head of that stream 
 at the Carlips on the confines of Tweedale. The secon- 
 dary strata, consisting of coal, lime-stone, iron-stone, free- 
 stone, and clays of great variety, entirely occupy this ex- 
 tensive tract of country to the mountains on each side ; and 
 the secondary strata are said to remain uninterrupted or 
 broken by any great mass of granite or basaltic stone, that 
 is, whin- stone. On approaching the mountains, the se- 
 condary strata, as it were, overlap the whin-stone, and in 
 some places ascend the mountain a little way before they 
 are entirely cut off. The seams of coal that have been dis- 
 covered are very numerous, amounting in some places to 
 
 Position of twenty-six in number below each other. It is worthy of 
 
 the coal, notice, that the great beds or strata of coal, which here exist 
 in the bowels of the earth, resemble in their position or in- 
 clination, in some degree, the upper surface of the soil. 
 From the two rivers called the Esk, the country ascends on 
 both sides for some miles. The valley, which near their 
 junction forms the bed of these streams, and thereafter the 
 valley of the North Esk, appears to be in general the centre 
 of the coal-field ; and here the beds or seams, or strata of 
 coal, repose in a level or horizontal position : but on each 
 side of this valley, they ascend below ground in the same 
 manner as the country does at the surface ; and it is only 
 by this ascent of the country that they are prevented from 
 speedily terminating at the open day. The strata near 
 the Esk are termed^/ seams of coal ; and those at a dis-
 
 269 
 
 tanee receive the appellation of edge seams, from their des- Mineral^ 
 cending, or almost upright position in the earth. As the 
 surface of the soil is frequently unequal, and no where 
 descends with so much rapidity and regularity as the stra- 
 ta of coal beneath, the edge seams are wrought with consi- 
 derable difficulty,, on account of their speedily running to 
 a great depth. Many of the strata however are extremely 
 valuable, the seams being some of them seven, nine, and 
 fifteen feet in thickness. They are usually cleared of 
 water by powerful steam engines erected at a great ex- 
 pence. One of these, belonging to the Duke of Buccleugh, 
 with all its appurtenances and adjoining buildings, is said 
 to have cost nearly L. 5000. It is upon the old plan, (not 
 Watt's) with a cylinder of about five feet in diameter, and 
 furnished with boilers, consisting of vast metallic cham- 
 bers of an oblong form, with roofs concave like the cover 
 of a trunk. The boilers have double fires, with flues un- 
 derneath. 
 
 The coal, however, is variously wrought in different si- Modes of 
 
 -T ' i cr t working 
 
 tuations. In the parish or Lasswade, on the north-west side the coal, 
 of the North Esk, the metal, that is, the coal, stands so much 
 on edge as to form in some places an angle of sixty-five 
 degrees with the horizon. In other quarters of the coal-, 
 field, the metals are said to be nearly perpendicular. At 
 Loanhead, a cross mine from the river rendered it possible 
 to work them to the depth of ninety yards from the grass. 
 In this quarter, an impregnation of the waters of the mines 
 with alum has lately proved a source of no small incon- 
 venience, by corroding the metallic pumps, and even at- 
 tacking the steam-engine. 
 
 In the lower part of this great field of minerals, near the Disputes of 
 sea, the different proprietors have sometimes had serious 
 law-suits on account of an interference of interests. On 
 one occasion, a proprietor having opened a work upon the
 
 27 MIDLOTHIAN 
 
 ^Minerals, lower part of a bed of coal, found, that in draining his Owii 
 work, he was under the necessity of draining also the 
 works of an adjoining proprietor, who was the owner of 
 the upper part of the same stratum or bed of coal ; because^ 
 from the porous nature of this mineral, water finds its way 
 to a great distance through it, or along the metals adjoin- 
 ing to it. That he might not labour or employ his steam- 
 engine in his neighbour's service, the inferior proprietor 1 
 put down pits at the march or upper boundary of his pro- 
 perty, and proceeded to remove the coal, and fill up its 
 place with a bed of stiff clay, artificially placed there, 
 through which water could not penetrate. The upper pro- 
 prietor contended against this measure, that as, by the law 
 of Scotland upon the surface of the soilj an inferior pro- 
 prietor is bound to suffer rain or river water to flow in its! 
 accustomed manner from the land of his neighbour who 
 possesses the upper property ; so the same rule ought td 
 hold in the bowels of the earth, and the water ought to be 
 left to itself, or allowed to descend downward without any 
 artificial impediment. The courts of law were puzzled ; 
 and at first were of opinion, that the analogy between wa- 
 ter flowing above and below ground ought to be adhered 
 to ; but it was afterwards adjudged, that the cases were 
 different, and that the inferior proprietor had a right to 
 plug up or obstruct the current of water below ground for 
 his own protection^ if he was able to do so, because the 
 tipper proprietor would be left in no worse situation than 
 if no coal-pit had ever been opened or wrought upon the 
 lower part of the seam or stratum. 
 
 It is to be observed, that in this quarter a drain of un- 
 common extent, for clearing of water a part of the field of 
 coal-field, was at one time accomplished by an enterpri- 
 sing individual, nearly forty years ago, Mr Biggar of 
 Woolmet. This gentleman opened a level or mine from
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 the Sea, and carried it through the estates of Duddingston, Mineral^ 
 Niddry, and part of Edmonstone, up to Woolmet bank, a 
 distance of about three miles ; it drained the upper coal- 
 works, but ultimately almost drowned the inferior ones. 
 
 It is certain that some part of the extensive field of coal Coal, 
 upon the Esk has been wrought for two centuries back, 
 and how much longer is not known. Of the original dis- 
 covery and use of mineral coal we have little knowledge. 
 There is said to be abundance of mineral coal in the 
 neighbourhood of Constantinople j but we have no reason Untnow 
 to suppose that the Greeks or Romans made any use of Greeks ani 
 this material. As they have left no description of it, there "*' 
 seems every reason to believe that it was unknown to 
 them. Their poets and other writers constantly speak of 
 wood as used for fuel, but say nothing of mineral coal. 
 Indeed, it does not appear possible, that if a substance of 
 such value was once known and used, it could ever have 
 sunk into oblivion. The writers, however, of the middle 
 ages, speak of it as a substance of a singular and strange 
 nature. It would seem to have been discovered in thit 
 country at a more early period than in therest of Europe. 
 ./Eneas Sylvius, v, ho afterwards assumed the purple under 
 the name of Pius the Second, visited this island about the 
 middle of the fifteenth century. He relates, that he saw 
 in Scotland " the poor people, who in rags begged at the 
 churches, receive for alms pieces of stone, with which they 
 went away contented. This species of stone (says he), 
 -whether with sulphur, or whatever inflammable substance 
 it may be impregnated, they burn in place of wood, of 
 which their country is destitute." And Boetius, in his 
 description of Scotland, his native country, written in the 
 beginning of the 15th century, says, " There are black 
 stones also digged out of the ground, which are very good for 
 firing ; and such is their intolerable heat, that they resolve
 
 72 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 ^ Minerals. an( } melt iron, and therefore are very profitable for Smiths* 
 and such artificers as deal with other metals ; neither are 
 they fonnd any where else (that I know of) than between 
 the Tay and Tyne, within the whole island." 
 
 Coal early In China, where almost every art hitherto cultivated 
 China 1 * n t ^ ie western world appears to have existed in some form 
 or other during a long succession of ages, it is probable, 
 that the discovery and use of mineral coal is of conside- 
 rable antiquity. The great population of that empire, to- 
 gether with the very valuable porcelain vessels which 
 they produce, demonstrate uncommon superiority, or at 
 least great experience, in the two valuable arts of agricul- 
 ture and mineralogy. The well-known Venetian travel- 
 ler, Marco Polo, who, in the thirteenth century, travelled 
 to China through the vast desarts of High Tartary, ob- 
 serves, in his description of China, " That through the 
 whole province of Cathay j certain black stones are dug out 
 of the mountains, which, being put in the fire^ burn like 
 wood, and when kindled they continue burning a long 
 time ; insomuch, that if they are lighted in the evening, 
 the fire will kt*:p alive during the whole night. Many 
 use these stones although they have plenty of wood, the 
 consumption of fuel in stoves being very great." No- 
 thing can more clearly demonstrate the ignorance of the 
 Europeans concerning the use of coal at the distance of a 
 few centuries than the similarity of the language employed 
 upon the subject by Marco Polo, ^Eneas Sylvius, and Bo- 
 etius. They have no name whereby to denominate this 
 mineral, and evidently describe it as a substance to which 
 they are strangers. 
 
 When used Coal does not appear to have been discovered, or at 
 m Britain. j eagt tQ j jave ^ een uscc ^ j n Scotland in the middle of the 
 
 twelfth century. In the ancient laws of the boroughs^ 
 (leges burgorum), enacted about the year 1140, privi-*
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 273 
 
 leges are granted to those who bring fuel into boroughs ; Mineral*^ 
 but no mention is made of coal, although wood, turf, and 
 peats are particularly noticed. In the year 1234, Henry 
 the Third of England renews a charter which his father 
 had given to the inhabitants of Newcastle ; and in this 
 renovated charter he grants^ upon their supplication, to 
 the persons in whose favour the charter was conceived, 
 licence to dig coals upon payment of L. 100 a-year ; which 
 is the earliest mention made of coal in the island. By the ' 
 end of the thirteenth century, the use of coal was so much 
 advanced, that it was frequently brought by sea-carriage 
 from one port to another : But the first mention that is 
 made of coal, in any charter in Scotland, is in a grant exe- 
 cuted A. D. 1291, in favour of the abbot and convent of 
 Dunfermline, of the privilege of digging coal in th: lands 
 of Pittencrieff, in the county of Fife. Even when wood 
 became very scarce, at the distance of several centuries after 
 the discovery of coal, the manner of working it was ex- 
 tremely rude, the progress of the use of it slow, and its 
 extent limited. The statutes enacted by the Scottish par- 
 liament, and the patents granted by our kings, display their 
 ignorance in working coal ; they'set forth strongly its de- 
 cay, and guard anxiously its preservation. In the begin- 
 ning of the sixteenth century, coal smoke was deemed very 
 pernicious ; and even in the end of it, the use of coal in 
 making of iron was hardly known in Scotland. Notwith- 
 standing the vicinity of the great field of coal already de- 
 scribed upon the waters of Esk, coal was so far from be- 
 ing the sort of fuel universally employed in Edinburgh, 
 that in the year 15S4 great stacks or piles of heather, 
 broom, whins, and other fuel, were erected in the different 
 closes and wynds, or lanes, for the use of the inhabitants, 
 in the same manner that in the remote villages in which 
 peats are used, a great stack of them is still seen standing 
 VOL. I. Part //. S
 
 2T4f MIDLOTHIAN^ 
 
 Minerals, opposite' to the door of every house. One of these piles c 
 fuel in Edinburgh was set on fire in the night ; whether; 
 intentionally or casually, is unknown, but it greatly alarm- 
 ed the whole citizens, and served to demonstrate to them 
 the dangerous nature of the practice. The town-council 
 immediately issued an order for removing those piles of 
 fuel to the side of the North Loch, and other waste grounds- 
 around the city- 
 
 Slavery of After all the other inhabitants of Scotland had attained 
 to the possession of personal liberty, that is, after the abo- 
 lition of the barbarous law of villanage, by which the pro- 
 prietors of the soil were accounted proprietors of the persons 
 who laboured upon it, a remnant of tliis law still remained in 
 the case of colliers, and of manufacturers of salt from sea- 
 water, from their connection with coal-works. The cha- 
 racter of indolence and ignorance, which a state of personal 
 slavery never fails to stamp upon the rainds of those placed 
 in it, served in all probability to retard the progress of the 
 art of working mineral coal. It was not till the present reign 
 that the legislature interfered to abolish this remnant of 
 ancient barbarism. A circumstance, however, which proves 
 how difficult it is, by the mere force of power or of legis- 
 lative authority, to accomplish even the most rational changes 
 in the ordinary practice of human affairs, is this : That 
 hitherto the acquisition of freedom has tended only in a very- 
 small degree to ameliorate the character or condition of 
 this class of men. When the proprietors of coal mines 
 could no longer, by dint of jurisdiction, compel their work- 
 men to remain in their service upon the footing of a right 
 of property 'in their persons, they set about devising new 
 modes of subjugating them, or of fixing them to the spot 
 where they had previously laboured. The devices which 
 were adopted have unhappily been such as ruined the 
 morals of this body of labourers j while a,t the same time
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 275 
 
 r. 
 
 they have on different occasions greatly interrupted the Mineral^ 
 public supply of that which has now become an article 
 of the first necessity. From the time when the colliers 
 were emancipated bj the interposition of the legislature 
 from the state of villanage, by which, like the adscriptitii 
 glebae of feudal tyranny, they had been chained for life to 
 the soil upon which they had been born, some conductors 
 of coaUworks, for a long period, discovered no better me- 
 thods of binding them to the^r service than by enticing 
 them to plunge themselves irrecoverably into debt. They 
 were in many cases attempted to be seduced from their 
 former masters by more enterprising or less scrupulous 
 employers. The debts contracted in the work which they 
 were to leave were paid, and a premium superadded, 
 which they were tempted, like the infatuated raw recruit, 
 to spend in immediate intemperance. More money was 
 often injudiciously lent them, in the vain hope that the 
 deeper they were involved in debt to their new masters, 
 the more closely would they be incited to labour, and the 
 longer they should be constrained to remain at their new 
 task. But instead of this, the men, as a policy a little less 
 shallow might easily have foreseen in such cases, became 
 dispirited at the view of the debts in which they had been 
 so hastily, and often on their own part so unintentionally, 
 plunged ; and at last, despairing ever to discharge them, 
 they sunk into obstinate indolence, despondence, or profli- 
 gacy ; or they fairly run off from the work, and repaired, 
 by stealth, to some new contractor, who, though aware of 
 their obnoxious condition, winked at the trick ; and when 
 discovered, perhaps paid the fatal debt, and ensured the re- 
 petition of the same fraudulent retribution against himself. 
 Hence it has frequently happened, either from the stub- 
 bornness of despair, the relish for bribes and indulgences, 
 and the habitual taste for extravagance, so imprudently fos- 
 
 S2
 
 216 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Mineral*, tered, that the men get into their rebellious moods, and re 1 * 
 fuse to work without some new bribe, or perhaps unless 
 their wages be permanently raised in proportion to the in- 
 crease of price to which their masters may have chosen to 
 raise the coal itself. After all, the improving state of the 
 country is the great source of the mischief: the demand 
 for coal is increasing faster than workmen can be found to 
 supply that demand ; a circumstance which tempts adven- 
 turers, in this branch of business, to make very imprudent 
 exertions for the purpose of obtaining workmen. 
 
 As an appendage to some of the coal- works adjoining 
 to Musselburgh bay, salt is manufactured by the evapora- 
 tion of sea-water. Salt thus prepared is always inferior in 
 quality for curing fish, or any salted provisions, to that 
 which is brought from the English salt mines near Liver- 
 pool, probably on account of the leisurely evaporation 
 which there takes place ; in consequence of which the salt 
 is allowed to form itself into very large crystals. The 
 operation of making salt from sea-water, notwithstanding 
 the vicinity of the coal pits, and the cheapness of the small 
 coal or dross consumed in the salt furnaces, is so expensive, 
 that should government either remove altogether the tax 
 upon salt, or even equalize it throughout Scotland and Eng- 
 land, and allow a free transference of this necessary of life 
 from the one country to the other, no more Scottish salt 
 would be prepared from sea-water ; and as no salt mines 
 or springs have hitherto been discovered in this country, 
 English salt would alone be made use of. 
 
 o 
 
 Lime. We have said, that lime-stone is found in abundance in 
 
 various quarters of the county, both in the eastern and 
 western parts of it. In the neighbourhood of Edinburgh, 
 lime is chiefly used for architecture, the toxvn dung being 
 generally supposed to supersede the necessity of employing 
 .it in agriculture. The great lime quarry or mine whick
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 21~ 
 
 is wrought at Gilmerton, in the parish of Libberton, be- Minerals. 
 tween three and four miles from Edinburgh, is a singular Gi!mc:-too 
 object well worthy of being visited. The mine or quarry ^ 
 is nearly a mile in length, and every where open to the 
 light of day. The bed or stratum of limestone descends 
 rapidly into the bowels of the earth, or rests in an inclined 
 position like the coal and other mineral strata in that neigh- 
 bourhood. On descending into this mine, we find our- 
 selves on a shelving declivity, with abundance of beaten 
 paths among the fragments of limestone rock which have 
 been left upon the floor. Over hea.d is a roof, consisting^ 
 of a bed of solid rock, which is every where supported 
 by pillars of limestone which have been left for that 
 purpose. As the roof is of considerable height, and the 
 openings which form the entrance to the mine are large 
 there is abundance of light ; which however gradually di- 
 minishes in proportion to the descent towards the bottom 
 of the mine, at which there is a pool of water. The light 
 does not entirely fail in any greater degree than to give a 
 dull and sublime obscurity to the aspect of the place. In- 
 stead of proceeding to any great depth, it has been found 
 more profitable to dig out the limestone lengthwise, keep- 
 ing always near the surface, and thereby producing a long 
 cut or chasm, which advances obliquely up the side of a 
 long ridge or hill. Hence the inquisitive spectator has an 
 opportunity of making a long excursion under ground, 
 without losing *he light of day. To those who wish to 
 obtain a general idea of the nature of the operations 
 carried on in mines, and of the way in which the beds 
 of mineral strata rest between each other, and are re- 
 moved by human art, no better plan can be adopted, 
 than to visit the excavations now alluded to. It can be 
 done with little trouble, and without the unpleasant senti- 
 which, to an unexperienced person, usually- attend
 
 278 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 ^Minerals ^ the descent by a bucket into a coal-pit, together with the 
 dirtiness and obscurity which necessarily prevail there. 
 To the lovers of curious, or even perhaps of picturesque 
 objects, these works will appear worthy of attention, from 
 the feelings excited on entering into their vast caverns, and 
 from the novelty and peculiarity of their nature. 
 Free-stone Even the stone quarries in the vicinity of Edinburgh 
 ^ ar are objects of some curiosity. That of Craigleith is with- 
 in less than a mile and a half of the New Town of Edin- 
 burgh. It is a vast open excavation or bason cut out of 
 the end of a hill, the whole of which to the top consists of 
 excellent white free-stone, the blocks or beds of which are 
 of great depth without any fissure or natural rent. The 
 effort of vast power and perseverance, obviously necessary 
 to tear up and remove the immense quantities of solid rock 
 which in its natural state must have filled this great exca- 
 vation, renders it a very sublime object when first seen by 
 a stranger. Another very great free-stone quarry, but of 
 a different appearance, is that of Hailes, about three miles 
 to the westward of Edinburgh castle. It is in a level 
 country, and consists of a long narrow chasm, or artificial 
 cut, of considerable] depth into the earth. On one side is 
 seen a perpendicular face or wall of free stone, and on the 
 opposite side of the chasm are the fragments or waste, 
 which in this quarry are so great, that being negligently 
 cast backwards, they fill up the cavity out of which the 
 stone meant for use had been taken. The stone of this 
 quarry is of a different sort from that of Craigleith. . It is 
 easily wrought, being in thin natural plates or layers, with 
 beds of softer stone or rubbish between the plates. The 
 hard stone is used for laying the extensive side-pavement 
 of the streets of Edinburgh, and also for the stairs of hou- 
 ses. The quarry is cleared of rain water by a very sim- 
 ple machine, moved by a rill or extremely trifling rivulej;
 
 MIDLOTHIAN 1 . t 279 
 
 that passes it. The water of this rill is made to flow into ^ Minerals. 
 buckets placed around the extremity of a large wheel : 
 while a bucket is filling, the wheel stands still ; when the 
 bucket is full, the wheel makes between a quarter and a 
 half turn, so as to empty the bucket. In making this turn, 
 it gives a stroke to a pump communicating with the quarry, 
 and thus brings up a quantity of water, which, to aid the 
 effect of the rivulet, is made to flow into it. In the mean- 
 while another bucket upon the wheel is filled and emptied, 
 and another stroke of the pump is given. In heavy rains, 
 which tend to fill the quarry with water, the rivulet is at 
 the same time swelled, and turns the wheel and works the 
 pump rapidly and incessantly ; and thus the work per- 
 formed is at all times proportioned to the necessity that 
 vexists for it. At Craigleith, the quarry is kept clear of 
 water by a pump, moved by a horse going in a gin. 
 
 This county is not absolutely destitute of the more pre-Lead, Sil- 
 cious minerals. At the head of the North Esk, on the ver> c " 
 .south side of the Pentland hills at Carlips, on the borders 
 of Tweedale, lead was in former times found, from which 
 silver was extracted. The different spots where the mines 
 were formerly put down, are to this day distinguished by 
 appellations descriptive of the mineral obtained there. One 
 place is called the Lead Flats, another is called Leadlawhill ; 
 and the excavations in general are still called by the inha- 
 bitants the siller (silver) boies. In the parish of Currie 
 also a vein of copper has been found. Attempts were made 
 to work it, but it was found not to be sufficiently rich to 
 repay the cost. 
 
 As connected with the mineralogy of the district, an in- Moving 
 stance may be mentioned, which occurred at the south east- 
 jern extremity of the county in the parish of Stow, of a 
 movement of a spot of ground on the 30th July 1735. 
 The former part o: the season being exceedingly warm and
 
 280 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Minerals, dry, there was a great storm of thunder, with hail and 
 rain. At Wedderlaw, a hill in Over-shiels ground, three 
 miles up Lugate water, the shepherd, sitting at a small dis- 
 tance, observed the face of the hill begin to move. The 
 whole flock of sheep being gathered on that spot in conse- 
 quence of the thunder, he immediately sent his dog to 
 drive thei , . off. By this means the greater part were saved, 
 though some went with the break or piece of land, which 
 was carried down to Gala, and a great quantity of the 
 moss as far as Galashiels, which is reported to have ser- 
 ved the poor people in that village for peats the following 
 winter. 
 
 In the parish of Inveresk is a curiosity, which is thus 
 mentioned by Maitland in his History of Edinburgh : 
 
 Routing " About three miles south-eastward from Edinburgh is 
 situated Monktown (vulgarly Mountain), so denominated 
 from a priory of monks anciently there. At this place is 
 a very great curiosity, denominated the routing well, which 
 is a draw well in the yard of the mansion-house, the area 
 whereof, from the mouth to the water, is about 35 feet ; 
 and is so called from certain noises it makes preceding a 
 storm, sometimes resembling the beating of a coppersmith's 
 largest hammers, then a noise like a shower of hail falling 
 into water ; and at other times, by a violent bubbling, raises 
 the water above a foot higher than its natural level." 
 
 The reverend Dr Carlyle, in his account of the parish 
 of Inveresk, endeavours to explain this phenomenon, by 
 saying, " that this well being dug many fathoms deep 
 through a rock, in order to get below the strata of coal 
 that abound in the field, it communicates through the 
 coal-rooms that are wrought with other shafts, which oc- 
 casions a rumbling noise, that does not precede, but accom- 
 panies a high wind." Maitland endeavours to account for
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 281 
 
 it, by supposing the noise to be occasioned by the united Minerals, 
 action of air and water, 
 
 In consequence of the abundance of free-stone, and the Mineral 
 sulphur usually accompanying it, in all parts of the coun- 
 ty, there are frequent instances of springs attended with a 
 mineral impregnation. We have already mentioned that 
 of St Bernard's Well near Edinburgh ; and in other places 
 to the westward, similar instances occur, but weaker. In 
 the parish of Midcalder, on the estate of Letham, there is 
 a spring of sulphureous water. It does not appear to be 
 different from other fountains of that kind. Like the 
 waters of Harrowgate, and other sulphureous springs, it 
 has been found to be beneficial in various diseases, but 
 more especially in cases of scrophula and gravel. 
 
 In the parish of Cramond, on the lands of Marchfield, is 
 a spring of mineral water, called the ivell of spaw, rec- 
 koned beneficial in scorbutic cases, and highly purgative 
 when taken in quantities. At Corstorphine, the waters 
 of a mineral spring were once in high repute, on account 
 of their supposed medicinal virtues ; but for many years 
 they have been totally neglected. It is said, that in at- 
 tempting to cut a drain in the neighbourhood, the source 
 of the water was tapped, and the impregnated stream 
 dried up. 
 
 In the southern part of the county there are several 
 chalybeate springs. On the south side of the North Esk, 
 among the woods opposite to the Spittal hill, is a clear 
 well of a bitterish taste, s supposed to have both an emetic 
 and cathartic quality. It is resorted to by the common 
 people for bowel complaints, faintings, disorders in the 
 blood, cancers, &c. ; and of course is said to have per- 
 formed many wonderful cures. On the slope of a hill on 
 the south side of the same river, opposite to the we.st end 
 of the Spittal hill, is another spring of a strong petrefyhig
 
 2S2 MIDLOTHIAN 1 . 
 
 Minerals, quality. Where it oozes out of the ground, it has a 
 white appearance, and is seen at a considerable distance 
 on the Lint on road. 
 
 At St Catharine's, in the parish of Liberton, is a spring, 
 the water of which is covered with a film of petroleum or 
 mineral oil. However frequently this film is removed, 
 it still returns. The spring is called the balm well of St 
 Catharine. It was much frequented in ancient times, and 
 considered as a sovereign remedy for several cutaneous 
 distempers. It owes its origin, it is said, to the following 
 miracle. St Catharine had a commission from St Mar- 
 garet, consort of Malcolm Canmore, to bring a quantity 
 of oil from mount Sinai. In this very place she happen- 
 ed, by some accident or other, to lose a few drops of it ; 
 and on her earnest supplication the well appeared as just 
 now described. When King James the Sixth was in 
 Scotland in 1617, he went to visit it, and ordered that it 
 should be fenced in with stones from bottom to top ; and 
 that a door and staircase should be made for it, that people 
 might have the more easy access to the oily substances, 
 which float always above, and which were deemed of 
 so much importance, The royal command being imme- 
 diately obeyed, the well was greatly adorned, and conti- 
 nued so until the year 1650, when Cromwell's soldiers 
 not only defaced it, but almost totally destroyed it. It was 
 repaired, indeed, after the restoration ; but it did not ap- 
 pear to such advantage as before. Adjoining to the well 
 a chapel was erected, and dedicated to St Margaret. St 
 Catharine was buried in the chapel, which was pulled 
 down during the late century. It is said by the country 
 people, that the person who pulled it down was ever after- 
 wards unprosperous in all his affairs and undertakings. 
 
 On the sea-shore, about half a mile above Newhaven, 
 between the high and low water marks, a considerable
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 283 
 
 stream or very strong spring of salt water is seen con- Mineral^ 
 stantly issuing from the earth, or from a crevice in the 
 rocks, during the time of low water, or in the absence of 
 the tide. Very sanguine hopes were lately entertained 
 by some persons that this might prove a natural salt 
 spring, from which salt might be profitably manufactured, 
 as the want of manufactures, or objects of exportation, sub- 
 jects the trade of Leith to great incoveniences ; and as salt 
 is an important object of American trade, it was hoped 
 that this spring, either in itself, or as leading to a vein of 
 natural salt, might prove extensively useful. Unfortu- 
 nately, however, there is every reason to believe that these 
 expectations will not be realized. The water of the 
 spring does no doubt seem to be somewhat purer than that 
 of the adjoining Frith ; but it does not appear to be more 
 strongly impregnated with salt. The whole seems to be the 
 result of the same sort of operations which have produced 
 the routing well above mentioned. Adjoining to this spot, 
 coal was anciently found and wrought ; and the coal rooms, 
 or space emptied by bringing up that mineral, undoubt- 
 edly still remain. The probability is, that the waters of 
 the sea find their way, when the tide is at flood, into the 
 coal rooms, through the chink or aperture which forms 
 the salt spring ; and that they continue to rush out again 
 during the absence of the tide. As the sea at high water 
 rises at least six or seven feet above the level of the spring, 
 this explanation will appear sufficiently probable, though 
 the old coal workings should not be supposed of any un- 
 usual extent. 
 
 This county has nothing peculiar with regard to its wildAnimak. 
 animals, which are not different from those found in the 
 rest of the island. They consist of foxes, hares, a few 
 rabbits, ermines, weasles, moles, rats, common and shrew 
 mice, adders, scaly lizards, the common lizard, toads,
 
 284 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 . Animals. ^ frogs, &c. Bats are seen fluttering giddily about in the 
 evenings. At times are seen, ascending the country, 
 gulls from the Frith ; also, overhead, wild swans and 
 geese. On the small lakes is the wallard, teal, colymbus 
 auritus, one of the dobechicks ; on the streams, the heron, 
 water tail, water ouzel, landpeper, and wagtails ; on the 
 marshes, the snipe, the woodcock in winter, the red spar- 
 row, the marsh tit-mouse ; on the rock's, the ring ouzel,, 
 which has a few shrill plaintive notes, and very much the 
 appearance and manner of a blackbird, and the stone-chat- 
 ter ; on the moors are grouse (one of these being almost 
 shot to pieces, its stomach was found entirely filled with 
 white moths, which are very common among long heath), 
 curlews, lapwings, and grey plovers ; on the fields, the 
 hen-harrier, partridges, landrails, sky larks, corn bunt-^ 
 ings, snow buntings, field fares, mountain finches, and the 
 goat-sucker or night swallow ; in the hedges, common 
 And hedge sparrows ; in the woods, the buzzard, sparrow 
 hawk, jay, magpie, crow, ringdove, and the cukow, the 
 crossbill (attracted by the cones of the spruce, the plates 
 of which, to get at the seed, are found in numbers folded 
 back with great dexterity), the bullfinch, sterling, thrush,, 
 blackbird, redbreast, linnet, all the finches and titmice, in~* 
 eluding the blue- and the long tailed one, also a very small 
 and beautiful bird, the creeper, like a little mouse running 
 up the trees for insects, the yellow, common, and golden^ 
 crested wrens ; the swallows about the houses in summer and 
 in the woods ; at nights, the owl, horned and smooth. The 
 red squirrel (sciurus vulgar is ruftts of Linnaeus) has be- 
 come extremely common of late years upon the banks of 
 the Esk, and the woods everywhere abound with them. 
 Though a beautiful animal, they are destructive of the 
 small birds by devouring their eggs, and are certainly in- 
 jurious to young planting by cropping and barking the
 
 MIDLOTHIAN.. 
 
 tender shoots. The larch tree suffers particularly from t Animals. 
 this animal. 
 
 In the year 1749, when the coal was worked at New- 
 hall, in the parish of Pennycuick, it was remarked that 
 the colliers houses, and other cottages in which nothing 
 was burnt but coal, abounded with bugs. In the neigh- Bugs, 
 bourhood of that coal there was plenty of peat moss ; and 
 there, as it happens in other parts of Scotland, many of 
 the cottagers chose rather to use peat than coal for theif 
 fuel. In those houses in which peat only was burnt, the 
 bug never appeared, though they were immediately ad- 
 jacent to houses where coal was burnt, and in which thp 
 insect prevailed. 
 
 In the year 1159, when the coal was worked in Glen*, 
 cross moor, and at Goukly moss in that parish, the same 
 thing was observed. The houses of the lower people 
 who only used cool were infested with bugs, while those 
 in which peat and turf served as the only fuel were en- 
 tirely free. 
 
 The burning of peat in Edinburgh came to be a sort of 
 receipt against bugs, though it does not appear to be of 
 much avail. If peat smoke is at all a remedy against 
 them, it appears only to be so where no other fuel is used 
 but peat, and where the smoke is at liberty, as is usually 
 the case where peat is burnt, to pervade the whole house. 
 
 It is indeed remarkable, that the bug prevails only in 
 those towns and parts of Scotland where coal is burnt ; 
 and that it is unknown in the towns and districts where 
 peat and turf are the only fuel. Some towns and villages 
 of this kind, though they have always had much commu- 
 nication with Edinburgh and Glasgow, by means of goods, 
 furniture, and apparel, still remain uninfested with bugs. 
 This would insinuate that they possess some antidote 
 against _thcse vermin. This antidote probably consists
 
 288 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 ^Villages. o f a penetrating volatile oil contained in the smoke of 
 peat, and which gives an impregnation to malt dried with 
 peat that is not lost by the process of fermentation, but 
 on the contrary comes over in distillation, and communi- 
 cates its peculiar flavour to the Highland whisky. 
 
 Villages, In the north-western part of the county, which is en- 
 
 Manufac- , , , , ., .... 
 
 tures, &c. tirely agricultural, the villages are few and trifling ; con- 
 sisting, in general, only of a small hamlet, with one or two 
 hundred inhabitants in each parish. The most remarka- 
 ble of them are, Midcalder, Corstorphine, and Cramond. 
 
 Corstor- i*he former of these is pleasantly situated near the Amend* 
 
 phine. 
 
 in a country adorned with much wood, and almost en- 
 tirely enclosed, or divided into fields of moderate extent 
 with stone walls, or by hedges and ditches. Corstorphine 
 is supposed to have derived its name from the circum- 
 stance of a golden cross having been presented to the 
 church by some French nobleman. Croix (For fin ; and 
 hence Corstorphine. Others derive it from Gaelic words 
 signifying steps through a wet place ; a circumstance ex- 
 pressive of its situation, as it stands at the extremity of a 
 morass, and in low wet ground. It is chiefly worthy of 
 notice on account of a peculiar preparation of milk which 
 has from time immemorial been brought from thence to 
 
 Corstor- the Edinburgh market under the appellation of Corstc/r- 
 phinecrcam _ . . r .., . 
 
 pfnne cream. Ihis preparation ot milk is very ancient, 
 
 and probably originated among the Tartars, by whom it 
 was made of mare's milk, and denominated koumiss. 
 What is called Corstorphine cream around Edinburgh, is 
 in the rest of Scotland termed hatted kit. It is prepared 
 in several ways ; but the simplest is the following : A 
 quantity of churned or butter milk, of good quality, 
 is set aside in a wooden barrel or other vessel. After 
 some time an extrication of air or a process of fermenta- 
 tion commences. The thick part of the milk rises to the
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 281 
 
 top, and is separated from the whey, which remains at the Villages, 
 bottom. The thick part is skimmed off, and is of a plea- u -y - 
 sant acid taste. It is light and wholesome and cooling ; 
 and when eaten with sugar, is agreeable to almost every 
 palate. The process for making it never fails, providing 
 the weather be warm and the butter' milk rich. If the 
 milk is poor, the thick part of the milk, instead of swim- 
 ming at the top of the whey, is apt to sink to the bottom, 
 and is never equal to the former sort. To avoid this ac- 
 cident, and also to improve the quality of the Corstor- 
 phine cream, it is proper to mix with the butter milk r 
 when originally set aside, a quantity of new milk. If the 
 weather is chilly, it is necessary to place the barrel or ves- 
 sel containing the butter milk within another vessel con- 
 taining hot water. 
 
 A variety of the same substance, of a richer and more 
 substantial quality, may be prepared instantaneously in 
 the following manner : Take a quantity of extremely 
 sour butter milk, and place it in a punch bowl or other 
 vessel ; then bring to a boiling heat in a tea-kettle a quan- 
 tity of sweet milk. Pour the sweet milk from the spout 
 of the tea-kettle among the butter milk, taking care to 
 hold the tea-kettle at a considerable height. The whole 
 thick part of both sorts of milk will instantly swim to the 
 top, and is to be skimmed off and eaten when cold. It 
 will be richer in proportion as a larger quantity of sweet 
 milk is employed. A very elegant dish may be prepa- 
 red by using cream, sweetened with sugar and seasoned 
 with spices, instead of sweet milk. 
 
 The village of Cramond, situated on the east side of the Cramond. 
 Almond at its junction with the Forth, contains about 300 
 inhabitants. Only a few sloops belong to its harbour, 
 which is described in the records of exchequer as a creek 
 connected with the port of Leith. The village is chiefly
 
 288 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Tillages, remarkable on account of the iron manufacture which has 
 !. v in,.,' for many years been carried on here by Messrs Caddell 
 and Edington, who employ in it a capital of above 
 L. 30,000. The work consists of three forges, two slit- 
 ting mills, and two steel furnaces ; at which bar iron is 
 manufactured into blistered, square or faggot, and Ger- 
 man steel, hoops, and rolled iron, rod iron, boiler and 
 tin plates for steam-engines or salt works, locks^ moulds, 
 anchors, palms, bolts for ship-building, and other articles. 
 There are also here spade and nail manufactures belong- 
 ing to the same company. The iron used at the Cramond 
 Works comes chiefly from Russia and Sweden. The 
 works are supplied with coal from the estate of Grange 
 near Borrowstounness, belonging to Mr William Caddell. 
 The coal is brought down the Frith in the sloops belonging 
 to this port, to the amount of about 1GOO tons annually. 
 The forge hammers weigh from four to six hundred weight 
 each ; and they are wrought by water, and make from 
 120 to 160 strokes in a minute. 
 
 But the chief scat of the population of the country part 
 of the, shire of Midlothian is in the neighbourhood of the 
 Esk, upon or adjoining to the great-coal field already de- 
 scribed. Here there are numerous villages of different 
 degrees of magnitude. The uppermost village upon the 
 Pennycuick South Esk is that of Pennycuick, said to signify, in Gae- 
 lic, gouk^s (or cuckoo's) hill, probably from the number 
 of these birds that haunt the surrounding woods in spring. 
 It was the opinion of the late Sir James Clerk, that a for- 
 mer proprietor 1 , principal heritor of the parish, gave it this 
 name after his own ; but that the original one was St 
 Mungo's (in Norwegian dear friend), the name given to 
 St Kcntigern by Sordanus, bishop of Orkney, by whom 
 he was educated about the middle of the sixth century. 
 The chief support of the village is a cotton mill, wbkk
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 jenerally employs about 500 persons of different ages. It Villages, 
 was the first that was erected in Scotland, and is the only t^-^. 
 Work of the kind within the county. 
 
 The manufacture of paper is carried on to a considerable Paper, 
 extent in mills established upon this river as well as upon 
 the water of Leith ; and considerable quantities of it are 
 constantly exported to London. On the South Esk, aGun-pow- 
 gun-powder manufactory has been established during ten 
 or twelve years past. It is the first of the kind that has 
 been tried in Scotland. It has suffered considerably at 
 different times from explosions 5 by one of which a part- 
 ner in the concern lost his life. 
 
 Descending down the country, there are several villages 
 crowded with colliers ; but the chief villages, or rather 
 country towns^ belonging to this county, are those of Dal- 
 keith and Musselburgh. The name of Dalkeith is 
 to be derived from the Gaelic language, and signifies a 
 plain situated between two rivers. If this be so, it is per- 
 fectly descriptive of the situation of the village, which 
 stands on a narrow stripe of land peninsulated between 
 the two rivers already mentioned, known by the name of 
 Esk. The banks of these streams are here beautifully 
 wooded, and embellished with the seats of several families 
 of the first distinction. The village of Dalkeith contains 
 upwards of 4000 inhabitants. Its principal street is broad 
 and well paved ; and the buildings, as usual in Scotland, 
 are built of stone, and substantial. It contains a grammar 
 school, which has long possessed distinguished reputation ; 
 and to which, on this account, as well as on account of the 
 healthy and agreeable situation of the place, the sons of 
 gentlemen are sent from different quarters of the country. 
 'I'll is village is not at present remarkable for any sort of 
 manufactures ; and it is chiefly distinguished on account 
 of its well known and much frequented market. One of 
 
 VOL. I. T
 
 290 
 
 ^ e most cons iderable, perhaps the greatest market for grain; 
 of any in Scotland, is held in Dalkeith every Thursday j 
 to which are brought large quantities of all sorts of grain, 
 and more especially of oats, not only from the neighbour- 
 hood, but also from the southern counties. It is remark- 
 able that all the grain sold here brings ready money ; a 
 circumstance of much importance to the farmers and those 
 belonging to the neighbourhood, who generally purchase 
 at Dalkeith such articles as they find necessary for them- 
 selves and their families before they leave the village. A 
 great proportion of the grain and meal sold at Dalkeith 
 is sent to supply the west country, about Carron, Glas- 
 gow, and Paisley. From Martinmas till about Whit- 
 sunday, there is likewise a market for meal every Mon- 
 day, and one for cattle every Tuesday. There is also art 
 annual fair held on the third Tuesday of October for horses 
 and black cattle, &.c. The fair, it is said, was formerly 
 of much more consequence^ and better attended, than it is 
 at present. 
 
 There are several lesser villages in this neighbourhood^ 
 such as Lasswade, Loanhead, and Gilmerton, which con- 
 tain nothing worthy of notice, excepting that the last, itt 
 which there are about 700 inhabitants, has long been ce- 
 Gilmerton lebrated on account of a cave adjoining to it. It was dug- 
 out of a rock by one George Paterson a blacksmith. It 
 was finished in 1724,, after five years hard labour, as ap- 
 pears from the inscription on the chimney-heads. In 
 this cave are several apartments, several beds, a spacious- 
 table, with a large punch-bowl, all cut out of the rock in 
 the nicest manner. Here there was a forge, with a well 
 and washing house. There are in the cave several win- 
 dows, which communicate light from above. The au- 
 thor of this extraordinary piece of workmanship, after he 
 had finished it, lived in }t for a long time with his family,
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 291 
 
 ftnti prosecuted his business as a smith. He died in it Villages, 
 about the year 1735. He was a feuar or small proprie- - v ' j 
 tor ; and eonsequently the cave he formed and embellish- 
 ed so much, and the garden above it, were his own pro- 
 perty, and his posterity enjoyed it for some time after his 
 decease. His cave for many years was deemed a great 
 curiosity, and visited by all the people of fashion. Pen- 
 nycuick, in his works, has left us the following inscrip- 
 tion on the cave : 
 
 Upon the earth thrives villany and woe j 
 
 But happiness and I do dwell below. 
 
 My hand hewed out this rock into a cell, 
 
 Wherein from din of life I safely dwell. 
 
 On Jacob's pillow, nightly, lies my head ; 
 
 My house when living, and my grave when dead. 
 
 Inscribe upon it when I'm dead and gone, 
 
 I lived and died within my mother's womb. 
 
 Before proceeding to take notice of the large village at 
 the foot of the Esk, it may not be improper to remark, 
 that to the eastward of Dalkeith, as the country ascends, 
 the field of coal ascends along with it towards the borders 
 of the county. In this quarter, in the parish of Cranston, i, rd Dun* 
 it is believed that one of the first attempts was made upon, donald '* tar 
 a large scale to extract tar and other substances from coal 
 burnt with access of air after Lord Dundonald's manner. 
 The manufacture was afterwards removed to the west of 
 Scotland, and has languished and proved of little value to 
 the inventor. As it is of much importance however in it- 
 self, there is reason to believe, that when the patent shall 
 have expired, it will become in the hands of practical men 
 an object of no small importance. We shall here there- 
 fore describe the result of the operations as an object of 
 curiosity in a literary as well as in an economical point of 
 
 Ta
 
 292 MIDLOTHIAN* 
 
 Vrages, view. " The coals are put into ovens, and, after being 1 
 * v kindled, are slowly decomposed, while the volatile parts 
 fly off into separate reservoirs, where they are condensed, 
 . Each condenser has two ovens appropriated to it ; and 
 between the ovens and condensers is placed a long leaden 
 cistern filled with water, in order to hasten the process. 
 The condensed fluid is then conveyed from the condensers 
 by a cock into wooden pipes, which lead it into a pit, from 
 whence it is pumped into the still. By the act of distilla- 
 tion or boiling, the steam flies off into another large wood- 
 en vessel, where it is condensed into an oil and volatile 
 spirit. The distillation continues for the space of four 
 days and a half, when the residuum in the still makes ex- 
 cellent tar. The oil and spirit are then drawn off into a 
 
 * M 
 
 smaller vessel ; and as the oil swims on the top, a sepa- 
 ration is easily made by drawing off the spirit. If the tar 
 is boiled in the still for five days and a half, the stuff re- 
 maining in the still is then called half-pitch ; and should 
 the process be continued a day longer, it will become as 
 brittle as glass. The volatile spirit is distilled a second 
 time before it is exposed to sale, and after wards made into 
 hartshorn by the chemist. A bright varnish is produced 
 by mixing one gallon of the foresaid oil with six pounds of 
 rosin, and then boiling them together ; and a black varnish, 
 by mixing and boiling together four pounds of rosin, one 
 gallon of the above oil, and one Scotch pint of the half 
 pitch. The British tar is of a blacker colour, and has a 
 finer skin than common tar. It contains no water like the 
 latter ; and its quality is injured by any mixture of lamp 
 black, red and white lead, oil or tallow. Vegetable tar, 
 containing an acid that corrodes iron, does not answer as a 
 preservative from rust ; but this tar, possessing no such 
 corrosive quality, is found to be an effectual covering for 
 guns, shot, bells, and all iron work. Its principal recom-
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 23 
 
 mendation however is, that it is excellently adapted for pay- Villages, 
 ing the bottoms of ships, and preserving wooden work that y 
 is exposed to the weather, or liable to be worm-eaten. If 
 the half-pitch cannot be readily procured when required, 
 the tar may be brought to that consistence by boiling it a 
 sufficient time, to be ascertained by dipping into it a chip 
 of wood, which on cooling will show when the tar has ac- 
 quired the proper strength-. The tar and pitch must always 
 be heated before they are applied. On wooden work, first 
 lay on the tar quite hot, and then a coat of warm pitch. 
 Piles that are to be driven into the ground should be well 
 heated before they are dipped into the half-pitch. Nails 
 are lackered by heating them in a wire basket over a stove, 
 and hastily dipping them while hot into the tar. As they 
 cool, the tar dries on them ; and when thus prepared, they 
 are not apt to rust, or render the wood what is called iron 
 sick. Worms do not penetrate into wood that has been 
 properly impregnated with the tar. If the bottom of a 
 vessel therefore be of fir, all that is necessary is to fire 
 her well ; and while the plank is hot, to lay on a coat of 
 the tar heated in a pot. When the seams are chalked, 
 finish the whole with a coat of half-pitch prepared in the 
 same manner. But as oak, from its close texture, will not 
 imbibe a sufficient quantity of tar to preserve it against the 
 worms for any length of time, it is necessary to sheath oak 
 bottomed vessels with white fir wood impregnated with 
 tke tar, to lacker the sheathing nails, and lay over all a 
 coat of half-pitch to finish it off. British varnish is pre- 
 ferable to turpentine varnish, because the oil of which it 
 is made is of a more penetrating nature than that of tur- 
 pentine. The effect it has when Iai4 on wood, is to close 
 its pores by filling them with the rosin it contains ; and 
 thus to render white or sap-wood equal in quality to red. 
 The bright or clear varnish is used in the same manner as
 
 294 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Villages, turpentine varnish, and answers as a substitute for lint- 
 V y ^ seed oil in painting all colours, except with red and white 
 lead when dry ; but if these be ground with oil, it is then 
 equal to turpentine varnish, and comes much cheaper. The 
 black varnish is designed for all parts of a vessel exposed 
 to the weather where paint or pitch is not used. It dries 
 fast, and gives a fine gloss to the wood. The tar before it 
 is boiled may be used for greasing carts. The residuum of 
 the coals in the ovens, being no farther burnt than is suffi- 
 cient to deprive them of their volatile matter , may be used 
 as charcoal by brewers in drying malt, and in the manu- 
 facture of iron from the ore." 
 
 At a future period of our work, we shall have occasion 
 to take notice of the obligations under which the manufac- 
 tures of this country lye to Lord Dundonald, in conse- 
 quence of his ingenious discoveries. It seems to be suffi- 
 ciently ascertained, that the tar extracted from coal is great- 
 ly superior, for the preservation of the bottoms of ships in 
 a tropical climate, to the vegetable tar at present in use. 
 The only objection to the former is said to be its unplea- 
 gant smell, in consequence of which it is disliked by the 
 workmen. But as it is not unwholesome, it is evident* 
 that although an objection of this sort may prevent its 
 coming into use, when it belongs to a patentee uncon- 
 nected with the business of ship-building, hereafter it will 
 easily be surmounted by a trifling additional hire, or by 
 the influence of master builders and merchants, when the 
 privilege shall have terminated. In the meanwhile, it is 
 undoubtedly to be regretted, that the ingenious nobleman, 
 to whom the world owes so many valuable discoveries,, 
 should hitherto have reaped so little emolument from his 
 labours. The qualifications by which money is frequently 
 gained, seem to have so little resemblance to that superio-r 
 rity pf intellect bv which the secrets of nature are success-*
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. .295 
 
 fully investigated, that we are almost tempted to suppose Villages, 
 it to have been one of the original arrangements of Divine y ; 
 Providence in the constitution of human society, that great 
 riches and distinguished ability should not readily or very 
 usually come together, and remain steadily united in the 
 same person. How else should it happen, that a noble- 
 man of uncommon ingenuity, of a sober character, and of 
 boundless activity, should, during so many years, have un- 
 successfully directed his efforts into a tract naturally lead- 
 ing to the acquisition of money ; while so many stupid 
 fellows have in the meantime, in this commercial and pros- 
 perous country, amassed immense fortunes ? In this, as in 
 every other case, however, the plan of Providence is un- 
 doubtedly wise, if we could understand its tendency. The 
 union of uncommon ingenuity with prodigious wealth would 
 evidently confer upon, their owners a degree of power 
 which would be seriously dangerous to the virtue of their 
 possessors, and would certainly prove at once ruinous to 
 the stability of the arrangements of society, and oppressive 
 to the ordinary race of men. 
 
 Musselburgh has derived its name from an extensive M usse j_ 
 muscle-bank which lies in the sea below the iown, and bur g h * 
 was probably the cause of its early population ^ as, even 
 at this day, it affords a great relief to the poor inhabi- 
 tants in times of scarcity, and at all times supplies the ta- 
 bles of the rich with a delicate variety. Musselburgh con- 
 sists in some measure of three villages : On the east side 
 of the Esk, adjoining to the sea- shore, stands Musselburgh, 
 properly so called, consisting of a broad well-paved prin- 
 cipal street, with some adjoining lanes. The houses are 
 in general two or three stories in height, built of stone, 
 and covered with slate or tile, and some of them with 
 thatch. Above Musselburgh, to the south or more inland, 
 x the village and church of Inveresk, which gives its name
 
 
 296 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 to the parish. On the western side of the Esk, along th,e 
 sea-shore, Fisherrow is situated. It is a very long village ; 
 and here the harbour belonging to the whole is placed. 
 The buildings are more uniform but meaner than those of 
 Musselburgh. 
 
 Musselburgh, including the villages of Fisherrow and 
 Country Inveresk, contains upwards of 4000 inhabitants. Its si- 
 tuat * on or a PP earan ce, together with the adjoining terri- 
 tory, is uncommonly beautiful. The low part of the ter- 
 ritory is only a few feet above the level of the sea ; between 
 which and the towns of Musselburgh and Fisherrow lye 
 very spacious and pleasant links. These beautiful downs 
 on the sea-shore, almost peculiar to Scotland, furnish a 
 field for that favourite exercise of the inhabitants, the golf; 
 and they also furnish dry walks at all seasons of the year. 
 Behind this flat or plain, through which the river runs into 
 the sea, and which is about half a mile in breadth, there is 
 a fine rising ground, which begins at the eastern extremity 
 of the parish, and extends in a swelling curve to the hilltjf 
 Inveresk, where stands the village of that name, and the 
 church of St Michael's. The south side of this hill takes 
 also the form of a crescent ; so that all the houses on that 
 side have a full view of the woods of Dalkeith park, and 
 the extensive country to the south, as well as of thehaughs 
 or flat banks of the river and their own sloping gardens. 
 
 This situation renders the village not only agreeable 
 but healthy, and obtained for it of old the name of the 
 Montpelier of Scotland. The soil of the plain, especially 
 about Musselburgh, being remarkable dry, and a constant 
 brilliancy and freshness flowing from the river and the ad- 
 jacent sea, there is a softness and amenity in the air 
 through the whole season, that is seldom to be met with 
 in any other situation in this northern climate. Beyond 
 the village of Inveresk, to the south-east, the extensi
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 207 
 
 well cultivated fields, bounded at the distance of two miles Village*, 
 by the hills of Falside and Carberry, which terminate _ y ' ... 
 a long fertile ridge, that begins to rise five or six miles to 
 the eastward ; and the latter of which (Carberry) is the 
 highest ground in the vicinity, being 540 feet above the 
 level of the sea. To the south and west of the river are 
 fertile fields, equally well cultivated, terminated by the ex* 
 tensive park and domain of Dalkeith. 
 
 Though this town and neighbourhood are uncommonly j^yj-.^ 
 well situated for manufactures, having the command of turea> 
 water and abundance of coal, yet none have beo: establish- 
 ed unless upon a very small scale. Some scrap and starch 
 are here manufactured, however ; and there is a great dis- 
 tillery at St Clement's Wells, on the boundary between 
 this parish and East Lothian. All scrts of ordinary trades- 
 men are to be found here, as in c-very other village in this 
 part of the country. Mussciburgh is what is called a bo-^,. ^ 
 rough of regality, that is, an incorporated borough, where rou i h - 
 the superior is not the king, as in royal boroughs, but a 
 subject, who possessed in former times that extensive juris- 
 diction and those high privileges denominated regal, and 
 which exalted their possessor to a sort of independence upon 
 the head of the state, as the German princes at this day are 
 independent of the emperor. Musselburgh, before the rc- 
 /ormation, had for its lord of regality the abbot of Dun- 
 fermline. It was disjoined by King James the Sixth from 
 the abbey of Dunfermline, and given in donation to one of 
 the family of Lauderdale. When the whole abbey was 
 given to Queen Ann of Denmark, she reclaimed the rega- 
 lity of Musselburgh as comprehended under the gift ; but 
 the proprietor contended that it had previously been gift- 
 ed to him ; which defence was sustained. This regality 
 was held by the family of Lauderdale till the year 1709, 
 when it was purchased by the Duchess of Monsioiuli a:;d
 
 298 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Villages, Buccleugh. Accordingly the borough now holds of, the 
 wi v i Duke of Buccleugh as lord superior of the regality, and 
 pays to that nobleman certain sums annually as quit-rent 
 or feu-duty. The most ancient charter of this borough now 
 extant is dated December llth, 1562, and is granted by 
 Robert Commendator of Dunfermline, with consent of the 
 whole members of the convent. It narrates, " That the 
 title-deeds belonging to the borough were burnt by their 
 -enemies the English, after the fatal battle of Pinkie ; there- 
 fore they of new grant, dispone, and confirm to the pre- 
 sent bailies, community, and inhabitants of Musselburgh, 
 and their successors," &c. This charter is confirmed by 
 many subsequent charters and acts of parliament, particu- 
 larly by a charter from the Earl, afterwards Duke of Lau- 
 derdale, dated anno 1670 ; in which all their ancient rights 
 and privileges are recited and confirmed. 
 
 GoTn- The government of the town is vested in a council of 
 eighteen members, ten of whom belong to Musselburgh, 
 and eight to Fisherrow. They elect their own successors, 
 and have the management of a revenue amounting to about 
 L. 1200 per annum. The magistrates, by their title-deeds, 
 are empowered to hold a court of record, and issue pre- 
 cepts for the execution of their decrees, and of contracts 
 recorded in their books ; but infeftments of property 
 (instruments of possession) must be recorded in the coun- 
 ty register. Upon the whole, however, this borough has 
 all the privileges of any royal borough in Scotland, except 
 those of voting for a member of parliament, and sending a 
 delegate to the convention of boroughs. 
 
 There has long existed in Musselburgh a sort of rever- 
 sal of the character of the sexes among the common people, 
 from the women engaging in more laborious employ- 
 ments than the men ; that is to say, 'he wives of weavers, 
 shoe-makers, tailors, &c. were long accustomed to carry
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 299 
 
 to Edinburgh vast quantities of salt, sand for washing Villages, 
 floors, garden stuffs, and other articles, which they sold w y j 
 there, and often brought back heavy burdens of other 
 goods. The universal use of carts has now limited this 
 employment to the carriage of salt ; and even that is con- 
 siderably diminished from the same cause. The fishwives. Fishwivd, 
 
 J if 
 
 however, still retain their ancient character and manners, 
 which, on account of the singularly laborious lives they 
 lead, have of late excited considerable curiosity. They 
 are the wives and daughters of fishermen, who generally 
 marry in their own cast or tribe. A great part of their 
 business, to which they must have been bred, is to gather 
 baits for their husbands, and to bait their lines. Four days 
 in the week, however, the fisherwomen or fishwives carry 
 fish in creels (osier baskets) to Edinburgh ; and when the 
 boats come in late to the harbour in the forenoon, so as to 
 leave them no more than time to reach Edinburgh before 
 dinner, it is not unusual for them to perform their journey 
 of five miles by relays, and shifting their burden from one 
 to another every hundred yards ; by which means they 
 have been known to arrive at the fish market in less than 
 three quarters of an hour, a distance of five miles and a 
 half. It is even a well-attested fact, that three of them 
 Borne years ago went from Dunbar to Edinburgh, which 
 is twenty-seven miles, with each of them a load of her- 
 rings on her back of 200 Ib. in five hours. They some- 
 times carry loads of 250 Ib. 
 
 The boats and boatmen from Fisherrow do not always Fishery. 
 
 4 
 
 catch the fish which are sent to Edinburgh from this 
 place. For eight or nine years, the haddocks, which are 
 one of the most abundant and favourite sorts, disappeared 
 altogether from the Frith. During that time the Fisher- 
 row boatmen were accustomed to meet the boats from the 
 east end of Fife half-way down the Frith, and to purchase
 
 309 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Villages, their fish ; but the haddocks have now returned, as well 
 u^Y^-. as the herrings, which had long been absent from this 
 coast. In the summer season, hbwever, the boats from 
 the coast of Fife frequently run over, and sell their car- 
 goes of fish to the fish women either here or at Newhaven, 
 where there is also a similar class of women who carry 
 fish to the Edinburgh market. From the kind of life 
 these women lead, it may naturally be concluded, that 
 their manners and character are peculiar, as they certainly 
 are. Having so great a share in the maintenance of the 
 family, they have no small sway in it, as may be inferred 
 from a saying not unusual among them. When speak- 
 ing of a young woman reported to be on the point of mar- 
 riage, "~Hout !" say they, " how can she keep a man, 
 who can hardly maintain herself?" As they do the work 
 of men, their manners are masculine ; and their strength 
 and activity arc equal to their work. Their amusements 
 are of the masculine kind. On holidays they frequently 
 play at golf ; and on Shrove Tuesday there is a standing- 
 match at foot-ball between the married and unmarried 
 women, in which the former are always victors. 
 
 Mode of Their manner of life, and the business of making; their 
 
 dealing. _ * 
 
 markets, whet their faculties, and make them very dex- 
 terous in bargain-making. They have likewise a species 
 of rude eloquence, an extreme facility in expressing their 
 feelings by words or gestures, which Is very imposing, and 
 enables them often to carry their point even against the 
 most wary ; and they do not suffer themselves to be ab- 
 ashed when they are detected in attempting to obtain from 
 an unexperienced purchaser thrice the value of their goods. 
 In their dealings with the public, they retain with perti- 
 nacity the ancient practice of small traders, but which has 
 been now abandoned by all shop-keepers, of demanding 
 for their commodities twice or three times the sum they
 
 ZMitckM 
 
 FOKTOBEL1LO TOWER. 
 
 LtnlmAllMtJ * fwr
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 01 
 
 We willing to accept. This, however, they do not consi- Villages, 
 der as any impeachment of their integrity, but merely as u Y j 
 a branch of professional dexterity. When the master or 
 mistress of a family adheres to an individual fishwife, 
 forms a sort of acquaintance, and expresses a reliance upon 
 her honesty, and an expectation of receiving articles as 
 cheap as they can be procured in the market, she seldom 
 or never fails in such a case to act honourably ; and in 
 their transactions with the shop-keepers of Edinburgh, 
 whom they sometimes supply with herrings, their fair 
 dealing and honesty are altogether unimpeachedi 
 
 It is remarkable, that though a considerable degree of 
 licentiousness appears in their freedom of speech, it does 
 not seem to have tainted their morals in a point in which 
 it might have chiefly been expected ; there being no class 
 of women, it is believed, who offend less against the se- 
 venth commandment, excepting in words, than they do. 
 There seems to be no employment that conduces more to 
 health and good spirits than theirs. Some of them have 
 been delivered of a child, and have gone to Edinburgh 
 on foot with their baskets within a week. It is also said 
 to be ascertained, that one who was delivered on Wednes- 
 day morning went to town with her creel on the Saturday 
 forenoon following. It has been remarked by Dr Bed- 
 does, that the violent exercise which they sometimes take, 
 and the excessive heat into which they bring themselves, 
 has no tendency to produce consumptions ; and that the 
 complaints, in other respects, to which they are liable, are 
 chiefly of an inflammatory nature. 
 
 Without noticing the inferior villages upon the great 
 coal-field already mentioned, which contain nothing remark- 
 able, we may observe, that at an equal distance between 
 Edinburgh, Leith, and Musselburgh, has arisen a beauti- 
 ful village called Portobello ; a view of a Tower
 
 302 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Villages, which is given in this Work. The grounds called Fig* 
 . V- g at > consisting of about seventy acres, on which this vil- 
 lage is built, are upon the sea-shore. The beach has a 
 gentle descent to the sea, the waters of which are pure and 
 clear. When the tide retires, a level tract appears of 
 about two miles of firm and dry, but very soft sand, which 
 is much frequented for riding, walking, and sea-bathing. 
 The Figgat lands were, in the memory of many of our 
 readers, a mere waste, covered for the most part with furze 
 or whins ; in which state they were about forty years ago let 
 to one of the Ducldingston tenants for 200 merks Scots, 
 or L. 11 : 2 : 2 r \ Sterling. In the year 1762 or 1763, they 
 were sold by Lord Milton to Baron Muir for about L.I 500, 
 and by Baron Muir feued out to Mr William Jamieson at 
 the rate of L. 3 an acre. Incredible as it may seem, some of 
 the lands have been lately subfeued at an yearly feu-duty or 
 perpetual rent, of L. 40 per annum for each acre. This in- 
 crease of value has partly arisen from the improvement of the 
 soil itself, but chiefly from its situation, marking it out as the 
 best calculated of any spot in Scotland fora bathing station. 
 Accordingly, for several years past, Portobello has been 
 much resorted to in the summer season by the citizens of 
 Edinburgh and others for sea-bathing ; and a number of 
 elegant houses have been there lately erected, and gardens 
 laid out, on the grounds feued from Mr Jamieson ; some 
 of which are occupied by the proprietors themselves, and 
 others are let out to hire. As a sea-bathing place, Porto- 
 bello possesses many advantages, which have suggested a 
 plan of erecting warm and cold salt-water baths in the vil- 
 lage by subscription. The work was begun in October 
 last; and already L. 1600, in sixty-four shares of L.25 
 each, have been subscribed for. The plan, as announced 
 to the public, is upon a large and elegant scale, consisting 
 of eight warm and two cold baths ; the expence of erecting
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 303 
 
 which Is calculated at L. 4000 ; and as each subscriber of Villages, 
 a share is entitled to use the baths at half-price, besides ' ... y .n 
 sharing the profits arising therefrom, there is little doubt 
 that the whole L.4000 will be soon obtained; and in 
 a short time the citizens of Edinburgh, like those of 
 other large cities in England, will have in their near vici- 
 nity an elegant bathing place, at which they can procure 
 all the various benefits which warm salt-water, applied as 
 a stimulus to the human body, are known to produce. 
 Chalybeate springs have also been found here, containing 
 a powerful impregnation of sulphur and iron ; and it is 
 well known that the use of chalybeate waters in the cure 
 of diseases is a subject of the first importance, acting as a 
 powerful and universal tonic, increasing by its oxidation, 
 both the complexion and the general heat and animation 
 of the body. Portobello tower and the adjoining build- 
 ings command a most extensive view of the Frith of Forth, 
 as far as the isle of May, the coast of Fife, and the nu- 
 merous small towns which skirt the coast on that side. 
 From it every vessel passing to and from Leith harbour 
 are distinctly seen ; and on the other side the view extends 
 over the rich improved country lying on the south and 
 west, in the centre of which are situated Duddingston 
 house, the seat of the Marquis of Abercorn, and the ve- 
 nerable ruins of the castle of Craigmillar. With the many 
 attractions produced by sea-bathing, hot baths, mineral 
 waters, and its vicinity to the Scottish capital, Portobello 
 will probably in a short time become a place of very fa- 
 shionable resort. There have long been established here 
 a brick manufactory, and a manufactory of brown ware. 
 White lead is also prepared here. 
 
 It is perhaps a subject worthy of inquiry, how it has^hy 1 - 
 
 ;. J . nufactures 
 
 come to pass that so few important and extensive manu- flourish noc 
 factures have been established in the county of Midlo- c "
 
 30-4 MIDLOTHIAN 
 
 Villages, thian, or at least in the eastern division of it. This countr 
 
 &c. .... 
 * v ' is situated in the neighbourhood of the sea-coast, in the 
 
 midst of a fertile and well-cultivated territory ; and above 
 all it enjoys an abundance of what is in this northern cli- 
 tnate one of the first necessaries of life, and a requisite of 
 most manufactures, a supply of the best fuel. The field 
 of coal here is at least as extensive as that which has gi- 
 ven to the neighbourhood of Glasgow a sort of monopoly 
 of the Scottish manufactures, or has rendered it by far 1 the 
 principal and most flourishing seat of them. The strata or 
 seamS of coal are here incomparably more thick or rich 
 than in the west country ^ and iron-stone abounds in every 
 quarter ; yet nobody thinks fit in this district to engage 
 in the manufacture of iron, notwithstanding the immense 
 profits which have been derived from that employment 
 since the commencement of the French revolutionary war. 
 Neither has the manufacture of cotton or other fabrics' 
 been established here to any extent worth noticing, not- 
 withstanding the abundance of working people of every 
 age and sex, which the populous villages in this quarter 
 might afford. The coal in this county, from a large pro- 
 portion of it being placed in such an oblique manner as 
 to descend with unusual rapidity to a great depth, is no 
 doubt wrought in some situations under considerable dis- 
 advantages ; but its great abundance compensates these : 
 and, at all events, they would yield in almost every case 
 to an augmented power of machinery. 
 
 The only obvious cause which has prevented this from 
 being converted into a manufacturing and an enterprising 
 commercial district seems to be the state in which the pro- 
 perty of the soil now is, and has long remained. Estates 
 are not indeed very large, few of them amounting to more 
 than L.5000 or L.6000 per annum ; but the land is al- 
 most entirely occupied by families of high rank, many of
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 305 
 
 Whom have property elsewhere. These cannot of them- Antiquities, 
 selves be expected to engage in trade, while at the same 
 time, in consequence of the stability which, by means of 
 Settlements or entails, the law of Scotland bestows upon 
 great families, they are enabled, and sometimes compelled, 
 to retain extensive portions of territory entirely locked up, 
 or out of the market. Enterprising men, therefore, can- 
 not establish themselves in this district, because they can 
 in few places purchase almost any part of the soil, or ac- 
 quire an extensive or permanent interest in it. 
 
 In consequence of the high value of land, and of the Antl 
 many improvements by building and inclosing which have 
 taken place in this county, the remains of antiquity are in 
 most places rapidly disappearing. It is an observation of 
 Dr Samuel Johnson, that antiquities most rapidly disap- 
 pear in inhabited and cultivated countries ; because an old 
 building is always the cheapest and most accessible stone- 
 quarry that can be fdund. We may add, that the removal 
 of it gives a portion of new territory to the community, 
 that is, to agriculture, and augments the value of the estate 
 which it formerly encumbered. Antiquarians may repine, 
 and in particular instances men of taste may join with them, 
 in regretting the destruction of the remains or vestiges of 
 ancient magnificence ; but society at large will always be 
 ready to regard with satisfaction the indications of its own 
 prosperity. 
 
 In the western part of the county, to the northward of 
 
 _ . .... Cromwell 
 
 the rentland mllsj the remains of antiquity are not nu- wit. 
 
 merous. Towards the southern extremity of the parish 
 of West Calder, there is an old castle, which is reported 
 to have beeen fortified by Cromwell to repress the depre- 
 dations of the Moss troopers. On the west part of Hay- 
 field estate, there was a few years ago the remains of an 
 old camp, known by the name of Cromwell-wit. Thi* 
 VOL. I. U
 
 306 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Antiquities. j s now converted into a corn field ; and it remains altoge- 
 ther uncertain, whether the name was given as a mark of 
 Cromwell's understanding in the choice of the situation, 
 or as a proof of his folly ; although the last appears most 
 probable. About two miles due south,, there is on the 
 Roman top of a rising ground, called Castle Craig, the remains of 
 camp. a sma n Roman camp in a pretty entire state. Within these 
 few years, several Roman coins were dvig up from the 
 -" .- .environs of this encampment, on which the Roman eagle? 
 was sufficiently apparent j but the circumstances which 
 could lead to the period at which they were coined were 
 completely effaced. 
 
 In the parish of Currie, which still seems to retain it$ 
 Latin name ( Coria), on the estate of Captain Scott of MaU 
 leny, there are the remains of an old castle, commonly call- 
 Lennox ed Lennox Tower, said to have been a habitation of the fa-, 
 tower. m |}y Q L ennox . anc j w hich had formed, according to tra^. 
 dition, the occasional residence of Mary Queen of Scots> 
 " When love was young, and Darnley kind." 
 
 It became afterwards, according to the same tradition, a, 
 seat of the regent Morton. It stands on a very elevated 
 situation above the bank of the river ; commands a beau- 
 tiful prospect of the Frith of Forth ; and in these times 
 must have been a place of considerable strength, being in- 
 accessible on all sides. It had a subterraneous passage to 
 the river i so that no enemy could deprive the inhabitants 
 of water. Tue passage was shut up only within these 
 few years, from the castle being apt to go down into it- 
 The extent of the rampart, or outer wall which goes round 
 the brow of the hill, is about 1212 feet. In the same pa- 
 rish, on the top of Ravelrig hill, the property of Mr Da- 
 vidson, there are to be seen the remains of a Roman sta- 
 tion, or exploratory camp ,- which afford a farther confir^.
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 307 
 
 mation of the name of this parish having originally been Antiquities 
 derived from the Latin. It is, situated on the summit of a 
 high bank, inaccessible on three sides, defended by two 
 ditches, and fenced with stone, with openings for a gate. 
 It is named by the country people Castkbank. Further 
 east are the appearances of another station or post, which 
 commands an extensive view of the strath or valley towards 
 Edinburgh, and is styled the GeneraPs Watch. They are 
 both very distinctly marked in an old plan of the Ravelrig 
 estate in the possessiqn of Mr Davidson ; but they are now 
 much defaced, a former proprietor having carried off the 
 greater part of the stones to build fences. 
 
 In Calder house, belonging to Lord Torphichen, there Knox's pi& 
 is in the gallery a portrait of the stern reformer John Knox, ture< 
 with the following inscription on the back of the picture : 
 ** Mr John Knox, the first sacrament of the supper given 
 in Scotland after the reformation was dispensed by him in 
 this hall." 
 
 In the parish of "Ratho are the remains of two encamp- 
 ments, both probably Danish ; the one on Kaimes hill, in 
 the south-west corner of the parish, the other on the south 
 Platt hill, immediately above the manse or clergyman's 
 house : but the last, within these few years, has been 
 in a great measure destroyed, by blowing and carrying 
 off the stones for buildi'ng dikes and other purposes. 
 
 The church of Corstorphine may with propriety be con r Corstor- 
 
 sidered as one of the remains of antiquity not unworthv of P hine 
 
 ._.__.. J church, 
 
 attention. It is of Gothic architecture, and built in the 
 
 form of the Jerusalem cross. The present church was. 
 founded near the parish church of this place by Sir John 
 Forrester of Gorstorphine, Lord High Chancellor of Scot- 
 land, and ancestor to the Lord Forrester, in the year 1429 $ 
 and dedicated to St John the Baptist, for a provost, five pre- 
 Jjendaries, and two singing boys. It was a collegiate 
 
 U2
 
 608 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Antiguit;e. c l 1U rch j to which belonged those of Corstorphine, Dalma- 
 hoj, Hatton, Cramond, Collington, See. The teinds or tithes 
 of Ratho, half of the teinds of Addiston, and of Upper 
 Gogar, were appropriated among the revenues of this col- 
 lege. The first provost was Nicholas Bannatyne, who died 
 in 1470, and was buried in the church, where his epitaph 
 still remains. The coat of anns of the family of Forrester 
 is every where dispersed over the building. Within the 
 church, in niches, are several monumental remains of this 
 family. The figures, cut out in stone, are as large as life. 
 Artiidst that decay which they appear to have suffered 
 from time and violence, they exhibit proofs of having been 
 executed with dexterity and skilL The male figures are 
 covered with complete armour ; and the female appear rich-^ 
 ly ornamented according to the fashion and dress of the 
 times. The roof is supported by strong arches, and is 
 formed by large stone flags, the whole building seeming to 
 Tiave suffered little by the waste of time. The inside, a few 
 years ago, was fitted up in a modern and commodious man- 
 ner at a considerable expence by the heritors j that is, the 
 proprietors of lands within the parish. 
 
 C an nd Although Cramond was a Roman station, yet as the 
 lands adjacent to it are rich and arable, the remains of an- 
 tiquity in its neighbourhood appear to have been in a great 
 measure obliterated. The Roman road leading towards it 
 through this county by Straiton, and the west end of Braid's 
 hills, is almost completely obliterated ; but a remnant of 
 it still appears along the foot of Corstorphme hills to- 
 wards the east. 
 
 Puny. 0n the south side of Pentland hills there are consider- 
 cuick. ft |y[ e remains of antiquity, not unworthy of notice, in the pa- 
 rish of Pennycuik. On one side of a recess on the south 
 of Pentland hills to the westward, and at the edge of an 
 old tract leading over to the north side of these hills, oij
 
 , MIDLOTHIAN. 309 
 
 an eminence called the Cross Sword, is a stone of an ob- Antiquities 
 long square figure, two feet ten inches bj three feet, and 
 about one foot thick, sunk into the ground, with a hole cut 
 in the middle of it thirteen inches by ten, and nine inches 
 deep, supposed to have been the pedestal of a cross. On 
 the other, or west side of the recess, on a height near a mile 
 distant, is a stone somewhat resembling the former, but 
 larger, with an oval bason twenty inches by ten, scooped 
 out of the middle, and two inches on one side, apparently 
 for a person's knees. It is called by the country people the 
 font stone. The name of the hill on which it is placed is 
 called Monk's ridge. It is also, at the side of an old path 
 leading over in the same direction as the former, called 
 Monk's road. The original seat of the old proprietor of 
 St Mungo's is still to be traced in an eminence above the 
 Esk, and about half way betwixt the village and the pre- 
 sent house of Pennycuik. It is now called the Towsr ; 
 but the old name was Terregles, Terra Ecclesice, (Terre 
 4*Eglise) no doubt frqm the domains on which it stood. 
 
 In the same parish, on the north side of the Lintoncamp or 
 road, on an eminence between it and the hills, about the 01 
 tenth mile stone from Edinburgh, are the remains of an 
 oval' camp, eighty-four by sixty-seven yards within, in- 
 closing a number of tumuli, eleven yards each in diameter. 
 It has three entries ; one to the west, and one on each side 
 to the north and south, but none at the end to the east. The 
 north entrance is six and the other two four yards each in 
 width. It is encompassed by two ditches, each four yards 
 wide, with a mound of six yards in breadth between them ; 
 and the name it usually gets among the country people is 
 the Castky vjhich, if that name were attended to, might 
 seem to denote a Roman origin, (CasteHa.^) There is a 
 similar encampment at the side of the Harbin burr., with- 
 ia the woods? of Pennycuik. From theis figure they are.
 
 3l MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Antiquities, probably of British origin, constructed either for the pro- 
 tection of cattle, or for defence in war. In Tweedale, such 
 entrenchments, of which there are several of various di^ 
 mensions, are known by the appellation of rings. 
 
 On the south side of the North Esk, and beyond a con- 
 siderable glen opposite to Pennycuik house, are the re- 
 mains of Old Pennycuik, once the property of Oliver Sin- 
 clair, brother to the laird of Roslin ; who being appointed 
 commander in chief by King James the Fifth, was de- 
 feated and taken prisoner at the battle of Solway-moss in 
 November 1542. About a mile further up, on the north 
 side of the riverj but high above it, are the remains of a 
 large irregular building^ (which appears to have been in- 
 tended for defence^ and is surrounded with a ditch), c^Ued 
 Bruntstorie Castle, said to have been inhabited by the pre- 
 decessors of the Earls of Dumfries. It is certain, that in 
 the sixteenth century it was in the possession of a family of 
 the name of Crichton ; and accordingly, on one place, is 
 the date 1568, with corresponding'initials ; but on the old- 
 est part -of the building are still to be seen the Douglas 
 arms. 
 
 Newhall, about three miles above Pennycuik, on the 
 same side of the river, was in 1529 in possession of a fa- 
 mily of the name of Crichton. In 1646, it belonged to 
 Dr Pennycuik, who was also proprietor of Romanno, and 
 it is noticed in his works. In 1102, it passed from him to 
 Mr Oliphant, by whom it was the year following trans- 
 ferred to Sir David Forbes ; from whom it went to Mir 
 John Forbes, brother to Duncan Forbes of Culloden. An 
 apartment usually occupied by this gentleman, when lord 
 advocate, is still known by the name of the advocate's 
 room. While inhabited by the Crichtons, it was an ir^ 
 regular castle, and with its appendages covered the whole 
 breadth of the point on which it stands, forrced by a deep
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 311 
 
 recess on either side, running up towards the hills from the Antiquities. 
 glen behind. The ground floor in the front of the present 
 "building made a part of its towers. It is arched above with 
 slits for defence on every side ; and its walls are so strong, 
 as in one place to have a closet cut out of the thickness. 
 On the north, overhanging the eastern recess, through which 
 descends "a. rivulet, some vaults are left under the remains 
 of a small round tower ; and over the western, which is 
 "dry, was the chapel and pjrison ; which last is still remern- 
 tered to have been used for refractory colliers. In the 
 time of Dr Penny cuik, some parties from General Monk's 
 army are reported to have been detached to this neigh- 
 bourhood, and distinguished a stream, which enters the glen 
 in several considerable falls about a mile to the east. It Monk's 
 is known by the name of Monk's burn. The hill from urn> c * 
 which it descends, by this tradition, was from hence called 
 Monk's rigg ; and the glade through which the Esk 
 winds at its mouth, Monk's haugh. A little below this, 
 surrounded with little knolls, and on three of its sides, by 
 the wooded -tanks of the river, sweeping round far be- 
 neath, is a clear and deep lake, without any visible supply 
 or outlet. At the meeting of two glens, farther up, and to 
 the south of Monk's burn, is a singular rock, resembling a 
 tower, called the harbour craig^ on which are rudely car- 
 Ved a number of names and dates, corresponding to the time 
 of the commonwealth. They are said to have been the 
 work of some of the covenanters, who took shelter about 
 it. The building seems to have remained unaltered till 
 the time of Mr Forbes, when -most of the old castle was 
 pulled down, and the present house erected in its stead, in 
 imitation of the house of Culloden. The grounds beyond, 
 to the westward, called Carlips, a contraction for Carline's 
 loups, now a part of the same estate, were supposed once 
 to have been the residence of a carline or witch, who lived
 
 312 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Antiquities. i n a, dell at the foot of Carlip's hill, where a village is no5 
 begun near a pass between two conic rocks. From the op- 
 posite points of these rocks she was often observed, at 
 nights, by the frightened and disordered eje of superstition 
 and ignorance, leaping and frisking across the entrance. 
 
 Spittal or It js to be observed, that one of the Pentland hills, on the 
 
 hospital. 
 
 South side of the range, takes the name of the Spittal bill ,- 
 and there are two buildings, the one called the Old, and the 
 other the New Spittal. This name is extremely common in 
 Scotland ; and in all quarters of the country, there are farm- 
 houses, or other sequestered buildings, which receive that 
 appellation. These would seem to have been, in ancient 
 times, either hospitals, to which the sick, or those coming 
 from suspected places, were sent for a time during the un- 
 happy ages in which Europe was w asted, first by the le- 
 prosy, and afterwards by the plague ; or they were bos- 
 pitia, places of hospitality, in which travellers were recei- 
 ved by churchmen. In confirmation of this last interpre- 
 tation, it may be remarked, that the benighted traveller 
 upon the Linton or Biggar road, is still considered here as 
 having a right to shelter and protection at the Old Spittal ; 
 and pne of the out -houses, with some straw, is generally 
 allotted for that purpose. Upon the supposition that jhis 
 was church property, it will follow, that the names of 
 Monk's rigg and Monk's burn, already mentioned, are 
 much older than the times of General Monk and the com- 
 monwealth. 
 
 In the parish of Glencross there are some vestiges of 
 camps at Castlelaw, from which the place has probably 
 Kullion taken its name. At Rullion green was fought the battle 
 of Pentland hills on November 28th 1666. The people in, 
 the west of Scotland having been driven to despair by op- 
 pression, on account of their dislike to the episcopal form 
 <sf church-government, unadvisedly took up arms, and ad-
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 313 
 
 Danced to Edinburgh. Finding it impracticable to seize Antiquitiei. 
 jthe city, they were pursued by a party of the king's troops 
 under General Dalziel, and overtaken on a small plain 
 called Rullion green. They twice repulsed the king's 
 troops, and Duke Hamilton narrowly escaped with his life ; 
 but upon a third attack they were routed, and upwards of 
 fifty of them slain. The dead were buried upon the spot ; 
 and after the revolution, a stqne was erected to their me- 
 mory with an inscription. 
 
 Old Woodhouselee, in the same parish, was formerly the old Wood- 
 property and residence of Hamilton of Bothvvellhaugh. It housc k. 
 was from this house that his lady was turned out by the 
 regent Murray, to perish amidst the inclemency of a stormy 
 night. Her husband Hamilton avenged her death by as- 
 sassinating Murray ; after which he fled to France. About 
 140 years ago, the tower of Fulford, which was likewise a 
 place of great antiquity, was repaired from the stones of 
 this house, and received the name of Woodhouselee. 
 
 Below Pennycuik, on the North Esk, are the celebrated Rosl'n 
 ruins of Roslin castle. It is situated upon a mount which 
 is peninsulated by the river, and it is separated from the 
 country on the land side by a deep ravine, over which the 
 only access is by a stone bridge, which remains entire. Its 
 situation is uncommonly romantic, on a steep rock, rising in 
 some measure out of the bed of a river, which runs along 
 a rocky channel, with banks which are extremely precipi- 
 tous, though covered with natural wood. A small part of 
 the castle is still inhabited ; but upon the wholeit is almost 
 entirely ruinous. It is uncertain when this castle was built, 
 most probably it was in the beginning of the twelfth cen- 
 tury, when William de Sancto Clere, son to Waldernus de 
 St Clere, who came over with William the Conqueror, 
 obtained from Malcolm Canrnore a grant of the barony of 
 Roslin. Xo mention is made of it in history till the reign
 
 314 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Antiquities. O f James the Second, when we read of Sir William HamiiU 
 ton being confined therein for engaging in the rebellion 
 which Earl Douglas had raised against that monarch. In 
 1554 it was burned by the army of Henry the Eighth, along 
 with Leith and Craigmillar. This castle was the ancient 
 seat of the St Clares ; a family of great note in this country. 
 They had very extensive possessions and many titles, being 
 Earls of Caithness and Orkney, Dukes of Oldenburgh, 
 &c. and they were for many generations patrons and grand 
 masters of masonry in Scotland. This honour was con- 
 ferred upon them by James the Second, and continued in 
 their family till lately. 
 
 Chapel of ^ n *^e ^^> immediately above the castle, is the chapel 
 koslin. O f Roslin, founded by William Earl of Caithness and Ork- 
 ney, for a provost, six prebendaries, and two singing boys. 
 This chapel is a beautiful piece of Gothic architecture ; 
 and notwithstanding some damage it sustained by a mob at 
 the revolution in 168S> is still very entire. 
 
 Tradition relates, that the design for this chapel was 
 drawn at Rome ; and in order that it might be properly ex- 
 ecuted, the founder caused dwellings to be built near it for 
 the workmen, the ancient village being half-a-mile dis- 
 tant. Here he gave to them houses and lands in propor- 
 tion to their abilities;, with ten pounds a-year to each ma- 
 son, and forty to the master-mason ; also proportionable 
 rewards to the other artificers. By these bounties he at- 
 tracted all the best workmen in this and the neighbouring 
 kingdoms. 
 
 The founder dying about the year 1484, before the 
 building was finished, it was carried on and completed by 
 Sir Wiver Sinclair of Roslin, his eldest, son of the second 
 marriage, whose mother was Lady Margaret Sutherland, 
 descended from the blood royal, her great-grandmother 
 Jean being the younger daughter of King Robert Bruce. 
 The following tale is related respecting part of this
 
 < 3 
 
 ff> 
 ^ fe
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 building. The master-mason of this chapel, meeting with Antiquities 
 some difficulties in the execution of the design, found it 
 necessary to go to Rome for information ; during which Appren- 
 time his apprentice carried on the work, and even executed 
 some parts concerning which his master had been most 
 doubtful, particularly a fine fluted column or pillar near 
 the high altar> ornamented with wreaths of foliage and 
 flowers in alto relievo twisting spirally round it. The 
 master on his return, stung with envy at this proof of the 
 superior abilities of his apprentice, slew him by a blow on 
 his head with a mason's hammer. In support of this story, 
 an old woman, who shows the place, points out not only 
 the column called the apprentice^* pillar, but several other 
 heads supporting brackets in the wal^ said to be the heads 
 of the parties. One is called the master's, another that of 
 the apprentice, whose wound is marked with red ochre ; 
 and the head of a weeping mother is said to represent the 
 mother. Grose, in his Antiquities, justly observes, that 
 most certainly this is all fiction i The head pointed out 
 for that of the apprentice exhibits a bearded old man. Si- 
 milar stories are told of different buildings ; one in parti- 
 cular of the famous rose window at Rouen in Normandy ^ 
 said to have been built by an apprentice, whose master^ 
 out of jealousy, knocked out his brains with a hammer. 
 
 This chapel is surrounded at a little distance by a stone 
 wall, with the entrance on the north side. The entry into 
 the chapel is by two doors ; one in the north, the other in 
 the south side. The height of the chapel within, from the 
 floor .to the top of the high arched roof, is forty feet eight 
 inches ; breadth, thirty-four feet eight inches ; the length, 
 sixty-eight feet. 
 
 At the south-east corner there is a descent, by a flight 
 of twenty steps, into a cript or chapel, partly subterra- 
 neous, which likewise is supposed to have served for a 
 sacristy and vestry. The east end of this building is above
 
 31 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Antiquities, ground, occasioned by the sudden declivity of the hijl. 
 The height is fifteen feet, breadth fourteen fe,et, length 
 thirty-six feet. It is lighted by a single window. 
 
 This whole chapel is profusely decorated with sfculpr 
 ture, both within and without. On the outside are a num- 
 ber of niches for statues ; but whether any were ever pla- 
 ced there is doubtful. The inside is divided into a middle 
 and two side aisles by seven columns on each side, sup- 
 4* porting pointed arches ; and over them, in the middle 
 
 aisle, which is higher than those on each side, is a row of 
 windows. The roof, the capitals, key-stones, and archi- 
 traves, are all covered with sculptures, representing flowers, 
 foliage, passages of sacred history, texts of scripture, and 
 grotesque figures ; all executed with an astonishing neat- 
 ness. The apprentice's pillar, before mentioned, by some 
 called the prince's pillar, probably from its superiority to 
 the others, has on its base a number of dragons and other 
 monsters, whose interwoven tails are quite clear of or de- 
 tached from its surface. The author of a pamphlet, con- 
 taining a minute description of this chapel, speaks thus of 
 this pillar : " It has on the base of it several dragons in 
 the strongest or first kind of basso reKevo, as one can ea- 
 sily thrust a finger or two between some parts of the dra- 
 gon and the base. The dragons are chained by the heads, 
 and twisted into one another. This beautiful pillar has 
 round it, from base to capital, waving in the spiral way, 
 four wreaths of the most curious sculpture of flower work 
 and foliage ; the workmanship of each being different, 
 and the centre of each wreath distant from that of the 
 neighbouring one a foot and a hlf. So exquisitely fine 
 are these wreathings, that I can resemble them to nothing 
 else but Brussel's lace. The ornaments upon the capital 
 of this pillar are the story of Abraham offering up Isaac ; 
 a man blowing on a Highland bagpipe, with another man 
 Jying by him ; and on the architrave joining it to the
 
 MIDLOTHIAN.. 3l1 
 
 smaller one on the south wall, with your face to the east, Antiquities. 
 and to the entry of the sacristy, you read the following 
 inscription in old Gothic characters, thus : Forte est vinum, 
 fortior est rex,fortiores sunt mulieres, super omnia vincet 
 veritas." Esdras, ch. iii. 4. 
 
 Here were formerly several monuments, two of which 
 are remarkable ; that of George Earl of Caithness, who 
 died A. D. 1582, and another engraved on stone, suppo- 
 sed to be for Alexander Earl of Sutherland, grandson to 
 King Robert Bruce. He is represented in armour, in a 
 cumbent posture, his hands on his breast, as in the act of 
 prayer ; on each side his head a lion rampant, at his feet 
 a grehound. At the front of the third and fourth pillars, 
 between them and the north wall, there is a large flag- 
 stone covering the opening to the family vault, wherein 
 ten barons of Roslin are now buried. This vault is so 
 dry, that their bodies have been found entire after eighty 
 years, and as fresh as when first buried. " These ba- 
 rons," says Mr Hay, in his MS. in the Advocate's Li- 
 brary, " were buried of old in their armour, without any 
 coffin ; and were successively, by charter, the patrons and 
 protectors of masonry in Scotland. And," continues he, 
 " the late Roslin, my goodfather (grandfather to the pre- 
 sent Roslin), was the first that was buried in a coffin, 
 against the sentiments of King James the Seventh, who 
 was then in Scotland, and several other persons well versed 
 in antiquity ; to whom my mother (Jean Spottiswood, 
 grandniece of Archbishop Spottiswood) would not heark- 
 en, thinking it beggarly to be buried in that manner." The 
 great expence she-was at in burying her husband occasion- 
 ed the sumptuary acts which were made in the following 
 parliaments. 
 
 It appears that William St Clare, the founder of Roslin 
 chapel, lived in great state at his castle here. The author
 
 318 MIDT.OTHIAV. 
 
 Antiquities. of the description of the chapel before quoted, says, from 
 Hay, " About that time (i. e. building of the chapel, A. 
 D. 1440), the town of Roslin, being next to Edinburgh and 
 Haddington in East Lothian, became very populous by the 
 great concourse of all ranks and degrees of visitors that re- 
 sorted to this prince at his palace of the castle of Roslin ; 
 for he kept a great court, and was royally served at his own 
 table in vessels of gold and silver ; Lord Dirleton being 
 his master- household, Lord Borthwick his cup-bearer, and 
 Lord Fleeming his carver ; in whose absence they had de- 
 puties to attend, "viz. Stewart, Laird of Drumlanrjg, Twee- 
 die, Laird of Drumerline, and Sandilands, Laird of Calder. 
 He had his halls and other apartments richly adorned with 
 embroidered hangings. He nourished in the reigns of 
 James the First and Second. His princess, Elizabeth 
 Douglas, already mentioned, was served by seventy-five 
 gentlewomen, whereof fifty-three were daughters of noble- 
 men, all clothed in velvets and silks, with their chains of 
 gold and other ornaments ; and was attended by two hun- 
 dred riding gentlemen in all her journeys : and if it hap- 
 pened to be dark when she went to Edinburgh, where her 
 lodgings were at the foot of Blackfriars Wynd, eighty 
 lighted torches- were carried before her." 
 
 Battle near Near to Roslin is the scene of a battle, or rather of 
 Roshn. three battles, which were fought on one day betwixt the 
 English and the Scots on 14th February 1303. The Eng- 
 lish and Scottish writers differ much in their accounts of 
 this action. We have from our own historians the fol- 
 lowing particulars : During a truce, Ralf Confrey, trea- 
 surer to Edward the First, invaded Scotland at the head of 
 30,000 men, well armed, and mostly mounted on horse r 
 back. With a view to plunder, he divided his forces into 
 three bodies ; and, having reached the neighbourhood of 
 Jloslin, encamped them in as many different stations. On
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 hearing of this invasion, Sir Simon Fraser and Sir John AmiquUiev 
 Cuming^ the Scottish generals, drew together such an army 
 as they could muster in haste, amounting to 8000 or at 
 most to 10,000 men. With these they marched from 
 Biggar, and fell unexpectedly on the first division of the 
 enemy, whom they totally routed, and drove those who 
 escaped back to the second camp. Here, on the alarm 
 being given, the English took to their arms, and sallied 
 forth on the Scots while they were dividing the spoil. 
 The conflict was again renewed, and the Scots, were a se- 
 cond time victorious. Scarce had they begun to refresh 
 themselves after this bloody engagement, when a third 
 army appeared in view. The fate of battles, especially 
 in barbarous times, before the art of war is greatly impro- 
 ved, or men have learned to resign themselves to a com- 
 mander's will, and to act steadily in every situation, de- 
 pends more upon the temporary feelings or state of mind 
 of the combatants than upon their physical strength. As 
 ancient battles were fought man to man, and was a labo- 
 rious and toilsome struggle, the Scots must on this occa- 
 sion have been greatly fatigued ; but the human form, 
 when filled with the animating passions of courage and of 
 hope, is capable of renewing its efforts for an uncommon 
 length of time. Accordingly it is no way marvellous, 
 that on this occasion, after gaining two. battles on one day, 
 the Scots should also have gained the third. They, 
 would by this time have become a sort of veteran troops, 
 enured to blood and peril, and accustomed to expect con- 
 quest from perseverance in their efforts. The English 
 general had committed the unpardonable error of dividing 
 his forces in the country of an enemy whom he had not 
 previously vanquished in the field : and the whole of that 
 fatal day's fighting was e\ idtntlv a succession of blunders 
 on the part of the invaders j because, a&er the, first
 
 Antiquities, sion had been vanquished, the two remaining division? 
 ought obviously to have united their strength before they 
 encountered an enemy already elated with victory, and 
 consequently possessing more than usual intrepidity and 
 discipline. 
 
 Hawthorn- About half a rnile below Roslin castle Hawthornderf 
 is situated. From the one to the other, the scenery is 
 extremely beautiful and romantic. The banks of the ri- 
 ver consist in all parts of broken and abrupt precipices ; 
 almost every spot of which, where a tree can stand, is co- 
 vered with wood. The river, which is nearly inaccessible, 
 is seen winding among the precipices over a bed of bro- 
 ken rocks ; and at intervals the massy corners or summits 
 of the rocks, by which it is enclosed, are seen projecting 1 
 beyond the foliage of the trees. The neighbouring high 
 grounds, also, on each side of the river, abound with 
 wood ; so that On viewing this beautiful spot, we are re- 
 minded, or almost persuaded, of the truth of Peter Pin- 
 dar's remark concerning Dr Samuel Johnson, who, in the 
 opinion of his humorous satyrist, 
 
 Went to Hawthornden's fair scene by night, 
 Lest e'er a Scottish tree should wound his sight; 
 
 Caves. The path from Roslin castle and chapel down to Haw- 
 thornden is on the opposite or southern bank of the river, 
 through alternate woods and opening lawns. Upon the 
 precipice which overhangs the south side of the Esk, is 
 situated the house of Hawthornden, with the caves adjoin- 
 ing to it or under it. There are various conjectures as to 
 the original intention of these subterraneous caverns. Dr 
 Stukely has given credit to a fabulous tradition, that they 
 were a stronghold of the Pictish kings ; and accordingly 
 one cave is called the fang's gallery, another the king's led- 
 tlamler, and a third the guard-room. Setting aside this
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 321 
 
 groundless tradition, the most probable opinion is, 
 they were intended as places of refuge during the destruc- 
 tive wars that subsisted long between the Scots and 
 Picts, or English and Scots. Detached from the princi- 
 pal caves, there is a small one called the cypress grove, 
 where Drummond is said to have composed many of his 
 poems. It was in these caverns that the famous Sir A- 
 lexander Ramsay, one of the ancestors of the Dalhousie 
 family, and who performed many memorable exploits du- 
 ring the contest for the succession to the crown between 
 Bruce and Baliol, used to conceal himself. Here he was 
 resorted to by the young warriors of his day, who consi- 
 dered it as a necessary piece of military education to have 
 been of his band ; and from thence he sallied forth as oc- 
 casion presented itself, and attacked the English, then in 
 possession of Edinburgh. 
 
 The caves are hewn out of a free-stone rock. Adjoin- 
 ing to them, on the summit of the precipice, a seat is form- 
 ed, from which a commanding view is obtained of the ri- 
 ver and its banks. Hawthornden is remarkable for having 
 been the property of William Drummond, a celebrated poet 
 and historian. It was to this beautiful retreat that Ben 
 Johnson came from London on foot to pass some weeks 
 with him. He was zealously attached to the cause of 
 Charles the First ; and it is said that the fate of that mo- 
 narch hastened the death of Drummond, which took place 
 on the 4th of December 1649. 
 
 In the same parish of Lasswade, near the house of 
 Mavisbank, built by the late Sir John Clerk, is a mount 
 of earth of considerable height, which is supposed to have 
 been a Roman post. It is circular in its form, and be- 
 girt with ramparts, now cut into terraces. Here several 
 articles of brass, and of ancient form, have been found j 
 such as weapons, bridle-bits, chirurgical instruments, stiE, 
 
 VOL. I, X
 
 3W MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Antiquities. fibula, fitc. Some of these being Roman/ the rest have 
 teeri considered as such also. They are still to be seen 
 at Pennycuick. In a neighbouring farm is a mount where 
 several urns, filled with burnt bones, have been dug up. 
 "These circumstances led Sir John Clerk, who was well 
 acquainted with the antiquities of this country, to suppose 
 that this- must have been a Roman station ; and accord- 
 ingly the late General Roy has pointed it out in his maps 
 as the place where the Romans passed the North Esk in 
 their way from the south to Cramond. 
 
 Borthwick In the parish of Borthwick,, which is situated upon one 
 of the streams that run into the South Esk, are the vast 
 ruins of Borthwick castle, which belonged to a noble Scot- 
 tish family of that name. Their ancestor is said to have 
 accompanied <ueen Margaret from Hungary to Scotland 
 in 1057. They had immense possessions in this part of 
 the country during the sixteenth and seventeenth centu- 
 ries j but their peerage is now extinct. There is on the 
 lands of Harvieston, beautifully situated by the side of the 
 water, a ruin, which is said to have been the residence of 
 the family of Borthwick before they were created peers, 
 or had risen to such eminence in this country. About the 
 end of the fourteenth, and beginning of the fifteenth cen- 
 tury, lived a Sir William Borthwick, who, being a man of 
 distinguished talents, was employed as an ambassador in 
 several important negociations, and concerned in most of the 
 public transactions of his time. This William appears to 
 have been created Lord Borthwick before the year 1430 ; 
 for in October that year, at the baptism of the king's two 
 sons,. several knights are said to have been created, and 
 among the rest William, son and heir of Lord Borthwick. 
 He obtained from King James the First of Scotland a li- 
 cence to build a castle. A stately and most magnificent 
 fabric wa* accordingly reared, and afterwards became the
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 chief seat of the family. This large mass of building is Antiquities 
 yet, upon the whole, very entire, and of astonishing strength. 
 There is indeed in the middle of the east wall a conside- 
 rable breach ; but whether this has been occasioned by a 
 flash of lightning, or by the influence of the weather, or 
 by some original defect in the building, cannot now with) 
 certainty be determined. The form of this venerable 
 structure is nearly square, being seventy-four by sixty- 
 eight feet without the walls, but having on the west side a 
 large opening, which seems to have been intended to give 
 light to the principal apartments. The walls themselves, 
 which are of hewn stone without and within, and most 
 firmly cemented, are near the bottom thirteen feet thick^ 
 and towards the top are gradually contracted to about six 
 feet. Besides the sunk story, they are, from the adjacent 
 area to the battlement, ninety feet high ; and if we include 
 the roof, which is arched and covered with flag-stones, the 
 whole height is about one hundred and ten feet. In one 
 of the low apartments is an excellent spring well, which, 
 however, is now filled up with rubbish. On the first 
 story are state rooms, which were once accessible by a 
 draw-bridge. The great hall is forty feet long, and had 
 its music gallery. Its roof is lofty, and has once been 
 adorned with lustres, painting, and tapestry. The chim- 
 ney, which is very large, has been nicely carved and gild- 
 ed ; and in every corner may be traced the remains of 
 fallen greatness. The castle is surrounded on every side 
 but one by steep ground and water ; and at equal dis- 
 tances from the base are square and round towers. This 
 stronghold, therefore, before the use of artillery, must 
 have been accounted impregnable by force ; so that all 
 who were under its protection would be perfectly secure. 
 Its owners appear to have been at all times attached to the 
 monarchy. The unfortunate Queen Mary retired hither 
 
 X 2
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Antiqmtle*. f or some t i me w i t h t h e Earl of Bothwell before her final 
 separation from him at Carberry, in consequence of the 
 insurrection of her subjects. During the civil wars, Lord 
 Borthwick remained attached to the royal cause. On the 
 18th of November 1650, he was summoned by Oliver 
 Cromwell, in a letter which is still extant, to surrender 
 his castle. He made a stand, however ; but on seeing no 
 appearance of relief, he capitulated, and received permis- 
 sion to march out with his family unmolested ; and fifteen 
 days were allowed to remove his effects; 
 
 Cairns. In the same parish of. Borthwick, on the property of 
 Mr Brown of Currie, there were many of L those heaps of 
 stones which in every part of Scotland are well known by 
 the name of cairns. These are evidently sepulchral mo- 
 numents ; and as a multitude could rear them in haste, 
 this artless method of perpetuating the memory of chiefs 
 slain in battle, seems to have been universally adopted by 
 the different tribes of the uncivilized northern nations. Be- 
 low, and all around, the heaps of stones now mentioned, 
 there have been discovered, and dug up, numbers of earth- 
 en pots full of half-burnt human bones, and each of them 
 covered by a fiat stone. These have generally been found 
 about a foot or a foot and a half in the earth, and some- 
 times so near the surface that they have been uncovered 
 by the plough. Some of these pots, with their contents, 
 are very entire, and others considerably wasted. Most 
 of them may contain about two Scottish pints. Specimens 
 of them have been preserved, and are still in possession of 
 the proprietor of the ground. They are of coarse work- 
 manship, ornamented with various figures, and probably 
 have been of British manufacture. They tend to confirm 
 the opinion of those who think, that the Britons in ancient 
 times burned the bodies of the dead. 
 
 In the mountainous parish of Heriot, are several circles
 
 M1&LOTHIAW. 325 
 
 er rings of different sorts, which form a kind of enclo- Antiquitici. 
 sures. There is on Heriot-town hill-head a circle of high Rings or 
 stones seventy or eighty feet in diameter; and on Borth- eDCosurcs< 
 wickhall mid-hill-head, there are three large rings, or 
 deep ditches, about a hundred paces diameter. There is 
 also a circle on the side of the Gala road near the bridge 
 over the water of Heriot, to which it was once customary 
 to drive horses, cattle, and sheep, taken in execution at 
 the instance of creditors. 
 
 Such circular enclosures, we have already mentioned u*c of anr 
 as existing at the head of the North Esk, in the parish of" ent xing * 
 Pennycuick. They are not unfrequent in the mountain- 
 ous districts of the south of Scotland. As the Roman en- 
 campments were of a square form, there is little reason to 
 consider them as the work of that people ; and they have 
 given rise to much speculation. They must evidently 
 have been works of considerable labour, and intended for 
 some permanent purpose. The question chiefly is, whe- 
 ther they were meant to be subservient to war or religion ? 
 the passions of- mutual hostility and of devotion being 
 the most powerful over the minds of barbarians, and the 
 most likely to unite them in social or united labours. 
 From the mountainous situation in which most of these 
 circles are found, it seems probable that they were not de- 
 voted to religion ; for in all ages the clergy had the good 
 sense to select the most fruitful and best sheltered spots 
 for the place of their residence. Even the Druids resided 
 in stately groves ; and trees are never very stately on a 
 barren soil. To this day, in a mountainous or barren dis* 
 trict, if a snug and fertile corner occur, it will generally 
 be found that it has been judiciously selected as the site 
 of the parish church, with its appendages, the house and 
 garden, and piece of ground denominated the glebe, which 
 are allotted to the ministenja z
 
 326 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 ft mav reasonably be supposed, therefore, that the 
 circles or enclosures, now alluded to, were prepared for 
 the purposes of war. Among our ancestors, a war gene- 
 rally consisted of a succession of predatory incursions. 
 The invading party pressed eagerly forward, burned the 
 houses of their enemies, and carried off their cattle with all 
 possible speed. As soon as the country was fully alarmed, 
 it became necessary for them to make a hasty retreat, that 
 they might not be cut off by an armed and vindictive 
 people, collecting around them on all sides. To resist an 
 invading enemy, who possessed no other offensive weapons 
 than the .sword, the bow, and the lance, it was only ne- 
 cessary to possess an enclosure that was proof against a 
 sudden assault. Irruptions by the English border chief- 
 tains or barons were extremely common in the south of 
 Scotland ; and under the anarchy of the feudal govern- 
 ment, hostile barons, at the head of their vassals, were ac- 
 customed to wage war against each other. Accordingly 
 it became necessary to make some permanent provision 
 for defence against sudden hostility. With this view, 
 every baron or chieftain built for himself a tower or 
 castle ; to which he and his family and vassals retired in 
 times of alarm, and in which they waited in safety till the 
 storm was past, or they issued forth, as occasion offered, 
 to assail the enemy, who found himself in the midst of a 
 country filled with hostile fortresses, which rendered it 
 dangerous for him to divide his force into small plunder- 
 ing parties. But although the towers or fortresses of the 
 barons might protect their own persons, and those of their 
 principal vassals, with perhaps a few domestic animals, 
 they could not afford safety to herds of cattle j and for 
 the protection of these, there seems every reason to be- 
 lieve that the circular fortifications, already mentioned, 
 were devised. Thither the country people could repair
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 with their flocks of cattle on the first alarm ; and as 
 works appear to have been elevated and substantial, and 
 $uch as ijf furnished with cannon, and used as redoubts, 
 might retard or embarrass the movements even of a power- . 
 ful modern army, they would be defended with ease. 
 
 It is well known that this island, like the neighbouring Wolvct. 
 continent, was at one time infested by wolves ;. and seve- 
 ral spots still bear the name of that animal: as wolf-clyde, 
 wolf-cleugh, &c. In the same parish of Heriot, tradi- 
 tion reports, that the glen or cleugh called the vuolf-fleugb 
 was once inhabited by a great wolf which laid waste the; 
 country, and attacked and destroyed every passenger. Ail 
 offer was at last made, that whoever would destroy this 
 terrible animal should have as his reward a considerable 
 portion of the territory infested by it. A man named 
 Dewar at length atchieved this enterprise, and called the 
 lands by his own name. 
 
 Near the high road which passes through this parish 
 from Edinburgh towards Selkrig, is a great stone called 
 Mary Gibb^ from an old woman whom tradition reports 
 to have been burned upon it as a witch. On the boundary 
 of the parish, towards Tweedale, is a spot called the Piper' s P i per > s 
 grave, from a tradition, that the piper of Peebles fell down rave > & 
 and died here, and was buried. He was engaged at the time, 
 in an attempt to blow his bag-pipe from Peebles to Lau- 
 der, a distance of about eighteen miles, at a certain num- 
 ber of blasts. 
 
 At the eastern extremity of the county upon Soutra hill, Soutra h 
 in the parish of Fala, are the remains of an ancient hospi-P iul - 
 tal. It was founded in the year 1164 by Malcolm Fourth, 
 king of Scotland, for the relief of pilgrims, and for poor 
 and sickly people. To this charitable institution the royal 
 founder annexed some lands near to St Leonard's in 
 the neighbourhood of Edinburgh. It had also the privi-
 
 326 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 of a sanctuary, as appears from the name of the road 
 leading to it from the abbey of Melrose. From Bridgend, 
 about half a mile above Dornock to the west, on the south 
 side of the Tweed, there has been a plain road or cause- 
 way through the muirs to Soutra hill, called the Girthgate,# 
 from the word Girth, which, in the Gaelic, signifies an 
 asylum or sanctuary. The traces of this road are still vi- 
 sible in many places of the muir. Another circumstance, 
 illustrative of Soutra's having formerly been a place of 
 refuge, is, that about half a mile to the south of the hospi- 
 tal, there is a small eminence or rising ground still called 
 Cross-chain hill. It would appear, that along this hill, and 
 across the Girthgate, there had been a chain, suspended for 
 a considerable way, in the direction of east and west, to 
 mark the boundaries of the privileged ground. Criminals, 
 who had the happiness to pass or cross this chain, how- 
 ever closely pursued, were safe from every harm, and ex- 
 empted from prosecution. 
 
 Old monas- ^ n tne P arisn f Cranston are the ruins of some build- 
 tcr y- ings and enclosures, supposed to be ecclesiastical antiqui- 
 ties ; that is, the ruins of a monastery. The enclosures 
 were undoubtedly orchards ; as cherry trees and the re- 
 mains of gooseberry bushes continued there till within 
 these few years : a bell also hung in one of the build- 
 ings, till some tinkers, apprehending they could apply it 
 to some use, carried it off. The whole was probably de- 
 dicated to St Bartholomew, as some lands in the neigh- 
 bourhood receive the appellation of Bartholomew's firlot, 
 In the parish of Crichton are two objects of antiquity 
 well deserving notice. These are a Roman camp and the 
 castle of Crichton. The camp is situated upon rising 
 ground, commanding an extensive prospect. The intrench- 
 ments in many parts may be easily traced. It is proba- 
 ble, that a considerable battle had been fought in this pa-
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 329 
 
 rish from the great number of bones which have been dug Antiquities. 
 up. In the lower ground, several cbevaux de frise have 
 been found, which were used for wounding horses feet. 
 They are in the form of rings, six inches in diameter, and 
 armed all round with sharp pikes, turned up in a circular 
 manner. The castle of Crichton is a very ancient and mag- 
 nificent building. " This castle," says Pennant, " was once 
 the habitation of the Chancellor Crichton, joint-guardian 
 with the Earl of Callander of James the Second; a power- 
 ful and shrewd statesman in that turbulent age ; and the ad- 
 viser of the bold but bloody deeds against the too potent 
 Douglas. During the life of Grichton, it was besieged, 
 taken, and levelled with the ground, by William Earl 
 Douglas. It was afterwards rebuilt, and part of the new 
 work is uncommonly elegant." 
 
 In the parish of Newton, to the southward of the North The taim 
 Esk, and adjoining to the high road from Edinburgh to |^ r Ncw ~ 
 Dalkeith, is a very high ridge of a circular form, and of 
 very considerable extent in a level territory. It is evi- 
 dently altogether artificial. The people of the country have 
 always called it the kaim, supposed by some to be a cor- 
 ruption of the word camp, but which in the Scottish dia- 
 lect is of the same import with the English word comb. 
 What is here called the kaim, has no resemblance to a Ro- 
 man camp, or to the rings already described, as existing in 
 mountainous districts. It must have been a work of great 
 labour, and resembles more the rampart of a city than any 
 inferior object. It is of such breadth and strength, that 
 the top of it is used for a considerable distance as a car- 
 riage road. It is more likely to have been the permanent 
 rampart of a Roman town, than any other work that can 
 readily be conjectured. It may be remarked, that through- 
 out all Scotland, small ridges, though evidently, or at least
 
 330 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 . apparently, formed by nature, receive the appellation of 
 kaims. 
 
 Craigmillar In the parish of Liberton, the most remarkable remnant 
 of antiquity is CraigmiUar castle, a magnificent chateau, 
 which must have in former times possessed considerable 
 strength. It is situated on the summit of a circular hill, 
 and commands on all sides an extensive prospect ; of the 
 city of Edinburgh with its precincts, and the distant moun- 
 tains bordering upon the Highlands ; of the Frith of Forth^ 
 and of the fertile valleys of the North and South Esk. 
 CraigmiUar castle is itself also a conspicuous object in a 
 great part of the county ; a part of it was lately inhabited. 
 The front of the building is towards the north ; and over 
 one of the doors is carved on stone, a press and a barrel or 
 ton, in allusion to the name of Preston. A thick rampart 
 wall, thirty feet high, with parapets and turrets, or watch 
 houses, encompass it. The inner court is of considerable 
 extent : on the west end of which is a very large building, 
 consisting of several very stately apartments, which was 
 built in 1661 by Sir John Gilmour, lord president of the 
 court of session, and for some time was the mansion-house 
 of the family. The outer court is large and spacious ; the 
 entry to it is from the east. On the west side of this court 
 was erected a protestant presbyterian meeting-house, upon 
 the indulgence granted by James the Seventh ; on the east 
 was the chapel. 
 
 There is no evidence for ascertaining when this very 
 magnificent castle was built ; but the rampart wall, as ap- 
 pears from the inscription on the gate, was built in 1427. 
 
 Here John Earl of Marr, a younger brother of James 
 the Third, was confined in 1477. For some time it was 
 the residence of James the Fifth during his minority, 
 when- he left Edinburgh castle on account of the plague ;
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 331 
 
 ind in this castle the queen-dowager his mother had, by fa. 
 Vour of Lord Erskine, his constant attendant and guardian, 
 frequent interviews with him, when the Duke of Albany 
 the governor was in France. It was taken, was much de- 
 molished, and a great deal of it burned, according to Pis- 
 cottie, by the English in 1543. 
 
 Here Queen Mary chose to reside as much as she pos- 
 ibly could, after her return from France in 1561. On 
 that account, her French servants took up their residence 
 in the neighbouring village, which, from that circumstance, 
 had the appellation of Little France ; and the name is still Little 
 retained. There is a room in the castle which goes under France * 
 (he name of >ueen Marys, for it is said she slept in it ; and 
 it is always shown to strangers. It is situated immediately 
 under the south-east turret, and has a fire place, but is hot 
 much above seven sect long and five broad. 
 
 The orchard is on the south side, and immediately ad- 
 joining to the castle ; it consists of two acres. There are 
 at present only a few old fruit trees in it. 
 
 Craigmillar anciently belonged to a family of that name. 
 In 1314, it was purchased by Sir Simon de Preston, which 
 family were sometimes styled Prestons of Craigmillar, 
 sometimes Prestons of Gorton, as well as of Prestons of 
 Preston, or, in the Scottish dialect, Preston of that ilk. 
 We have already mentioned, that one of them in the reign 
 of James the Second bestowed the arm-bone of Si Giles 
 upon the community of Edinburgh. The Prestons con- 
 tinued in the possession of Craigmillar almost three hun- 
 dred years ; and during that period they maintained an 
 eminent character here, distinguished by many public 
 marks of respect, and had great influence in the neighbour- 
 ing city. 
 
 August 24th, 1565, Sir Simon Preston of Preston and 
 Craigmillar was recommended by Queen Mary, and her
 
 3.12 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Antiquities, husband Darnlej, as a proper person to be elected provost 
 of Edinburgh. The recommendation was successful, and 
 the preferment immediately took place. He appears to 
 have joined the party against the Queen and Bothwell that 
 associated to revenge the death of Darnley. He was pro- 
 vost of Edinburgh in 1567, and the queen lodged in his 
 house in town the fatal night after she left the army at 
 Carberry hill. About the time of the restoration, Craigr 
 millar came to the family of Gilmour, to which it still be T 
 longs. This family, after residing some time at Craig- 
 millar, came afterwards to reside at a building at the foot 
 of the hill, which is now in ruins, and is termed the Inch, 
 which signifies an island. It was anciently encompassed 
 with water, and the entry to it was by a draw-bridge. 
 Morton. In the same parish, near the house of Morton, may still 
 be discovered a part of the remains of a rampart of a cir^ 
 cular, or rather of an oval form, intersected by the turn- 
 pike-road leading from Edinburgh to Biggar. Within 
 these few years it was entire on the eastern side, but near- 
 ly the whole stones have now been carried off to repair the 
 high road, it is supposed. It could not be one of the 
 Roman camps, as they were of a square form, but is 
 supposed to have been a Roman town. The Roman mi- 
 litary way from Burnswork hill to the north issued into 
 two branches at the town of Biggar. Tke Left hand branch 
 went by Carstairs and Cambus-Nethan, to the celebrated 
 \vall between the two Friths of Forth and Clyde, and at 
 length was carried as far as the Roman arms penetrated. 
 The other branch proceeded by Linton to. the Roman town, 
 just now mentioned, and from thence was directed to Cra- 
 mond, where the Romans had an important station, and. 
 where certain of their ships always attended for furnishing 
 them with provisions. Another military road came from 
 Teviotdale, or perhaps from the celebrated wall which
 
 MIDLOTHIAN 333 
 
 the emperor Hadrian erected between Carlisle and New- Antiquities, 
 castle upon Tjne, and led to this town. In the Celtic or 
 Gaelic language, more signifies great or large. Hence the 
 appellation Morton has been supposed to signify the great 
 or large city. The road here for nearly a mile is formed 
 precisely upon the line of the old Roman military way. 
 This was intentionally done by the direction of the learned 
 antiquarian^ already mentioned, the late Sir John Clerk of 
 Pennycuik, one of the barons of exchequer for Scotland. 
 
 On the north-east boundary of the parish of Dudding- Fishwives 
 ston> is a causeway of some antiquity, which at present re- causcwa y* 
 ceives the appellation of \hejisbwives causeway. It ome 
 formed a part of the great post road to London ; and the 
 fishwives, after that road was turned into a different di- 
 rection, long refused to alter their well-known path. As 
 it had been made in such a substantial manner, as to render 
 it impracticable to reduce it easily under the plough, and 
 as it afforded a convenient access to the adjoining fields, it 
 was not shut up. It is said to be a remnant of those re- 
 gular roads which the unfortunate queen Mary was anxious 
 to form for the improvement of her barbarous king- 
 dom. To the northward of this, in the parish of South 
 Leith, in a direct line from the foot of the Canongate of 
 Edinburgh to the sea, another road remains, which tradi- 
 tion ascribes to the same princess ; but it does not appear 
 to have been at any time substantially formed. 
 
 In dragging marl out of Duddingston loch some years 
 ago, were found some coins, the inscription of which 
 were effaced ; the blade of a sword, and the heads of some 
 spears and javelins. All of these, from their structure 
 and materials behoved to be Roman. Some of them 
 were sent to the museum of the king, and some were pre- 
 sented to the antiquarian society. In the adjacent mea- 
 dow, in, the opening of diains and ditclie?, under the first
 
 334 MIDLOTHIAN*. 
 
 Antiquities, strata of moss and gravel, have been found wrecks of oak 
 trees, hazel bushes and nut ; S, afld the almost consumed iron 
 of horse -shoes of different dimensions. At the mouth of 
 >uddingston, or the Figgat burn, have also been observed, 
 immersed in a deep stratum of clay, the trunks' of large 
 oak trees, which, when cut or broken, have been found 
 black as ebony to the heart. They may perhaps be rem- 
 nants of the king's forests to the east of Edinburgh, in- 
 which it appears, by the original charter of erection of thp 
 monastery of the holy cross, the monks obtained a privi- 
 lege to send their hogs to feed. According to tradition^ 
 this forest afforded shelter and a place of rendezvous to the 
 chief of all the Scottish heroes,! Sir William Wallace and 
 his" friends, while they were preparing to attack Berwick . 
 
 Invcresk. The parish of Inveresk, or the neighbourhood of Mus- 
 selburgh, was the scene of many ancient transactions-. It 
 is observed by the respectable clergyman of that parish, 
 Dr Alexander Carlyle, that the Romans did not fail to ob- 
 serve the fortunate situation of the hill of Inveresk, which, 
 though not more than fifty feet above the level of the sea, 
 commands an extensive view, not only of the adjacent 
 country, but of the spacious bason of the Forth, which is 
 there about eighteen miles broad, and of the coast of Fife, 
 from Bruntisland to the mouth of the Forth. History as- 
 sures us that they had a station here ; and repeated disco- 
 veries point out the spot where the prxtorium was built. 
 It was undoubtedly on the summit of the hill where the 
 church now stands. A building of high antiquity was si- 
 tuated at the east end of Musselburgh, which belonged to 
 the abbey of Dunfermline. It was called the Chapel of 
 Loretto. There are no remains of it now but a small cell, 
 about twelve feet by ten, covered by a mount in the gar- 
 den of the villa called Loretto. Soon after the reforma- 
 tion, about the year 1590, the tolbooth of Musselburgh
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 335 
 
 Was built out of the ruins of this chapel, which must have Antiquities. 
 Been of considerable dimensions. The old steps of the 
 tol booth stair, which was repaired not long since, were the 
 bases of the pillars of the chapel, according to the report of 
 masons still living. This is said to have been the first re- 
 ligious house in Scotland whose ruins were applied to an 
 unhallowed use j for which the good people of Mussel- 
 burgh are said to have been annually excommunicated, till 
 very lately, at Rome. 
 
 The bridge of Musselburgh over the Esk, between the Mussel- 
 two villages of Musselburgh and Fisherrow, is of unknown ]^j g ^ 
 antiquity. It has been supposed to be a Roman work, as 
 that people not only had many houses in Fisherrow, but 
 also their harbour ; and it would undoubtedly have proved 
 extremely inconvenient to suffer their colony to be divided 
 into two parts, or their harbour to be separated from their 
 fort by a river, which frequently for many days cannot be 
 forded. The arches are fifty feet wide, their spring only 
 ten feet. The coomb of the most westerly arch appears 
 to have supk before the arch was thrown over, as it is on 
 one side much flattened. It must have been the intention 
 of those who erected this bridge, to place the road leading 
 to it out of the reach of the tide : this circumstance, to- 
 gether with the situation of the harbour, demonstrates, 
 that the sea, although it has been encroaching on the land 
 above Leith, has at the bottom of this bay neither gained 
 on the land nor retired from it. 
 
 At different times Roman coins have been found upon 
 the territory adjacent to Inveresk. An altar was also found, 
 with this* inscription, Apollini Granio. Some years ago Roman 
 also a Roman bath of two rooms was discovered by some 
 workmen when employed' in removing a few feet of earth 
 from the surface of the soil around a gentleman's villa. 
 It is well known, that wherever this people went, they
 
 336 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Antiquities. mac l c provision for the enjoyment of the most favourite oi" 
 all their luxuries, the warm bath. At this place, only the 
 floors and foundations of the baths were discovered, the 
 superstructure having been cast down and removed, and 
 the whole covered with earth in some former age. The 
 floor remained entire, and about six inches high of the wall 
 of the smallest room, which was nine feet long and four 
 and a half wide. There was a communication through the 
 partition wall for water by an earthen pipe. The other 
 room was fifteen feet by nine. The floors of these and of* the 
 other rooms were covered with tarras, uniformly laid on, 
 about two inches thick. Below this coat there was a coar- 
 ser sort of lime and gravel, five inches deep, laid upon un- 
 shapely and unjointed flags. This floor stood on pillars 
 two feet high, some of stone, and some of circular bricks- 
 The earth had been removed to come to a solid foundation 
 on which to erect the pillars. Under the tarras of the 
 smallest room there was a coarser tarras, fully ten inches 
 thick, which seemed intended to sustain or bear a more 
 considerable fire under it, than the hypocaustum or floor 
 above the fire of the largest room. There appeared to have 
 been larger fires under it, as the pillars were injured by 
 them ; and there was found a quantity of charcoal in per- 
 fect preservation. 
 
 The hypocaustum of the larger room, or space junder the 
 tarras floor, was filled with earth, and with slices made of 
 clay, which were laid every where between the rows of 
 pillars, and were a little discoloured with smoke } a small- 
 er degree of heat having been conveyed through them 
 than through those under the other room. But those con- 
 trivances under the floors seem only to have been intended 
 to preserve heat in the water, which had been carried 
 warm from a kettle built up or Jiang on brkk-work OR
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 337 
 
 tone side of the largest room. This brick-work was much Antiquities, 
 injured by strong fires, and was four feet square. 
 
 .The cement or tarras sufficiently proves the origin of 
 the work, as the Roman composition used for cement is 
 superior to any of later ages. The cement of the grand 
 sewers under the city of Rome is said to be of the same 
 kind ; and it is also said that in Hindostan, in the very 
 ancient buildings, the same preparation appears to have 
 been used. Tradition reports, that in digging foundations 
 for houses in Fisherrow, on the western-side of the river, 
 there have been found similar ruins of baths ; a circum- 
 stance which appears to demonstrate that this was not 
 merely a military station, but a colony ; that the Romans 
 must have had many houses and buildings near the sea, as 
 well as their prcetorium at Inveresk. From the place where 
 Fisherrow harbour now is there was once a Roman cause- 
 way, the traces of which, though now obliterated by cul- 
 tivation, are not entirely forgotten. This causeway led 
 towards Borthwick. 
 
 As a branch of later antiquities, it is to be remarked 
 that Randolph Earl of Murray died at Musselburgh of 
 the stone in July 1332 ; and tradition points out the house 
 where he died near the east end of the town, on the south 
 side. It is a vaulted house of two rooms on the ground 
 floor ; the rooms are about fourteen feet square, and the 
 arch eight feet high, with a passage between them six 
 feet high. 
 
 In this parish is the field of the battle of Pinkie, which 
 
 Battle of 
 
 we have already mentioned, and which was fought in the Pinkie, 
 year 1547, during the infancy of our celebrated and un- 
 fortunate Queen Mary, whose name occupies so large a 
 space in the later history of Scotland, and of whom we 
 have already had occasion to notice several particulars. 
 The battle of Pinkie was fought on the field that lies be- 
 VOL. I. Y
 
 338 MIDLOTHIAN, 
 
 Antiquities, twixt the village of Inveresk and Walliford and Car- 
 berry, and was brought on by the usual rashness and 
 impetuosity of the Scots. The Duke of Somerset, as 
 
 Origin of protector of England during the minority of Edward 
 the Sixth, attempted to enforce the project of Henry the 
 Eighth to accomplish an union between Scotland and 
 England. With this view,, he raised an army of 18,000 
 men, and equipped a fleet consisting of thirty sail of ships 
 of war, and thirty transports laden with ammunition and 
 provisions. The war was attempted to be justified by the 
 pretext of revenging some incursions of the borderers ; at 
 the same time, the ancient pretension was revived of the 
 supremacy of the English crown over Scotland. A ma- 
 nifesto' was issued, stating these reasons, and declaring a 
 resolution to negociate upon no other terms than the union 
 of the kingdoms by the marriage of the young English 
 king to the infant Scottish Queen Mary. It was urged, 
 that nature obviously intended the whole island for one 
 empire, by surrounding it by a barrier which cuts it off 
 from all communication with foreign states : That the 
 language and customs of the people concurred with na- 
 ture, and invited them to an union : That under one royal 
 family, and one government, their ancient hostility would 
 speedily give way to sentiments of amity, resulting from 
 the prosperity which would arise to both nations from the 
 more successful cultivation of the arts of peace, which 
 would take place as soon as they should be relieved from 
 the necessity of maintaining a warlike posture towards 
 each other.. These arguments did not convince the Scots, 
 who were moreover influenced by the attachment of their 
 Queen Dowager Mary of Guise to the interests of France 
 and the catholic religion. 
 
 On advancing into Scotland, and encamping in this parish, 
 the Duke of Somerset found the Scots so strongly posted that
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. ,339 
 
 no prospect existed of attacking them with success. He Antiquities, 
 therefore offered to retreat, on condition that the Scots would 
 agree not to contract their queen to any foreign prince till 
 
 she should arrive at a proper age for choosing a husband for Proposal o 
 
 peace. 
 
 herself : but the Scots, rashly presuming upon the weak- 
 ness of the English, from the moderation of the tone which 
 their leader had now assumed, and being moreover urged 
 on by their Roman catholic priests, who represented the 
 English as detestable heretics, whom God had devoted to 
 destruction, abandoned the advantage resulting from their 
 strong position, and resolved to come to battle. They 
 were divided into three bodies, commanded by the Earls 
 of Angus, Arran, and Huntly, with some light horse and 
 a body of Irish archers, whom the Earl of Argyle had 
 brought over into Scotland. 
 
 The Scottish army were encamped on that large field west March of. 
 of the Esk which went by the name of Edmonston Edge ; 
 the English lay at the places now called Drummoreand Wai- 
 liford. As the Scots passed the bridge of Musselburgh, 
 and marched to the field up the hill of Inveresk on the 
 west side of the church, there being then no village, and 
 only two shepherds houses on that hill, they were annoyed 
 by cannon-shot from the English galleys in the bay, in- 
 somuch that the Lord Graham, eldest son of the first 
 Earl of Montrose, was killed on the bridge, with many of 
 his followers. To have crossed the river at any other 
 place would have been still more dangerous,, as there was 
 then a thick wood on the banks of it all the way to Dal- 
 keith. After passing the church of Inveresk they must 
 have been covered from the shot, as the ground slopes 
 from thence down to the How Mire (in those days a mo- 
 rass, though now drained and cultivated), from whence it 
 rises gently to the bottom of the hills of Carberry and 
 Falside. On this gentle rising lay the field of action. 
 
 Y 2
 
 346 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 An-iquitJcs. The Scots, while crossing the bridge, having been pftj 
 into some disorder by the fire of the English ships, Lord 
 Grey, who commanded the English heavy armed horse, 
 left his ground and attacked them, contrary to orders^ 
 in the hope of gaining to himself the whole glory of a 
 victory. On advancing, however, he met with bad 
 ground, beyond which the Scots were posted on a plough- 
 ed field, in a deep phalanx, with their spears pointed. The 
 English horse could make no impression, and were in- 
 stantly discomfited, and their leader dangerously wound- 
 ed ; but the Scots, having no good cavalry, could take no 
 advantage of their success. Somerset rallied his cavalry, 
 and in the mean while assailed the Scottish compact body 
 of infantry with his artillery, with the fire of some Italian 
 and Spanish Arquebusiers, and with a shower of arrows 
 
 Defeat of from his English archers. The van of the Scots, dis- 
 mayed by these attacks, and by the approach of the 
 English infantry, began to stagger, and the Irish archers 
 fled. The panic rapidly communicated itself to the 
 whole army, and a total route commenced. The Eng- 
 lish infantry began, not a battle but a pursuit, with shouts, 
 and continued to commit bloody execution all the way to 
 Edinburgh. They did not lose two hundred men, while 
 of the Scots 10,000 were killed and 15GO made prisoners. 
 The English gave no quarter to the priests that fell into 
 their way. Somerset might have imposed almost any 
 terms upon the Scots ; but learning that dangerous in- 
 trigues were going on against him in England, he hastened 
 home, and thus lost the opportunity of accomplishing the 
 object of which he had come, in pursuit. 
 
 Hill (f Car- J ust over ^ ie ^ e ^ ^ battle there is a hill, which was- 
 still more fatal to Queen Mary, and has been known eve? 
 since by the name of the Queen's Seat. It is the top of 
 the hill of Carberry, where this unfortunate princess sat o
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. S41 
 
 a stone, and held a conference with Kirkalcty of Grange, Antiquities. 
 who had been commissioned for that purpose by the con- 
 federate lords. During this parley, Bothwell, who had 
 taken leave of the queen for the last time, rode off the 
 field to Dunbar. As soon as he was out of danger, Mary 
 suffered herself to be led by Kirkaldy to Morton and the 
 lords, who received her with due marks of respect, and 
 ample promises of future loyalty and obedience. The se- 
 quel is well known. From that hour she was deprived 
 of liberty for life, except for the few days that intervened 
 between her escape from Lochlevin castle and her sur- 
 render to Elisabeth, after the fatal battle of Langside. The 
 bloody field of Pinkie, under her eye, might have put this 
 ill-fated queen on her guard ; bat, unfit for the rugged 
 times in which she lived, she had the misfortune to be at 
 once facile and obstinate. The late proprietor of Carber T 
 ry, John Fullarton, Esq. has marked this spot to poste- 
 rity by planting a copse of wood on it, * 
 Before concluding the subject of the antiquities of this Inchkeith. 
 county, we may shortly take notice of the island of Inch- 
 keith, situated in the middle of the Forth off Leith. A 
 few sheep and rabbits live upon it. On the highest point 
 are the remains of an ancient fortress, which was, about 
 the time of the Reformation, accounted of considerable 
 importance, but has long been demolished. The island 
 itself, along with the barony of Keith in East Lothian, and 
 other lands, were granted, along with the office of heredi- 
 tary grand marshal of Scotland, by King Malcolm, to one 
 Robert, as a reward for killing Camus, the king and 
 champion of the Danes, at the battle of Barry, in the year 
 1010. From the lands Robert took the name of Keith, 
 and they belonged for many ages to his family. The 
 celebrated Marshal Keith, in the Russian and Prussian ser r 
 vice's^ was a younger son of this family j but its fortunes ia
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Country- this country were all forfeited to the crown, and the pro- 
 seats, &c. . 
 c y iperty sold, in consequence of the head of it joining in the 
 
 rebellion in 1715. A lighthouse was established on Inch- 
 keith during the last winter. 
 
 In the western part of this county, near the Pentland 
 Hills, there are a considerable number of proprietors 
 whose estates are of moderate extent. Such estates arc 
 frequently changing their owners ; a circumstance which 
 is extremely advantageous to the improvement of the 
 country. The new proprietors are usually active and 
 wealthy men, who eagerly engage in ameliorating and 
 adorning the territory which they have acquired. Hence, 
 in this quarter, plantations and inclosures are daily spring- 
 ing up ; and the moors and mosses which border upon 
 the Pentland hills are subdued, and rendered fertile by hu- 
 man industry. 
 
 Brothcrton. In almost every part of Scotland, in consequence of the 
 deep glens in which the waters run, it is extremely easy, 
 by planting their banks, to beautify, in an uncommon de- 
 gree, a variety of sequestrate spots. As an example of 
 this, we cannot avoid taking notice of the successful ef- 
 forts of the lately deceased Mr Davie of Edinburgh upon 
 ihe estate of Brotherton, in the parish of West Calder, on 
 one of the small streams which fall into the Almond. He 
 not only reduced the lands in general under the most 
 perfect agriculture, from a state of extreme nideness and 
 x "sterility, by planting, in a judicious manner, the lofty and 
 rugged banks of the stream adjoining to his house, but he 
 contrived to produce an extent of pleasing and interesting 
 scenery which is surpassed in few situations. At a trifling 
 cost winding walks have been cut out along the shelving 
 or precipitous banks of the stream. These walks are eve- 
 rywhere overhung with wood, through which openings 
 kave been judiciously formed to afford views of the sur-

 
 5 
 
 i < 
 
 o 
 
 =3 ^ 
 
 * O
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. "443 
 
 rounding scenery. Rustic seats are placed in proper situa- Country- 
 tions ; and in a retired corner a rude cave has been formed Y i 
 in the solid rock. At one point, where the lofty banks of 
 the river recede from each other, a small valley is form- 
 ed, in which a rustic grotto has t>een built. As the spot 
 is sheltered from every blast, so as to produce as great a 
 stagnation of air as the current of [a flowing stream will 
 permit, the sun's rays have great power here ; and an un- 
 common* luxuriance of vegetation prevails during the sum- 
 mer months, which gives to the flowering shrubs and trees 
 which skirt the valley a richness of aspect, which is highly 
 pleasing, because almost unexampled in this climate. 
 
 We have already remarked that the parish of Mid 'Cal- _ 
 
 Calder 
 
 der is much adorned with plantations ; and Calder house, house, Hat-, 
 the seat cf Lord Torphichen, already mentioned, is a very 
 stately fabric. In the parish of Ratho we have also men- 
 tioned a variety of pleasure grounds. Hatton, in particu- 
 lar, which formerly belonged to the Earl of Lauderdale, 
 is a venerable ancient house, with extensive gardens, and 
 is surrounded with plantations and inclosures of at least 
 800 acres of ground. Eastward from this is Dalmahoy, 
 the principal seat of the Earl of Morton. Dalmahoy house 
 is beautifully situated in the midst of a park which con- 
 tains between 400 and 500 acres. The Park is inclo- 
 sed by a well-built wall, and is subdivided into lesser com- 
 modious inclosures by a sunk fence and belts of planting. 
 
 In the parish of Collinton, Sir William Forbes, bank 
 cr in Edinburgh, has lately erected, upon the banks of the 
 Water of Leith, a beautiful dwelling, which, on account 
 of its conspicuous situation, is no small ornament to the 
 neighbourhood. Nearer to the Pentland hills a house is 
 now building, upon the lands of Dreghorn, by Mr Trot- 
 ter, secretary to the navy, which, when completed, must 
 be a work of vast magnitude. But it is in vain to at-
 
 344 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Country tempt to specify the elegant villas which abound in the 
 >j [r-^ vicinity of Edinburgh. One of them, however, to the 
 Braid &c. southward of the city, that of Braid, deserves notice, on 
 account of its singularity, being a handsome and costly 
 house, placed in the bottom of a ravine, or narrow glen, 
 planted with wood, through which runs a stream of wa- 
 ter. The house is so completely concealed that a stran- 
 ger may almost look down the chimneys from the ad- 
 joining height before he discovers its existence. On the 
 north side of the city, in the parishes of St Cuthberts and 
 Cramond, are a great variety of beautiful buildings. That 
 of Ravelstone, at the eastern foot of the Corstorphine 
 hills, is remarkable, on account of the ancient woods 
 around it, and irregular grounds, affording a vast variety 
 of interesting prospects. The ancient house of Royston, 
 upon the sea-shore, is one of the largest buildings in this 
 part of the country. 
 
 To the south of the Pentland hills, the house of Penny- 
 cuick is the first that deserves notice. This edifice was 
 built, about 1761, by a former proprietor, Sir James 
 Clark, Bart. It stands upon a flat above the Esk, and by 
 taking advantage of a turn in the river, the back front looks 
 up the glen, formed by its banks, to the ruins of Brunston 
 castle and the western extremity of the Pentland hills. 
 In a flat immediately below the house, in the same direc- 
 tion, is an artificial piece of water, and the garden, with 
 extensive green and hothouses. Both sides of the river 
 are diversified with eminences and glens ; and the ascents 
 behind the garden, and on the opposite side of the river, 
 are entirely covered with wood. The front of the house is 
 ornamented with a handsome portico, supported by eight 
 columns, having a flight of steps on each side defended by 
 ballustrades. The materials were brought from the Mair- 
 field quarry, near the upper end of the parish. The rap
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 345 
 
 is covered with lead, and a row of vases are placed on the Country- 
 
 seats, &c. 
 top. In the house are a considerable number of Roman v_ ^ j 
 
 antiquities, cut in stone ; part of which were brought 
 from a Roman camp at Netherby, and some from Gra- 
 ham's dyke. The front of the offices lies nearly diago- 
 nally to the house, at the distance of 280 feet. They form, 
 a large square, with a rustic portico and elegant spire, 
 with a clock in front ; and behind them, to answer the 
 purposes of a pigeon-house, is an ex"act representation of 
 the celebrated Roman temple called Arthurs Oven. To, 
 the westward, and above the level of the house, is another 
 large piece of water, well stocked with various kinds of 
 fish. A round tower, placed on a conic eminence in 
 front, is seen at a great distance. On the opposite side of 
 the river, facing the south, an obelisk is raised, at the end 
 of an avenue, on the top of the bank, to the memory of 
 Allan Ramsay, the famous Scottish poet. The approach 
 towards the village from the tower, anciently called Ter- 
 regZes, along the northern declivity to the river, exhibits 
 pne of the most luxuriant and striking scenes any where 
 to be seen. About one-eighth of a mile above the gar- 
 den, a tirrtber-bridge formerly crossed the river, at the 
 $outh end of which is an entry into a subterraneous passage 
 called Hurly Cur, forty-nine yards long, seven feet high, 
 and six feet broad ; in the middle of which, on the west 
 side, is a dark cell, with seats cut round capable of con- 
 taining six or eight people ; the whole being cut out of 
 the solid rock in 1142. At the south end are the re- 
 mains of a small summer-house, where was a little kit- 
 chen and dining-room ; and in the front is a pond well 
 stored with fish and trout. The large plantations of trees 
 of various kinds, in summer, form a most beautiful am- 
 pitheatre. These appendages to Pennycuick house ren- 
 der it unusually interesting, although in itself it is by no
 
 346 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Country- means magnificent or conspicuous, when compared with 
 
 seats, &c. . -' , ., ,. 
 
 _. J-- * multitude of other buildings in this county. The most 
 
 remarkable part of the interior of it is an apartment styled 
 the Hall of Ossian, which strangers frequently visit. Here 
 the most singular and striking scenes described in these in- 
 teresting poems are represented by the pencil of Runci- 
 man, a painter whose representations are of a bold and 
 striking character, though seldom corresponding with the 
 simplicity of nature. 
 
 On the same river, the North Esk, are a variety of 
 beautiful country seats, which are surrounded with consi- 
 derable plantations. Among these, in particular, may be 
 mentioned, Dryden, Polton, Mavisbank, and Melville 
 Castle. This last is a splendid building, erected not ma- 
 ny years ago by Henry Dundas, Esq. now Lord Mel. 
 ville. It was built on the site of an old house of the 
 same name, which, with the estate attached to it, Queen 
 Mary anxiously but unsuccessfully endeavoured to pro- 
 cure for her favourite David Rizzio* 
 
 On the South Esk, the most remarkable buildings are 
 Arniston, Arniston, Dalhousie Castle, and Newbattle Abbey. The 
 first of these is chiefly of importance, as it has long been 
 the residence of the elder branch of that family of Dun- 
 das, which, during the, greater part of the late century, 
 afforded so many conspicuous members to the department 
 of the Scottish bar ; and which, in the person of Lord 
 Melville, has attained, for a long series of years, to such 
 permanent political importance in the councils of the em- 
 pire. 
 
 ., . The Castle of Dalhousie, in the parish of Cockpen, is 
 a building of great antiquity, constructed in the old Scot- 
 tish taste. It is pleasantly situated on the northern bank 
 of the river, which runs at a few yards distance from the- 
 foot of the walls. This castle was modernized by the
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. S4T 
 
 late Earl of Dalhousie, and has thereby lost much of its CountI 7- 
 
 ~ . scats, &c. 
 
 former venerable aspect. The grounds around it are by s-^y-^j 
 
 nature peculiarly adapted for extensive and romantic plea- 
 Sure grounds. A little lower, on the opposite bank of the 
 same river, stood the mansion-house of Cockpen, lately 
 purchased by the Earl of Dalhousie from Mr Baron 
 Cockburn, by whom the adjacent lands had been inclosed 
 and greatly improved. Along the steep and woody banks 
 of the river he had also formed various walks, at a great 
 expence, and in the best taste ; but a few naked walls are 
 all now that remain of this mansion ; serving, however, 
 to increase the wild and romantic beauty of the surround- 
 ing scenery. 
 
 Newbattle abbey, the seat of the Marquis of Lothian, Newbattlc 
 is a large modern building ; and the plan of it, especially 11 c ^' 
 within, discovers good taste and judgment in the architect. 
 In the library are several manuscripts in folio, written 
 upon vellum, in the Saxon character ; and every page of 
 them is adorned with pictures emblematic of the respec- 
 tive subjects of which they treat. Of these books the 
 most highly finished are, Jean Boccace des cas des Nobles 
 Hommes et Femmes, 1409; Join Ti&yt bymni ,- Titus Li- 
 vius,per P. Berceun ; Augustin de la Cite de Lieu. And 
 in all of them the figures are coloured and gilded with so 
 much delicacy and richness, as to afford a very interesting 
 specimen of the labour and elegance with which they have 
 been executed. These manuscripts had in former times 
 belonged to the abbey, the monks of which were of the 
 Cistertian order. It was founded and endowed by David 
 the First. A wall surrounded it, which is almost entire, 
 and retains the name of the Monkland wall. The moderij 
 house is raised upon the spot which was formerly occvu 
 pied by the monastery.
 
 MIDLOTHIAN 1 . 
 
 Country- At Newbattle abbey are many valuable portraits and 
 seats, &c. . . 
 t v paintings. Among others are to be found, 
 
 Portraits at MARK KER, prior of Newbattle, who at the reforma- 
 abbey. att C ** on complied with the times, and got the estate of the ab- 
 bey. 
 
 The heads of MARK Earl of Lothian and his lady, by 
 Sir Antonio More. 
 
 A remarkable fine piece of our three first circumnavi- 
 gators, DRAKE, HAWKINS, and CANDISH, half-length. 
 
 Three Boys and Girls in low life by Morillio. .. ^ 
 
 The DOGE OF VENICE by Titian. 
 
 Earl MORTON, regent, half-length, a yellow beard. 
 
 Lady TUFTON ; a fine half-length. 
 
 A full length of JAMES the First by Jameson. Another 
 of CHARLES the First when young, in rich armour, black 
 and gold. 
 
 Head of ROBERT CAR, created Earl of Somerset by 
 JAMES Sixth of Scotland and First of England. The 
 countenance is effeminate, with small features, light flax- 
 en or yellowish hair, and a very small beard. Is an ori- 
 ginal of that favourite. 
 
 His father Sir ROBERT CAR. 
 
 A head of an Earl of Somerset, with long, light, yel- 
 lowish hair. 
 
 The Wife of PHILIP the Bold, inscribed, Marga Mala 
 Lodo Mala. 
 
 His daughter the Duchess of Orleans, 
 
 A beautiful half-length of Henrietta Queen of Charles 
 the First. 
 
 His daughter the Duchess of Orleans. 
 
 Some small portraits, studies of Vandyke. Among 
 which is one of WILLIAM Earl of Pembroke, of whom 
 Lord Clarendon gives so advantageous a character. 
 
 Prince RUPERT and Prince MAURICE in one piece,
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. -349 
 
 Ahead of Madame MONTPEJTSIER, and of several other Country- 
 illustrious persons belonging to the court of Louis XIII. \, m ^ j 
 
 A large half-length of HENRY DARNLEY, the husband 
 of Queen Mary. 
 
 A beautiful head of MARY OF GUISE, the mother of 
 the same queen. 
 
 The modern house is surrounded by a level lawn con- 
 taining about thirty acres of ground. It is watered on the 
 one side by the river South Esk, which, after rolling 
 through the rocks of Cockpen, flows along the parkin a 
 quiet stream, and is overhung with flourishing plantations. 
 On the other side it is skirted by a waving line of woods, 
 which, complying with the ascents and swelling of* the 
 banks, are seen rising above one another, and exhibits a 
 beautiful variety of shades. At the east end it is termi- 
 nated by an aged bridge, rudely built, and overspread 
 with ivy. Rows of trees, in the opposite direction, 
 close at a proper distance into vistas ; while the eye, in 
 wandering over the beauties of the scene, is caught by the 
 simple spire of the parish church, and by the smoke, 
 which, mounting from the adjacent village, lingers among 
 the tops of the trees. 
 
 Farther down the river stands Dalkeith house, the prin- D-jkcith 
 cipal seat in Scotland of the Duke of Buccleugh. In an- house, 
 cient times, this appears to have been a place of conside- 
 rable strength, and to have stood some sieges. It was si- 
 tuated on a perpendicular rock of great height, and in- 
 accessible on all sides except on the east, where it was 
 defended by a fosse, through which the river is said to 
 have formerly run. It was for some centuries the prin- 
 cipal residence of the noble family of Morton. And histo- 
 ry records, that James the Ninth, and last Earl of Douglas, 
 exasperated against John Douglas, lord of Dalkeith, for 
 espousing the cause of King James Second, who had basely
 
 3.59 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Country- murdered William, eighth earl of the illustrious house of 
 seats, occi 
 v ' Douglas, at Stirling, laid siege to the castle of Dalkeith, 
 
 binding himself, by a solemn oath, not to desist till he 
 had made himself master of it. It was, however, so 
 gallantly defended by Patrick Cockburn of Clerkington, 
 that the Earl of Douglas and his followers, after under- 
 going much toil, and receiving many wounds, found them- 
 selves unable to reduce it, and were obliged to raise the 
 siege. On the defeat of the Scottish army at Pinkie, A. 
 D. 1547, many fled to the castle of Dalkeith for refuge ; 
 among whom were James Earl of Morton, afterwards re- 
 gent of Scotland, and Sir David Hume of Wedderburn. 
 It was besieged by the English, and defended for some 
 time ; but as it contained not a sufficient store of provi- 
 sions for such a number of men as had fled to it, and as the 
 besieged had no hopes of succour against the victorious 
 army, it was obliged to surrender ; in consequence of which 
 the earl and Sir David were made prisoners. 
 
 In the year 1642, the estate of Dalkeith came into 
 the possession of the family of Scot of Buccleugh by pur- 
 chase from the Earl of Morton. 
 
 About the beginning of the late century, the present 
 very magnificent house was built, on the site of the old 
 castle, by Ann Duchess of Buccleugh and Monmouth. 
 The fosse, already mentioned, which guarded the castle 
 on the east, was filled up, and a large mound of forced 
 earth raised around the rock. It is now a pleasant bank, 
 , and adorned with a variety of delightful shrubs. The 
 beauty of the situation, which is deservedly admired, is 
 greatly heightened by the windings of the river, and the 
 abundance of thriving wood with which it is surrounded. 
 The Duke has lately built an elegant bridge of beautiful 
 white stone over the North Esk, which is a great orna- 
 ment to the surrounding scenery, and forms a fine object
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 351 
 
 when seen, as it is in great perfection, from the windows Country- 
 
 SCUtSj OCC* 
 
 of the house. It consists of one large arch seventy feet s^-y - 
 wide and forty-five in height. By means of this bridge, 
 a new approach will be opened to the house, and one of the 
 most delightful that can be imagined. The park in which 
 Dalkeith house is situated is of great extent, containing 
 about eight hundred Scotch acres. It is completely sur- 
 rounded by a wall built with stone and lime, and about 
 eight or nine feet high. There is a great variety of ex- 
 cellent wood in it, particularly a number of fine venerable 
 oaks of great antiquity ; but several of them begin to 
 experience the effects of time, and are seeming to de- 
 cay. The North and South Esk run through the park, 
 and unite their winding streams about half a mile below 
 Dalkeith house. 
 
 The portraits at Dalkeith house are numerous, and Portraits at 
 some of them very valuable. Among others are, housp 
 
 The first Duke of RICHMOND and his duchess. 
 
 The Duchess of CLEVELAND. 
 
 Countess of BUCCLEUGH, mother to the Duchess of 
 Monmouth, and Lady EGLINTON her sister. 
 
 The Duchess and her two sons : the Duchess of YORK^ 
 her hand remarkably fine : the Duchess of LENOX. 
 
 Mrs SUSANNA WATERS, mother of the Duke of Mon- 
 mouth, with his picture in her hand. 
 
 Duchess of CLEVELAND and her son, an infant; she 
 in the character of a Maddona, 
 
 The Duke of MONMOUTH in the character of a young . 
 S t John. 
 
 Lord STRAFFORD and his Secretary ; a small study of 
 Vandyke. 
 
 HENRY the Eighth, and Queen CATHARINE with the; 
 divorce in her hand ; two small pieces by Felbein. 
 
 Anna BULLEIN, by the same, dressed in st black
 
 352 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Country gown, large yellow netted sleeves, in a black cap peakefft 
 l S?f behind. 
 
 Lady JANE GRAY, with long hair, black and very- 
 thick, not handsome. 
 
 The Duke of MONMOUTH on horseback ; also in ar- 
 mour. 
 
 The Duchess of RICHMOND, by Sir Peter Lely. A 
 head of the late Duke of ORMOND, much admired. A 
 beautiful head of our unfortunate Oueen MARY, with ma- 
 ny others. 
 
 In this ducal palace is an apartment which was entirely 
 furnished by Charles the Second on occasion of the mar- 
 riage of the Duke of Monmouth with the heiress of the 
 house. 
 
 Prestonhall ^ t ^ ie eastwar d of the vale of the Esk the country as- 
 and Q*en- cends, as already mentioned, and, after some interval, 
 again descends, forming another valley, in a higher level, 
 in which is the river Tyne, which flows in a north-easterly 
 direction into East Lothian. In the parish of Cran- 
 ston, oh opposite banks of the Tyne, are the two mag- 
 nificent structures of Prestonhall and Oxenford castle, 
 around which is a richly cultivated territory, chequered 
 with trees and corn fields. To the westward of the 
 valley of the Esk, and betwixt that valley and Edin- 
 burgh, are a great variety of seats and pleasure-grounds. 
 Drum. ^ these may be noticed that called the Drum, a large 
 building, which belonged to Lord Somervile ; and in the 
 park adjoining to which, the most remarkable part of the 
 ancient cross of Edinburgh is still preserved. It is wor- 
 thy of notice, that the family of Somervile, and that of 
 Wauchope of Niddry, were for some time the most an- 
 cient in the county of Midlothian. The estate of the fa- 
 mily of Somervile has been lately sold, and the noble- 
 man who bears that title resides in England. The prio-
 
 MIDLOTHIAN, 353 
 
 rity, therefore, of antiquity among the families of this Country- 
 county now remains with the Wauchopes of Niddry. i . v ' 
 
 In the same parish of Liberton, in which these are si- Morton- 
 tuated, is Mortonhall, which in the reign of James the 
 Third formed a part of the property of the St Glairs (Sin- 
 clairs) of Roslin. It came by purchase into the posses- 
 sion of the present family of Trotter in 1641. The pre- 
 sent house was erected in 1699. It is a massy fabric of 
 hewn stone, in the modern' taste, and is probably the most 
 substantial and best furnished great house in Midlothian. 
 Everj- part of it is elegant, though, at the same time, ac- 
 commodation is not sacrificed, as is too frequently done in 
 modern buildings, to the ostentatious display of one or 
 two great apartments. It contains a library of upwards 
 of 3000 volumes, in which is a very complete collection 
 of the Greek and Roman classics, and of the principal of 
 the French, English, and Italian writers. The house is 
 situated on the south side of a rising ground, which con- 
 ceals it from Edinburgh. It is surrounded by abundance 
 of forest trees ; and the present proprietor is now forming 
 the environs into a beautiful park. 
 
 Last of all, we shall mention the house of Dudding- Duddlng- 
 ston. About the year 1767 the late Earl of Abercorn ston housc - 
 began to subdivide his estate into commodious farms, to 
 build convenient farm-houses and offices upon each, and 
 to inclose them with ditches and hedges. The estate was 
 thus reduced into a regular and progressive state of culti- 
 vation, and the country beautifully adorned with hedge- 
 rows, clumps, and plantations of various forms and ex- 
 tent. The house and offices were finished, and exhibit a 
 beautiful specimen of Grecian architecture, but with no 
 great extent of accommodation. This villa, with the 
 pleasure grounds or park which have been annexed to it, 
 exhibits an example of all that money or art can do to 
 
 VOL. I. Z
 
 354 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Em-rsnt adorn a merely flat surface, through which a small stream 
 
 Characters. 
 
 i^^^ of water naturally runs : Clumps, groves, canals, lakes, 
 isles, cascades, temples, shrubbery, serpentine walks, and 
 spreading lawns. In every corner Art and expence have 
 been ostentatiously displayed ; and Nature is evidently 
 employed merely as her handmaid. Such a place as this, 
 however, has considerable beauty, and excites much in- 
 terest, in a country like Scotland, where bold natural sce- 
 nery so much abounds, by the striking contrast which 
 it exhibits to the general aspect of the surrounding terri- 
 tory. 
 
 Sir Tames I N ^e parish of Midcalder, about the time of the re- 
 Sandiland*. f orma tion, Sir James Sandilands appears to have been a 
 man of considerable distinction. Being a knight of Mal- 
 ta, he was raised to the preceptory of Torphichen, in the 
 county of Linlithgow, where the order to which he be- 
 longed had their principal residence in Scotland, and where 
 the ruins of their house and chapel are still to be seen. He 
 was engaged in several important negotiations during the 
 reformation of religion in Scotland ; and when popery was 
 overturned, the preceptory of Torphichen was converted 
 into a temporal barony ; and it, together with the title and 
 dignity of a lord of parliament, was conferred on Sir 
 James, for which he immediately paid 10,000 crowns, 
 and became bound that 509 merks should be paid annu- 
 ally to the sovereign by him, and those who should suc- 
 ceed him. The title has remained in the family ever 
 since. 
 
 Sprttis- In the same parish, two clergymen of the name of 
 J *' Spottiswood, the father and son, were distinguished men 
 in former times. Mr John Spottiswood, the father, was 
 parson her.e during the tempestuous period of the refor- 
 mation ; he was afterwards appointed superintendajtit of
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 355 
 
 the churches in Lothian, Merse. and Teviotdale. These Eminent 
 
 . . Characters, 
 
 superintendants were a sort of dignitaries in the Scottish v y > 
 
 church, who were established after the bishops had lost 
 their power, but before the presbyterian form of govern- 
 ment had been brought to its perfection so as to equalize 
 the whole clergy. The son of this superintendant suc- 
 ceeded him as parson of C alder, but was afterwards, on 
 the temporary restoration of the hierarchy, made archbi- 
 shop of Glasgow. He was one of the privy-counsellors of 
 James the Sixth ; he crowned Charles the First in the 
 chapel of Holyroodhouse ; and died archbishop of St An* 
 drew's. He wrote a history of the church of Scotland. 
 A house, and part of the furniture belonging to him, re-* 
 mained at Midcalder within these few years. 
 
 In the parish of Kirknewton, the celebrated Dr William Dr Cullen, 
 Cullen, physician in Edinburgh, was proprietor of* the 
 estate of Ormiston hill, and he lies interred in the church- 
 yard of Kirknewton. This gentleman's great talents as 
 a teacher of medicine, as a practical physician, and as a 
 philosopher, are universally known and acknowleged. 
 He taught in succession different classes in the university 
 of Edinburgh ; and in all of them he at once demonstrated 
 the superiority of his own powers, and gave greater in- 
 terest than it had formerly possessed to whatever subject 
 he endeavoured to illustrate . He held the chair of che- 
 mistry before that science had received those wonderful 
 improvements which in modern times have rendered it so 
 engaging as well as useful. Even then, however, his sa- 
 gacity not only rendered it interesting, but pointed to- 
 wards some of those discoveries which have since become 
 of so much practical utility, and have thrown so much 
 light upon the operations of nature. This was particularly 
 the case with regard to a part of the doctrine of heat. He 
 pointed out the singular and important fact of cold being 
 
 Z2
 
 356 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Eminent generated by evaporation, or that this is the mode ift 
 
 Characters . . 
 
 ' , which heat, in many bodies, equalizes or distributes itselt. 
 
 Thus, water never rises above 212 degrees of heat, be- 
 cause at that point a rapid evaporation commences, which 
 carries off whatever additional heat can be thrown into it. 
 This, no doubt, every body knows ; but it ought to be 
 remembered, that for ages the fact had not been under- 
 stood, and that the acuteness of the man who first disco- 
 vered it must have been superior to that of former labour- 
 ers in the same department. It is r indeed,, the fate of the 
 labours of men of true .science, that, unless in the judge- 
 ment of the wise, they do not lead to very lasting re- 
 nown. Time, and the patient observation of successive 
 minds, are necessary to the investigation of nature ; each 
 individual can only add a moderate portion to the great 
 fabric of science ; and future times, raised to a more ele- 
 vated station by the efforts of successive investigators of 
 truth, are apt to look back with neglect upon the industry 
 of those who laid the foundation of the structure. Boyle 
 is scarcely now remembered as a chemist, though his in- 
 genuity was great, and his labours most valuable and ex- 
 tensive ; and, in the progress of science, the time will no 
 doubt arrive, and its arrival is to be regarded as a consum- 
 mation devoutly to be wished, when the labours of La- 
 voisier in chemistry, of.Cullen in medical science, and of 
 other philosophers in those branches of knowledge which 
 of late have been most successfully improved, will be ne- 
 glected, in consequence of the superior progress and more 
 extensive attainments of future times. This, however, 
 will not diminish the just estimation due to those active 
 and penetrating minds who accelerate the progress of 
 science, and thereby produce that very superiority of in- 
 telligence which ultimately causes themselves to be for- 
 gotten. w*t
 
 MIDLOTHIAN-. S57 
 
 Dr Cullen extended his researches much Tjeyond the Eminent 
 mere labours of his profession. He was an ardent specu- w ^ J 
 lator in agriculture. In the year 1758, he delivered to a 
 number of his friends and favourite pupils nine lectures on 
 the subject of agriculture. In these he endeavoured to ex- 
 plain the principles of that art ; and is said to have pointed 
 out the chief practical improvements which have since 
 been adopted in it in this country, and have augmented, in 
 a most remarkable degree, the productive powers of the 
 soil. The justness of his principles he demonstrated by 
 his practice on the lands of Ormiston hill, which, though 
 naturally of an ungrateful soil, rendered worse by im- 
 memorial bad management, and situated in an unfavour- 
 able climate, he raised, in a few years, to a surprising 
 degree of culture and fertility. Early in life he was a. 
 proficient in botany, and was the first person in Scotland 
 who understood the Linnaean system, and recommended 
 the study of it to his pupils at a time when it met with 
 much opposition from others. In his gardens and plea- 
 sure grounds of Ormiston hill he formed an extensive col- 
 lection of rare trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants. The 
 cultivation of these, and the accurate determination of their e 
 
 species, afforded him always an agreeable relaxation from > - 
 the more serious studies and labours of his profession. But, 
 however much he may have been distinguished as a philo- 
 sopher, and as a teacher of science, Dr Cullen was perhaps 
 still more remarkable for his urbanity of manners, and the 
 humanity of his character. In Edinburgh his students had 
 at all times easy access to him. He paid particular atten- 
 tion to great numbers of them, and introduced the prac- 
 tice, which still*exists, that when any student of medicine 
 attending the university falls into sickness, he receives gra- 
 tuitously the attendance of any one or more of the medi- 
 cal professors whose assistance he may think fit to re-
 
 358 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Eminent quest. While he resided in the country, Dr Cullen testified 
 
 Chnracter?. * . ... 
 
 v ' the utmost readiness to give his valuable advice to the poor 
 gratis on every occasion of distress, and attended them as 
 anxiously as those of the first rank in the realm, for whom 
 he daily prescribed. In this he seemed to be of the opi- 
 nion of his famous predecessor Dr Boerhaave, who used 
 to say, that the poor were the best patients, for God is 
 their paymaster. 
 
 A great part of the property of the county of Midlothian 
 appears to have been at some period or other possessed by 
 men connected with the profession of the law. From the vi- 
 cinity of the capital, when such men acquired wealth, they 
 would naturally endeavour to lay it out in the purchase of 
 lands here, as not withdrawing them far from the scene of 
 their employment. At the same time, the vicinity of a ca- 
 pital, by the habits of expence which it introduces, is unfa- 
 vourable to the preservation of riches. Accordingly, before 
 families were protected by strict entails, many changes of 
 property here occurred. Still, however, a considerable 
 portion of territory remains possessed by persons whose 
 ancestors acquired it in the profession of the law. In the 
 
 Sir Thomas parish of Currie, Sir Thomas Craig of Riccarton was lord 
 advocate, and the defender, in a learned treatise, of the in- 
 dependence of his country, and the expounder of the feu- 
 dal system. Being a man of singular modesty, he refu- 
 sed the honour of knighthood, nor would he ever give the 
 king an opportunity of conferring it upon him. He en- 
 joyed it, however, during his life without any creation, 
 which was still a higher honour, by the express order of 
 the sovereign. The Scots of Maleny, father and son, 
 were likewise eminent lawyers at the same period, and 
 the latter had a seat upon the bench. Sir John Skene of 
 Curriehill, lord register in the reign of James the Sixth, 
 was of a family nearly related to the blood royal. Sir
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 850 
 
 Tames Skene, his son. was president of the court of ses- Eminent 
 
 Characters. 
 
 sion. ^- ~ > 
 
 The late Dr William Wilkie was minister of Ratho, Dr Wilkie. 
 till, in 1760, he was appointed professor of natural phi- 
 losophy in the university of St Andrews. This gentle- 
 man, along with some peculiarities of character, such as 
 that of encumbering his person with an enormous quan- 
 tity of clothes to keep himself warm, possessed very dis- 
 tinguished talents and extensive knowledge. In particu- 
 lar, he wrote an epic poem, which he entitled the Epigo- 
 ntad, and which possesses great poetical merit. He was, 
 however, undoubtedly unfortunate in the choice of his sub- 
 ject. It is evident that a piece of Grecian history could 
 not well furnish materials for an epic poem which would 
 prove highly interesting in Britain. Homer and Virgil 
 judiciously selected, as objects of description, the early he- 
 roes of their own country, whom tradition had reported to 
 be founders of states, or ancestors of the people who were 
 to peruse their works. Voltaire did the same ; and the 
 great English epic poet, Milton, not finding a suitable 
 subject in English history, adopted one which could not 
 fail to prove interesting to mankind, or at least to the 
 Christian world at large. But the Epigoniad of Wilkie, 
 containing the siege of a Grecian town, necessarily con- 
 tains nothing which could interest his own countrymen in 
 the fortunes of his heroes ; and from its resemblance to 
 Pope's Homer, it appears to our feelings nothing more 
 than a mere imitation or continuation of that book. 
 
 In the parish of Cramond is an anc;ent mansion, which, j. aw O j 
 with the lands adjacent, was the property of the celebra- Lauri:iton 
 ted John Law of Lauriston, and still belongs to his fami- 
 ly. He was a bold speculator in the slippery science of 
 political economy, while that science was still in its infan- 
 cv. Having published upon that subject previous to the
 
 36 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Eminent treaty of union, when Scotland still possessed an indepen- 
 
 Characters. 
 
 ^ Y _ dent legislature, he attracted the notice, and obtained the 
 implicit confidence, of many persons of high rank. At the 
 time when the Scots were extremely dispirited, and their 
 commerce severely injured by the failure of the Dariea 
 expedition, and the losses sustained by the African com- 
 pany, Law brought forward a project, which was instan- 
 taneously to exalt Scotland to the highest pitch of riches 
 and prosperity. It appears to have been founded upon the 
 erroneous notion, which was long prevalent among specu- 
 lative men, that as current money is the representative of 
 lands and goods, there may be at any time circulating mo- 
 ney in a country equal to the whole price of all the lands 
 and goods belonging to the nation ; the money and the 
 property being regarded as the representatives and coun- 
 terparts of each othej. It was likewise supposed that this 
 money might safely be made to consist of paper or pro- 
 missory notes ; and thus it was thought, that, by issuing 
 abundance of notes on the security of lands and goods, 
 money might be made to abound in such an enormous de- 
 gree, that the Scots would be enabled to equal, in their 
 activity and commercial enterprises, the wealthy states of 
 England and Holland. Now that farther experience has 
 instructed mankind better upon this subject, it seems 
 strange that so obvious a fact should have been overlook- 
 ed, as that money only represents goods or lands which 
 are brought to market ; and that in the course of one day 
 a guinea may pass through ten different hands, or may 
 become the means of buying and selling ten times its own 
 value in goods. Thus in the course of a year, a guinea 
 may represent property to the amount of two or three 
 thousand times its own worth. Law's project for the ex- 
 altation of Scotland consisted of constituting a council of 
 trade, under the controul of parliament, with power to is.
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 361 
 
 sue notes, which were to be circulated in three Ways : Eminent 
 
 Characters 
 
 1st, By purchasing lands, and paying the price in these v__^ J 
 notes ; 2dly, By purchasing lands at a full price, to be paid 
 in these notes ; but with a power of redemption for a cer- 
 tain time in favour of the seller ; and, lastly. By lending 
 money to proprietors of land at ordinary interest, to the 
 extent of two-thirds of the value of their land. It was al- 
 ledged that the security of the notes would be undoubted, 
 being thus uniformly fixed upon land ; and that they 
 would be preferred to gold and silver. And it was pro- 
 posed to declare them a legal tender of payment, or to 
 compel the acceptance of them in all transactions. 
 
 The Scottish nation have usually been extremely fond 
 of novelties, and ready to run eagerly into them. On this * 
 occasion, however, a majority of the parliament resolved 
 that it was improper to oblige the public to receive paper 
 money- of any sort. The scheme is said to have been 
 considered as extremely practicable ; but an apprehension 
 was entertained, that, by means of Law's scheme, govern- 
 ment would become the creditor, and thereby the master' 
 of every proprietor of land in the nation. 
 
 Law, thus unsuccessful in procuring the acceptance of 
 his scheme in his own country, next visited the principal 
 cities on the continent of Europe. His personal address, and 
 his uncommon skill and success as a gamester, procured 
 him countenance and support in all countries. He settled at 
 last in Paris, and was there during the regency of the 
 Duke of Orleans as guardian of Louis XV. The expen- 
 sive wars by which the ambition of Louis XIV. had ex- 
 hausted France, had brought the national finances into such 
 a state of embarrassment, that a bankruptcy on the part of 
 government seemed inevitable. Law stood forward at this 
 critical juncture with projects for creating paper money ; 
 jn which he alledged that no nation could sufficiently
 
 MIDLOTHIAN". 
 
 Eminent abound. With a people much more volatile, and enthu- 
 Characters. . ,,-,*, , - 
 
 \^~y~-~ siastically iond ot novelties, than the Scots, his projects 
 
 Were received with boundless aviditj ; and he speedily 
 rose to the office of comptroller-general of the finances of 
 France an office equivalent to that of prime minister. 
 He created, what had not been permitted in Scotland, a 
 royal bank, and united with it the plan of a company for 
 colonizing the great territory of Louisiana ; the access to 
 which territory being by the river Mississippi, gave to his 
 project the name of the Mississippi system. His project pro- 
 duced its natural effect. As no provision was made for pre- 
 serving the credit of the paper money, either by giving spe- 
 cie in exchange for it on demand, or by making the quan- 
 tity so small, that its credit might be supported by its being 
 received in payment of the usual taxes, it soon sunk in 
 value ; and along with it the shares of the company for 
 colonizing Louisiana sunk almost to nothing The royal 
 bank and the company became at once insolvent, and along 
 with them the government itself. Law was under the ne- 
 cessity of flying from the kingdom to escape the fury of a 
 people who had recently looked up to him with a sort of 
 adoration, and expected to attain to boundless riches by 
 his ingenuity. He ultimately retired to Venice ; where, 
 in the year 1729, in the fifty-eighth year of his age, he 
 died in obscurity and indigence. His property, however, 
 in the parish of Cramond (Lauriston) still belongs to his 
 family, who from his time have been settled in France, 
 It is in the memory of every one, that the ratification of 
 the short-lived treaty of peace, concluded during the ad- 
 ministration of Mr Addington, was brought to London by 
 an aid-de-camp of Bonaparte, citizen Lauriston, the own- 
 er of the mansion of that name. 
 
 Balmeri- In the same parish of Cramond, Barnton was at one 
 time the property of the family of Balmerinoch. Joha
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. % . 863 
 
 Elphinston, second Lord Balmerinoch, a nobleman noted Eminent 
 
 Character^ 
 for his spirited opposition to the tyrannical proceedings of > y 
 
 Charles I. for which he narrowly escaped losing his head, 
 and for being the best friend that the covenanters ever 
 had, as he spent a great fortune in support of their cause. 
 This family appears to have changed sides ; for-Afthur, 
 sixth Lord Balmerinoch, was beheaded on the Tower-hill 
 of London, on the ISth of August 1746, on account of his 
 having supported the Stuart family in the unfortunate re- 
 bellion of the preceding year. 
 
 Sir Thomas Hope of Granton, advocate to Charles I. sir Thomai, 
 was one of the most distinguished lawyers at the Scottish H '^P C - 
 bar, and gave great assistance towards the establishment 
 of the presbyterian mode of worship. Royston, in the 
 same parish, was the residence of Sir George M'Kenzie, sir George 
 afterwards Earl of Cromarty. His voluminous and in- 
 genious writings upon theology and municipal law, and 
 his zeal for the advancement of literature, might have 
 gained to him an honourable fame, and the gratitude of 
 future times ; but his memory has been rendered justlj 
 odious by his having prostituted his talents in subservien- 
 cy to the unprincipled politics of the two last princes of 
 the Stuart family. 
 
 It may be remarked, that in the parish of St Cuth- Lord N*- 
 bert's, south-west from Edinburgh castle, stands on an 
 eminence an ancient building, called Merchiston tower, 
 which was the residence of the celebrated Napier of Mer- 
 shiston, the inventor of the logarithms. In ancient times, 
 every baron, or proprietor of lands holding immediately 
 of the crown, was bound to attend the king when sum- 
 moned to parliament. This was considered as a grievous 
 hardship by the petty barons ; ?nd accordingly, as a mat- 
 ter of favour, they obtained permission to send delegates, 
 whose expences they defrayed in the same manner as had
 
 334- MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 been P rev i uslv done by the boroughs. Still, however, 
 such barons as thought fit, or could afford the expence, 
 continued personally to attend in parliament. The family 
 of Napier are said to have been of this number ; and upon 
 that footing, to this day, to retain their privileges as lords 
 of the Scottish parliament. 
 
 Judge-Ad- In the parish of Glencross, the character of James Philp, 
 Esq. of Greenlaw there, is worthy of notice. He was 
 educated as a lawyer under Heineccius, Vitriarius, and 
 other eminent civilians in Germany and Holland. Soon 
 after his return from abroad, he was appointed judge of 
 the high court of admiralty. His profound knowledge in 
 maritime law enabled him to execute this office for many 
 years with much reputation. He was a man noted and 
 beloved for the mildness and urbanity of his mind and 
 manners j but he appears also to have been a man of in- 
 flexible rectitude. 
 
 In the year 1154, the gentleman, who was afterwards 
 admiral Sir Hugh Palliser, was commander of the Sea- 
 horse man of war lying in the roads of Leith. A man, 
 under indentures as an apprentice, had been enlisted as a 
 sailor on board this ship. On a petition from his master, 
 and on production of the indenture, judge Philp granted 
 a warrant to bring the man ashore to be examined. A 
 messenger went on board to apprehend him ; but was told 
 by Captain Palliser, that he considered himself as subject 
 only to the lords of the admiralty, and that he would not 
 suffer the man to go ashore. Upon this the messenger, 
 with his blazon on his breast, broke his rod of peace, 
 and reported this illegal act of deforcement to the admiralty 
 court. The judge, Mr Philp, then granted a warrant to 
 apprehend Captain Palliser himself, and to commit him 
 to prison. No attempt was made to execute this warrant 
 till Captain Palliser accidentally came on shore, when he
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 365 
 
 was instantly seized and imprisoned. Next day he was Eminent 
 brought into court, and refused to submit to its jurisdic- < - v m 
 tion, asserting that he held his commission from the board 
 of admiralty, to which alone he was responsible for his 
 conduct. He was therefore sent back to prison, where he 
 remained about six weeks, till the apprentice was deliver, 
 ed up to his master. When the case was reported by the 
 Earl of Findlater, then lord high admiral of Scotland, to 
 Lord Chancellor Hardwick, the latter remarked, that " he 
 was a bold judge who had done this ; but what he had 
 done was right." This high-spirited conduct, from a 
 man of uncommonly mild manners like Mr Philp, met 
 with universal approbation. It reminded his countrymen 
 of the behaviour of the English Chief- Justice Hall, who, 
 in the court of king r s bench, ordered the speaker of the 
 house of commons, attended by a committee, to take him^ 
 self away, assuring him, that if he did not instantly de- 
 part he would commit him to Newgate though the whole 
 house of commons were in his belly. 
 
 It is said, however, to this day, by the Scottish Ions, 
 vivans, or lovers of good wine, who are not few, that Sir 
 Hugh Palliser obtained a severe revenge against the Scots 
 on account of the affront he sustained in the above affair. 
 Before the treaty of union French wines had been sub- 
 jected, on their importation to Scotland, to very trifling, 
 or rather to no duties. They were therefore imported in 
 great abundance ; and claret was universally used by all 
 persons in easy circumstances. After the treaty of union, 
 and after what is called the Methven treaty with Portugal, 
 by which the Portuguese wines obtained a preference in 
 Britain, the French wines being thereby subjected to double 
 duties, the British ministry avoided enforcing the law in 
 Scotland. They had two reasons for this. In the^ntf 
 place, Scotland was considered as a poor country, the re-
 
 Eminent venue from which was of little importance ; and, secondly'* 
 
 Characters. /' 
 
 k Y^_ they did not wish to render the union unpopular, by vio- 
 lently attacking, or attempting to alter the ancient habits 
 of the people. Accordingly, they connived at the im- 
 portation to Scotland of French wines under the name of 
 Portuguese wines. It is said, however, with what truth 
 we know not, that Sir Hugh Palliser, on his return to 
 England, represented Scotland as now become a wealthy 
 and luxurious country ; remonstrated with administration 
 against their past conduct, in allowing the revenue to be 
 defrauded annually of a large sum of money ; and threat- 
 ened, that unless the law should be enforced, he would en- 
 deavour to bring the subject before the public in England. 
 A British ministry has always sufficient occasion for mo- 
 ney. Sir Hugh Palliser having thus pointed out S. quar- 
 ter where it might be obtained without the troublesome 
 necessity of having recourse to a jealous house of com- 
 mons, his remonstrances were favourably listened to, and 
 the collectors of the revenue in Scotland were instructed 
 to enforce the law relative to French wines. This was for 
 some time accomplished with difficulty. The deep bays or 
 friths, which run far into the country of Scotland, afforded 
 great opportunities for smuggling, at a time when the 
 British navy did not possess that absolute dominion over 
 the ocean which it has since acquired. When seizures 
 were made, the juries in exchequer, during a long period, 
 would never confess themselves able to distinguish the 
 taste of French from that of Portuguese wines. Their 
 verdicts were therefore almost uniformly against the 
 crown. Nor was this spirit absolutely got quit of till the 
 early part of Mr Pitt's administration, when the duties 
 upon wine were reduced under the management of the ex- 
 cise. 
 
 The late William Tytler, Esq. of Woodhouselee,
 
 361 
 
 belonged to the same parish of Clencross. His Inquiry Eminent 
 . J Character* 
 
 into the Evidence against Mary ^ueen of Scots was the _f 
 
 means of producing a very considerable alteration in the 
 opinion of the world concerning the conduct and charac- 
 ter of that unfortunate princess. Besides historical re- 
 searches, he was also remarkable for his learning and 
 taste in the belles lettres. He rescued from oblivion tha 
 curious fragment of antiquity, the King's !j>uair, a poem 
 written by James the First of Scotland during his capti- 
 vity in England. This remarkable poem, written near 
 400 years ago, is mentioned by some old writers, but was 
 supposed to be lost. Mr Tytler was so fortunate as to 
 discover it among the Seldenian manuscripts in the Bod- 
 leian library, and printed it for the first time in the year 
 1183, accompanied with a very learned and judicious 
 commentary. There are two fine Scots poems, formerly 
 of uncertain origin, The Eagle and Robin Redbreast, and 
 The Vision, which, from careful inquiry, he restored to 
 their genuine author, Allan Ramsay. From personal 
 knowledge he also ascribed to that poet the whole merit 
 of the Gentle Shepherd ,- of which, by detraction, or by 
 mistake, he had been in part deprived. 
 
 Mr Tytler was also a master of the musical art. He 
 wrote an ingenious dissertation upon the Scottish mu- 
 sic. He was a zealous promoter of the musical society at 
 Edinburgh, which we formerly mentioned ; and in his 
 early years he sometimes performed upon the German 
 flute in the concerts given by that society. 
 
 The late Reverend Dr William Robertson, principal Dr Robcrt- 
 of the university of Edinburgh, was born in the parish of 
 Borthwick, of which his father was the minister. The \ 
 works of this celebrated historian are too extensively 
 known to render it necessary here to make any remarks 
 concerning them. He was extremely fortunate io the
 
 366 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Eminent choice of 1 the subjects of which he treated ; and at the 
 '_' same time, by his mode of discussion, he gave to them a, 
 degree of interest, of which the public had not previously 
 supposed them capable. This was particularly the case 
 with regard to his history of Scotland, and of Charles the 
 Fifth. In both cases, nations are exhibited during a sort 
 of revolutionary period, in which they never fail to pro- 
 duce bold and striking characters and singular events. 
 In both these cases, however, Dr Robertson was fortu- 
 nate in finding, in the person of Charles the Fifth, and in 
 the unfortunate Queen Mary, individual figures, capable 
 of being brought forward in such a striking light as might 
 powerfully seize and interest the attention of mankind ; 
 and thus confer upon the writings of a general historian 
 much of that power to engage our feelings, which in other 
 cases is apt to belong exclusively to writers upon biogra- 
 phy. 
 
 The style of Dr Robertson's writings was also calcula- 
 ted to gain considerable favour. All his periods are swell- 
 ing, and polished with the utmost care, and are calculated 
 to please the ear without offending the taste by the intro- 
 duction of any foreign idiom, or of high-sounding and un- 
 usual words and phrases. At the same time his style 
 is very far from being destitute of redundancy. It is 
 more artful than that of Gibbon, because the art is less 
 apparent. But it is evident that this historian was at least 
 as anxious about the structure of the sentences in which 
 his details are enunciated, as about the details themselves. 
 He never descends from his dignity, like the historian of 
 England, Hume, or assumes the tone of easy and negligent 
 narrative. In other respects, Dr Robertson never forgets 
 in his writings that he is a churchman, or ventures to ha- 
 zard a sentiment, of which he is not certain that all the
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 36* 
 
 world will readily approve. He was a writer of too much Eminent 
 
 Character*, 
 prudence to earn the praise of great originality of thought. > / 
 
 Dr Robertson in his time was, in a certain department^ Dr Roheru 
 an orator and a political leader. In former times, the J 
 General Assembly of the church of Scotland, or ecclesi- 
 astical parliament, possessed a considerable degree of in- 
 fluence, in consequence of the popularity of the clergy, 
 who form the majority of members ; and in consequence 
 ^of the respectability and distinguished rank of the lay- 
 members, it was always considered as an object of impor- 
 tance by government te retain an influence over this bodyi 
 Queen Ann's tory ministry repealed a statute, which vest- 
 ed the right of patronage of all churches in Scotland in 
 the proprietors of land, and the elders of the parish, and 
 restored the former law of patronage, which placed a great 
 proportion of the livings in the gift of the crown, and the 
 remainder in the gift of great proprietors of land. This 
 law of patronage was considered as a great grievance by 
 the popular or most zealous presbyterian party ; and as 
 the church courts, with the General Assembly at their 
 head, try the qualifications of the individuals whom the 
 patrons nominate to be ministers of parishes, an attempt 
 was made through this medium to counteract the law of 
 patronage. The candidate nominated to a church by the 
 patron was attempted to be considered by the church courts 
 as unqualified for the office, if a considerable proportion 
 of the congregation did not consent to receive him as their 
 spiritual pastor. Thus under the maxim, Vox populi, vox 
 Dei, the populace were allowed a negative Upon the pa- 
 tron's nomination. Government always attempted, on 
 the other hand, to procure a majority in the General As- 
 sembly to support the nomination of the patron to every 
 vacant church, without regard to the question, whether the 
 person nominated was acceptable to the congregation et 
 
 VOL, I. A*
 
 MIDLOTHIAN, 
 EmV.r.t not ? Dr Robertson acted, during a great part of his Kfe,- 
 
 Charactxrs. 
 
 _^y-^ as the leader of the party of government, or moderate- 
 
 party as they were called ; whose object was to repress the 
 religious zeal of the people, and to restrain the church 
 courts from encouraging that zeal, by opposing the law 
 of patronage. In this character his conduct was tempe- 
 rate but vigorous. Being not only supported by govern- 
 ment, but by the current of the age, his party was at last 
 completely successful. The General Assembly ceased to 
 interfere in opposing the establishment in churches of any 
 candidate nominated by the legal patron, providing his 
 character and talents were unexceptionable, and disregard- 
 ed entirely the opinion of the congregation. The result 
 naturally was, that as this was the principal subject of 
 discussion that came before the church courts, when it was. 
 at an end, they ceased to be interesting to the public ; and 
 hence the theatre on which Dr Robertson acted may be 
 considered as in some measure destroyed by the success of 
 his exertions. 
 
 Montelth About the time of the civil wars in Britain, the name 
 dingston. f tne parson of Duddingston was Monteith. Having 
 been so unmindful of his character and office as to engage 
 in an illicit amour with a lady of rank in the neighbour- 
 hood, he found himself under the necessity of flying from 
 the scene of his disgrace and degradation. He repaired 
 to France, and immediately applied for employment to the 
 celebrated Richlieu. He told him he was of the Mon- 
 teith family in Scotland. The cardinal remarked, that he 
 was well acquainted with the Monteiths, and desired to 
 know to what branch of the family he pertained. The 
 exiled parson, whose father had been a common fisherman 
 in the salmon trade of the Forth somewhere above Alloa, 
 was not put out of countenance, but readily answered that 
 lie was of the Montehhs of Salmon-net (de Salmon-net).,
 
 372 
 
 Richlieu acknowledged that he had not heard of that Population, 
 branch ; but admitted, with becoming candour, that not- '.' t ' .j* 
 withstanding his ignorance, it might be a very illustrious 
 family. He received Monteith imder his patronage, and 
 soon advanced him to be his secretary ; in which situation 
 he wrote and published some essays, which were admired 
 in that age as specimens of the remarkable purity of style 
 and facility of diction which a foreigner could attain in 
 the French language. 
 
 OF the population of this county, as of all the rest of 
 Scotland, three different enumerations have been made. 
 One was obtained in 1755 by the late Reverend Dr Web- 
 ster f the city of Edinburgh from the clergymen of the 
 different parishes throughout Scotland. A second was 
 obtained by Sir John Sinclair, Baronet, from the clergy- 
 men also, with a view towards the compilation of the Sta- 
 tistical Account of Scotland, between the years 1 790 and 
 1797. The third enumeration was made in 1801 under 
 the population act. The following is the. result of these! 
 enumerations.
 
 372 
 
 it55. 1-790-7. 
 
 1901. 
 
 Parishes. 
 
 'ersonq 
 
 ?ersotts. 
 
 Persons. 
 
 Occupations. 
 
 Total 
 of 
 Persons. 
 
 jf ' 
 
 
 
 * 
 
 Femaks. 
 
 Persons chief- 
 ly employed 
 
 in agriculture. 
 
 Persons em- 
 ployed in 
 trades 
 
 *! 
 
 a* 
 
 3s 
 
 Bbrthwick ..... 
 Balder, Mid .... 
 Ditto, West .... 
 Harrington or ") 
 Primrose . . J 
 
 9JO 
 1369 
 1294 
 
 555 
 
 <* 
 792 
 
 995 
 r 455 
 
 7*5 
 
 6n 
 
 1227 
 3110 
 989 
 
 312 
 
 557 
 209 
 
 4645 
 
 "57 
 
 2190 
 
 2793 
 '439 
 1199 
 890 
 
 93^ 
 1294 
 905 
 
 858 
 1251 
 1289 
 
 3*9 
 1123 
 
 J 395 
 
 1037 
 
 H85 
 
 839 
 
 900 
 
 1300 
 4366 
 910 
 
 37 2 
 
 385 
 300 
 
 539 2 
 
 812 
 3000 
 
 3457 
 1295 
 
 "35 
 
 1721 
 825 
 
 1400 
 593 
 
 407 
 486 
 55 8 
 
 198 
 
 807 
 653 
 
 35<* 
 687 
 
 4*J 
 419 
 
 536 
 1666 
 
 448 
 
 101 
 
 191 
 156 
 
 3'43 
 
 2t 4 
 
 524 
 1577 
 1629 
 615 
 497 
 747 
 45' 
 957 
 409 
 
 435 
 528 
 627 
 
 211 
 
 874 
 
 744 
 484 
 
 716 
 
 474 
 504 
 
 57$ 
 
 240, 
 555 
 
 133 
 
 199 
 164 
 
 346i 
 
 227 
 
 547 
 177. 
 1936 
 
 73 
 563 
 95* 
 53' 
 919 
 446 
 
 118 
 121 
 
 4'7 
 
 90 
 
 296 
 161 
 
 "5 
 
 668 
 
 84 
 94 
 
 244 
 
 22 
 
 54 
 29 
 
 138 
 50 
 
 533 
 
 3?o 
 
 337 
 
 724 
 
 '55 
 
 302 
 
 . 107 
 497 
 
 IOC 
 
 279 
 113 
 
 56 
 104 
 291 
 
 J 9 
 
 647 
 
 158 
 88 
 
 359 
 
 45 
 
 49 
 
 121, 
 
 914 
 
 6 7 
 
 22 
 
 ri 3 
 
 14 
 
 '743 
 
 5c 
 79 
 459 
 687 
 60 
 
 23 
 
 66c: 
 70 
 105 
 104 
 
 668 
 
 782 
 477 
 8 
 
 7$8 
 334 
 637 
 
 376 
 
 766 
 780 
 
 747 
 2970 
 880 
 
 183 
 
 '39 
 256 
 
 4328 
 
 21 
 
 655 
 2165 
 
 54 
 966 
 
 93 
 539 
 8.7 
 1492 
 638 
 
 842 
 1014 
 1185 
 
 409 
 
 1681 
 
 '397 
 
 840 
 
 143 
 895 
 923 
 
 I I 12 
 
 39 6 
 1003 
 
 234 
 
 39 
 
 3 2C 
 6604 
 
 441 
 1071 
 3348 
 3565 
 1328 
 IO6O 
 
 1705 
 987 
 1876 
 855 
 
 Collington 
 Corstorphine .... 
 Cramond, Edin- 1 
 burgh division J 
 
 
 
 Dalkeith 
 
 Duddingston 
 Fala, Edinburgh 1 
 division .... y 
 
 
 Inveresk and ") 
 Musselburgh 5 
 Kirkliston 
 
 lv irk new ton .... 
 
 
 
 
 
 Ratho 
 
 Stow 
 
 
 City of Edinburgh 
 Total 
 
 32616 
 
 57796 
 
 39397 
 83^58 
 
 18863 
 3536i 
 
 z*53' 
 
 47 J 99 
 
 6218 
 '540 
 
 7116 
 13920 
 
 23346 
 66910 
 
 4394 
 82560 
 
 90412 
 
 122655 
 
 54224 
 
 68730 
 
 7758 
 
 21036 
 
 90256 
 
 122954
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Fragments of the parishes of Cramond and Kirkliston Population, 
 are in Linlithgowshire or West Lothian ; and a part nf ' 
 the parish of Fala is in Haddington shire or East Lothian. 
 The population of the parts of these parishes belonging to 
 this county has been discriminated in the reports made out 
 under the population act ; but it was not thought neces- 
 sary to do so in the previous reports, which were merely 
 parochial, and did not relate to counties. But although a 
 part of the parish of Stow is in Selkirkshire, the entire 
 population of that parish is stated under this county in the 
 report made out unaer the population act. 
 
 Many of the most important branches of moral science Value of in 
 -:are still in their infancy; and in particular the principles 
 are yet very defectively understood upon which the pros- 
 perity of nations depends. Even the circumstances which 
 give rise to an augmentation or diminution in the popula- 
 tion of a country are ill understood ; and much less has 
 the connection been yet sufficiently perceived between po- 
 pulation and national prosperity. It is possible for a 
 people to be numerous, and yet to be poor and ignorant, 
 as we understand to be the case with regard to a conside- 
 rable portion of Ireland, and of many parts of tl>e conti- 
 nent of Europe. It is also possible for a nation to be nu- 
 merous, and yet, like the Chinese, to be extremely weak, 
 and unfit to defend their prosperity against a vigorous ag- 
 gresion. It is likewise possible for a state to send out 
 annually a large proportion of its youth for the purpose 
 of extending its empire in unfriendly climates, from which 
 few of them indeed can be expected to return to deposit 
 their ashes in their native land ; and yet the same state 
 may be all the while augmenting with considerable rapi- 
 dity its population at home. This has actually, in a con- 
 siderable degree, been the case with the British islands. 
 During the last half of the late century, independent of
 
 374 MIDLOTHIAN". 
 
 Population, {he destruction occasioned by sanguinary wart, and of thef 
 u y ~- numbers lo*>t by voluntary emigration to North America, 
 the population of Britain has suffered a severe and con- 
 stant drain for the purpose of extending and maintaining 
 the cultivation of the West India islands, and to acquire 
 and maintain our empire over Hindostan ; yet during all 
 that time, instead of the population of the British islands 
 being diminished, or their strength injured, as was feared 
 by some politicians, the people have been becoming more 
 numerous at home ; while, at the same time, the riches 
 which have been derived from our foreign possessions, 
 and which ultimately centre in this country, together with 
 the increasing skill which has been acquired in agricul- 
 ture, and in every other art, have enabled every class of 
 persons to live in a style of far superior comfort and lux- 
 ury to that which was known to their ancestors. It ap- 
 pears that, like every other commodity, men and womea 
 increase in a country in proportion to the demand that ex- 
 ists for them. The productive powers of nature in this 
 respect are almost unbounded ; and it is now evident, that 
 the way to obtain a numerous population in any country 
 is precisely the same with that which ought to be adopted 
 for producing abundance of corn, or of any other article 
 created by human industry. Procure a good market, or 
 facility of disposing to advantage of the commodity, and 
 at will not fail to abound. Permit a free exportation, or, 
 in other words, shew to parents that there is little difficul- 
 ty in providing for their children, and there is no doubt that 
 .*he country will overflow with people. Here we cannot 
 avoid noticing the strange inconsistency, on a late occa- 
 sion, and short-sightedness of the British legislature upon 
 this subject. It encourages, and even gives a bounty, in 
 certain cases, for the exportation of grain, for the purpose 
 f encouraging agriculture j while at the same time, with^
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 31:5 
 
 in these two years, it has passed an act, restraining very Population, 
 severely the number of passengers to be received on board ___y j 
 ships, with the view of rendering emigration extremely 
 difficult. The effect of this last statute can only be to 
 discourage marriages, and thereby to injure the sources 
 of population at home. Scotland has at all times been 
 accustomed to pour forth myriads of its youth into fo- 
 reign countries ; yet the very frugal mode of subsistence 
 which long prevailed, 1 * and in the remoter districts still 
 prevails, in this country, completely demonstrates, that 
 at least a sufficient number remain at home to consume all 
 that the country produces, or ever produced. Indeed the 
 poverty of the common people, and the cheapness of their 
 wages, when compared with their good education, is a 
 proof that they were at all times sufficiently numerous. 
 
 As it appears, therefore, that this important subject is 
 not yet in all its parts completely understood, it seems pro- 
 per here to notice, as minutely as possible, the causes of 
 the alteration which has occurred in the population of 
 particular districts or parishes. To avoid prolixity, how- 
 ever, we shall only do so in this and some particular dis- 
 tricts, which may serve as a sufficient example of the ge- 
 neral progress of the country. 
 
 In the parish of Borthwick, the population has declined Borthwick. 
 during the last fifty years. The reason is sufficiently 
 obvious : It is an agricultural district, into which no ma- 
 nufactures have been introduced. In such situations, how- 
 ever, the population has necessarily decreased. By the 
 improvement of the agriculture of the country, the soil is 
 more completely subdued, or better cleaned and pulveri- 
 sed than formerly. Less labour, therefore, both of men 
 and cattle, is necessary for the management of it. The 
 plough is now an instrument conducted by one man and 
 two horses ; whereas formerly four horses, at least, toge*
 
 376 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Population, ther with two men, were necessary for the same purpose, 
 w v ' By the accumulation of capital, also, in the hands of farm- 
 ers, one of them is now enabled to occupy three or four 
 times as much land as was done by his predecessors ; and 
 thus there are fewer families of farmers left in the coun- 
 try. The improvement of the roads, and the universal 
 use of wheel-carriages, is also a cause of depopulation to 
 the country ; because all the fruits of the earth are now 
 carried to market by less expence of human labour than 
 formerly. 
 
 Thus we see that the improvement of agriculture, and 
 of the mode of conducting the different sorts of labour con- 
 nected with it, has a tendency to diminish the population 
 of the country, and to send the superfluous inhabitants to 
 towns in search of employment. At the same time, after 
 9.11, the diminution of the population in this parish is not 
 great. The soil of Midlothian, by superior cultivation, 
 now produces, in the opinion of the most skilful persons, 
 nearly three times the quantity of food for men and cattle 
 that it did in the year 1740 ; and it appears, that where 
 there is abundance of food, men and women will contrive to 
 . exist and to get a share of it. Here the average number of 
 annual marriages, in the parish alluded to, is 8, of baptisms 
 20, and of burials 1 5 ; but the people here, as well as else- 
 where, are apt to neglect the registration of baptisms, and 
 the burials are not always of persons residing in the pa- 
 rish, because many persons endeavour to bury their kin- 
 dred in the parish in which they were b,orn. As a simi- 
 lar interchange takes place in almost all parishes, this cir- 
 cumstance is noway hostile to calculation. The propor- 
 tion of persons to each family is about 4 or 4f . 
 Midcalder. In Midcalder, the population is represented as having 
 so much increased, that there seems reason to suspect tha$ 
 the enumeration was incorrect in 1755. It is said to havq.
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 311 
 
 been upon the decline during the last 30 years, from the Population 
 cause already mentioned, that of an improving agriculture, - - T - i* 
 and the extension of farms. Previous to that period, the 
 population may have been upon the increase, in conse- 
 quence of this being upon the great Glasgow road, and of 
 considerable quantities of waste land being at that time re- 
 duced under the plough, which now require little labour. 
 In three years there were in this parish 23 marriages, and 
 91 baptisms. 
 
 In the parish of West Calder, where the average num- Wc *t Cak 
 
 der. 
 ber of individuals to a family is 4 or 4 T V> the population 
 
 is upon the decline j because no manufactures are esta- 
 blished, and the improvement pf agriculture has not tend- 
 ed to augment the population. The same remark maybe 
 made, and for the same reason, with regard to Carrington 
 or Primrose, Cramond, Glencross, Kirknewton, New. 
 battle, Newton, Ratho, and Temple. In general, how- 
 ever, the case has been different, as will appear from in- 
 specting the table of population, In the parishes of Cur- 
 rie and of Collington, the Water of Leith, which runs 
 through them, may be considered as the cause of their 
 augmented population ; that is to say, the paper mills 
 established upon that stream of water have given employ- 
 ment to a great multitude of persons. The augmented 
 population of the parish of Pennycuick is explained in a 
 similar manner, from the establishment of the cotton work 
 there, and also of a paper mill. In general, along the 
 coal field upon the valley of the Esk, the population has 
 considerably increased ; at least in those parishes in which 
 eoal pits have been opened, and are carried on ; such as 
 Cockpen, Lasswade, Liberton, and Inveresk. 
 
 In the parish of Carrington, the average of births re- Carrinrton. 
 orded from 1152 to 1762 was 16.5 ; from 1762 to 1772, 
 12.5; from 1712 to 1782, 11.5 ; from 1782 to 1792,
 
 MtDLOTHIAV. 
 
 Population, 9. e. Th e number of families in 1792 was 85. There 
 >.... v ,,, were then in the parish nine farmers, one smith, one 
 wright, two weavers, three tailors, one shoe-maker, one 
 gardener, one small inn-keeper. The bulk of the rest of 
 the people were farmers servants and labourers. 
 Cbckpen. In the parish of Cockpen, the population of 1123 form- 
 ed 288 families in 1790. The annual average of bap- 
 tisms fpr seve.i years after 1741 was 25. Fora like pe- 
 Collington. riod after 1784, it was 30. In the parish of Collington, 
 the register of baptisms runs back with uncommon regu- 
 larity for 140 years, or to the year 1655. The register 
 of marriages commences at the same date ; and that of bu- 
 DrWalk- rials has been carefully kept from the year 1728. Upon 
 marks', these registers, the late Reverend Dr Walker, then mi- 
 nister of the parish, and professor of natural history in the 
 university of Edinburgh, made the following remarks in 
 1797 : Upon the register of baptisms he remarked, U#,That 
 during the above period of 140 years, there were 2447 
 male and 2268 female children baptized, which fixes the 
 number of males born, compared to that of females, at 
 12 to 11 yearly. 2d, That in some particular years, the 
 births of one sex greatly exceeded the other in number ; 
 but in the following, or in a few subsequent years, both 
 sexes return to their ordinary proportion. Notwithstand- 
 ing many temporary irregularities, the balance at last is 
 preserved upon the par ; yet this is but one among a thou- 
 sand instances of an immediate, unremitting, superintend- 
 ing influence, directed by unlimited power and wisdom. 
 3d, That there are some years in which the inhabitants 
 are remarkably prolific, compared to what they ate* in 
 others. The number Children born in one year is 
 sometimes nearly double that in the preceding or subse- 
 quent year, while the number of inhabitants must have.
 
 ,319 
 
 been nearly the same. 4tb, That the average number of Population, 
 births for 10 years part is 39, and the number of people .n v u 
 1395. This allows 37 persons for each birth. 5tl>, That 
 the average number of births being 39, and the number of 
 houses or families 313, each annual birth corresponds to 
 eight families. 
 
 And he farther remarks, 1st, That of 4715 children, 
 baptized in this parish, 94 were twins ; therefore one twin 
 child for 51 children baptized. 2d, That during 17 years, 
 including the seven dear years, there was no twin birth. 
 In one particular year, there were three such births. 3</, 
 That in the whole period, the male twin children were to 
 the female as 40 to 54. 4tb, That the number of males 
 prevailed in those years in which male twins were born ; 
 and that of the females in those years in which female 
 twins were born. 
 
 With regard to marriages he remarks, There has been 
 -an exact register of marriages kept in this parish from the 
 year 1655 to the present time. 
 
 From that register it appears, 1st, That during the pe- 
 riod mentioned, there are 1 395 marriages recorded; but 
 reckoning only one half of those marriages where only 
 one of the ^parties was a parishioner, the number would 
 amount but to 1060. 2d, That from the year 1655 to 
 1794 inclusive, the baptisms were 4715, and the mar- 
 riages 1060. During the last 10 years, the baptisms were 
 401, and the marriages 91. In both cases the marriages 
 were less than a fourth, but more than a fifth, compared 
 to the number of baptisms. 3d, That at present there is 
 only one marriage annually for 155 inhabitants. 
 
 Upon the register of burials for 49 years, he remarks, 
 1-rf, That the burials were 994 j during the last 10 years, 
 175. In the former period, the births had been 1696 ; in 
 <4he latter, 394. In both cases, the Ifcirths, ceinpared te the
 
 580 MIDLOTHIAN* 
 
 Population, Deaths, approach to the proportion of two to one ; form- 
 u y > ing a very striking account of the increase of the people in 
 this part of the country. 2d, That the number of stran- 
 gers from other parishes buried here amount at an average 
 to six persons annually, which is considerably more than 
 the number of parishioners buried in other places. 3d, 
 That of the 944 persons buried, 452, or nearly one half, 
 were children under 14 years of age. 4th, That there are 
 about 20 deaths annually, and above 60, perhaps 69, in- 
 habitants for each annual death. 5/, That in this, as 
 well as in all other registers of deaths, there are years 
 most remarkable for their health, and others for their 
 mortality. In some cases the causes of this great diffe- 
 rence are to be observed ; but in others they cannot be 
 discerned. 6tk, That near 70 years ago, and even about 
 50 and 40 years ago, the number of deaths was greater 
 than at present, though the number of people was cer- 
 tainly less. The lower ranks, which form the body of 
 the people, are now lodged, clothed, and fed, in a manner 
 more friendly to health than in these former times. 
 
 In the parish of Corstorphine, a population of 1037 is 
 divided into 250 families of 4f to each family. The 
 tradesmen, consisting of tailors, weavers, carpenters, ma- 
 sons, &c. amount to about 38, and their apprentices to 
 about seven in number ; but no manufactures exist. 
 'Cramond. I n tne parish of Cramond, the following Table exhibits 
 the proportion of births and burials in a century, 
 
 Baptisms. Burials. 
 
 Males. Females, Total. 
 
 from 1680 to 1699 . . . 557 515 1072 680 
 
 1700 to 17J9 . . . 543 509 1052 586 
 
 1720 to 1739 . . . 513 520 1033 674 
 
 1740 to 1759 . . . 511 451 962 480 
 
 1760 to 1779 ... 386 373 759 451 
 
 Total in a century . . . 2510 2368 4878 2871
 
 In the parish of Cranston, the following proportion of Population, 
 
 &C* 
 
 births has been stated. From 1715 to 1726, the males u v _j 
 that were born amounted to 112, and the females to 144;**** 
 total 256 : from 173Q to il50, the number of males was 
 106, and of males 111 ; total born 217 : and from 1779 
 to 1790, the males were 90, and the females 95 ; total 
 185. The annual average of male births, therefore, for 
 the space of 30 years, is somewhat more than 10, of fe- 
 male more than n, and of both nearly 22 yearly. This 
 statement suggests an important remark. In the parish of 
 Cranston, the population is increasing, yet we here find the 
 number of births diminishing. There is no reason to 
 doubt, however, that the above statements are perfectly- 
 correct. The actual state of the fact seems to be this, that 
 in the present times, in consequence of more expensive 
 modes of living, and of higher notions being now enter- 
 tained of what constitutes a competency, fewer persons en- 
 ter into the married state than formerly. On the other 
 hand, the persons who now enter into that state, being bet- 
 ter able to give proper care and nourishment to their chil- 
 dren, a greater proportion than formerly grow up to ma- 
 turity ; and thus the population continues to augment, 
 though the number of births decreases. 
 
 In the parish of Crichton, the annual average of births crichtj* 
 for 10 years preceding 1791 was 21, and that of marriages 
 was 10. The number of persons 
 
 Under 10 years was 211 
 
 Between 10 and 20 148 
 
 20 and 30 143 
 
 30 and 40 104 
 
 40 and 50 138 
 
 50 and 60 73 
 
 60 and 70 58 
 
 70 and SO 18 
 
 80 and 90 G 
 
 90 and 100 JF
 
 382 
 
 Population, 
 &c. 
 
 Dslkeith. 
 
 Budding- 
 fiton. 
 
 In Dalkeith, the annual .average of marriages, 
 and burials, is as follows: Marriages 32, births 134, bu- 
 rials 124 ; but the register of births, or rathe* of baptisms, 
 is supposed to be incomplete, as the dissenters are apt to 
 neglect registration. 
 
 In Duddingston, in the year 1794, when the total po- 
 pulation was 910, the number of births was 45. 
 Giencross. In the parish of Glencross, upon an average of eight 
 years previous to 1792, the births were 60, the marriages 
 22, and the burials 40 ; the number of inhabitants being 
 385 : 245 were unmarried. In Heriot the annual average 
 of marriages, births, and deaths, is said to be about four. 
 
 In the parish of Inveresk, including the town of Mus- 
 selburgh, the following list is given of births, marriagejy 
 and deaths, in seven years : 
 
 Baptisms. Marriages. Deaths* 
 
 1786 . . 
 
 . . 203 
 
 49 
 
 118 
 
 1787 . . 
 
 . . 157 
 
 34 
 
 126 
 
 1788 . . 
 
 ... 211 
 
 59 
 
 189 
 
 1789 . . 
 
 . . 195 
 
 48 
 
 121 
 
 1790 . . 
 
 . . 207 
 
 47 
 
 149 
 
 1791 . . 
 
 . . 144 
 
 37 
 
 209 
 
 1792 . . 
 
 . . 161 
 
 47 
 
 205 
 
 321 
 
 1117 
 
 Total 1278 
 Average 182^ 
 
 In'Kirknewton, the average of births is stated at 26, and 
 !,' &c ber * of deaths at 19. In the parish of Liberton, on an average 
 of 20 years preceding 1786, there were 130 baptized, 25 
 couples married, and 102 buried. For 20 years prece- 
 ding 1725, the annual average of baptisms was 117, of 
 marriages 20 couples, and of burials 106. In the parish 
 of Newbattle, the births, at an average of 10 years, are 
 dWSide.red as amounting annually to 28, the deaths to 32,
 
 lIIDLOTHIAlf. 
 
 and the marriages to 13 ; but the register of births is ac- Population, 
 counted imperfect. la the parish of Newton, the annual <,. v *j 
 average of baptisms, previous to 1793 for 10 years, was 
 43, and of marriages 10. 
 
 In Penny cuick, the annual average of baptisms for lOpennj* 
 years previous to 1713 was 27, of marriages 11. The cuic 
 average previous to 1753 of baptisms was 27 annually, of 
 deaths 26, and of marriages 11. Previous to 1793, the 
 baptisms amounted to 41, the marriages to 13, and the 
 deaths to 42. In Ratho, the annual average from 1st Ja- 
 nuary 1782 to 1st January 1792 was of marriages 6^, and 
 of births 23-^, or 65 in all of the former, and 237 of the 
 latter. In the parish of Temple, an average of baptisms, 
 marriages, and funerals, taken for 10 years immediately 
 preceding the year 1733, from the session record, the 
 average of baptisms in a year was 314: 
 Marriages ...... 64- 
 
 Funerals 
 
 Preceding the year 1794, the average of 10 years of bap- 
 tisms in a year was ....... 154- 
 
 Marriages ......... i-L 
 
 Funerals .......... 16 
 
 We have accounted it necessary to insert these state- 
 ments relative to the population of this county, on ac- 
 count of their importance towards the establishment of 
 correct principles in an important branch of political eco- 
 nomy, to which the notice of the public has of late been 
 peculiarly attracted by the celebrated essay on the prin- 
 ciple of population by Mr Malthus of the university of 
 Cambridge. The above details may not perhaps be ac- 
 counted sufficiently minute to form the basis of general 
 principles ; but, with the aid of other circumstances, they 
 will probably be regarded as of considerable importance.
 
 384 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Population* I n the Upper parts of Midlothian, near the hills, tile 
 * v frost frequently sets in early in the winter, and continues 
 late in the spring, though in that variable and unsteady 
 manner to which the whole island is more or less liable. 
 Diseases. Still, however, upon the whole, this territory appears to 
 be abundantly healthy, excepting in the case of the small 
 pox, and other diseases to which children are liable. Any 
 fatal epidemic malady is extremely rare, and seldom or 
 never spreads far. During the year which succeeded the 
 late scarcity, a fever destroyed a considerable number of 
 persons of the lower ranks, but chiefly of those residing 
 in towns and villages ; but almost nobody in easy circum- 
 stances suffered by it. The chief diseases to be met with 
 here are those which result from colds, caught in conse- 
 quence of the unsteadiness of the climate, and the severity 
 of the easterly winds during the' spring arid the month of 
 May. Coughs and other symptoms of cold, are apt to be- 
 come so universal as to give rise to a notion that what is 
 called the influenza prevails ; but they are only dangerous 
 to old and infirm people. 
 
 longevity. Instances of wonderful longevity have occurred in al- 
 most all parts of this county ; and with regard to persons 
 of a sound and vigorous constitution, and of sober man- 
 ners, human life is considered upon the whole as wonder- 
 fully secure till an advanced period ; that is> till three- 
 score and ten years, or from thence to 80 years of age; 
 In the parish of West Calder, in 1796, eight persons 
 were alive of from 80 to 90 years of age. In the parish 
 tof Ratho, which is rich and cultivated, and rather a level 
 district, many instances are said to have lately existed of 
 persons who lived to above 90 years of age. William 
 Ritchie, in that parish, lived to above 105 years ; and his 
 brother Adam, who resided in Fountainbridge, reached 
 IOC. The latter was twice married, and had 22 children,
 
 MIDLOTHIAN 1 . 385 
 
 of whom were born after he was QO years of age; and Longevity.^ 
 his wife had a good character. In the parish of Currie, 
 which is in the vicinity > or rather contains a part, of the 
 Pentland hills> instances of very singular longevity have 
 occurred. About the year 1792, died William Napier at 
 the advanced age of 113 ; and till within five or six years 
 of his death he followed his usual employment; Heremem* 
 bered distinctly the accession of Queen Anne> and some facts 
 which occurred at the time of the revolution in 1688. 
 William Ritchie, a farmer in that parish, incurred the 
 censure of the ecclesiastical tribunals for his irregular con- 
 nections with the other sex after he had attained the nine- 
 tieth year of his age. He lived upwards of 15 years 
 thereafter; and in this parish, a great part of which is 
 high and cold, several cotemporary inhabitants have ex- 
 ceeded the age of 90. In the parish of Borthwick, to live 
 upwards of 80 years, is said to be not accounted by any 
 means unusual, or beyond the ordinary endurance of hu- 
 man life ; and the age of 100 years has been reached by 
 different individuals. In the parish of Inveresk, which, 
 as already mentioned, is upon the sea-coast, it was obser- 
 ved by the clergyman in 1795, that there are always many 
 aged people ; and what is of more importance, they pre- 
 serve their vigour and faculties to the last. There are 
 and have been many fisherwomen past fourscore, who tra- 
 velled to Edinburgh with their creels, and returned by 
 mid-day. Men of the same age are many of them not past 
 labour ; and there were, at the period above-mentioned, 
 a few persons living in this parish who, though approach- 
 ing to 90, were as stout and lively as some others at three- . 
 score. It is to be remarked, that the oldest person then 
 alive, a woman of 94, carried the creel in her youth, and 
 continued employed in spinning as her usual employment. 
 To understand correctly the state or condition of a peo- 
 VOL< I. B K
 
 33d MIBLOTHIAJF. 
 
 Poor, pie, few objects are of more importance than to know the 
 number of persons who are under the necessity of depend- 
 ing upon public charity for support, and what are the mea- 
 sures adopted for procuring funds for the relief of those 
 who labour under poverty. 
 
 In Scotland there long existed, in practice, nothing of 
 the nature of a compulsory poors rate. The poor were 
 indeed supported by the public ; but the funds from which 
 their relief was derived were almost entirely the result of 
 Pundsfor voluntary charity. In every parish a trifling tax is im- 
 P ose ^ u p on marriages, and another upon funerals by lend- 
 ing out a pall or mortcloth belonging to the parish ; but 
 the chief fund consists of a collection made at every church 
 door on Sunday ; and the money thus obtained is admi- 
 nistered by the minister and elders. These last consist 
 of respectable persons, selected without regard to rank or 
 wealth from the -community at large, and generally nomi- 
 nated by the clergyman of the parish, with the consent of 
 the former elders. From 4 many causes the collections at 
 the church doors have declined of late years. Formerly 
 fhe gentry resided more in the country, and less in toxvns, 
 than at present ; and at the same time it was customary 
 for the whole of them, without exception, regularly to it- 
 tend public worship, and consequently to make a weekly 
 contribution for the poor. At the same time a large pro- 
 portion of the people had not as yet deserted the establish- 
 ed presbyterian churches, or attached themselves to dis- 
 senters. Hence it was usual for the contributions at the 
 church doors, not only to be sufficient for the relief of the 
 ordinary poor, but the money thus collected in many pa- 
 rishes afforded a surplus, which was accumulated into a 
 capital, and laid out at interest for the same purpose. The 
 capital thus formed and augmented was preserved to en- 
 counter: times of extraordinary scarcity, when, the poor
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 387 
 
 might have occasion for unusual supplies. It is to be ob- Voor -_ 
 served, however, that the funds thus collected were at all 
 times very moderate. They were administered with ex- 
 treme frugality by the ministers and elders of the different 
 parishes ; and the poor were merely preserved, by means of 
 them, from absolute want. The effect of this system, combi- 
 ned with other circumstances, was undoubtedly very highly 
 advantageous to the character of the people. Public charity 
 was never withheld from those to whom it was absolutely 
 necessary. At the same time nobody looked forward to 
 it as a resource to which they could legally betake them- 
 selves.. As the acceptance of it implied a state of extreme 
 indigence, to which only the most scanty relief was given, 
 all persons of ordinary rank were led to provide anxiously 
 against the necessity of having recourse to it ; and thus a 
 spirit of frugality, industry, and decent pride, have been 
 maintained among the lowest class of the community. 
 
 There is much reason to fear, however, that something A P 00 
 
 . rate in dan- 
 
 m the nature of a poors rate is now gradually introducing ^er of be- 
 
 itself into this country. From the less regular attendance I c '^ IDtr u " 
 of wealthy persons upon the parish churches, from the 
 non-residence in the country of great proprietors of land, 
 and from the number of dissenting meetings, the contribu- 
 tions at the church doors have diminished ; and it has 
 been found necessary to have recourse to compulsory as- 
 sessments, made by proprietors of land, called in Scotland 
 heritors. The money is payable, one half by the owners, 
 and the other half by the possessors of property. These 
 assessments, in cases of necessity, the law of this country 
 requires to be made, and thus in fact authorises poors 
 rates ; but the law was long allowed to sleep. During- 
 the late years of scarcity, vast numbers of persons, who 
 never formerly had recourse to such aid, were reduced to 
 the necessity of accepting relief from the public. Extraor- 
 
 Bb2
 
 3 '' flr '.,_. Binary assessments for this purpose were made in almost 
 every parish ; and the courts of law, under the authority 
 of the old Scottish statutes, have sustained these assess- 
 ments as valid and binding. From the diminution of the 
 collections, therefore, at the churches, together with the 
 necessity of accepting public charity in consequence of the 
 late dearth, there is great reason to fear, that unless much 
 precaution is used, the Scots may gradually at once degrade 
 the character of their common people, and encumber the 
 property of the country with a poors rate, similar to that of 
 which so many complaints have been justly made in Eng- 
 land. At the same time it must be remarked, that the evil as 
 yet exists chiefly in speculation, and is only in its infancy. 
 As we have the example before our eyes of the inconve- 
 niences resulting from great compulsory contributions for 
 the poor, which never ultimately diminish in a country 
 either poverty or misery, it is probable that we may de- 
 rive benefit upon this subject from the experience of others. 
 The probability that this warning will have effect, is ren- 
 dered stronger from the consideration that it is addressed 
 to the passion of avarice, which is usually abundantly 
 quick-sighted in its own favour. In this case it has sound 
 policy on its side. After a poors rate is once established, 
 it can scarcely be abolished without the production of 
 much misery, and perhaps injustice ; but it is an evil 
 which in ordinary times at least is easily avoided. 
 s for Of late years, in all parts of the country of Scotland, the 
 F ; " common people have adopted the salutary plan of crea- 
 ting institutions for their own relief, in case of incapacity 
 for labour in consequence of sickness or old age. These 
 consist of clubs or societies, the members of which con- 
 tribute weekly or monthly a certain sum, which is thrown 
 into a common fund, and laid out at interest by certain of- 
 fice-bearers appointed by the society. These societies are
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 389 
 
 sanctioned by an act of parliament, on condition that their ( P or - 
 regulations be submitted to the revisal of the justices of 
 peace for the county in which the society is situated, and 
 receive their approbation at the quarter sessions. Of these 
 societies, which may be considered as incorporated bodies, 
 seeing they enjoy perpetual succession by law, and hold 
 property, and can sue and be sued, a considerable num- 
 ber exist in different parts of the county of Midlothian. 
 Their rules or bye-laws usually fix the weekly subsist- 
 ence to be allowed to a sick or aged member. They 
 also fix the sum to be paid towards the expence of his fu- 
 neral, and an allowance to his widow if he leave one. 
 These allowances are no doubt very moderate, suitable to 
 the rank of the parties, and the contributions the members 
 of such societies can afford to make ; but they are usually 
 equal to what would have been received from parish cha- 
 rity : and relief thus obtained in no way diminishes the 
 honest pride of the persons who receive it j because they 
 consider themselves as only receiving back their own mo- 
 ney, which they fairly earned in their better days, and which 
 they had intentionally deposited as a fund to be restored { 
 to them when they should have occasion for it. These so- 
 cieties also are useful in promoting good morals in a di- 
 rect manner. One of their articles usually is, that any 
 member who disgraces himself by a profligate life, or by 
 any gross offence against the law of the country, shall for- 
 feit all future interest in the fluids of the society. 
 
 To give a correct idea of the extent of the relief which, R-i; e f 
 by the practice of Scotland, is afforded to the indigent fjj 1 ^^ 
 poor, we shall here take notice of some of the statements different 
 given by the parochial clergy upon the subject between 
 ihe years 1191 and 1T97. In the parish of Cramond, it 
 %vas stated, that the parochial funds amounted to about 
 L. 1220, yielding an annuajrent of above L.5G. The coU
 
 390 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Poor, lection at the church doors came to about L. 39, and the 
 profits of the mortcloths to about L, 7 annually, making a 
 total yearly income of above L. 102. With this sum, 41 
 ordinary and 16 extraordinary poor were supported, and 
 relieved according to their several necessities ; after which 
 there commonly remained a small surplus at the end of 
 each year to augment the capital fund. This is stated 
 from the average of the receipts and disbursements for 10 
 years previous to 1791. When the sacrament of the 
 Lord's supper is administered, which in country parishes 
 is usually once each year in Scotland, a larger collec- 
 tion than on other Sundays is received. The sum at 
 Cramond is stated to amount at an average to L.6, 4s. 
 annually ; a trifling sum compared with the produce 
 3t the communion 1690, L. 20, 5s.; and 1691, L. 23, 
 15s. Such was the superiority of the pious charity of 
 our forefathers on such occasions to that displayed in the 
 present times. Towards the end of the last, and begin- 
 ning of the present century, the annual contributions were 
 much the same as at present, while the average number of 
 ordinary poor is now more than doubled, 
 
 In the year 1160, the parish of Ratho had no money at 
 interest for about 30 years. Thereafter, however, L. 70 
 annually was collected at the church door, chiefly in con- 
 sequence of the attendance of the late Earl of Lauderdale, 
 who gave a guinea every week. The sum of L. 70 per 
 annum was, considered as a sufficient fund for pensions to 
 40 indigent persons. In addition to this there was a vo- 
 luntary contribution of nearly L. 50 in the year 1782, 
 which was a year of scarcity. After the death of the Earl 
 of Lauderdale, it was necessary to have recourse to paro- 
 chial assessments ; but the same moderation was conti- 
 nued in the relief afforded to the poor, who received *
 
 KiDLOTHIAST* SfJ 
 
 monthly pension of from 2s. 6d. to ds. in proportion to p o r - 
 their exigencies. 
 
 In the parish of West Calder, the number receiving cha- 
 rity, at the period above 'mentioned, is stated at from 10 
 to 15 ; whose allowance at an average was about 3s. per 
 month each. The parochial tax upon marriages is 2s. 6d. 
 *nd the collection at the church doors about L. 10 per an- 
 num. Here the parish in former times was able to accu- 
 mulate L. 100. 
 
 In the parish of Kirknewton, the number of poor re- 
 gularly receiving charity is stated at 12, and their provi- 
 sion at from 2s. to 4s. per month. 
 
 In the parish of Currie, the poor are stated at 28 or 
 29 ; and a capital of L. 506 "Sterling had at a former pe- 
 riod been accumulated for their support, in consequence 
 of two incumbents in succession having been uncommonly 
 popular preachers, which enabled them to assemble great 
 audiences from the neighbouring parishes ; by which means 
 the collections at the church doors were unusually increa- 
 sed. 
 
 In Duddingston, in the immediate vicinity of the capi- 
 tal, the poor, 27 in number, received an aid of from 2s. 
 to 4s. per month each; and this pension was forfeit- 
 ed by their becoming beggars. In the parish of Liber- 
 ton, which is immediately adjoining to the former, the 
 usual funds for the poor have amounted for many years 
 to the following sums : The collections at the church 
 doors have amounted at a medium to L. 42 per annum; the 
 revenue from the mortcloths to L.22 ; some rents of seats 
 in the church, and of property purchased in former times, 
 with funds belonging to the poor, to L. 21 : 7 : 4 : a- 
 mounting in all to L. 85 : 7 : 4 ; the whole of which sum 
 was annually expended. Besides this, however, a sum 
 of L. 40 is annually distributed at Christmas to the poor
 
 02 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 P ot< - of this parish. It is the produce of a sum of money en- 
 trusted for that purpose to the magistrates of Edinburgh 
 by Commodore Alexander Horn, a native of this parish. 
 An additional sum of L. 5, the produce of another legacy, 
 is also distributed annually. Sir James Stewart of Good- 
 trees, formerly his Majesty's advocate for Scotland, be- 
 queathed in 1713 a legacy to the poor of this parish. It- 
 was long suffered to accumulate ; but at last, in the season 
 of scarcity of 1783, it was spent in the support of the 
 poor. 
 
 In Penny cuick, the poor, amounting to. 28 or more in, 
 number, have been in ordinary years supported by funds 
 amounting to little more than L. 28. In Lasswade, about 
 50 poor persons have usually received an allowance of 
 from 2s. to 4s. per month ; besides, others receive occa- 
 sional support. This parish is connected with several of 
 the voluntary associations already mentioned. In New-. 
 battle, 20 persons at a medium receive each from 2s. to 
 2s. 6d. monthly. 
 
 -W fa. In the populous village of Dalkeith, there has long been 
 houses. a charity workhouse, in which there have been at diffe-. 
 rent times from 24 to "upwards of 40 persons ; besides 
 whom 16 or 18 have usually been out-pensioners in sum- 
 mer, and a greater number in winter. As usual, the sup- 
 port of the poor in a workhouse is found more expensive 
 than when they only receive pensions in aid of their own 
 industry. In the populous parish of Inveresk, which, as 
 already mentioned, includes Musselburgh and Fisherrow, 
 the number of poor amounts to about 110, who are sup- 
 ported by pensions at the expence of about L. 215. An at- 
 tempt was made in this parish to support the poor by means 
 of a workhouse, which was erected at a considerable ex- 
 pence by the proprietors and principal inhabitants, and was 
 ready for the reception of the poor at Whitsunday 1752. 
 $r Carlyle has given^ the following account of it i " The-
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 393 
 
 best rules of management that could be devised or collect- Poor, 
 ed were ordained ; and the house went on for many years 
 to the comfort of the poor, and the satisfaction of all con- 
 cerned. An additional expence, as was expected, be- 
 sides the building, was incurred for the maintenance of 
 the poor ; and an assessment was laid on the heritors that 
 year for the first time. The object then being, not the 
 most parsimonious plan of provision for the poor, but their 
 comfortable subsistence, and the preservation of the young 
 among them from idleness and profligacy, the arguments 
 arising from the danger, by means of such institutions, of 
 crazing the sense of shame of dependence on the poors 
 funds from the minds of the indigent, or of blunting the 
 feelings of compassion in the hearts of their relations, did 
 not occur ; or if they had, would have been considered as 
 the suggestions of avarice, in no respect applicable to the 
 state of this parish. The assessment was continued ; and 
 as the towns were populous, it was thought no more than 
 justice that they should contribute their share. They were 
 accordingly assessed of a certain sum by the annual meet- 
 ing of heritors and elders, which was proportioned among 
 them by a large committee of the inhabitants, appointed 
 by the meeting. By this means, those who frequented 
 any of the meeting-houses, or absconded altogether from 
 public worship, were made to contribute their share, as 
 well as those who regularly attended the established 
 ehurch, and paid both by their collections and by assess- 
 ment . 
 
 " At the end of 30 years, many difficulties having oc- 
 curred from the backwardness of some to pay their as- 
 sessments, and a constant intrigue among the inhabitants 
 about furnishing necessaries, or employing the poor, the 
 most disinterested among the managers became heartily 
 tired of the business. Add to this, that the house and fur-
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 p<)0r - nirure came now to need a thorough repair, which coulS 
 not have cost less than L. 300 Sterling ; all which, toge- 
 ther with an opinion that the poor could be maintained 
 cheaper in their own houses than the poor-house, induced 
 the heritors and all concerned, after two years deliberation, 
 to sell the house, and add the price to the poors funds ; 
 which was accordingly done in the year 1781." 
 
 In Borthwick, about 18 pocr have been supported at 
 the expence of about L. 30 per annum, collected by the 
 usual means of mortcloths and contributions at the church 
 doors. In Carrington, the poor usually amount to about 
 12 in number, receiving from 2s. to 4s. Gd.per month. 
 In the parish of Heriot, which is chiefly a moorland dis- 
 trict, there have seldom been any poor. In Stow, the 
 poor usually amount to between 25 and 30. 
 
 What has been here stated will be sufficient to afford to 
 the curious or enlightened reader sufficient principles upon 
 which to understand the relative proportion in this county 
 tetween the population and the number of poor, and even 
 concerning the propriety of relieving the latter by out- 
 pensions in preference to hospitals. It is to be observed, 
 that, with a single exception or two, it has been found ne- 
 cessary in all the parishes to have recourse, in a less or 
 greater degree, to assessments for the purpose of support- 
 ing the ordinary poor. In the scarce years of 1800 and 
 1801, these assessments were rendered more heavy than 
 they would otherwise have been, in consequence of a re- 
 solution very generally adopted by men of property to 
 prefer a temporary payment in this form to allowing that 
 enormous rise of wages which must otherwise have taken 
 place, and which might not afterwards have been easily 
 got quit of. Such assessments, as already mentioned, are 
 imposed by the proprietors of each parish ; but the Scot-, 
 tish statutes authorise them to impose one half of the bur-
 
 MIDLOTHIAN 1 . 995. 
 
 den upon the inhabitants who have no real property ; they Poo*"- 
 themselves paying the other half of the sum which they 
 have fixed upon as necessary or reasonable. 
 
 There is one point which is intimately connected with Wages of 
 the condition of the inferior orders of men, and conse- a 
 quently with the welfare of the greater part of the human 
 race, about which we consider it as impracticable to speak 
 with any tolerable degree of precision ; for which reason 
 we shall avoid making the attempt. The point to which 
 we allude relates to the price of labour. The great pro- 
 portion of mankind have no other fund of subsistence in 
 most countries than that which is derived from their per- 
 sonal exertions, under the form of hire for their services 
 to others. Accordingly, in proportion as this hire is li- 
 T>eral or otherwise, the situation of the great body of a 
 people will be comfortable or otherwise. In Scotland, it 
 may be remarked, that from time immemorial, the gene- 
 ral opinion of the country has fixed upon a certain. rate of 
 wages which a labourer ought to receive, and without 
 which he cannot properly support himself and a family. 
 It is understood that A labourer, while properly paid, ought 
 not to receive lessor clay than the price of a peck of oat- 
 meal, amounting in weight to S^ Ib. avoirdupois. Oatmeal 
 formed for ages the most important part of the food of the 
 Scottish peasantry ; and accordingly it was not unnatural 
 to estimate the rate of their subsistence according to the 
 price of that commodity. The hire of ordinary labour 
 does not to this day greatly differ from this standard. At 
 the same time it cannot fail to happen, in the neighbour- 
 hood of a great city, and wherever manufactures are esta- 
 blished, that great deviations from the established stand- 
 ard should occur. In Edinburgh, for example, in conse- 
 quence of numerous speculations in erecting buildings in
 
 396 MIDLOTHIAN, 
 
 Poor, the New Town, the demand for masons has at times bee 
 uncommonly great, and their wages proportionally rai- 
 sed. Thus during a late short interval of peace, when 
 oatmeal was below 1 s. 3d. per peck, "the wages of ordi- 
 nary masons were as high as L. 1, 1 s. or rather L. I, 5s. 
 per week. In general, here as well as elsewhere, the la- 
 bour of those engaged in manufactures is better paid than 
 that of persons employed in agriculture. This last em- 
 ployment is not considered as requiring any special edu- 
 cation or apprenticeship, like the business of a tradesman, 
 which is better paid through life, because originally ac- 
 quired with more difficulty, and at a greater expence. 
 plothing. A more correct idea will perhaps be given of the situa- 
 tion of the lowest class of people, by taking notice of 
 the degree in which they enjoy the ordinary necessaries 
 and luxuries of life. In the remotest and poorest part of 
 the country, the tartan or red plaid, close cuffs with or 
 without elbows, gowns, petticoats, and stockings, of 
 home manufacture, which thirty or forty years ago con- 
 stituted the dress of women in the inferior conditions of 
 life, have gradually given way to clothes made of Eng- 
 lish cloths, and other approaches to an improved dress ; 
 and these, in their turn, are now yielding to the dress 
 cap, the silk bonnet, or beaver hat, printed or other cot- 
 ton gowns, white petticoats, white thread or cotton stock- 
 ings, and fine shoes or slippers. Formerly, the best 
 handkerchiefs for the neck were strong cambrics, but 
 now they are of fine muslin ; and sometimes there is an. 
 addition of a shawl of from five to seven shillings value. 
 With respect to the male labourers and mechanics in 
 the remotest districts, thirty years ago they wore a wool- 
 len bonnet on their heads ; they had a coat, waistcoat, 
 and breeches, of cloth which was manufactured in pri- 
 vate families; their stockings were spun and knit at home,,
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 t>r by some of their poorest neighbours ; and their shoes Sta * e of So * 
 
 ciety, &c. 
 were rather strong than neat. Now the whole of them wear - v . * 
 
 hats of different qualities, coats of English made cloth, stri- 
 ped or white waistcoats, corduroy or fustain breeches, fine 
 cotton or thread stockings, and slight neat shoes. In days 
 of labour, however, they are clothed in a way more suit- 
 able to their various engagements. 
 
 In some of the remoter districts, oatmeal made in to Food, 
 porridge, and thin hard cakes made of oatmeal, together 
 with milk, butter, and cheese, still constitute a consider- 
 able part of the food of the inferior classes of people, and 
 of such people in middling circumstances as are fond of ad- 
 hering to the frugality and simplicity of the ancient times. 
 Everywhere butchers meat is gradually coming very ge- 
 nerally into use ; and the practice of drinking tea is pro- 
 bably universal. In the neighbourhood of the capital 
 there is scarcely a ploughman's house, and no trades- 
 man's, in which it is not used. Within these fifteen years, 
 bread made of wheaten flour was rarely found in the 
 country, unless in the houses of gentlemen or wealthy 
 farmers ; but near Edinburgh it is now used by all ranks 
 of people j and it is gradually, in the remotest districts, 
 becoming a part of the ordinary food of the people. With 
 regard to persons in easy circumstances, their mode of li- 
 ving is everywhere precisely similar to that adopted in 
 Edinburgh. In every quarter of this county, all sorts of v 
 dwelling-houses are improving greatly in their character 
 and appearance. The most ordinary cottages are built of 
 stone and lime j they are usually covered with a thatch of 
 straw or turf. In the neighbourhood of Edinburgh, in 
 consequence of the vicinity of works for the manufacture 
 of bricks and tyles, the latter are sometimes employed for 
 covering the roofs of ordinary houses. A taste for neat- 
 ness also prevails in proportion to the degree in which OF-
 
 398 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 State of So-dinary houses have of late years been improved. The 
 ety, &c. J J 
 
 % -y - farmers, upon almost every estate, have houses suitable to 
 
 their affluent circumstances, and the accommodation which 
 a genteel family is in modern times understood to require. 
 .In general, it may be remarked, that this class of people 
 -in jthe Lothians live more liberally than any other. They 
 are not encumbered by costly equipages ; nor are they 
 embarrassed by debts, like many small or even great 
 numbers of large proprietors of land in Scotland. They 
 have at the same time all the advantages which a country 
 residence produces, in being enabled to rear, at a cheap 
 rate, poultry, and other articles of subsistence or luxury. 
 Hence, from these advantages, added to the profits result- 
 ing from their employment, many of them are enabled to 
 live in a style of very considerable elegance, and with less- 
 attention to minute economy than is seen amidst greater 
 -ostentation in the families of many country gentlemen. 
 
 With regard to the state of manners among the inhabi- 
 tants of this county, it is perhaps difficult to speak instruc- 
 tively, or with precision. In every age, mankind have 
 differed widely in their estimate of what constitutes, with 
 .regard to any particular class of persons, frugality or 
 improvidence, knowledge or ignorance, piety or profane- 
 ness, vice and virtue. What has in one age appeared 
 an impious disregard of religion, is apt to be consider- 
 ed in another as the ordinary and natural conduct of man- 
 kind ; and, about a century ago, our present modes of 
 life would undoubtedly have appeared immoderately ex- 
 travagant. It would have appeared a strange thing, that a 
 plougman's wife could not be clothed, or entertain heu 
 neighbour, without materials collected from the extre- 
 mities of the habitable globe, and brought together by 
 the efforts of an improved navigation. The characters of 
 vice and virtue, frugality and extravagance, may be per-
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 33* 
 
 msnent in their nature, but the external actions by which State 
 
 cicty,&c. 
 they are indicated alter in every age ; a circumstance * -y 
 
 which has brought a sort of ridicule upon the lectures of 
 those moralists or politicians who have inveighed against- 
 their countrymen as in a state of utter depravity, or pre- 
 dicted the fall of empires on account of practices which, at 
 a future period, have seemed unimportant or innocent. 
 The ancient character of the people of the south 
 Scotland is still in some degree to be found in the remote, 
 and especially in the south-western parts of this county, on 
 both sides of the Pentland hills. The following were, in 
 former times, the leading traits of their character : Every- 
 man had learned to read and write tolerably our na- 
 tive tongue } and every woman could read The books 
 which they chiefly perused consisted of history, but more 
 especially of polemical theology. The works of the Jew- 
 ish historian Josephus has always been a favourite book 
 among them, together with the histories of the reigns of the 
 royal family of Stuart, written by Cruikshank and others 
 of the whig party, the zealous enemies of that family, and 
 the enemies of popery, and even of what is called prelacy, 
 or the episcopal form of church government as established 
 in England, on account of its resemblance to popery. A 
 few also perused the works of our countryman Burnet, bi- 
 shop of Salisbury, whose writings have been decried by 
 Hume and the later historians,. for no other purpose that can 
 well be discerned, unless that they might be enabled to 
 copy largely from him without their plagiarism being de- 
 tected. In truth, he describes the characters of the distin- 
 guished men of his time with an animation and interest 
 that has no equal, excepting perhaps in the writings of 
 Plutarch. But Burnet was always distrusted by the com- 
 mon people of Scotland because he was a bishop*, and be- 
 cause he was not sufficiently zealous in- favour of the an-
 
 MIDLOTHIAN." 
 State of So- c j e nt covenanters. In theology, the writings of Boston/ z 
 
 ciety, &c. . . 5J 
 
 . y i > Scottish presbyterian clergyman, were much respected ; to- 
 gether with the sermons and writings of all zealous Cal- 
 vinistic divines. The controversial publications, also, 
 which have occurred at different periods between the dis- 
 senters and the established clergy, of between the former 
 among themselves, have been eagerly read. Religion has 
 at all times been a favourite subject of conversation among 
 the Scottish peasantry, and gives rise to obstinate disputa- 
 tions. Such, indeed, from the train of their reading,- re- 
 flection, and education, is their zeal upon the subject, that 
 it has been remarked, that government, or the constituted 
 authorities, never have any thing to fear from their dis- 
 content,- provided they are left to the quiet possession of 
 the two objects which they regard with great interest, viz. 
 iheir religion and their oatmeal. For these, it has been 
 said, that Scotchmen will always rise m arms, though, in 
 other respects, sufficiently pacific and submissive to autho- 
 rity. In consequence of their great regard for religion^ 
 and their considering it as forming an important part of 
 the business of life, besides attending regularly upon pub- 
 lic worship, every father of a family formerly considered 
 himself as bound to act as a priest in his own house, and 
 to perform, at least once each day, religious service, in 
 the form which our Scottish poet Bums has so interest- 
 ingly described in the poem entitled, " The Cottar's Sa- 
 turday Night." It was also customary, when any person 
 was sick, that any elderly neighbour or acquaintance who 
 happened to inquire for him, upon being desired to do so 
 (which was considered as a sort of compliment), said long 
 extemporary prayers at the bed-side in behalf of the dis- 
 tressed person and his family. These customs have been, 
 in a considerable degree, abandoned in the neighbourhood 
 of the capital (unless among dissenters), but they continue
 
 MlbLOTtflAN* 401 
 
 I 
 
 to exist in the remoter districts of the county in their an- State of So- 
 
 , . . , ciety, &c. 
 
 cient purity ; and in every quarter a less or greater degree t_^ j 
 of them is to be found. In their stead, the vices of a great 
 city have spread themselves in a degree that is to be re- 
 gretted in the vicinity of Edinburgh . The poor are al- 
 ways apt to be corrupted when they come into contact 
 with considerable numbers of rich persons ; even when 
 the latter act in a manner that exposes them to no re- 
 proach. In the neighbourhood of the city, young persons 
 are sometimes found who can neither read nor write, and 
 who imitate the vices of their superiors, without acqui- 
 ring any part of their intelligence. Their attachment to State of r- 
 religion is also less than it formerly was. Dissenters, in- sion 
 deed, abound in all quarters ; and in several situations one- 
 half of the community have clergymen of different deno- 
 minationsj elected by the majority of the hearers, and paid 
 by the congregation : But, even in these cases, religion 
 is very different from what it formerly was. The dis- 
 senters, who, before the middle of the late century, sepa- 
 rated themselves from the established church, were acute, 
 obstinate, and ingenious Calvinists, who discussed with 
 astonishing subtilty the most difficult questions about fore- 
 knowledge, free-will, the efficacy of faith and good works, 
 and the consistency with Scripture of the different forms 
 of church government. Their zeal was, like that of po- 
 litical or philosophical disputants > apt to become intolera- 
 bly acrimonious ; because, to charge them with error, was 
 to wound their self-applause, or the pride in which they 
 indulged with regard to their own intellectual sagacity. In 
 later times, there is less religious intolerance to be found ; 
 partly, no doubt, because there is less religion, but partly 
 also because there is less spiritual pride, or fewer preten- 
 sions to superior wisdom or acuteness upon such sub- 
 jects. Religion now consists, in a greater degree than 
 VOL. I. C c
 
 402 MIDLOTHIAN 
 
 State of So formerly, of pious sentiments, or devotional feelings 0>f 
 u y . hope and fear, veneration and gratitude, towards the Au- 
 hor of the universe. The subject is no longer studied bj 
 the common people as a speculative science, in which 
 they are to distinguish themselves by acuteness of reflec- 
 tion or pertinacity of disputation. Hence it happens that 
 they more easily change from one sect to another, because 
 they have little attachment to peculiar notions, which ap- 
 peared matters of weighty importance to their ancestors. 
 If dissent- It has been considered as a misfortune, because expen- 
 ing meet- s j ve ^ o fa e coun try, that there should be so many dissenting 
 eivl. clergymen established in it, and these too supported, in 
 
 many cases, by the poorest of the people : but upon this, as 
 well as upon many other points, it may well be doubted how 
 far the soundest maxims of political economy are as yet suf- 
 ficiently understood, and how far it may not be in some mea- 
 sure true, that " whatever is, is right." It is said that, in Si- 
 beria, men have no industry because they have no wants. 
 They slightly scratch faertile spot, and reap a sufficient crop. 
 The grain, that is accidentally shaken by the winds, suffi- 
 ciently sows the land for a succeeding crop ; and this hap- 
 pens several years in succession ; after which they have 
 recourse to a new spot. In the mean while, they remain 
 contented with the most miserable habitations, and food, 
 and cloathing ; and the soil does not produce one-tenth 
 of the produce it is capable of yielding. It is evident that, 
 were the Siberians to be instantaneously seized with an ar- 
 dent fondness for fine houses, costly furniture, and a luxu- 
 rious mode of living, their country Would suddenly change 
 its aspect ; they would labour hard to raise grain where- 
 with to hire artists to gratify their ruling passion ; and thus 
 their own intellectual faculties would be improved, toge- 
 ther with all the arts to which man owes his dominion 
 ever the creation. In like manner, in all countries, pro-
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 403 
 
 Vidlncr the energies of the human mind are called forth; it s tate of So- 
 
 ' .. , . . , !_ ciety, &c. 
 
 seems of little importance, either in a moral or in a politi- _ T j 
 
 cal light, by what passion this important object is ac- 
 complished. If a Scottish peasant labour industriously, 
 and recommend himself to the best employment, and to 
 high wages, the community is certainly not injured, though 
 his motive should be merely that of procuring money 
 wherewith to contribute towards the support of a dissent- 
 ing minister, to preach to him in the manner that is most 
 agreeable to his fancy. Nor does it appear that the com- 
 munity would, in most cases of this sort, derive benefit 
 from an alteration of the motives which render men active 
 and industrious, in as much as an individual is neither 
 less innocent, nor less useful, when he labours hard to 
 procure money wherewith to purchase the luxury of hear- 
 ing sermons, than when he labours to gratify his personal 
 vanity by purchasing fine clothes. The same principle 
 obtains with regard to other luxuries. If tea is now con- 
 sumed by the common people^ it is because they labour 
 more incessantly and more skilfully than in former times. 
 Half the number of men produce twice or three times 
 more grain from one hundred acres of land than was for- 
 merly done; The superfluous hands are employed in 
 manufacturing hardware and other goods^ which are ex- 
 changed in South America for gold and silver, which are 
 carried to China, and there bartered for tea. In other 
 words, the men, formerly occupied in awkward and use- 
 less labour, are now employed in the preparation of the 
 price of tea for the community. That they might be bet- 
 ter employed is perhaps possible ; but it is evident, at 
 least, that their change of employment can be no misfor- 
 tune to the community. 
 
 In this county, as over the whole of Scotland, there are 
 Iwo regular establishments in every parish for public 
 
 Cc 2
 
 404 MIDLOTHIAN", 
 
 Literature, instruction. These are, the parish schools and the der- 
 . . gy. The parish schools are established upon the same 
 
 school*. principle with the university of Edinburgh ; that is to 
 say, the schoolmaster receives a small salary from the 
 public, and, in other respects, depends for a subsistence 
 upon the fees paid to him by the parents of his scholars, 
 In all the parish schools the English language is taught, 
 together with writing and arithmetic j and in most of 
 them the principles of the Latin language are also taught. 
 As the teacher is. not allowed to raise his fees above a 
 fixed rate, which is very moderate,- the poorest peasants 
 have an opportunity of procuring education for their chil- 
 dren. So very moderate, indeed, has this rate of payment 
 been, that the editor of this Work was in his youth taught 
 the Latin language by a parish schoolmaser, who was a- 
 man of talents, and the brother-in-law of the celebrated 
 author of the Seasons, for the very moderate fee of is. 6d, 
 per quarter. 
 
 Taste for II- The effects of the institution of parish schools have 
 been extremely important. In consequence of the oppor- 
 tunity of giving education to their children which the law 
 aiForded to all classes of society, this opportunity was na- 
 turally seized with avidity by every well-disposed person. 
 Hence, during a very long, period, a sort of fashion has 
 been established in Scotland of paying respect to litera- 
 ture ; and a considerable degree of odium attaches itself,, 
 among the common people,, to the character of the mean- 
 est labourer or mechanic, whose sons should not have been 
 taught to read or write, and whose daughters should not 
 have been taught, at least, to read their own language. 
 Very frequently, where a parish schoolmaster happens to 
 be somewhat more accomplished than usual,, or more skil- 
 ful in his profession, it becomes a sort of fashion to give 
 the greater number of boys in a neighbourhood the rudi<-
 
 405 
 
 ieflts of a classical education ; one consequence of which Literature^ 
 is, that if the quarter of the country is poor, the young 
 men, being thus qualified to pursue Fortune in a better si- 
 tuation, or a more wealthy country, an almost universal 
 emigration never fails to take place ; and such a district 
 becomes a kind of breeding territory for men, as poor dis- 
 tricts usually are for other animals also. It is worthy of 
 notice, that, in the most barren districts of the south of 
 "Scotland, the people are very frequently by far the most 
 ^anxious about the education of their children, and seem to 
 be most ambitious to push them forward in life by means 
 of literature* In consequence of the cheapness of educa- 
 tion, one of the easiest ways in which a Scottish peasant 
 can make his son a gentleman consists of breeding him to 
 the church. As the livings are not sufficiently great to 
 attract to that profession the younger sons of the gentry, 
 the chances of success to a young man of low rank are suf- 
 ficiently flattering. Accordingly, it happens usually in the 
 moorland parishes, providing the means of education be 
 tolerable, that a far greater number of young men are edu- 
 cated for the church than in the more fertile districts j 
 and this sometimes in no less than a tenfold proportion. 
 
 It frequently happens, where the parish school is situa- 
 ted at a considerable distance from the residence of some 
 part of the inhabitants, that another school is set up and 
 supported by the inhabitants there who have children to 
 educate ; and sometimes a few farmers join together for 
 the purpose of procuring a teacher for their children. 
 
 When all this is considered, it will not appear surpri- Schoolspr*. 
 sing that Scotchmen abound in so remarkable a degree in ^ration. " 
 every part of the British empire, and in so many foreign 
 countries. As the whole children of the common people 
 receive a tolerable education, sufficient to qualify them 
 for occupying situations of some trust, all of them that
 
 406 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Litsrature. have any spirit or ambition are apt to forsake the place of 
 their nativity, and to fly to great towns at home, or to fo- 
 reign countries, in quest of fortune, leaving behind none 
 but the tamest spirits that are easily satisfied with their 
 condition. 
 
 Advantages An illiberal doubt has been sometimes entertained, how 
 ture. f ar a nation derives advantage from the general diffusion 
 
 of literature among the common people ; but the example 
 of Scotland has demonstrated, that the highest purity of 
 morals uniformly accompanies the greatest degree of in. 
 telligence. There is no doubt that, to the establishment 
 <of parish schoolmasters, it has been owing, that, at all 
 periods, crimes have in Scotland been so extremely rare. 
 In periods of political effervescence, which occur in a 
 nation once perhaps in a couple of centuries, the dif- 
 fusion of literature rapidly spreads an acquaintance with 
 whatever new notions are afloat in the world ; but it 
 also spreads, with equal rapidity, whatever can be stated 
 against their truth or practibility, and thereby prevents 
 their being rashly adopted. In all the ordinary occupa- 
 tions of life, also, an early education confers habits of 
 reflection. It shows that honesty is the best policy ; and 
 inspires a pride of spirit, which is the best guardian of 
 most mens integrity. It is true, that literature does not 
 always tame a disorderly spirit ; but, to a very late pe- 
 riod of life ? it renders reformation possible, and its result 
 valuable ; and renders the first follies, or even the vicer, 
 of youth not absolutely fatal. Hence it happens, that he 
 who in Scotland was a very foolish young man, after- 
 wards, in another country, is only distinguished by hi,s 
 soberness and successful industry. The celebrated Mar- 
 shal Keith, who was under the necessity of passing his 
 life in exile from Britain on account of the accession cxf 
 his family to the rebellion of ill 5, and who was so highly
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 407 
 
 distinguished as a skilful and gallant officer in the service Literature, 
 of Russia and Prussia, is said to have related the following 
 anecdote, which, in a striking manner, illustrates the wan- 
 dering temper of the Scots He was at one time sent to ne- 
 gociate some important affairs with a Turkish provincial 
 officer of high rank, and was received in the usual style 
 of eastern solemnity and magnificence, by which business 
 is always greatly embarrassed and rendered tedious. To 
 his no small surprise the Turk inquired what languages 
 he could speak ; and on learning that he understood the 
 French, which the Turk also understood, the latter pro. 
 posed to dismiss their interpreters and servants, as they 
 would in all probability more easily adjust their business 
 when undisturbed by the intervention of third parties. 
 The proposal was readily agreed to. The apartment was 
 no sooner cleared, than, to the utter astonishment of Mar- 
 shal Keith, the Turk, walking familiarly up to him, ad- 
 dressed him in broad Scotch, and asked him when he was 
 last at Aberdeen. " Weel, man, whan was ye last at A-. 
 berdeen ?"On an explanation, it was found that this Asi- 
 atic chief was no other than the son of a Scottish peasant, 
 
 who had seen Marshal Keith in Aberdeenshire, and who 
 
 > 
 
 after various wanderings in quest of fortune, had taken up 
 his residence in Turky, 
 
 And chang'd his gods for theirs, and so grew great.'* 
 
 By a statute lately passed, the salaries of the parish school'- Salaries of 
 masters in Scotland have been augmented upon a very ju- ^ rs aue-*" 
 dicious principle of permanency, or of rendering them less mented " 
 dependent than formerly upon the fluctuating value of mo- 
 ney. The salaries are fixed at from one chalder and a half 
 to two chalders of oatmeal. A chalder is sixteen bolls, 
 and a boll sixteen pecks. Four pecks contain 2688^ cubic 
 yiches j an English bushel contains 21 50f inches. The
 
 408 MIDLOTHIAN". 
 
 Literature. ^ salary is payable to the schoolmaster in money at a certain 
 rate per chalder ; and the court of exchequer in Scotland 
 is directed to take measures periodically for estimating the 
 medium price of oatmeal ; and according to that estimate 
 the schoolmasters are to be paid, One branch of the sta- 
 tute has met with some censure. The ecclesiastical church 
 courts, called presbyteries, of which schoolmasters are 
 not members, are authorised to take trial of all delinquen- 
 cies committed by schoolmasters in the execution of their 
 duty, with power to suspend or dismiss them from their 
 offices. No appeal from the sentence of the presbytery is 
 allowed, either to the civil courts, or to the superior ec- 
 clesiastical tribunals, the synod of the district, or the gene- 
 Objections ra j assembly of the church. Three complaints are made 
 to the sta- r 
 
 tute. against this arrangement. First, that it tends to create a 
 
 depression or degradation of character in this valuable 
 body, the schoolmasters, by making them dependent upon 
 a different body, the clergy j a class of men who, in all 
 ages and countries, have at times been liable to become 
 restless and ambitious, or lovers of power. Secondly, it 
 creates a multitude of territorial jurisdictions, which are 
 always an evil in a country, as being liable to adopt local 
 passions and prejudices. The jurisprudence of England 
 owes much of its value to this, that matters are so arran- 
 ged, that the judges of the supreme courts can decide all 
 causes, or at least review all decisions. Lastly, this sta- 
 tute is accused of violating that important principle to 
 which England owes so much, and towards which the 
 Scots ought to endeavour to approximate, that every man 
 ought to be tried by his peers. 
 
 Ecdeslasti- Concerning the ecclesiastical establishment of this comi- 
 cal state. tv not hing need here be said, as it is noway distinguished 
 from what occurs in other parts of the country. The po- 
 verty of the Scottis.li clergy has often been talked of as
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 409 
 
 remarkable, though with no propriety or reason. It is Church. m 
 true, that the emoluments of the best endowed parish 
 church in Scotland are very trifling, when compared with 
 the ample and princely revenues of the bishops of Dur- 
 ham, Winchester, or Canterbury. But this is only be- 
 cause the clergy of Scotland are upon a more equal foot- 
 ing among themselves than those of England. There isLivIngsof 
 little doubt that a thousand clergymen in Scotland, which theclergy< 
 is about the whole amount of their number, divide among 
 themselves a larger sum annually than is enjoyed by an 
 equal number of clergy in holy orders in England, taken 
 promiscuously from the whole body of churchmen. 
 Here there are no curates who, for a miserable pittance, 
 perform the whole duty, while a wealthy non-resident 
 clergyman enjoys the benefice. Every Scottish clergy- 
 man is not only bound by law to reside, but actually 
 does reside, within his parish. The livings in this part of 
 the country are very various ; but, in consequence of late 
 augmentations, they have been raised much above their 
 former amount. As a part of them in country parishes is 
 Usually payable in grain, they vary according to the mar- 
 ket price of that commodity. They are worth from about 
 L. 80 to L. 200, L. 300, or even L. 400 per annum, and, 
 in years of scarcity, some of them rise above this last 
 amount. 
 
 The duty of a Scottish clergyman consists of preaching Duties of 
 t-wice or three times every Sunday, of administering the crgy * 
 sacraments, of performing the marriage ceremony, of visit- 
 ing the sick who request his attendance, of once a year 
 at least making a visit at each family in his parish to ad- 
 minister religious counsel ; and, lastly, of annually cate- 
 chising such persons as choose to attend the diets appoint- 
 ed for that purpose. In great towns, the duties of visiting 
 and catechisinj are now in a great measure dropt ; bu
 
 410 MIDLOTHIAN. 
 
 Church* they are still retained in the country. It is to be obser* 
 ved, that Scottish clergymen are considered as paid by the 
 public for every part of the duty which they perform, and, 
 would account themselves degraded from the character of 
 gentlemen by receiving perquisites or payments from iri-r 
 dividuals for the performance of particular branches of 
 their office, as is said to be done by the inferior clergy of 
 England. 
 
 Besides the duties already mentioned, it is accounted 
 a part of the business of each clergyman in his own pa- 
 rish, along with the elders who have been selected by 
 himself or his predecessor, and hold their places for life, 
 to inquire into the situation of the poor, and to distribute 
 properly for their relief the collections made at the church 
 doors. The minister and elders also, holding ( a court un- 
 der the appellation of the kirk-session, exercise a sort of ju^. 
 risdiction in the case of certain offences against mora- 
 lity or decorum. The chief question that comes under 
 their cognizance relates to the illicit intercourse of the 
 sexes. They can inflict no civil penalties; but they re- 
 fuse to the parties admission to the sacraments of our reli- 
 gion, till they expiate the offence by submitting to be re- 
 buked before the congregation in the church upon Sun- 
 ^ a ^* This is called sitting upon tie stool of repentance. 
 The practice has long been relinquished in Edinburgh, 
 Musselburgh, and other towns ; and in some of the coun- 
 try parishes a fine to the poor has been substituted in its, 
 stead, but in others it is still practised. There is undoubt- 
 edly a wonderful degree of indelicacy attending it ; and, 
 unless from its connection with religion, it is inconceivable 
 how such a practice should have existed so long in a ci- 
 vilized country. There is no reason, however, for be- 
 lieving that there is any truth in what has often been, 
 said, that it induced women of low rank in this country
 
 
 I 1
 
 MIDLOTHIAN. 411 
 
 to be guilty of destroying the offspring of their unlawful Church. 
 amours ; as it does not appear that this crime was at any 
 period more frequent in Scotland than elsewhere, nor has 
 it been diminished in proportion to the disuse of the stool 
 of repentance. Indeed it is probable that this ceremony, , 
 by destroying all delicacy, had a tendency to render wo- 
 men of low rank very negligent in matters of this kind, 
 and thereby rather to augment the sin of incontinency, 
 which it was intended to restrain. 
 
 With regard to the character of the Scottish clergy, it is character 
 unnecessary here to make any remarks. Their literary 
 qualifications are secured by a longer course of study than 
 is necessary for any of the other learned professions, and 
 by strict examinations and trials, which take place before 
 different bodies of established clergymen. The purity of 
 their lives in general has certainly been equalled in few 
 countries, and "surpassed in none. Though some of them 
 have attained to high celebrity as men of letters ; yet this 
 is a difficult task, and ought seldom to be expected from 
 them, whatever their talents or qualifications may be, on 
 account of the laborious nature of their duties, and parti- 
 cularly on account of their being incessantly occupied in 
 the preparation of sermons for preaching weekly. Theiij 
 hearers consist often of a sort of connoisseurs in sermons, 
 and resent much any attempt to impose upon them an old. 
 for a new dicourse.
 
 ( 412 ) 
 
 EAST LOTHIAN. 
 
 Boundaries * HE county of East Lothian, or, as it is often called, 
 th<foountry Haddingtonshire, is situated on the east coast of Scotland 
 * v at the mouth of the Frith of Forth. It may be consider- 
 ed as in some degree peninsular, as it is bounded on two 
 sides by the sea. On the east, it has the German Ocean 
 as its boundary ; and on the north, the Frith of Forth se- 
 parates it from Fife. On the west, it has the county of 
 Edinburgh or Midlothian, to the extent of about 14 miles. 
 On the south, it touches Berwickshire, in a line somewha 
 irregular, extending to about 26 miles ; and in this direc- 
 tion, from east to west, it stretches to a greater extent than 
 in any other. Upon the German Ocean, from North Ber- 
 wick to the south-eastern border of the county, it scarcely 
 extends 15 miles, and it stretches to nearly an equal ex- 
 tent along the Frith of Forth. 
 
 This county, which, from the statement of its dimen- 
 sions now given, is of moderate extent, contains, however, 
 within itself a very great diversity of soil and climate, 
 jammer- The southern part of it consists of a range of lofty mount- 
 ains, of considerable breadth, in general covered with 
 heath, and fit only for the pasture of a small and hardy race 
 of sheep. These mountains formed in ancient times a 
 barrier for the defence of the county, and of the Scottish 
 capital, against the hostile invasions of the English, whose 
 armies usually advanced along the coast from Berwick by 
 D unbar towards Haddington and Edinburgh. Accord- 
 ingly this county and its vicinity was in ancient times the 
 scene of much warfare. At present it is the scene upon
 
 EAST LOTHIAlT* 413 
 
 which agricultural skill and industry have teen display- Face of the 
 
 country. 
 cd in a degree that has perhaps been exceeded in no part ' y t 
 
 of the British islands* The elevated tract or sheep-walk, 
 which constitutes the southern division of the county, over- 
 looks, towards the north and north-east, a fertile peninsula, 
 descending gradually towards the sea on the north and west, 
 and which in every part exhibits marks of the most suc- 
 cessful industry. The elevated territory, which occupies 
 the southern border of the county, recceives the appella- 
 tion of the Lammermoor hills, and forms a part or branch 
 of a great range which crosses the whole island. 
 
 General Roy, in his Military Antiquities, observes, that, 
 " advancing northward from the isthmus between Newcas- 
 tle and Carlisle, the ground rises gradually, and at last forms 
 a lofty range of mountains, which, beginning at Cheviot on 
 the east, runs quite across the island to Loch Ryan on the 
 west. The steep face of this range is from the north, par- 
 ticularly towards the east side of the island, where, for a 
 long way together, it makes the boundary between South 
 and North Britain. The middle and western parts of it 
 are all comprehended in Scotland. It is highest in the 
 centre of the island near the sources of the Tweed, the 
 Annan, the Clyde, and the Nith, where it is known by 
 the general name of the Lothers. 
 
 " From the middle of this lofty range, a smaller and 
 much less remarkable chain of hills branch off, which, 
 running eastward by Soutra and Lammermoor, end at St 
 Abb's head at the mouth of the Frith of Forth. The le- 
 vel country, watered by the Tweed and its branches, is 
 bounded by these hills on one side, and by the Cheviot 
 range on the other. 
 
 " Beyond or on the north of these united chains of hills, 
 the principal part of the Lowlands of Scotland are situa- 
 ted, extending quite across the island from sea to sea, and 
 
 4
 
 414 EAST 
 
 Face of the reaching as far as the Grampian mountains ; that 
 country. 
 w^ __ dous and seemingly impenetrable barrier, which, like a 
 
 mighty wall, stretches along the southern front of the 
 Highlands. 
 
 " Into this extensive plain the Friths of Forth and Clyde 
 indent themselves from opposite seas, thereby forming 
 that remarkable isthmus which is by far the narrowest 
 part of Britain ; a"hd along this neck of land the Romans 
 conducted their second wall." 
 
 As this county; from the foot of the Lammermoor hills 
 to the sea, is in general of a regular aspect, whatever hills 
 Or rising grounds it contains are extremely conspicuous. 
 The most rmarkable of these is North Berwick Law, 
 which, in a level country near the sea, suddenly rises td 
 the height of nearly 8<JO feet, and forms a remarkable ob- 
 ject at Edinburgh, and along the whole coasts of the Forth 
 on both sides. Besides this, and not less remarkable, are 
 the rocks of the Bass and Tamtallon, and Traprene or 
 Dumpenderlaw ; which will be afterwards mentioned as 
 the scene of singular events; 
 
 The only river of any importance, or which can deserve 
 that appellation, in East Lothian is the Tyne. It has al- 
 ' ready been noticed as taking its rise in Midlothian, or the 
 shire of Edinburgh, among the hills which form the 
 southern boundary of a great part of that county, ,as well 
 as of Haddingtonshire. It enters the county from the 
 west near Ormiston, and, advancing in an easterly or 
 north-easterly direction, passes Haddington, and falls into 
 the German Ocean below the village of Linton. It re- 
 ceives in its course a considerable number of small tribu- 
 tary streams, which descend towards it from Lammermoor 
 heights on the south. To the north of the Tyne, west 
 from Haddington, is a long ridge, called Gladsmoor, which 
 overlooks the Tyne on the south, and the Frith of Forth 
 
 6
 
 I ' " 
 
 EAST LOTHIAN". 413 
 
 on the north. From this ridge the country descends some- River. 
 what rapidly towards the sea-shore ; but from Hadding- 
 ton, eastward, the country is upon the whole level and 
 beautiful. The Tyne is in general a dull and slow-run- 
 ning river. Like the other Scottish streams, it produces 
 trout through its whole length. At the lower part of it, 
 near the village of Linton, it has a kind of rapid, or falls 
 over some broken rocks. Below these it proceeds along 
 a flat fertile territory to the sea ; and in this lowest part 
 of it salmon are taken. The Tyne, like all the streams 
 which descend from the heights of Lammermoor, has at 
 different periods been exposed to very sudden and violent 
 inundations. The sudden melting of snow, and heavy- 
 falls of rain upon these hills, frequently produce conside- 
 rable swellings or floods j but as these, on ordinary occa- 
 sions, produce little damage, they are not regarded : But par- 
 ticular instances of floods are recorded which have given no 
 small alarm to the neighbourhood, and have even been pro- 
 ductive of serious danger. The continuator of Fordun and 
 Buchanan mention one of these. On Christmas eve 1358, Flood In 
 there happened a most extraordinary inundation. The ri- I3i 
 vers, swollen by excessive rains, rose above their banks, and 
 swept away many villages, houses, and bridges, and many 
 persons lost their lives whilst endeavouring to save their 
 property. Not only cattle, but tall oaks and other large 
 trees were torn up by the roots, and carried off to the sea. 
 Sheaves of corn were carried off the adjacent fields ; from 
 whence it appears that the harvest that year must have 
 been remarkably late. The suburb of Haddington, call- 
 ed Nungate, was levelled to the ground. As it approach- 
 ed the abbey of Haddington, a certain nun snatched up the 
 -statue of the Virgin, and threatened to throw it into the 
 water, unless Mary protected her abbey from inundation.
 
 4.16 EAST 10THIAJT. 
 
 River. At that moment the river retired (says the continuator of 
 
 Fordun), and gradually subsided within its ancient limits. 
 Flood in The vear 1755 or 1756 was mar k e< j by a considerable 
 
 flood of the same river. In the month of June, when the 
 day was still and clear sunshine, not a drop of rain ha- 
 ving fallen either on that day or the preceding, a sea of 
 water came rolling along the plain through which the 
 Tyne runs, covering the adjacent fields with about three 
 feet deep of water. This flood was supposed to have pro- 
 ceeded from a water spout falling in the lofty grounds 
 near the sburce of the river. 
 
 On October 4th 1775, there happened another very ex* 
 traordinary inundation, which it has been supposed was 
 undoubtedly owing to the bursting of a water spout to 
 the southward, amongst the mountains of Lafnmermoor ; 
 for the day was not very rainy, and the inhabitants of the 
 country, a few miles to the northward, when told next day 
 what had happened, could hardly believe it, until, with their 
 own eyes, they beheld the dismal effects of the inundation. 
 The main branch of the river Tyne, which rises about 12 
 miles to the westward of Haddington, was not remarkably 
 increased: it was from the rivulet called Giffbrd water 
 that the immense flood poured into the river Tyne ; which 
 about two o'clock afternoon began suddenly to increase to 
 an uncommon height, and in less than an hour rose 1 7 feet 
 perpendicular above the ordinary bed of the river. It 
 continued in this state for several hours, and then gradu- 
 ally subsided. The mansion-house of Clerkington, and 
 the beautiful Chinese bridge over the river near the wool- 
 len manufactory, were immediately swept away. The 
 whole suburb called Nungate, and more than half the 
 town, were laid under water. The inhabitants were obli- 
 ged to abandon [their houses, and take sanctuary in the 
 fields. Had it happened in the night, many must have
 
 -EAST LOTHIAW. 417 
 
 perished ; but happily no lives were lost, though several Agriculture 
 of the aged and infirm were saved with great difficulty. On 
 the banks of Gifford water, by which the flood descend- 
 ed from Lammermoor, sufficient traces were left to mark 
 its course. A considerable number of trees were carried 
 off from Yester, belonging to the Marquis of Tweeddale ; 
 and most of the bridges upon that stream were destroyed, goii O f 
 
 Concerning the soil of the mountainous part, or south- Lamm er- 
 
 moor. 
 ern tract of this county, it is unnecessary to make many 
 
 remarks. From the centre of it, the waters descend to- 
 wards the Tweed on the south, and the Frith of Forth on 
 the north. It consists, in general, of elevated mountains, 
 not sharp or tapering, but ivith a broad surface. They 
 are intersected by various openings with small streams of 
 water, adjoining to which are some narrow stripes of ver- 
 dure, which are sometimes subjected to theplough, but with 
 little success, not on account of any defect in the soil, but 
 from the severity of the climate ; for in a very favourable 
 season, tolerable crops are produced ; but as they are late 
 in arriving at maturity, the frost is apt to set in, and to / 
 whiten the grain before it is ripe. Excepting these nar- 
 row stripes, which are only trifling exceptions, the whole 
 of Lammermoor is a sheep-walk, and is upon the whole 
 covered with heath. It is a breeding district ; and the 
 farmers sell annually as large a portion as possible of their 
 stock to the low country grasiers, who carry the sheep to 
 richer pastures, and fatten them for the butcher. 
 
 Smearing of sheep is a practice which universally pre- smearing 
 vails throughout all Lammermoor. A composition is shee P' 
 made of tar and butter or oil ; and this mixture is laid on 
 or spread over the whole body soon after the separation 
 of the fleece, or at the commencement of winter. It is 
 thought that this greatly contributes to preserve the ani- 
 mal from vermin ; to improve and even increase the quan- 
 VOL. I. D d
 
 41S EAST LOTHfAN. 
 
 Agriculture tlty of wool ; and to secure it firm to the body, so as td 
 hinder any part of it from falling off. This fact having 
 been controverted, some storemasters have made an expe- 
 riment of the effects that would be produced by omitting 
 this operation ; and, it is said, the result was, that the ani- 
 mal was more infested with vermin, more sickly and dis- 
 eased, and that the quantity of wool was much less than 
 if smearing had taken place. Whether this is owing to 
 the peculiar nature of the breed of sheep in these hills, 
 which are covered with fleeces loose, open, and shaking, 
 and not thick, close, and matted, or whether smearing is 
 advantageous to every sort of hill sheep, does not seem 
 to have hitherto been in this country fully determined. 
 Breed of The large English breed of white-faced sheep have also 
 been tried on these hills, but unsuccessfully. They have 
 only climbed the sides of the hills, but do not succeed on 
 the soil of the bleakest and highest moors. It was found 
 that the English sheep grew lean, meagre, and pined 
 away, and were neither calculated for the climate nor the 
 pasture. On the whole, it seems probable, that in this, as 
 in most other matters, innovation, with a view to im- 
 provement, is attended with great difficulties. After a 
 particular breed of sheep has, like the black-faced, active, 
 and restless kind, been for ages habituated to a territory, 
 it becomes a rash measure to dislodge them hastily for 
 any other breed, however valuable, or even to attempt 
 greatly to alter the habits which they have acquired. 
 Hence, iu all probability, has arisen the want of success 
 which has attended every attempt to introduce a larger 
 breed of sheep, reared on better pastures, to these bleak 
 hills, which are exposed to the easterly and northerly 
 winds coming from the German Ocean ; and hence also 
 arises the difficulty of putting an end to the practice 
 of smearing. The sheep, being once accustomed to the
 
 EAST LOTHIAtf. 419 
 
 warm and close covering which this operation produ- Agriculture 
 ces, it becomes necessary to the health and safety of the 
 constitution of the animal ; and as habits become heredi- 
 tary, the practice cannot safely be abandoned with regard 
 to the young. The best, and certainly the safest, mode of 
 improving a race of animals under such circumstance, sun- 
 doubtedly consists, not of introducing strangers of a dif- 
 ferent race, unsuited to the climate and soil, but of select- 
 ing the most valuable individuals of the ancient stock, and 
 of endeavouring, from these, and from the most select of 
 their race, to procure a constantly improving breed, till 
 it shall reach the highest perfection of which the situation 
 admits. It was in this way that Bakewell, and other ce- 
 lebrated improvers of sheep and cattle, obtained the kinds 
 of stock which are now so justly valued in situations simi- 
 lar to those in which their improvements were underta- 
 ken ; and this example may, without doubt, be successfully 
 followed with regard to every species of animals in every 
 variety of climate and of territory. The only objection to 
 this mode of improving a breed of sheep, or of any other 
 animal, is, that it requires a considerable length of time and 
 much perseverance, while the prospect of profit is very 
 distant ; and in an enterprising age, remote benefits are 
 apt to be undervalued. It is only by some sacrifice of 
 time, however, that changes in the constitution of animals 
 can be accomplished. If the ancient practice of smear- 
 ing sheep is to be suddenly relinquished in a high and ex- 
 posed territory like that of Lammermoor, it can only be 
 safely undertaken, by discovering and bringing thither a 
 race of sheep which have never been accustomed to it, 
 and which have at the same time been produced in a like 
 unhospitable climate. 
 
 The cultivated territory of East Lothian, from Lammer- 
 jnoor hills to the sea, affords a distinguished example of 
 
 Dd 2
 
 420 EAST LOTHIAN", 
 
 Agriculture the dominion which well exerted industry enables man to 
 General soil acquire over the surface of the globe. East Lothian can 
 mate. * ^y no means ^ e justly considered as very highly favoured 
 by Nature. Consisting of an inclined plain, descending 
 from Lammermoor to the sea, it may be considered as, 
 averted from the sun's rays, and held out or exposed as a 
 mark in a northern climate to the fierce and chilling blasts 
 which proceed from the shores of the Baltic. The soil 
 also is in general of that sort in which clay greatly predo- 
 minates, ; although upon the sea-coast, and in a variety 
 ef situations, a light loam is to be found, together with 
 " the gradations in the upper districts from that to clay. 
 Upon the whole, however, a clay bottom predominates, or 
 forms the principal characteristic of the soil ; yet under 
 these disadvantages, and although much territory is unen- 
 closed, a skilful agriculture has rendered this county almost 
 the pride of Scotland as a corn country ; as there is undoubt- 
 edly the greatest reason to boast of the successful art and 
 industry which have here been displayed. It must be re- 
 marked, however, that notwithstanding the northerly ex- 
 posure of the county, its climate is on the whole very fa- 
 vourable to the growth of corn. The heavy falls of rain, 
 brought from the Atlantic Ocean by the westerly winds, 
 which so frequently deluge the western part of Scotland, 
 are very little known in this county. The greater part 
 of these clouds are attracted and broken by the high 
 grounds between the valley of Clyde and Linlithgowshire 
 or West Lothian. The few that escape this attraction are 
 broken and divided by the Pentland hills. Part of them 
 trevel north by Arthur's seat, and are wasted in the Frith 
 of Forth ; another division is attracted by the Moorfoot 
 hills, and they proceed along that ridge by Soutra hill 
 eastward along the summit of Lammermoor. 
 
 A- few, however, of these clouds, from their height,.
 
 EAST LOTHIAN. 421 
 
 sometimes escape both attractions, and take their course Agriculture 
 "by Dalkeith towards the vale of Tyne, and to the dis- Rains and 
 trict above it; but they are generally diverted out of this wmd *' 
 course by Garletoti hills and Traprene Law ; and they 
 either take a southerly direction towards the hills of Lam- 
 mermoor, or a northerly direction by North Berwick Law 
 to the Frith of Forth. 
 
 This Is the general progress of the western clouds after 
 the turn of the season ; and progressively, as the year ad- 
 vances, rain with a west wind is less and less felt ; and 
 during the summer and autumn the wind in that point is 
 a tolerable security for dry weather. 
 
 During the winter, the wind, in every point from the 
 west, round by the north to the east, occasionally brings 
 snow or rain. 
 
 The snow, however, does not lie for any time in the 
 lower district ; and even in the highest, they do not rec- 
 kon at an average above three weeks of what they call 
 close weather ; that is, when the snow lies so. deep as to 
 render it necessary to band-feed their flocks of sheep. 
 
 It is generally towards the end of June before the wea- 
 ther sets in steadily mild. It is even a proverbial expres- 
 sion, that the crops upon the clay and the strong lands 
 seldom begin to mend until the nights are turned ; that is, 
 when the summer heats are partly commenced. 
 
 The spring in this county is generally dry, with occa- 
 sional severe showers of hail or rain from the north-east. 
 
 During the whole of May the winds generally blow 
 from some point to the north, with a bright sun, and a dry, 
 keen, penetrating air. 
 
 It is at this time that the diligent husbandman endea- 
 vours to have his fallow, particularly upon strong land, 
 lying under a cross fui row, and in lumpy clods. 
 
 The state of the atmosphere, above described, so effec-
 
 422 EAST 
 
 Agriculture tually dries th,e clods, that most of the rooted weeds enclo- 
 sed in them are withered and killed. 
 
 During the summer, and in the beginning of autumn, 
 the only rainy point in this county is from the south and 
 east ; and in ordinary seasons, the wind generally sets in 
 from that point at the change and the full moon, and brings 
 from ten to eighteen hours of continued rain. 
 
 It seems hardly necessary to qualify this average ac- 
 count of the climate with observing, that in so high a la- 
 titude as 56 north, it must be subject to considerable 
 changes and variations. 
 
 Rotations. On the high grounds adjoining to the hills, the favour- 
 ite rotation of crops is, 1st, Turnips ; 2d, Barley or oats ; 
 3d, Clover ; 4th, Oats. This rotation belongs to a soil 
 and climate unfit for producing wheat. In the lower, that 
 is, in the greater part of the county, the land is found, or 
 by cultivation is rendered, fit for bearing crops of wheat. 
 On such lands a considerable variety of rotations prevails. 
 The following is frequent on clay soils : 1st, Fallow ; 2d t 
 Wheat ; 3d, Beans or peas ; 4th, Barley ; 5th, Grass ; 
 6th, Oats. Turnips are also introduced to a great ex- 
 tent, even on some clay soils, on account of their value to- 
 wards the production of manure, or fattening cattle ; and 
 the general principle, which for two centuries rendered the 
 Flemish husbandry superior to that of the rest of Europe, 
 appears to be now established here, viz. that the crops 
 ought to be alternately white and green, or one crop for 
 man, and one for beasts. It is to be remarked, however, 
 that the practice is found advantageous in many situations, 
 and seems to extend itself, of introducing two or three 
 years of pasture after every five, six, or eight crops ob- 
 tained by means of the plough. 
 
 The East Lothian farmers have not been able to accomi 
 plish in practice the agricultural project which is urged
 
 EAST LOTHIAN. 423 
 
 with so much eagerness by Arthur Young, Esq. that of Agriculture 
 abandoning the use of summer fallow, and of substituting 
 for it drilled crops. The predominance of a clay soil, Summer 
 which so greatly abounds here, as well as in other parts w ' 
 of the island, has hitherto prevented summer fallows from 
 being abandoned ; turnips and other drilled crops being 
 least suitable upon such a soil. Concerning turnips, how- 
 ever, a remark may here be made, which is not peculiar 
 to this county, but applies to Scotland in general. It is 
 this, that this root, the turnip, seems better adapted to our 
 climate than to a more southern latitude. The fly is the 
 great enemy of that crop ; and it no doubt does at times 
 prove pernicious here, but far more rarely than in Eng- 
 land, on account of the greater coldness of the climate, 
 and the frequency of rain during our summers ; in con- 
 sequence of which the young plants seldom suffer from 
 heat so as to encourage the fly. 
 
 The great object here, as in the rest of the Lothians, is Wheat 
 to raise as many wheat crops as possible ; and towards the 
 raising of that grain farmers in general direct their whole 
 skill. With this view, the practice is very prevalent of 
 sowing wheat upon a clover ley, which is accounted a va- 
 luable preparation for that costly but scourging crop. 
 Still, however, neither this preparation for wheat, nor the 
 very favourite one of drilled beans, has been able to ex- 
 clude the periodical loss of a crop for the sake of summer 
 fallow. In general, it may be remarked, that the agri- 
 culture practised here is similar to that used in Midlo- 
 thian, with the exception, that as this county contains no 
 very great city, farmers are in general under the necessity 
 of preparing the manure which is to be used upon their 
 farms, having no other means of procuring that important 
 source of fertility. Hence arises a strong biass towards 
 the use of turnips, as already mentioned ; and hence alsa
 
 424 EAST LOTHIAN. 
 
 Agriculture resu lt s a disposition tmvards converting considerable por- 
 tions of good land into grass for pasture, as it is found no 
 manure is ever superior, or even equal, to that produced 
 by grass turf turned down into the soil. But although 
 grasing is practised, it is in no respect prejudicial to the 
 culture of grain. On the contrary, although more land 
 in East Lothian is now in grass than in former times, 
 yet there is no doubt that the general quantity of grain 
 produced by the soil has considerably increased. 
 
 Farms in East Lothian are in general large ; and in pro- 
 portion as agriculture has improved, and become a source 
 of wealth, they have gradually become larger. Accordingly 
 farmers here, as in Midlothian, are men of liberal educa- 
 tion, and are of an enterprising character. This reputation 
 they have long possessed. At the same time it must, af- 
 ter all, be remarked, that the improvement of this county 
 
 Introduc- f s no t very ancient, as the introduction of summer fal- 
 
 tion of fal- . . 
 
 low. low is said to be 01 no older date than the beginning of 
 
 the late century, having been first attempted by John 
 Walker, a farmer in the parish of Prestonkirk, in conse r 
 quence, it is said, of the advice of an English gentleman. 
 His neighbours having remarked the success which at- 
 tended the practice, gradually ventured to imitate it, till 
 at length it prevailed universally. In Scotland, an advan- 
 tageous practice is no sooner introduced into any part of 
 the country than it is eagerly adopted almost everywhere. 
 This maybe interpreted in two ways: The Scots are poor, 
 and they are all extremely eager to become rapidly rich ; a 
 circumstance which leads them to 'grasp at every source of 
 profit : or there is perhaps a fairer mode of interpreting 
 the propensity to relinquish ancient practices for others 
 which afford a prospect of improvement : The Spots, be- 
 ing all possessed of literature, have few prejudices to com - 
 bat, and readily believe that much may be done towards.
 
 EAST LOTHIAN. 425 
 
 ameliorating the arts, from which mankind derive safety, Agriculture 
 subsistence, or accommodation. By the diffusion of lite- 
 rature, information of the success of every improvement is 
 rapidly diffused over the whole country ; and a farmer 
 finds not merely his interest, but his personal respectabi- 
 lity, injured by much tardiness in adopting it. Propri- 
 etors of land, also, are anxious to see their estates assume 
 that aspect of fertility and good order which appears upon 
 those of their neighbours ; and hence a skilful farmer, at ' 
 the termination of his lease, is considered as a person whom 
 every proprietor of land accounts an acquisition to his 
 estate. He has therefore every advantage in an attempt to 
 establish himself anew. Thus the diffusion of literature, 
 among the different orders of society, has a powerful ten- 
 dency to encourage the improvement of this as well as 
 every other art. 
 
 Upon the sea-coast, in various situations, sea-ware is Manure. 
 used as a manure. A prejudice long existed, in certain 
 districts, against the use of lime, founded upon this no- 
 tion, that as the soil, in these districts, rest upon a great 
 bed of limestone, it had already enough of that mineral, 
 which ought not therefore to be brought from the bowels 
 of the earth to be spread upon the surface : but this idea 
 has been gradually relinquished, in consequence of expe- 
 rience of the salutary effects of that valuable stimulus up- 
 pon a clay soil. In other respects, the manure here used 
 is in general the produce of the farm-yard. 
 
 It is worthy of remark that, in this county, that va- Threshing 
 luable agricultural instrument, the threshing machine, 
 was first invented, or at least brought to its present state. 
 From the remotest antiquity the practice prevailed, and 
 still prevails in America, of treading out the corn from 
 the ear by means of the feet of cattk. In the United 
 .States of America, where human labour is very expen
 
 420 EAST LOTHIAN. 
 
 Agriculture si v e f the same mode of proceeding is still adopted. It 
 also exists in the southern parts of Europe. Mr Young 
 speaks of it as practised in the province of Languedoc, 
 and other parts, in the following terms : " Languedoc : 
 Through all the southern parts of this province they tread 
 out the corn with horses and mules ; a man in the center 
 of the threshing floor, in the open air, drives them round, 
 and other men supply the floor, and clear away the straw. 
 In some conversation I had on this method, between Nar- 
 "bonne and Nissau, I was assured it was far preferable to 
 the use of flails ; that twenty-four mules or horses and 
 twelve men would depique, as they term it, 150 septiers 
 $f wheat in a day ; that some farms produce 2000 sep- 
 tiers of corn. What would flails do for such a quantity ? 
 I examined the wheat, and did not find it more damaged 
 than with flails ; but the climate is to be remembered, 
 which makes the grain much harder than any with us. 
 Seeing some flails going also, I demanded the reason ; and 
 was told that the master would sometimes have particu- 
 lar parcels of straw thrashed so, to get the corn that was 
 left in it, if he suspected too much ; at others, the labour- 
 ers desire to do it for themselves, which is sometimes 
 granted. 
 
 *' Provence : Seeing a large quantity of the president's 
 wheat spread on cloths for drying in the sun, and inqui- 
 ring what it meant, I found it was washed, as all is of 
 which the best bread is made ; owing, beyond all doubt, 
 to the mode of threshing, which renders it so foul that 
 this operation is necessary." 
 
 The softness of the grain in our northern climates, to- 
 gether with the superior cleanness of the operation, ap- 
 pears to have introduced, at an early period, and to have 
 rendered universal, the practice of separating the grain 
 from the chaff and straw by means of the flail, consisting
 
 EAST LOTHIAN. 42f 
 
 of two sticks loosely attached to each other at one end by Agriculture 
 a rope ; the one being held in the hands, while with the 
 other the sheaves of corn are beaten with repeated strokes, 
 The laborious, tedious, and expensive nature of the ope- 
 ration, long induced farmery to wish that some mode could 
 be contrived, by means of mechanism, to abridge the toil 
 of beating out the grain by flails. Accordingly, we un- 
 derstand that various attempts were made by ingenious 
 men to construct a threshing machine. In particular, 
 about the middle of the late century, Mr Menzies (of 
 Culterallers, we believe, in the upper part of Clydes- 
 dale) constructed one, which consisted of a number of 
 flails moved by a water-wheel. A Mr Stirling of Perth- 
 shire contrived and used another upon the principles of the 
 flax-mill. About the year 1113, a Mr Ilderton at Aln- 
 wick erected a machine, which acted upon the principle of 
 rubbing or pressing out the corn. At the same time, a 
 Mr Oxley at Flodden framed one with skutchers, but of 
 a defective nature, and possessing little velocity. The 
 late Sir Francis Kinloch of Gilmerton, Bart, brought to 
 Scotland a model of Mr Ilderton's machine, which he 
 sent to be tried by means of the water-wheel of a barley- 
 mill belonging to Mr Andrew Meikle, civil engineer at 
 Houston mill, near Haddington. It was torn to pieces in 
 the trial ; and when tried anew upon a larger scale, the 
 same accident occurred. Mr Meikle himself, however, 
 invented the new machine which is at present in use, and 
 which is now known and employed, not only in Britain, 
 but also on the continent of Europe and in America. We 
 have learned with regret, that, like many other ingenious 
 men, Mr Meikle has derived little or no emolument from 
 his invention, though of the utmost utility to the most 
 important of all arts. The machine has received various 
 improvements, or at least alterations, but without depart-
 
 423 EAST LOTHIAN. 
 
 Agriculture ing from the mechanical principles on which it was origi- 
 nally formed by him. It is accounted a necessary append- 
 age to every farm ; and one advantage resulting from it 
 is accounted of great utility, that with little loss of time it 
 enables the farmer personally to superintend the import- 
 ant operation of beating out and measuring his grain, 
 without entrusting much either to the fidelity or the at- 
 tentiveness of his servants. 
 
 Winter Among an active and enterprising class of farmers, 
 k" 1 s - like those of East Lothian, it would be in vain to at- 
 tempt to enumerate particular examples of industry, or 
 the branches into which it has been directed. As an ex- 
 ample, however, of these, it may be remarked, that from 
 the western part of this county, the luxurious capital of 
 Scotland was for some time almost exclusively supplied 
 with lamb during the middle of winter, one farmer ha- 
 ving sent annually to market 100 lambs at a guinea each, 
 and this even while full-grown sheep could be obtained 
 for little more than half that price. The ewes from which 
 they are obtained are of the Cowley breed ; they are kept 
 till they are old, and well fed through the year. By a si- 
 milar management, it is said that lambs may be had from 
 any breed of sheep at any season ; but it is necessary that 
 the ewes and lambs be kept as warm as possible in a 
 house or shed ; the ewes being fed with turnips and oats, 
 at the rate of a peck of oats daily to twenty of them. 
 Roads k 1 East Lothian much attention and expence are be- 
 stowed upon that essential requisite to the improvement of 
 agriculture, the formation and care of the high roads. 
 One of the great roads from Edinburgh to London passes 
 through the center of the county, and is preserved in good 
 repair ; but, on account of the nature of the soil, it is 
 found extremely difficult, in many parts of the county, to 
 preserve the roads in good condition during winter.
 
 EAST LOTHIAW. 429 
 
 Tins county contains .abundance of wood. Indeed Agriculture 
 more trees and hedges are found in the level parts of it Woods and 
 than is agreeable to many of the farmers, as they afford** a 
 shelter to multitudes of birds, and prevent the drying and 
 ripening of the grain during unsteady weather in the har- 
 vest. It would lead to extreme prolixity to take notice 
 here of the multitudes of beautiful plantations which sur- 
 round the seats of the nobility and gentry in the south- 
 western parts of the county. Humbie wood consists of 
 about 300 acres] of oak and bireh ; and being contiguous 
 to Salton wood, presents a beautiful object to a traveller Saltoa 
 when the Lothians open to his view from Soutra hill. wc 
 There are some wood-cocks and pheasants in it. It is 
 infestetl with that distemper, so pernicious to cattle, called 
 the wood-ill, or moor-ill ; the effects of which may, how- 
 ever, be prevented by castor oil, or any other laxative. 
 To the north of this, in the parish of Ormiston, the 
 lands are in general inclosed with hedges of white thorn,. 
 mixed with sweet briar, honeysuckle, and hedge-row 
 trees. As the appearance of the country is in general 
 flat, to a stranger it is thought to bear a striking resem- 
 blance to the country in England. Some of the woods in 
 the parish of Peneaitland are said to have suffered much 
 from squirrels, which have penetrated hither from the 
 Esk in Midlothian, where they were originally introdiw 
 ced. They attack the young Scotch firs, but more par- 
 ticularly the larix and elm. The degree of vegetative ac- 
 tivity of this soil and climate will be sufficiently under- 
 stood by stating the growth of an elm or oak during five 
 years, as noticed by Sir Andrew Lauder.
 
 &AST LOTHIAN. 
 
 Feet, IncH. 
 Girth of the elm in 1788, three feet above 
 
 ground 5 si- 
 Ditto of ditto in 1793 5 Hi 
 
 Medium annual increase l 
 
 Girth of an oak in 1788, at the same height 3 6 
 
 Ditto of ditto in 1793 4 24. 
 
 Medium annual increase 114-s 1 
 
 _ In the parish of Ormiston, in Lord Hopeton's garden 
 
 at Ormiston hall, a remarkable yew-tree has been de- 
 servedly admired. Its trunk is 11 feet in circumference 
 and 25 feet in length ; the diameter of the ground over- 
 spread by its branches is 53 feet ; and there is about the 
 20th part of an English acre covered by it. This tree is 
 still growing in full vigour^ without the least symptom of 
 decay in any of its branches, which increase yearly in 
 length about an inch. There is no tradition that can be 
 depended upon for exactly ascertaining its age ; but, from 
 the best information, it cannot be under 200 years oldL 
 It seems rather more probable to be between 300 and 400 
 years old. 
 
 To the eastward of Haddington^ as well as southward: 
 to the foot of the mountains, the country abounds with 
 beautiful plantations. In particular, towards the south, 
 the inclosures and pleasure grounds of Yester, the seat of 
 the Marquis of Tweeddale, are about ten miles in circum- 
 ference ; and in these there are woods and plantations to 
 
 a very great extent. In the parish of Haddington, the 
 Lethmgton J l . . 
 
 park. park of Lethington deserves notice on account of its ori- 
 gin. The Duke of Lauderdale had been told by the 
 Duke of York, the brother and unfortunate successor of 
 Charles the Second, that he understood that the country 
 of Scotland was so naked and barren that it could not ex^-
 
 EAST LOtHIAN. 431 
 
 hibit a single instance of a deer park. Thereafter, when Agriculture 
 this prince was about to visit Scotland, the'. Duke of Lau- 
 derdale, to support the pride of his country, enclosedybe- 
 tween 300 and 400 acres with a stone wall of 12 feet in 
 height, and stocked it with deer. Some years ago Lord 
 Blantyre reduced this wall to seven feet. It was at this 
 place that the excellent species of apples called Le thing- 
 ton were first cultivated in Scotland, having been brought 
 hither from France about the middle of the 16th century. 
 In the north-eastern part of the county, on the shore of WoocU a$ 
 the German ocean, between the mouth of the Tyne an 
 North Berwick, it has been found that forest trees may 
 be successfully planted even upon the sea-beech. When 
 Thomas, 6th earl of Haddington, came to reside at Tyn- 
 ningham, in the year 1700, there were not at that time 
 above 14 acres of woodlands upon the estate, it being 
 supposed that no trees could grow because of the sea air 
 and north-east winds. The earl at first rather believed 
 the common opinion ; but some successful trials having 
 produced a hope that the climate might be overcome, his 
 Lordship entered eagerly into the plan of sheltering and 
 enriching his lands by plantations. In 1707, was begun 
 the inclosing and planting of the moor of Tynningham, 
 to which at that time was given the name of Binning 
 wood. Prior to that period, it was common to some of 
 his Lordship's tenants and a neighbouring gentleman, ex- 
 cepting a small part of it, for which one of the tenants 
 paid a trifling rent. After the planting of Binning wood, 
 his Lordship inclosed and divided his fields with stripes of 
 planting of forty, fifty, or sixty feet broad. The East 
 Links, which are situated close upon the sea-beech, were 
 at that time a flat barren sand, with scarcely any grass 
 upon them, and of no use but as a rabbit warren. A 
 gentleman from Hamburgh, happening to be at Tynning-
 
 432 EAST LOTHIAJT. 
 
 Agriculture ham,, mentioned, that he had often seen trees growing 
 on the continent on such a soil. This hint was taken, 
 and the Links were immediately planted. All who saw 
 the operation thought the expence of trees and labour 
 thrown away ; but, contrary to their expectations, they 
 throve as well as on the best ground. The trees planted 
 in the Links are the Scotch fir. In Binning wood there is 
 a great variety, viz. oak, ash, beech, elm, plane, fir, 
 willows, and several others ; the thinnings of which 
 have for many years past yielded a considerable income, 
 often above L. 500 a-year ; and, besides the advantage 
 that is derived from the shelter which the plantations af- 
 ford, the grass in the woods is much more valuable than, 
 it would have been if allowed to remain in its original 
 state. Binning wood consists of about 300 acres ; the 
 plantations upon the estate have at different times been 
 extended ; and there are now about SOO acres of ground 
 planted at Tynningham. 
 
 Minerals. & would appear that a very great proportion of this 
 county, or at least of the western parts of it, from the bor- 
 ders of Lammermoor to the sea, rests upon abed of the most 
 valuable mineral strata ; lime, coal, ironstone, and free- 
 stone, every where abound ; and it is known that several 
 extensive parishes rest upon a bed of limestone rock. In 
 the western part of the county various coal mines are at 
 present wrought. One of excellent quality, belonging to 
 the Earl of Hopeton, is wrought in the parish of Ormi- 
 ston. In the parish of Tranent there are various colle- 
 ries, A seam of about two feet thick, at the depth of fif- 
 teen fathoms, has been wrought by a company of distil- 
 lers at St Clement's Wells. Besides this, there are three 
 collieries in the same parish, Tranent, Elphinstone, and 
 Birsley. The best seam is that of Elphinstone, being no 
 less than nine feet thick at the depth of thirty-two and 
 
 4
 
 EAST LOTHIAN. 433 
 
 twenty-five fathoms, according to the ascent and descent MlncraU. 
 of the gurface. Below this is a stratum or seam of five "~~ v ""~ 
 feet thick ; and, besides these, are several others no 
 thought worth working* 
 
 These collieries supply Prestonpang and other places in 
 the neighbourhood, although coal would seem to exist in 
 all the neighbouring parishes, particularly in the estate of 
 Prestongrange, in the parish of Prestonpans, where, how- 
 ever, none has been wrought during these last 40 years. 
 At the same time, as abundance of basaltic rock or whin- 
 stone is here found, the bed of coal is not considered, like 
 that of Midlothian, as uninterrupted. In the adjoining 
 parish of Pencaitland, on both sides of the Tyne, coal has 
 also been wrought ; and from the pits there, large quanti- 
 ties are conveyed for the supply of the more southern 
 and of the eastern districts of the county. Considerable 
 quantities, also > are conveyed beyond Lammermoor into 
 Lauderdale. Towards the eastern part of the county, the 
 coal, which is justly accounted the most valuable mine- 
 ral, fails. At the same time, on the east coast, about In- 
 verwick and Oldhamstocks, though coal is not worked, 
 various small seams of it are seen ; and it is probable 
 that, by boring to a considerable depth, richer strata might 
 be discovered. Freestone, ironstone, and lime, are there 
 found in great abundance. 
 
 In a country abounding in mineral productions, it can- Mineral 
 not fail to happen that some springs should receive an im-" pnDS *' 
 pregnation from the various substances deposited in the 
 bowels of the earth ; but in this county no mineral wa- 
 ters have of late attained to any great degree of celebrity. 
 In the parish of Humbie there is a spring of martial aci- 
 dulous water, which was much resorted to about 60 years 
 ago by people of fashion for scorbutic disorders. In the 
 parish of Tranent, there was, within these few years, a 
 VOL. I. E e
 
 454 EAST LOTHIAtf. 
 
 Minerals, chalybeate spring in considerable repute at Bankton ; but 
 it has now disappeared, having found its way, as is sup- 
 posed, into the waste below ; that is, into the empty space 
 in a coal mine after the minerals have been removed. In 
 the parish of Spott, Kesthill well, near Bothwell (a seat 
 of the Earl Bothwell), was formerly resorted to for scor- 
 butic complaints. In the parish of Salton, near Salton 
 houe, a mineral spring has been discovered, within these 
 twenty years, which has been represented as in no respect 
 inferior to the medicinal waters of Bristol, and as pos- 
 sessing the same properties. Lastly, in the parish of In- 
 nerwick, there is a spring, the water of which is said to 
 be remarkable for its uncommon lightness. 
 
 Royal bo- In this county there are three royal boroughs, Had- 
 roughs. dington, Dunbar, and North Berwick. The borough of 
 Hadding- Haddington is governed by a council, consisting of a pro- 
 vost, three bailies, a dean of guild, a treasurer,, and nine- 
 teen other members, under the appellation of merchant 
 or trades counsellors and deacons of crafts. Its revenues 
 amount to about L. 400 Sterling per annum, arising chiefly 
 from the rents of certain mills, petty-customs, &c. Had- 
 dington is the tenth in the order of precedency among the 
 royal boroughs, and pays L. 1 : 16s. of every L. 100 of 
 the assessments imposed upon them. Along with Jed- 
 burgh, Lauder, Dunbai-, and North Berwick, it possesses 
 lj> . the privilege of electing a member of parliament. 
 
 The town consists of four streets, which intersect each 
 other nearly at right angles. The buildings are in gene- 
 ral very ordinary ; though some good houses are to be 
 found. As in other Scottish towns they are of stone. 
 The only public buildings of any importance which be- 
 long to the borough are the town-house and the school- 
 . house. The town-house was built in 1748, from a de- 
 sign of the late Mr William Adam, architect j and ad- 
 '' ' - . .V
 
 BAST LOtHlAtf. 435 
 
 joining to it an elegant assembly-room was built in 1788. Hadding- 
 Here balls are frequently held by the families of rank of -^ j 
 the county. The school-house is large and commodious. 
 By the charter of the borough two annual fairs, or great 
 markets, are appointed to be held ; the one on the feast 
 or St Peter, and the other on Michaelmas. Since the al- 
 teration of ithe style these fairs are held in the beginning 
 of July and October. Neither of them are much fre- 
 quented. At Haddington a weekly market for grain is 
 held every Friday. It is accounted the greatest of the 
 kind in Scotland : that of Dalkeith is second to it. The 
 weekly prices of grain at the Haddington market have 
 long been regularly published in all the Scottish newspa- 
 pers. 
 
 Haddington and its vicinity has long been the seat of an Woollen 
 woollen manufactory. For several centuries past a coarse *" ' 
 sort of woollen goods have been manufactured here, par- 
 ticularly in the suburb called Nungate. During the time 
 of Cromwell's usurpation^ an English company, of which 
 one Colonel Stanfield was the principal partner, expended 
 a very considerable sum of money in establishing a manu- 
 factory of fine woollen cloths. For this purpose they 
 purchased some lands, formerly belonging to the monas- 
 tery of Haddington, erected fulling mills, dyeing houses, 
 &c. and called the name of the place Newmitts. After 
 the restoration, several Scots acts of parliament were made 
 for the encouragement of this company, and Colonel 
 Stanfield had the honour of knighthood conferred on him. 
 Sir Philip Stanfield was barbarously murdered, A. D. 
 1687, by his eldest son ; who was tried, condemned, and 
 executed for the murder, and his head and right hand 
 placed on the east port of Haddington. The trial, which 
 is a very curious one, is published in the state trials ; and 
 what appears remarkable is, that even at so late a period 
 
 Ee 2
 
 436 EAST LOTHIATf. 
 
 HadJlng- the superstitious notion seems to have universally obtain- 
 
 . r 
 
 ' ed, that if the body of a person who has been murdered 
 r- is toucned b 7 tne murderer, the wounds will bleed afresh : 
 
 stition. F or no t only was Sir Philip Stanfield's body taken up, 
 several days after it. had been buried, and his son com- 
 pelled to touch it, but Sir John Dalrymple, when king's 
 'advocate, afterwards Earl of Stair, though a man of the 
 greatest abilities this country ever produced, and 'who 
 possessed a mind as little tinctured with vulgar 'supersti- 
 tion as any of his cotemporaries, lays great stress in his 
 charge to the jury on the circumstance of the body's bleed- 
 ing when touched by young Stanfield. After Sir Philip's 
 death the manufactory declined ; and the affairs of the 
 company going into disorder, Colonel Charteris purcha- 
 sed their lands and houses, and changed the name o'f it 
 from Newmills to Amisfield, in honour of the very an- 
 'cient family in Nithsdale of which he was descended. 
 
 About the middle of the late century, under the auspi- 
 ces of Atidrew Fletcher of Milton, one of the judges of 
 Ihe court of session, a company was established for car- 
 rying on the woollen manufactory, and a large sum was 
 subscribed. The trade proved unsuccessful, and the com- 
 pany was dissolved ; but a new company, upon a smaller 
 'scale, continued the business till about the year 1788, 
 when it was finally dissolved. It was afterwards carried 
 on by one or two individuals ; but it does not appear that 
 the Lothians are favourable to manufactures, notwith- 
 standing their abundance of fuel and a fertile territory, 
 producing every thing necessary for supporting a crowded 
 population. Even the manufacture of coarse woollen, so 
 long carried on by weavers residing in the Nungate, is- 
 said to have greatly declined of late years. 
 
 Monastery. InHaddington there appear to have been anciently several 
 considerable religious foundations. Ada, Countess of Not>
 
 "EAST LOTHIAN. 
 
 itlmmberland, daughter of the Earl of Warren in England, HadJIng 
 
 ton* 
 widow of Prince Henry, son to David the First, king of <__ Y~ 
 
 Scotland, and* mother of Malcolm the Fourth, surnamed 
 tie Maiden, and William surnamed the Lion, kings of 
 Scotland, founded a priory of nuns A. D. 1178, near 
 Haddington, dedicated to the Virgin Mary. It was situ- 
 ated about a mile to the eastward of the borough, on the 
 banks of the river Tyne, where there is still a little vil- 
 lage called the Abbey ; but the monastery itself has been 
 entirely destroyed. It appears to have possessed very 
 considerable revenues, arising from a land estate and 
 from tithes. The prioress, with the consent of her chap- 
 ter, in 1567, conveyed the greatest part of the lands be- 
 longing to the monastery to William Maitland younger of 
 Lethington .5 and they wer-e afterwards converted by the 
 crown into a temporal barony or lordship in favour of the 
 family of Lauderdale It may here be remarked, that at Church 
 the reformation the property of the lands of the catholic ho 
 church in Scotland were alienated to laymen in a great dated - 
 variety of forms. Had the government possessed sufficient 
 strength, these lands would naturally have been confisca- 
 ted, and must have swelled the power of the crown be- 
 yond all bounds. It was to the confiscation of ecclesiasti- 
 cal property, and consequently to the large estates, which 
 he had in his power to give away, that Henry the Eighth 
 of England appears to have owed much of the absolute 
 dominion or authority which he possessed at home, as 
 well as his importance in foreign politics. In Scotland, 
 as the reformation from popery took place during the mi- 
 nority of the reigning princess Mary, the nobles and 
 gentry were left to devise plans for securing to their fa- 
 milies the church lands in their neighbourhood, without 
 being under the necessity of expecting them from the fa- 
 vour of a court. It appears to have been customary for
 
 438 EAST LOTHlAW. 
 
 
 
 Haddlng- the beneficed clergy and the Monasteries to sell their 
 
 ton. 
 i y -j lands to the neighbouring nobility and gentry for what 
 
 price they could obtain. This price, though small, ser- 
 ved as a sort of provision to the present incumbents in the 
 general wreck of ecclesiastical affairs. The purchasers 
 took their chance of obtaining their title to be confirmed 
 by the crown at some future period. As many of the 
 popish churchmen were the near kindred of the most dis- 
 tinguished nobility, they conveyed their lands and reve- 
 nues to their relations, who were often too powerful to be 
 deprived, by a weak government, of what had been thus 
 irregularly obtained. By the different modes now men- 
 tioned, the catholic clergy themselves became in Scot- 
 land the instruments by which the property of the church 
 was dilapidated. They gifted it to the powerful for pro- 
 tection ; or they bartered it to the rich for trifling sums 
 of money, to be applied to their own subsistence during 
 the remainder of their lives. Some very irregular trans- 
 actions of this sort are known to have occurred, of which 
 we shall mention an example, though it does not belong 
 to this county, but to West Lothian, or rather to Fife. 
 The abbot of Dunfermline, wishing to raise money at the 
 reformation, authorised an agent to sell the exclusive pri- 
 vilege which belonged to his monastery of plying with; 
 boats at the great passage across the Forth at Queensferry. 
 The more easily to obtain purchasers, the abbot's agent 
 offered to sell the privilege in shares ; each share to en- 
 title the purchaser to one sixteenth of the whole right. 
 The project appears to have been successful ; the shares 
 were eagerly purchased ; the abbot's agent continued to 
 sell shares as long as he found persons willing to buy j 
 and there is evidence still in existence that he actually 
 sold eighteen sixteenth shares of the Queensferry pas- 
 sage.
 
 EAST LOTHIAN . 43* 
 
 To return : In the town of Haddington there were Hadding- 
 monasteries of Dominicans and Franciscans. The church 
 of the Franciscans was in 1355 so magnificent, that we 
 are told by Fordun and John Major it was styled Lucerna 
 Laudoniae, the lamp of Lothian, from the lamps kept 
 constantly burning in it, which rendered it visible at a 
 great distance during the night. 
 
 The parish church of Haddington, to which two cler- Parish 
 gymen are at present allotted, is a very large and vene- c u 
 rable structure. From the style of the architecture it ap- 
 pears to have been built in the 12th or 13th century. The 
 length of the fabric, from east to west, is 210 feet ; the 
 length of the transept or cross, from north to south, is 
 110 feet ; and the breadth of the nave is 62 feet. Only 
 the western part of the church is now used for public 
 worship, and might, if properly seated, accommodate 2000 
 hearers ; the remainder of the fabric is unroofed, and 
 going fast to ruin. 
 
 At what precise time Haddington was erected into a History. 
 royal borough is uncertain ; for the town having been 
 several times destroyed by fire, and often laid waste by The town 
 the inroads of the English, all its ancient records are lost^^. 
 or destroyed. There is a charter amongst the public re- 
 cords from James the First, dated 1542 ; but the most an- 
 cient charter the magistrates are possessed of in the bo- 
 rough records is one from King James the Sixth, dated 
 13th January 1624, confirming all their ancient rights and 
 privileges, of which a ratification was obtained in parlia- 
 ment A. D. 1633. 
 
 In the year 1244, the town was totally consumed by 
 fire ; and although in that period, not only our towns, but 
 even cities, being mostly built with wood and covered with 
 thatch, were liable to frequent calamities of that kind, yet 
 when we are told (For//////, lib. ix. c. 64.), that the same
 
 44 EAST LOTHIAN. 
 
 Hadding- night in which Haddington was burned, Stirling, 
 u y burgh, Lanark, Perth, Forfar, Montrose, and Aberdeen, 
 all underwent the same fate, we are led to suspect that the 
 misfortune happened by design, and not accident. 
 
 In November 1355, the Scots, taking advantage of Ed- 
 ward Third's absence in France, seized the town of Ber- 
 wick by surprise, and besieged the castle. This step was 
 a gross violation of a treaty concluded the preceding year ; 
 but the Scots were influenced by the French king, who 
 had sent over some of his troops, and remitted a conside- 
 rable sum of money, in order to effect a breach between 
 Scotland and England. Edward, on receiving the news, 
 immediately left France, and returned home. He arrived 
 at London, November nth, and obtained from the par- 
 liament, which was then sitting, a subsidy for six years 
 of fifty shillings on every sack of wool sold in the king- 
 dom, in order to enable him to carry on the war. He 
 staid only three days at London, and set out for the north 
 at the head of his army. He reached Durham the 23d 
 of December, where he issued a proclamation, ordering all 
 men from sixteen to sixty to repair to his standard against 
 the 1st of January. Berwick soon capitulated ; and Ed- 
 ward, to be revenged on the Scots, laid waste the whole 
 Burnt by country the length of Edinburgh, burned the town and 
 Jj*f En S* monastery of Haddington, as likewise the church of the 
 Minorites or Franciscans. This devastation happening 
 about the beginning of February 1355, it was many years 
 afterwards remembered by the name of the burnt candle- 
 mas. The English fleet which supplied Edward's army 
 with provisions was wrecked upon this occasion ; an event 
 which the continuator of Fordun very sagely ascribes to 
 the interference of the Virgin Mary, because the English 
 sailors had impiously broke into her church of Whitekirk 3
 
 EAST LOTHIAN, 441 
 
 and robbed her imao-e of the costly ornaments wherewith Haddlng. 
 
 ton. 
 it had been decorated by the piety of the faithful. ' v ,.j 
 
 In April 1548, being the year after the fatal battle of 
 Pinkie, an English army, under Lord Grey of Wilton, 
 entered Scotland, laid waste this and the adjoining coun- 
 ties, built a fort at Lauder, garrisoned the castles of Dun- 
 bar, Tester, and Dalkeith, and fortified Haddington, lea- Garrisoned 
 ving in it a garrison of 2000 foot and 500 horse under Sir ^ e 
 James Willford. The Scots were so much dispirited at 
 that time, that this garrison ravaged the country to the 
 very gates of Edinburgh. The queen mother and Arran 
 the regent, with the consent of the estates of the kingdom, 
 applied for aid to Henry Second of France. He sent over 
 an army of 6000 veterans under Desse and other French 
 generals. They were joined by 8000 Scots, and began Besieged by 
 the siege of Haddington. It was gallantly defended by 
 Willford the governor ; and, in spite of Desse 's activity, 
 Sir Thomas Palmer and Holcroft from Berwick forced 
 their way into the town with a supply of men and provi- 
 sions. 
 
 A parliament was convened, July 7th, 1548, at the ab- 
 bey of Haddington, that is, in the camp itself; where, in 
 consequence of the influence of the queen mother, the 
 French general, and the ambassador Sieur D'Oyessel, the Marriage 
 consent of parliament was obtained to the young queen's 
 marriage with the dauphin, and her education at the court 
 of France. Many, and in particular all those who fa- 
 voured the reformed religion, declared their disapprobation 
 of the measure, and were for accepting the terms offered 
 by the court of England ; but the majority were secured 
 by French money and promises, both of which were dis- 
 tributed very liberally. Of this number was the regent, 
 who had a promise of the dukedom of Chatelherault, to- 
 gether with an annual pension of 12,000 livres for him-
 
 EAST LOTHlAtf. 
 
 Haddlng- 
 ton. 
 
 Scottish 
 guards in 
 France. 
 
 Retail of 
 the siege. 
 
 self ; and for his son, the command of the Scottish guards, 
 commonly called gens formes d'Ecosse. The young queen 
 was delivered to M. de Breze, who had been sent by the 
 French king to receive her. 
 
 It may be remarked, that the body of Scottish guards 
 in the service of the French monarchs was established by 
 Charles Seventh in the beginning of his reign as a mark 
 of his confidence in and gratitude to the Scottish nation for 
 their powerful assistance, under Archibald Earl of Dou- 
 glas, whom he created Duke of Tourain. They had the 
 precedence of all the French troops, and the command was 
 always conferred on a prince of the blood, or a nobleman 
 of the first rank. In the reign of James Sixth it was be- 
 stowed on Prince Henry, and after his death on Prince 
 Charles, and in their absence was possessed by L. Duke 
 of Lennox. During the exile of Charles Second, it was 
 commanded by his brother the Duke of York. 
 
 But to return from this digression. The siege of Had- 
 dingtpn was continued, and its vicinity became the prin- 
 cipal theatre of the war between the two nations. Sir 
 Thomas Palmer made an unsuccessful effort to throw sup- 
 plies into the place, having lost 400 soldiers, prisoners ; 
 but Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury, was afterwards sent with 
 an army of 22,000 men, whilst Lord Seymour, admiral, and 
 brother of Somerset the protector of England, was directed 
 to draw the attention of the Scots from the siege of Hadding- 
 ton to the defence of their coasts at a distance. The admr T 
 ral made a landing with 1200 men at St Monance in Fife^ 
 but was repulsed by the prior of St Andrews (afterwards, 
 Murray the regent, natural brother of the queen), who 
 killed 600 and took 100 of the English prisoners. The 
 admiral made a second attempt at Montrose, but was again, 
 defeated with a considerable loss by John Erskine of Dun. 
 On the other hand, Shrewsbury not only raised the sieg
 
 BAST LOTHIAN, 443 
 
 pf Haddington and supplied the place with every necessa- Hadding- 
 ry, but marched towards Musselburgh, in the neighbour- <_.. . y , t 
 hood of which Desse had intrenched himself. Though 
 the earl attempted in vain to draw Desse from his strong 
 camp, yet he decoyed part of his cavalry into an ambush, 
 where many of them were killed and taken prisoners, and 
 amongst the former two officers of distinction. Soon af- 
 ter he returned to England, burning Dunbar and several 
 other places. After this Desse resolved to attempt Had- Assault at* 
 dington by a coup de main. The enterprise was conduct- e 
 ed with such secrecy that the English advanced guards 
 were slain, and the bas court before the east gate was gain- 
 ed before the garrison was alarmed. The assailants were 
 employed in breaking open the gate, when the place was 
 saved by a deserter who had left Desse's army a few days 
 before. He fired a piece of artillery, which killed many 
 of the assailants, and threw the rest into confusion. The 
 noise alarmed the garrison, who immediately got under 
 arms ; and a party, sallying out through a privy postern, 
 made such a furious onset with spears and swords, that very- 
 few of those who had entered the bas court escaped alive. 
 The brave Desse was not dispirited with this repulse ; 
 and in the morning he thrice renewed the attack, but was 
 at last obliged to retire with considerable loss. Thereaf- 
 ter Desse was recalled, because the arrogance of his tem- 
 per had rendered him odious to the Scottish nobility. He 
 was succeeded in his command by Chevalier Thermes, a. 
 knight of the order of St Michael, who brought over with 
 him a reinforcement of 100 cuirassiers, 200 horse, and 
 1000 foot. The first action of the new French general was 
 to build a fort at Aberlady. This greatly straitened the 
 garrison, as it prevented them from receiving any supplies 
 by sea. At this time, the garrison being reduced to great 
 extremity from want of provisions, and being informed of
 
 444 EAST LOTHIAN. 
 
 Hadding- a supply having arrived at Dunbar, the governor marched 
 
 ton. 
 
 out with a strong detachment to endeavour, if possible, to 
 
 convev it * Haddington ; but being attacked by a large 
 .body of the French troops, and overpowered by numbers, 
 the gallant Willford, after an obstinate resistance, was ta- 
 X ken prisoner, and the greatest part of the detachment cut 
 to pieces. As the chevalier seemed determined at all 
 events to get Haddington into his possession, which the 
 English found impracticable to preserve, not only on ac- 
 count of its distant and inland situation, but because of 
 the plague, which had broken out in the garrison, and 
 Evacuated swept away numbers, the Earl of Rutland determined 
 English *^ at ne i tuer soldiers nor military stores should fall into the 
 hands of the enemy. He therefore marched into Scot- 
 land with 6000 men ; and entering Haddington in the 
 night, he safely conducted all the soldiers and artillery 
 to Berwick, October 1st, 1549. The fortifications of 
 Haddington are now so completely demolished, that hardly 
 the least vestiges of them remain. 
 
 In 1598, almost the whole town was again consumed 
 by fire. This calamity is said to have occurred from the 
 negligence of a maid- servant j and ever since a curfew 
 goes through the town at eight o'clock at night, when, af- 
 ter tolling a bell, a crier repeats a few rude rhymes, men- 
 tioning the misfortune, and warning the inhabitants to 
 greater caution for the future. 
 
 Dunbar. Dunbar was erected into a royal borough by a charter 
 from King David Second about the middle of the four- 
 teenth century. It is situated on the sea-coast nearly half 
 way between Edinburgh and Berwick upon Tweed, being 
 about 21 miles distant from each. It stands on a mode- 
 rate eminence, and a dry soil. The face of the country 
 around it is pleasant, rising in general gradually and mo- 
 derately from a low coast. It forms a very agreeable
 
 IAST I^OTHXAJt. 445 
 
 landscape ; the back ground of which, in every direction, Pnnbar. 
 exhibits a variety of striking objects. Eastward is St 
 Abb's Head, with a bold and high coast ; to the south are 
 the rising hills bordering upon Lammermoor and the high 
 grounds of Whittingham ; westward are Dumpenderlaw, 
 Garleton hills, and North Berwick Law; and on the north, 
 the Frith of Forth, with the Bass, the Isle of May, and 
 the coast of Fife. The principal street of the town is 
 broad and well aired, and the houses, which have greatly- 
 improved of late years, have upon the whole a genteel 
 appearance. As Dunbar is upon the principal road from 
 London to Edinburgh, there are good inns here, as well as 
 at Haddington, for the accommodation of travellers. At 
 some distance, among the rocks, is a retired place for sea- 
 bathing, with a room to undress. The town is accounted 
 remarkable healthy ; although, in common with the rest 
 of the east coast of Scotland, it is exposed to cold winds 
 from the east and north, chiefly in spring. -The town is 
 supplied with abundance of pure water, conveyed from St 
 John's well near the village of Spott, at the distance of 
 two miles. It fs brought in leaden pipes. This work 
 was accomplished in 1766 by the magistrates, assisted by 
 contributions of the inhabitants. On the same occasion 
 the streets were new paved. 
 
 Dunbar is governed by a provost, three bailies, a trea- 
 surer, and fifteen counsellors. The public revenue amounts- 
 to about L. 500 Sterling a-year. 
 
 The harbour of this town was originally at Belhaven, Harbowv 
 at some distance, but within the liberties of the borough. 
 The east pier of the present harbour was begun during the 
 usurpation, and Cromwell granted L. 300 towards assist- 
 ing the work ; but for many years thereafter it continued 
 very imperfect, capable of containing only a few small- 
 vessels. Early in the late century it was enlarged awl"*
 
 44$ EASt LOTHIAS. 
 
 t DunbaK ^ deepened, by digging into the solid rock eight feet deep 
 at an average ; and at the same time very commodious 
 quays were built. This mvlst have been a work of very 
 great labour and expence. The harbour, though very 
 safe, is still small, and of difficult access. A new pier 
 was some years ago built on the rock that forms the west 
 ,side of the entry. Towards this work the convention of 
 royal boroughs contributed L.600 Sterling. A dry dock 
 has also been built. The harbour is defended by a bat- 
 tery of twelv6 guns. 
 
 The trade chiefly Carried on at the port consists of the 
 exportation of the surplus produce of this fertile county. 
 Wheat, oats, barley, and malt, to the amount of ten or 
 twelve thousand quarters, are usually shipped here, be- 
 sides peasj beans> and hulled barley. Dunbar malt was 
 long very celebrated in Scotland. A fishery of some im- 
 portance has for half a century been established here. 
 One or twd vessels were usually occupied in the whale- 
 fishing ; but this branch of trade has been in a great mea- 
 sure transferred to Leith. There are here several fishing 
 boats employed in the herring-fishery, or in that of white 
 fish and lobsters. The tonnage of shipping, however, is not 
 great, amounting to about 2300 tons. Cordage is manufac- 
 tured here for the use of the shipping. Soap and starch are 
 prepared in the town and neighbourhood ; and a small 
 quantity of kelp, that is, of sea-weed, is burned on the 
 neighbouring coas,t for the production of mineral alkali. 
 Church. The fabric of the church of Dunbar is very ancient. It 
 was built in the form of a cross. The body of it is 100 
 feet long, and it is only 24 feet wide within the walls. It 
 was founded in the year 1392, by George Earl of March, 
 for a dean, an archpriest, and twelve prebendaries. In 
 the churchyard there are two grave-stones marking the 
 burial place of two officers belonging to the castle of Dun-
 
 EAST LOTHIAfl. 4*? 
 
 bar, with Latin inscriptions in Saxon characters. The Dunbar. 
 date of the one is MCCCL,and of the other MCCCLI. 
 
 The castle is situated on a reef of rocks projecting into The castle. 
 the sea, which in many places runs under them, through 
 caverns formed by fissures in the stone. 
 
 . It is of great antiquity ; but the time of its erection is Its history, 
 not known. Dunbar castle is mentioned as early as the 
 year 858, when it was burned by Kenneth King of Scot- 
 land. It was long deemed one of the keys of the king- 
 dom. 
 
 In 10T3, it appears to have belonged to the Earls of 
 March* 
 
 Anno 12Q6, the Earl of March having joined King Ed- 
 ward First, this castle was by his wife delivered up to the 
 Scots ; upon which Earl Warren, with a chosen body of 
 troops, was sent to take it. The whole force of Scotland 
 was assembled to oppose him ; and the Scots, trusting to 
 their numbers, rushed down the heights on the English ; 
 but being repulsed with great loss, the castle shortly after, 
 surrendered. 
 
 A. D. 1314, King Edward Second, after his defeat at 
 the battle of Bannockburn, took refuge in this castle, 
 where he was received by the Earl of March, and from 
 thence went by sea to Berwick, in his way to Eng- 
 land. 
 
 A. D. 1333, Dunbar castle was demolished, as ap- 
 pears from Hector Boetius ; who says, " That Patrick 
 Earl of Dunbar having, on the arrival of the English, 
 dismantled it, razed it to the ground, despairing to keep 
 it. King Edward the Third obliged him to rebuild it at his 
 . own expence, and to admit an English garrison therein." 
 A. D. 1337-8, this castle, which Buchanan says had" 
 been newly fortified, was besieged by the Earl of Salis- 
 . bury. The Earl of March being absent, it was defended
 
 JEAST iLQTHIAX. 
 
 by his wife, from the darkness of her complection vul- 
 The castle g ar lj called Black Agnes. This lad/, during the siege, 
 ' performed all the duties of a bold and vigorous com- 
 
 mander, animating the garrison by her exhortations, mu- 
 nificence, and example. When the battering engines of 
 the besiegers hurled stones against the battlements, she, 
 as in scorn, being, as John Major observes, full of taunts, 
 ordered one of her female attendants to wipe off the dirt 
 with her handkerchief ; and when the Earl of Salisbury 
 commanded that enormous machine called the Sow to be 
 advanced to the foot of the wall, she scoffingly advised 
 him to take good care of his sow, for she should soon 
 make her cast her pigs (meaning the men within it) ; and 
 then ordered a huge rock to be let fall on it, which crushed 
 it to pieces. 
 
 The Earl of Salisbury, finding so stout a resistance, 
 attempted to gain the castle by treachery ; and accord- 
 ingly bribed the person who had the care of the gates to 
 leave them open. This he agreed to do, but disclosed 
 the whole transaction to the countess. 
 
 Salisbury himself commanded the party who would 
 enter, and, according to agreement, found the gates of 
 the castle open, and was advancing at the head of his 
 men 5 when John Copeland, one of his attendants, hastily 
 passing before him, the portcullis was let down, and Cope- 
 land, mistaken for his lord, remained a prisoner. Agnes, 
 who from a high tower was observing the event, cried out 
 to Salisbury jeeringly, " Farewel Montague ; I intended 
 that you should have supped with us, and assisted in de- 
 fending this fortress against the English." John Major 
 says, the Earl of Salisbury would have been taken, had he 
 not been pulled back by some of his followers. 
 
 The English, thus unsuccessful in their attempts, turn- 
 <d the siege into a blockade, closely environed the castle
 
 EAST LOTHIAtf. 440 
 
 bj sea and land, and strove to starve out the garrison ; when Dunbar. 
 Alexander Ramsay, having heard of the extremities to 
 which Dunbar was reduced, embarked with forty reso* 
 lute men, eluded the vigilance of the English, and ta- 
 king the advantage of a dark night, entered the castle by 
 a postern next the sea, and, sallying out, attacked and dis- 
 persed the advanced guards. The English commander, 
 disheartened by so many unfortunate events, at length 
 withdrew his forces, after having remained before Dunbar 
 during nineteen weeks. 
 
 In 1565, after the death of Rizzio, Queen Mary reti- 
 red to this castle, where she was joined by a number of 
 her friends ; and in 1567, she and Bothwell having fled 
 from Edinburgh, were pursued with such vigour by a party 
 of horse, commanded by Lord Hume, that they had barely 
 time to reach this fortress ; from which she marched with 
 an army, composed of Bothwell's friends and dependants, 
 to Carberry hill, where, being defeated and abandoned by 
 them, she surrendered herself prisoner, and was sent to 
 Lochleven castle. 
 
 In the year 1567, Crawford; says Murray, laid siege to 
 the castle of Dunbar ; and the governor, seeing no hopes 
 of relief, surrendered it on favourable conditions ; the 
 great guns were all dismounted, and carried to the castle V 
 of Edinburgh. 
 
 Among the rocks here are some basaltic columns : 
 they are thus described by Pennant : " Between the har- 
 bour and the castle is a very surprising stratum of stone, 
 in some respects resembling that of the Giant's Causeway 
 in Ireland. It consists of great columns of red grit-stone, 
 either triangular or hexangular ; their diameter from one 
 to two feet ; their length at low water thirty : dipping or 
 declining a little to the south, they are joined, but not so 
 regularly or so plainly as those which form the Giant's 
 VOL. I. F
 
 450 EASt.LOtHiAN* 
 
 Dunbar. Causeway. The surface of several that had been tofft 
 off appear as a pavement of numbers of convex ends, pro- 
 bably answering to the concave bottoms of other joints 
 incumbent on them. The space between the columns 
 was filled with the septa of red and white sparry matter, 
 and veins of the same pervaded the columns transversely. 
 This range of columns faces the north, with a point to 
 the east, and extends in front above two hundred yards. 
 The breadth is inconsiderable. The rest of the rock de- 
 generates into shapeless masses of the same sort of stone, 
 regularly divided by thick septa. This rock is called 
 by the people of Dunbar the Isle." 
 
 The castle is built with a reddish stone. Several of the 
 towers had a communication with the water. Under the 
 front is a very large cavern of black and some red stone. 
 North Her- North Berwick is a royal borough of considerable an- 
 tiquity ; but its old charter having been accidentally lost 
 or destroyed, it obtained a new one from James Sixth. 
 Independent of its political importance as a borough, it is 
 of no great consideration, being merely a village contain- 
 ing about TOO inhabitants. No manufacture is conducted 
 in it to any considerable extent. It has a harbour, whose 
 only regular trade seems to consist of the exportation of 
 grain. A small quantity of kelp is annually made from 
 the sea-weed cut .from the rocks at low water ; but the 
 driven sea- ware is used as a manure. The town stands, 
 however, in an agreeable situation on the sea-shore, be- 
 side a beautiful country. The lands are in general en- 
 closed. There are many stripes of planting or clumps of 
 trees. It is all arable and fertile, with the exception of 
 about 89 acres of Links on the sea-shore, and the lofty 
 hill called North Berwick Law, which is extremely re- 
 markable on account of its rising suddenly out of a level 
 territory.
 
 EAST LOTHIAN*. 451 
 
 The old Cistertian nunnery at North Berwick is wor- No * h Bcr- 
 fchy of notice. v v - 
 
 This ruin stands on an eminence at a little distance to Nunnery, 
 the north-west of North Berwick, and commands a de- 
 lightful view of the Bass, North Berwick Law, &c. 
 
 The following account of it is given by Sir James Dal- 
 rymple : " There was a monastery of nuns at North Ber- 
 wick, founded by Duncan Earl of Fifej which was -go- 
 verned by a prior and prioress. This was Duncan Earl 
 of Fife the Elder, who died anno 1154. I have seen a 
 charter by King David, confirming, Elemosinam illam 
 quam Duncanus, comes t dedit mensalibus de North Ber- 
 luick, et terram quce dicitur Gillecameston, testibus Walter o 
 CancellariOy Adamo Capellano, et Hugone de Morerl. To 
 Duncan Earl of Fife, who died anno 1154, succeeded 
 Duncan his son, also Earl of Fife, who gave to the mo- 
 nastery the lands of Muthritht in Fife, and other lands 
 which are confirmed by King William ; and also the do- 
 nation, by Duncan the Elder, Earl of Fife, of the lands 
 of Kirkamstoun, and of two hospitals. So it is like, that 
 Earl Duncan the Elder was the founder, and that the 
 church had been originally the cell or kirk of a religious 
 person called Campston, which was then dedicated to the 
 blessed Virgin Mary> and the hospital turned from the first 
 use, and the rent applied to the monastery. I have seen 
 King David's confirmation^ and that by King William, and 
 one by Duncan Earl of Fife, and many other charters were 
 granted by the kings, the Earls of Fife, and Duncan and 
 Adam de Kilieneath, Earls of Carrick, and by bishops 
 and other great men, to that monastery, but were unfor- 
 tunately burned in the great fire at Edinburgh in the year 
 1700, and a few only preserved, which were not in the 
 same house with the rest. The charter by the Earl Dun- 
 can the Younger, confirming that of his father, is extant." 
 
 Ff2
 
 452 EAST LOTHIAN 1 . 
 
 Tamtallan. Tamtallan Castle stands a little more than two miles east: 
 of the town of North Berwick on a high rock overlooking 
 the sea, which surrounds it on three sides ; its shape being 
 half an irregular hexagon. Much of the building is re- 
 maining, though in a ruinous state. It is encompassed 
 towards the land-^side by a double ditch, the inner one very- 
 deep. The entrance was over a drawbridge through a 
 stone gate, which, with some other parts of the wall, is 
 built with a rough stone, banded at certain distances with 
 square stone. A rising ground covers the ditches and 
 lower parts of the wall, so as to render them invisible to 
 persons approaching it. It was formerly one of the 
 strongholds of the Douglasses, and was held for some 
 time against King James the Fifth. He besieged it in* 
 1527, and only took it by the treachery of the person en- 
 trusted with its defence. 
 
 There is a tradition among the soldiers,; that the Scots 
 march now beat was first composed for the troops going on 
 this siege ; and that it was meant to express the words 
 Ding down Tamtallan. 
 
 This castle was destroyed in 1639 by the covenanters; 
 the Marquis of Douglas having favoured the cause of 
 King Charles the First. At present it is entirely in ruins. 
 
 The Bass. From North Berwick is a view of the Bass and the isle 
 of May. The former is a small island or insulated rock 
 within the Forth, about a mile distant from the south 
 shore, inaccessible on all sides except by one narrow pas- 
 sage. Upon the top of this rock there is a spring, which 
 sufficiently furnished water for the garrison of a small 
 castle (now neglected). There is also pasture for twenty 
 or thirty sheep, and a small warren of rabbits ; but this 
 rock is more particularly famous for the great flock of 
 sea-fowls which resort thither in the months of May and 
 June ; the surface of it being almost covered with their
 
 EAST LOTHIAN 1 , 453 
 
 nests, eggs, and young birds. The most esteemed among The Bas. 
 these birds is the solan goose and the kitty waicke ; there Solan geese, 
 being only one other place, that is, an island in the west 
 of Scotland, Ailsey, where these geese breed ; and from 
 these two places the country is furnished with them du- 
 ring the months of July and August. The island of Bass 
 was an ancient possession of the family of Lauder, who 
 for a long time refused to sell it, though solicited to it by 
 several kings. -King James Sixth told the then laird, he 
 would give him whatever he pleased to ask for it ; to 
 which he answered, " Your Majestic must e'en resign it 
 to me, for I'll have the auld craig back again." How- 
 ever, the family at length falling into decay, it was, in the 
 year 1671, purchased by King Charles the Second ; 
 during whose reign, and that of his brother James, it was 
 made a state prison, where the western covenanters, call- 
 ed Camcronians, were confined for being in arms against 
 the king. After the revolution, a desperate crew of 
 people got possession of it ; and having a large boat, which 
 they hoisted upon the rock or let down at pleasure, com- 
 mitted several piracies, took a great many vessels, and it 
 held out the last of any place in Great Britain for King 
 James ; but their boat being at length seized or lost, and 
 not receiving their accustomed supply of provisions from 
 France, they were obliged to surrender. 
 
 A cavern runs through this rock from north-west to 
 south-east. It is quite dark in the centre, where there is 
 a deep pool of water ; from thence it widens towards both 
 apertures : that at the south-east side is the highest. 
 
 Besides the three royal boroughs of Haddington, Dun- 
 bar, and North Berwick, there are a considerable number 
 of villages in this county. One of the most remarkable 
 of these is that called Prestonpans, which is a long village 
 upon the sea-shore near the western extremity of the 1 *
 
 454 EAST LOTHIAtf. 
 
 Preston- county. It evidently derives its name from the saltworks 
 u y . or pans here established, and from the small village of 
 Preston, which is about a quarter of a mile to the south of 
 it. The building of the town of Prestonpans is supposed 
 to have taken place after that of the salt pans. At the 
 beginning of the late century, the town was commonly 
 named Saltpreston. It consists of two boroughs of ba- 
 rony, the East and the West. A borough of barony is 
 an incorporation erected by the king, but upon lands of 
 which a subject is the superior. 
 
 Tenures of j^ % j t j s impossible in this Work to avoid making al- 
 Scotland. lusions to the mode in which real property is held in Scot- 
 land, it may be here proper, concisely, to notice that sub- 
 ject. To this day the forms of the feudal system are pre- 
 served in Scotland so far as relates to the transference and 
 tenure of real property. The whole lands of Scotland 
 are held of the king, or the prince his eldest son, as stew- 
 ard of Scotland and Duke of Rothsay. Persons holding 
 lands of the king or prince are styled freeholders ; but 
 they have no vote in the election of members for the 
 counties unless their lands are valued at L. 400 Scots, ac 
 cording to a valuation made in the time of Charles Se 
 cond. Persons holding of the king or prince as their supe- 
 rior may grant portions of their lands to be held under 
 themselves. Those receiving such secondary grants are 
 usually denominated feuars. They are said to hold of a 
 subject superior. It is by this tenure that houses in vil- 
 lages, and small properties throughout the country, are 
 usually held, and the feuar is in law denominated the vas- 
 sal of the freeholder, who is his superior. At the same 
 time, feuars may subfeu their property ; and thus have 
 yassals, to whom they in their turn are held to be su- 
 periors. In former times, every vassal was bound tq 
 jserve in war the superior from whom he held his lands'
 
 EAST LOTHIAN. 455 
 
 In modern times, however, he is only bound to make Preston- 
 
 pans, 
 such payments as are stipulated in the charter or grant of . 
 
 his lands. When lands are to be sold, the party who sells 
 resigns them into the hands of his superior, whether the 
 king or a subject, to be delivered over to the new purcha- 
 ser, who, by acceptance, and receiving formal possession, 
 comes into the right of the party from whom he purchases. 
 When a proprietor dies, his heir, upon proving his right 
 to the satisfaction of a jury, is entitled to be received as 
 vassal in his stead, and to have the lands formally deli- 
 vered to him. When a new vassal is received, either in 
 consequence of a sale, a seizure for debt, or the death of a 
 vassal, certain payments are, by the terms of the original 
 grant of the property, usually required to be made to the 
 superior ; and a considerable expence is incurred in exe- 
 cuting the requisite legal instruments. As the expence is 
 usually greatest when property is held of the crown, most 
 persons prefer holding small properties of a subject ; tha 
 is to say, properties not amounting to several hundreds per 
 annum, entitling their owner to vote at the elections for 
 the member for the county. All the forms of feudal 
 holding, however, are so expensive, that the practice is 
 gradually introducing itself, with regard to small proper- 
 ties, of holding them by very long leases of 1000 years, 
 or some similar period, considered as equivalent to per- 
 petuity. Such tenures, however, or rather all tenures by 
 lease, are subject to some inconveniences, which we shall 
 take a future opportunity of explaining. 
 
 A royal borough is in Scotland an incorporation hold- 
 ing a determined tract of territory with a jurisdiction an- 
 nexed to it. If the burgesses hold their various small 
 properties immediately of the king, it is a royal borough .,- 
 but if the territory of the incorporation is held in feu of 
 a subject, it is then styled a borough of regality t or of ba f
 
 456 EAST LOTHIAN. 
 
 Preston- roay, according to the privileges and rank which the sub- 
 
 W v ject superior anciently enjoyed. 
 
 Harbour. The only harbour belonging to Prestonpans is called 
 Morison's haven^ so styled from a family of the name of 
 Morison, who were formerly proprietors of the estate of 
 Prestongrange. About eighty or ninety years ago, it was 
 called Newhaven, and often Ackesons haven, from an an- 
 cient family, the progenitors of the present Lord Viscount 
 Gosford in Ireland. It is situated a little to the west of 
 the town. It has about ten feet of water at stream tides. 
 This might be deepened so as to draw twelve. It is 
 reckoned one of the safest harbours in the Frith. 
 
 Ancient Before the union, a considerable foreign trade was car- 
 ried on here, especially in Dutch and French goods, Be- 
 sides the home market, these goods, together with salt 
 and tobacco, were carried to the north of England, and 
 many of them were smuggled into that kingdom with 
 great profit to the adventurers. From England they 
 brought wool, and exported it to France. They exported 
 likewise malt, salt, and coals. In consequence of the duties 
 that were imposed after the union, the trade, especially 
 with England, was much less advantageous. It was, not- 
 withstanding, still carried on to a great extent. In the 
 year 1719, 41 cargoes were delivered at the port of Pres- 
 tonpans, 19 of which were imported in ships belonging to 
 the town. Of these cargoes, 21 were wholly from Nor- 
 way, six from Sweden, one from Dantzic, two from Dant- 
 zic and Norway, two from Bremen, five from Rotterdam, 
 two from Havre de Grace and St Merlin, one from Opor- 
 to, and one from Maryland in North America. This last 
 cargo consisted of ~ <J2 hogsheads of tobacco, 59 of which 
 were deliver^! at Prestonpans, and the remainder was 
 carried to Leith. Some years after this period, several of 
 the vessels belonging to this port were lost at sea. This,,
 
 EAST LOTHIAX. 45 1 ? 
 
 together with the check that it received at the union, gave Preston- 
 ihe trade a blow from which it never recovered. No per- _ " ' 
 son of enterprise or capacity, or possessed of a sufficient 
 stock, made any persevering efforts to re-establish it. 
 Purchasers, not finding such an assortment of goods as 
 formerly, had recourse to other ports ; and about the year 
 1745 it entirely ceased. The harbour mostly used by 
 the traders was Port Seaton, about a mile to the east, in 
 the parish of Tranent. Before the union, and for some 
 years after it, the Dutch trade centered chiefly in Pres- 
 tonpans and Queensferry. 
 
 At present the exports are only fish, and some articles 
 manufactured in the neighbourhod. The imports consist 
 of iagredients for these manufactures, and sometimes of 
 English barley for the use of some neighbouring distille- 
 ries. Here, however, a customhouse is established, with a 
 jurisdiction extending from the Figgat burn in Midlothian, 
 on the west, to the mouth of the Tyne on the east. 
 
 The manufacture from which this town originally deri- Manufae? 
 i r i MI j T - tureotsalt. 
 
 ved its name, that 01 salt, is still carried on here. It is 
 
 produced by the evaporation of sea-water in large shallow 
 iron vessels or pans. When the weather is dry, and the 
 coal good, a pan may be drawn five times in a week. 
 Each draught requires three fillings of water, and yields in 
 summer about 18 bushels, in winter about 16. The dif- 
 ference is owing to the sea-water being stronger in sum- 
 mer than in winter. For the same reason, in winter, it 
 requires 26 or 28 hours to a draught, in summer only 20 
 to 22. The process is sometimes retarded by the bad- 
 ness of the coal. When the sea-water is good, a Scotch 
 gallon of it, about '29 Ib. avoirdupois, will yield of salt, 
 nearly one pound avoirdupois. Xhe draught consumes 
 from IS to 6 bolls of small coal or culm. The price of 
 the coal is about eight pence per boll when laid down at
 
 458 EAST LOTHIAN. 
 
 Preston- the p an . TWO men are employed in working a pan ; 
 
 v -y. -^ their joint wages from n to 20 shillings per week. From 
 the time the salt is drawn till it is sold, the waste by lying 
 in the granary is computed at one bushel in ten. The 
 better the salt is made, the waste is the less. When it is 
 conveyed by land, a high wind occasions a greater waste 
 than a moderate rain. Three bushels in 40 were formerly 
 allowed for waste when it was carried coastwise ; but this 
 allowance was afterwards reduced by statute to one in 40. 
 Upwards of 10,000 bushels of salt are usually made here 
 annually. 
 
 Stoneware, A manufacture of stoneware has been carried on at this 
 village during almost fifty years. White stoneware and 
 cream-coloured ware are manufactured. The clay made 
 use of in the manufacture is brought from Devonshire, and 
 the flint from Gravesend. White and red lead are brought 
 from London, Hull, and Newcastle. Fine clay is found 
 in abundance in the neighbourhood. A manufacture of 
 brown ware has also existed at this town for about 100 
 years. The clay used in it is found in the immediate vi- 
 cinity. Bricks and tyles are also manufactured here. A 
 manufacture of oil of vitriol, spirit of salt, aquafortis, and 
 Glauber salts, has also been long carried on here. 
 
 Oyster-fish- The fishery at this place has at different periods varied 
 
 cr ^' in its importance. 1 he chief fishery is that of oysters. 
 
 Oysters are found on a strong clay bottom, on rocks and 
 stones, and sometimes, though but thinly, in what is call- 
 ed by the fishers sea-tatke. These last are of a very in- 
 ferior quality. Those caught nearest to the town are 
 usually the largest and fattest. Hence the large ones ob- 
 tained the name of pa adores ; i. e. oysters caught at the 
 doors of the pans. The sea-water a little freshened is 
 reckoned the most nourishing to oysters. This may be 
 erne reason why those caught near to the town and shores
 
 EAST LOTHIAN. 459 
 
 pre so large. Sand is prejudicial to them. The fishers Preston- 
 dredge from four to fifteen fathoms depth of water. When y . j 
 they draw the dredge, they begin the oyster song, which 
 they sing till the dredge is hauled up. The large oysters 
 are picked out, and kept ; those that are too small for 
 present use are thrown back into the sea. An oyster is 
 reckoned sizeable when its shells are an inch and a half 
 in diameter. Buckies, clams, sea urchins, star fish, and 
 corse fish, are found in the oyster beds. The two last 
 mentioned, especially the corse fish, prey on oysters, and 
 likewise on muscles, ^he scalps reach from the shore 
 about six miles into the Frith, and extend both to the east 
 and west of the boundaries of this parish. In May the 
 oysters cast their spat or spawn. They are sickly in June 
 or July, but recover in August. For this reason the dredging 
 commences on the 1st of September, and ends on the last of 
 April. The common observation is, that the oyster season 
 lasts during the months in which the letter r occurs ; but 
 the fishers have not confined themselves strictly to these 
 months. The young fry are said to acquire shells in twenty- 
 four hours, but do not become saleable in less than two or 
 three years. The shells make an excellent lime, remark- 
 able for its whiteness. The boats belonging to Preston- 
 pans usually amount to about ten in number. Each boat 
 requires five men ; but the profits are divided into six 
 shares, one share being set apart for upholding the boat. 
 About thirty years ago, the scalps were so productive, 
 that 6000 oysters and upwards were frequently dredged 
 by one boat in a day. The price at that time was six 
 pence per hundred. Besides the consumption in the 
 neighbourhood, they were exported to Newcastle, Hull, 
 v and London. A merchant in Leith,in the year 1773, con. 
 tracted to ship oysters on commission for London. He 
 purchased for different companies, and for ten years paid
 
 4&0 -EAST LOTHIAN. 
 
 Preston- L. 2500 Sterling per annum for oysters. The value of the 
 pans. . 
 
 Y , home consumption was estimated to be still greater. Forty- 
 boats were then employed, of which sixteen belonged to 
 Cockenzie in the parish of Tranent, sixteen to Preston- 
 pans, Cuttle, and West Pans, and eight to Fisherrow. 
 The oysters for the London market were packed in bar- 
 rels. Twelve vessel's were employed in the trade from 
 the middle of January to the middle of May. Each ves- 
 sel carried at a medium 320 barrels : each barrel was sup- 
 posed to contain 1200. A pattern was given to every boat, 
 with injunctions to barrel none of a smaller size ; but these 
 injunctions were far from being strictly observed. Thirty 
 cargoes have been shipped in a season. The oysters were 
 dropt in bays at the mouth of the Thames and Medway, 
 and other grounds, to fatten until the fall, when they were 
 dredged and sent to market. The trade was given up in 
 the year 1786, owing to a scarcity and advanced prices of 
 oysters, the price having risen from four shillings and 
 sixpence to seven and eight shillings per barrel. During 
 some of the last years in which it was carried on, part 
 of the cargoes were made up of oysters from Newha- 
 ven. The scalps were greatly exhausted by this trade ; 
 j>o that of late years a boat seldom returns With more than 
 400 or 500. But it must be observed, that 100, as rec- 
 koned by the fishers, contains 33 warp. Four oysters 
 make a warp ; so that the 100 is equal to 132. They 
 are usually sent to Edinburgh, Glasgow, and New- 
 castle : to the latter place they are usually conveyed in an 
 open boat manned with six men. Besides oysters many 
 other kinds of fish are here caught, particularly haddocks, 
 cod, skate, flounders, whitings, lobsters, crabs, and some- 
 times mackerel. 
 
 A singular commercial institution is connected with this 
 town. On the second Tuesday of July, annually, the tra-
 
 EAST LOTOTAN. 46* 
 
 veiling chapmen, that is, the itinerant sellers of wares, or Preston- 
 
 p3n$* 
 pedlars, of the three Lothians, meet at Prestonpans, and < / ^ i 
 
 elect some of their number for the purpose of holding Society of 
 courts to enforce the observance of bye-laws, to which 
 they bind themselves to give obedience at their admission 
 into the society. They elect on this occasion a provost 
 or preses, a depute, a clerk, a treasurer, six bailies, and" 
 several counsellors. There is one bailie for Prestonpans 
 and Cockenzie ; one for Haddington and North Berwick ; 
 one for D unbar and Oldhaimstocks ; one for Musselburgh 
 and Dalkeith ; one for Queensferry and Borrowstonness ; 
 and one for Linlithgow and Bathgate. After the election 
 they march in a body, preceded by music, to the cross at 
 Preston ; there they drink a few bottles of wine, and then 
 return. In the towns where their booths are erected at fairs, 
 the bailie for that town gets a pledge from each chapman, 
 who is bound to attend a meeting of the whole number at 
 an appointed hour in the evening or next morning. Here 
 the behaviour of each during the fair is inquired into. If 
 any of the bye-laws have been transgressed, a fine is exacted 
 and paid. If the offence has been gross, they are expelled. 
 The fines are deposited in the hands of the treasurer, and 
 are applied to relieve the widows or families of those mem- 
 bers of the society who need supply, and sometimes those 
 who have been unsuccessful in business. They cannot pro- 
 ceed to an election unless some married members be pre- 
 sent ; but the preses is usually chosen from among the 
 unmarried ; it being supposed that those of this descrip- 
 tion will more readily attend the fairs. When a new 
 member is admitted, he pays some entry money, which is 
 added to the common stock. The son of a member pays 
 less than a stranger. No information has been obtained 
 that can be depended on as to the time when this society 
 was first instituted, nor how they came to hold their anr-
 
 462 EAST LOTHIAN* 
 
 Preston- nua i meetings at Preston. The members residing: in Easi 
 pans. 
 v Y ^~ Lothian were always the most numerous, which might be 
 
 a reason for holding the meeting in this county ; and Pres- 
 ton, being situated at its western extremity, is the town 
 nearest to the other two Lothians. In the year 1736, they 
 acquired a right to the cross there, which they still pre- 
 serve. So much is Preston now decayed, that this cross 
 stands in a field. The number of pedlars keeping pack- 
 horses is much fewer than it once was. About fifty years 
 ago, there were fifteen in East Lothiany all of whom had a 
 good trade. At present they are greatly declined ; and 
 the whole number of members in the society is supposed 
 to be below twenty-four. Persons living in the country 
 are now more accustomed than formerly to purchase dif- 
 ferent articles of merchandize in towns or villages, where 
 the assortments are more extensive, and to which the ac- 
 cess, by means of good roads, has now become more con- 
 venient than in ancient times. 
 
 In Prestonpans there is a market for butchers meat 
 every Wednesday and Saturday ; but it is attended only 
 by butchers from the neighbouring villages of Tranent 
 and Musselburgh. Indeed this place appears to have de- 
 clined considerably during the last fifty years. In 1754 
 there were sixteen brewers in it, whereas they are now 
 reduced to less than one-third of that number. There are 
 here two water mills for grinding flint for the use of the pot- 
 teries. They are chiefly worthy of notice on account of 
 . the mode of their movement. The one is turned by the 
 
 water of a coal level, and the other by the sea- water col- 
 lected at the flow of the tide. 
 
 Battle of Above the village was fought the battle of Preston A. D . 
 Preston, 1745, in which the army of the rebels obtained a victory 
 over the king's forces. The commander in chief in Scot- 
 j Sir John Cope, hadleft Stirling to go to the Highlands
 
 EAST LOTHIAN, 463 
 
 to meet and disperse the rebels before they could gather Preston- 
 strength and become formidable. When became within 22 u* 
 miles of fort Augustus, he learned that they were strong- 
 ly posted, so that, with the forces under his command, it 
 anight be hazardous to attack them. Instead of remaining 
 in front of them, to wait for reinforcements, and thereby 
 at once to protect the low country and obtain a chance of 
 compelling the Highlanders to disperse from want of mo- 
 ney and provisions, he adopted the strange resolution 
 of marching off towards Inverness on his right. From 
 thence he proceeded to Aberdeen, where he embarked his 
 troops for the purpose of passing round by sea to the 
 south. The rebels wisely did not pursue him ; but find- 
 ing the whole of Scotland thus delivered up to them by 
 the royal commander in chief, they marched southward, 
 and, in the manner we formerly mentioned, entered Edin- 
 burgh, where they got money and muskets, of both of 
 which they were in great want. The following account 
 of the battle is nearly that given by John Home, Esq. in 
 his late history of the rebellion. 
 
 On the 18th of September, Sir John Cope completed March of 
 the landing of his troops at Dunbar, to which port he had armv. 
 sailed from Aberdeen. On the 19th, he left Dunbar with 
 his army, and marched towards Edinburgh. This little 
 army made a great show j the cavalry, the infantry, the can- 
 non, with a long train of baggage carts, extended for seve- 
 ral miles along the road. The people of the country, long 
 unaccustomed to war and arms, flocked from all quarters 
 to see an army going to fight a battle in East Lothian ; 
 and, with infinite concern and anxiety for the event, be- 
 held this uncommon spectacle. 
 
 That day the army encamped in a field to the west of 
 the town of Haddington. Next day the army moved 
 again, directing their movement towards Edinburgh by
 
 464 EAST LOTHIAJT. 
 
 Pieston- the post road, till they came near Huntingdon ; and turn-" 
 t pa " s ' . ing off there, took the low road by St Germains and Sea- 
 ton. In this march the officers assured the spectators, ot" 
 whom no small number attended them, that there would 
 be no battle ; for as the cavalry and infantry were joined, 
 the Highlanders would not venture to wait the attack of 
 so complete an army. It is doubtful whether or not the 
 people who talked in this manner really thought so ; but 
 such was the tone of the army ; and whoever did not hold 
 the same language was looked upon as a lukewarm friend. 
 Sir John Cope, informed of the approach of the rebel?, 
 thought that the plain between Seaton and Preston, which 
 he saw before him, was a very proper piece of ground to 
 receive them, and continued his march along the high 
 road to Preston, till he came to the place since well known 
 by the name of the field T)f battle ; and there he formed 
 his army, fronting the west, from which the enemy was 
 expected. In a very short time after Sir John Cope had 
 taken his ground, the Highland army came in sight. 
 March of The Highland army marched from Duddingston in a 
 the rebeb. co l um n whose front was very narrow, three men in a rank. 
 They crossed the river Esk at the bridge of Musselburgh, 
 and proceeded along the post road till they came to Edge 
 Bucklin Brae. There they left the post road, and, going 
 by the west side of Walliford, advanced a good way up 
 Fawside hill ; then turning to the left, bent their course 
 towards Tranent, and, coming in upon the po"St road again, 
 a little to the west of that town, continued their march till 
 the king's army saw them appear. The soldiers shouted 
 with great vehemence. The Highlanders returned the 
 shout ; and marching on till the head of the column was 
 hear Tranent, they halted, faced to the left, and formed 
 the line of battle about half a mile from the king's army. 
 As the Highlanders, in marching from Duddingston.; 
 ' 4
 
 EAST LOTHIAN. 485 
 
 Iiad made a circuit. They did not come from that quaf- Battle of 
 ter whence thej were expected ; and Sir John Cope, as ' v .....* 
 soon as he saw them appear on his left, put his troops in 
 motion, and, changing the front of his army from west to 
 south, faced the enemy. On his right was the village of 
 Preston, and still nearer his fight, the east wall of Mr 
 Erskine of Grange's park ; whichj extending a. great way 
 from south to north, had a high road at each end of 
 it. On his left was the village of Seaton ; in his rear, the 
 village of Cockenzie and the sea ; in his front, the rebels 
 and the town of Tranent. Between the two armies was a 
 morass ; the ground on each side of it was soft, boggy, 
 and full of springs, that formed a run of water, which 
 went down in a ditch to Seaton, where it ended in a mill- 
 dam. In this boggy ground there were a great many cuts 
 and drains, which had made some parts of it more firm ; 
 and in these places there were several small enclosures 
 with hedges, dry stone-dikes, and willow trees. In the 
 front, and but a few paces from the front of the king's ar- 
 my, there was a ditch with a thick and strong hedge. 
 
 The distance between the two armies^ that were sepa- 
 rated by this uncouth piece of ground, was little more than 
 half a mile. In number they were nearly equal ; the su- Numbert \\8 
 periority, though but small, was on the side of the rebels. cannjr ' 
 Sir John Cope's army, when he avoided an engagement 
 with the rebels posted at Corryarrak, near fort Augustus, 
 consisted only of 1400 men. In marching to Inverness, 
 and from Inverness to Aberdeen, he met with two com- 
 panies of Guest's regiment, which he brought with him 
 to Dunbar. At Dunbar he was joined by the two regi- 
 ments of dragoons,; amounting to COO men ; so that his 
 army, at the battle of Preston, consisted of 2100 men, be- 
 sides some new raised companies of Lord London's 
 inent, and the 42d, which were sent to Cockenxie as 
 
 VOL, I. G r
 
 466 ftAST LOTHIAtf. 
 
 ml-* of baggage guard. When the rebels came to Edinburgh) 
 P ston 
 v y- thev were somewhat under 2000 men ; next day 150 
 
 M'Lachlans joined them ; and before they marched from 
 Duddingston to meet Sir John Cope, they were joined by 
 250 Athol men ; so that the rebel army at the battle of 
 Preston amounted nearly to 2400. 
 
 The afternoon was spent in various movements ; Sir 
 John Cope always endeavouring to preserve the advan- 
 tage of his situation. But when evening came, and night 
 approached, his situation did not seem so advantageous as 
 he imagined. It appeared too plainly, that his troops 
 were shut up and confined to a place from which it was 
 not thought safe for them to go very far, whilst the rebels 
 were at liberty to move about as they pleased, and were 
 actually in continual motion, hovering about the king's 
 army to find an opportunity and rush in upon them. The 
 night was at hand, dark and cold ; for although the wea- 
 ther was fine, and remarkably warm in the day-time, the 
 nights were cold and frosty, as they usually are in Scot- 
 land at that season ; for it was the 20th day of September 
 pld style. 
 
 Then, and not till then, some people began to fear that 
 . . the army which stood upon the defensive, and was to pass 
 the night under arms, would be attacked in the morning 
 with advantage by an enemy, who, secure from attack, 
 and sheltered from the cold by their plaids, might lie 
 down and take their rest, and rise fresh and vigorous for 
 the fight. Such were the gloomy reflections on one side, 
 when night sat down upon the field. 
 
 During the night, Mr Robert Anderson, son of Ander- 
 son of Whitbrough in East Lothian, suggested to Prince 
 Charles Edward, the son of the pretender, a plan for pass- 
 ing the morass which divided the armies. The plan was 
 adopted ; and about three o'clock in the morning, orders
 
 LOfHUN. 467 
 
 We're ient to Lord Nairn, who had been detached with Battle of 
 
 is- r - n- v i f* f Preston. 
 
 690 men towards Preston (to prevent Sir John Cope from . v - . , t 
 
 marching that way to Edinburgh), to draw off his men 
 and join the army ; which he immediately did. Before 
 break of day, the Highlanders began to move. Anderson 
 led the way ; next to him was the major of the regiment of 
 Clanronald, with 40 men ; close behind them was the 
 army, marching in column as before, three men in a rank. 
 They came down by a sort of valley or hollow that winds 
 through the farm of Ringanhead ; not a word was heard 
 amongst them. At first their march was concealed by Attack by 
 the darkness ; and when day began to break, by a frosty 
 mist. They were near the place where Anderson in- 
 tended to lead them through the morass, when some dra- 
 goons called, " Who's there?" The Highlanders made no 
 answer, but marched on* The dragoons perceived what 
 they were, and rode off to give the alarm : the Highland- 
 ers immediately entered the morass, and passed through 
 without much tlifficulty. The column marched directly 
 north towards the sea, till it was thought that the men 
 who were behind might have reached their ground ; then 
 the Duke of Perth, who led the Column, ordered the men 
 to halt, face to the left, and form a line as usual. 
 
 Sir John Cope, informed by the dragoons who had seen 
 the Highlanders, that they were coming from the east, im- 
 mediately put his troops in motion, and changed the front 
 of his army from south to east. The ground between the 
 two armies was an extensive corn field, plain and level, 
 without a bush or tree. Harvest was just got in ; and the 
 ground was covered with a thick stubble, which rustled 
 under the feet of the Highlanders as they ran on, speak- 
 ing and muttering in a manner that expressed and height- 
 ened their fierceness and rage. When they set out, the 
 mist was very thick ; but before they got halfway, thc 
 
 Gg2
 
 46T AST 
 
 Battle of S u n j-ose, and showed the armies to each other. As t\\& 
 u Y- -> left wing of the rebel army had moved before the right, 
 their line was somewhat oblique ; and the Camerons, who 
 were nearest the king's army, came up directly opposke 
 to the cannon,. firing at the guard as they advanced. The 
 people employed to work the cannon^ who were not gun- 
 ners or artillery men, fled instantly. Colonel Whitefard 
 fired five of the six field pieces with his own hand, and 
 killed- one private man, and wounded an officer in Jkochiel's 
 regiment. The line seemed to shake ; but the men kept 
 going on at a great pace. Colonel Whitney was ordered 
 to advance with his squadron of horse r and attack the rebels 
 before they came up to the cannon. The dragoons moved 
 on, and were very near the cannon when they received 
 some fire,, which killed several men, and wounded Lieute- 
 
 Rout of the nant-colonel Whitney. The squadron immediately wheel- 
 
 royal 
 
 troops. ed about, rode over the artillery guard, and fled. The 
 
 men of the artillery guard, who had given one fire, and. 
 that a very indifferent one r dispersed. The Highlanders 
 going., on without stopping to- make prisoners,. Colonel- 
 Gardner was ordered to advance with- his squadron, and 
 attack them, disordered as they seemed to be with running 
 over the cannon and the artillery guard. The colonel ad- 
 vanced at the head of his men, encouraging them to 
 charge. The dragoons followed him a little way ; but as 
 soon as the fire of the Highlanders reached them, they 
 reeled, fell into confusion, and went off as the other squa- 
 dron had done. When the dragoons on the right of the 
 king's army gave way, the Highlanders, most of whom. 
 had their pieces still loaded, advanced against the foot, 
 firing as they went on. The soldiers, confounded and ter- 
 rified to see the cannon taken, and the dragoons put to 
 flight, gave their fire, it is said, without orders ; the com 
 panics of the oat-guard, being nearest the enemy, were
 
 EAST LOTHIA1*. 459 
 
 the "Srst that fired, and the fire went down the line as far Battle of 
 
 Preston, 
 as Murray's regiment. The Highlanders threw down . r ^ 
 
 their muskets, drew thek swords, and ran on ; the line of 
 foot broke, as the fire had been given from right to left 5 
 Hamilton's dragoons, seeing what had happened on the 
 right, and receiving some fire at a good distance from the 
 Highlanders advancing to attack tltem, they immediately 
 Jtvheeled about and fled, leaving the flank of the foot un- 
 guarded. The regiment which was next them (Mur- 
 ray's) gave their fire and followed the dragoons. In a 
 very few minutes after the first cannon was fired, the whole 
 army, both torse and foot, were put to flight j none of the 
 soldiers attempted to load their pieces again, and not one 
 bayonet was stained with blood. In this manner the 
 battle of Preston was fought and won by the rebels. The 
 'victory was complete ; for all the infantry of the king's 
 army were either killed or taken prisoners, except about 
 170, who escaped i>y extraordinary swiftness or early 
 flight. 
 
 The number of private men of the king's army who 
 were killed in the battle did not exceed 2OO ; but five of- 
 ficers were killed, and 80 officers (many of them wound- 
 ed) were taken prisoners. Four officers of the rebel army, 
 and 30 pirvate men, were killed j six officers, and 70 pri- 
 vate men, were wounded. The cannon, the tents, the bag- 
 gage, and the military chest of tke king's army, with the 
 men that guarded it, fell into the hands of the enemy. The 
 ^dragoons, after their first flight, halted once or twice, but 
 "fled again whenever any party of the rebels came up and 
 fired at them. General Cope, with the assistance of the 
 Earls of Home and Loudon, gathered together about 450 
 dragoons at the west ead of the village of Preston, and, 
 marching them by Soutra hill and Lauder, reached Cold- 
 Stream that night. The bravery of Colonel Gardner, wh
 
 470 EAST LOTHIAtf. 
 
 Villages, refused to fly with his regiment of dragoons, and fell on th? 
 field, is sriil remembered in Scotland with admiration. Cap- 
 tain Br jmer also, of Lee's regiment, disdained to turn his 
 back on the enemy, and fell where he stood. He was the 
 only officer present who had ever seen the Highlanders en- 
 gaged with regular troops, and he was the only officer of 
 the royal army who had expressed apprehensions of the 
 result of the battle. 
 
 Trancat. Q n t ^ e fagh g roun d to the south of Prestonpans is the 
 yilage of Tranent, containing upwards of 1300 inhabitants. 
 It is very irregularly built. The post road from Edin- 
 burgh to London by Haddington and Dunbar passes thro' 
 $he upper part of it. It contains nothing remarkable, ex- 
 cepting the church, which is very ancient, and is said to 
 have been dedicated (as the- name of the village is thought 
 to import) to the holy trinity. It was built -in -the times 
 of popery and of ignorance, and has every appearance of 
 being a sort of practical or. architectural pun upon that 
 mysterious doctrine of our holy religion, to the honour of 
 
 The which it had been consecrated.. Qn the outside, it appears 
 
 church. to cons i s t of three separate oblong houses placed at the 
 side of; each other ; but when entered, it is found to con* 
 sist of only one building. An opening is made across the 
 middle building by supporting its side walls with arches. 
 The middle house is longer at each end than the other 
 two. A square tower rises from the centre of the whole, 
 supported by the side walls of the middle building and by 
 cross arches. The roofs of the three houses are vaulted and 
 covered with stone. The windows are few ; and it will 
 readily occur, that the inside of such a fabric must be 
 abundantly dismal ; but every thing has been . sacrificed to 
 the leading idea or principle upon which it is, constructed, 
 
 Ormiiten South from Tranent is the village of Ormiston. It 
 contains between 50.0 and CQO pe.rso.ns, who enjoy almost
 
 EAST LOTHIAN. 471 
 
 every natural advantage for domestic comfort. In respect t V^ges. 
 of health, the situation is very favourable. The village 
 stands upon gravel, and consists chiefly of two rows of 
 houses of two stories ; the one fronting the south, and 
 the other the north, with a broad airy street between 
 them. In the middle of the street is a cross, of the origin 
 of which there is no tradition ; but, from its ancient ap- ' 
 pearance, it is evidently a relic of popery. The houses 
 on both sides of the streets are sheltered by trees, which 
 grow in the hedge rows of the adjacent inclosures, but 
 not so much as to prevent a free circulation of air. To 
 this last circumstance the Earl of Hopeton is so atten- 
 tive, as to give orders to thin his trees when they are hurt- 
 ful to the inhabitants. This is chiefly a farming village. 
 Though attempts have been made, the linen manufacture 
 never succeeded here. At present there is here a starch- 
 work. 
 
 Over the whole county a variety of small villages are Gladsmuir 
 
 . '. . % rc * 1 thun- 
 
 scattered, which it would be tedious to mention, especi- der storm. 
 
 ally as they contain nothing worthy of notice. To this 
 remark, however, there are a very few exceptions. We 
 may take notice of that of Gladsmuir, though it contains 
 only between fifty and sixty families, on account of an 
 occurrence of a nature very unusual in this country. On 
 the 21st of July 1789, a thunder-storm began in the north, 
 and came gradually nearer, having proceeded round by 
 the west. The school, where above seventy children 
 were then assembled, unfortunately stood in its way. 
 The thunder burst upon the house, and seemed at first to 
 have levelled it with the ground. ; The walls were rent, 
 the windows shattered, and the roof demolished. A thick 
 darkness, produced by the smoke and dust, for a while 
 concealed the extent of the mischief. When it subsi 'ed, 
 the neighbours who first entered, anxious for the fate of
 
 41* AST LOTHIAN. 
 
 ^Villages, their children, had reason to fear the worst ; for 
 signs of life appeared. The whole crowd of little 
 either stunned or terrified, lay stretched upon the ground 
 beneath the tables or benches where they sat. Many- 
 were quite senseless, but afterwards recovered. Two 
 "boys were killed outright, and the master, with many- 
 others, were much injured. 
 
 Saltoa. There are two villages named Saltou in the same parish, 
 
 distinguished by the appellation of East and West. They 
 deserve notice, rather on account of their past than their 
 present importance. The celebrated Fletcher of Salton, 
 who distinguished himself so remarkably by his political 
 hostility to the tyranny of the two last princes of the house 
 
 Fannersandof Stuart, by his zeal for the revolution under King Wil- 
 fcarley-mill n . .,,. .. ...... ., 
 
 imported l iam > au " ky his opposition to the legislative union be- 
 tween England and Scotland, by which the separate im- 
 portance of the latter was for ever lost, was the principal 
 proprietor of this district, and feudal superior of these, 
 villages. When he saw the union fully established, and 
 his own political careeji at a close, he appears to have di- 
 rected the efforts of his active spirit to the improvement of 
 his country in the useful arts. Accordingly, we owe to him 
 the fanners, and the mill for making pot or hulled barley. 
 Having resided a considerable time in Holland, along with 
 other British malcontents, before the revolution, he had 
 observed there the two instruments already mentioned, and 
 at a future period of his life he contrived to import them 
 into his native country. With this view, in 1710, he 
 carried James Meikle, a mill-wright in his neighbour- 
 hood, to Holland. Mr Meikle went to Amsterdam, and 
 Mr Fletcher resided at the Hague. The correspondence be- 
 tween them is said to be still in existence ; and from thence 
 it appears that the iron-work of the barley-mill was pur- 
 i Holland. As the Dutch were always extreme,-
 
 EAST LOTHIAN. 
 
 ly jealous of the exportation or introduction to foreign Villages. 
 (Countries of any of their manufactures or instruments, Mr 
 Meikle is said to have been under the necessity of dis- 
 guising himself as a menial servant of his employer's 
 Jady, and in that character obtained permission to see 
 the instruments he wished to imitate by attending the 
 Lady on pretended visits of curiosity. Mr Meikle ha- 
 ying returned to Salton, erected a barley-mill there, and 
 made and sold the instrument called ihefanners, now uni- 
 versally used. The barley-mill had constant employ-? 
 meat ; and Salton barley was written upon almost every 
 petty shop in the Scottish villages. As barley is an in- 
 gredient very generally used in Scotland, in the prepara- 
 tion of broth for the table, among all classes of persons, 
 the project must have been profitable, as a monopoly of 
 the manufacture was long eirjoyed. It was not till about 
 the year 1754 that the other mills began to be erected, 
 and that gradually the barley-mill became a branch of the 
 ma9hinery of almost every corn-mill in the country. The 
 effect of introducing the barley-mill at Salton was, that 
 the agriculture of this country was rapidly brought to per-? 
 fection, on account of the ready market for this species of 
 grain, and the great exportation of it to all parts of the 
 country. 
 
 Here, also, in 1750, the first bleachfield belonging to 
 the British Linen Company was formed, under the patro- 
 nage of Lord Milton, the nephew of the celebrated Flet- 
 cher of Salton. It flourished greatly for some time, but 
 was afterwards abandoned. 
 
 The village of Gifljbrd, in the parish of Ye$ter, is neatly G i- or< 
 built, and agreeably situated, amidst abundance of wood 
 and water. It contains about 400 inhabitants : they are 
 small feuars under the Marquis of Tweedale. There is 
 ^ere at present A considerable bleachfield j but the neigh*,
 
 474 EAST LOTHIAN. 
 
 Villages bourhood is chieflj remarkable on account of the flax-mill 
 having been first established here. Soon after its institu- 
 tion in 1727, the Board for the encouragement of manu- 
 factures and fisheries in Scotland endeavoured to intro- 
 duce or to extend and improve the culture of flax. The 
 Board had a certain number of surveyors instructed in the 
 culture of flax, to eac> of whom they assigned a district of 
 country ; and by bounties thev invited the husbandmen 
 of each district to cultivate this plant, under the direction 
 of these surveyors, who superintended the business from 
 the sowing of the seed until the flax was watered and pre- 
 pared for cleaning. 
 
 Invent ; on ^ r Spalding, one of the surveyors who had the charge 
 of the flax- o f this county, invented the water-machine now used for 
 the skutching and cleaning of the flax ; and under his di- 
 rection the Board erected the first machine of the kind 
 ever known in Great Britain al; GiSbrdhall, upon the 
 Tweedale estate in this country. 
 
 The mill invented by Mr Spalding wrought with ver- 
 tical skutchers ; and the sole alteration made upon this 
 machine since his time has been tq make the skutchers 
 work horizontally. By this change in the position and, 
 motion of the skutchers, the machine occupies less space, 
 and of course lessens, the expence of the building necessa- 
 ry for containing it. 
 
 The village of Athelstanefoord, containing about 3oo 
 iAthelstane- - , 
 
 foord. inhabitants, is chiefly remarkable on account of the origin 
 
 of its name. If any credit is due to Buchanan, this vil- 
 lage owes its name to the following incident. In one of 
 the predatory incursions, frequent at that early period, 
 Athelstane (whom he supposes to have been a Danish 
 chief, that had received a grant of Northumberland from 
 King Alfred), arrived in this part of the country ; and in. a 
 Battle with Hungus King of the Picts was pulled with
 
 EAST LOTHIAN 475 
 
 lenfce from his horse and slain. The rivulet where that but- Village*.^ 
 tie was fought is in the immediate neighbourhood of the " 
 village, and is called Lug Down Burn. Buchanan further 
 adds, that Hungus, who was much inferior in every respect 
 to Athelstane, was encouraged to hazard this battle by a 
 vision of St Andrew the Apostle the night preceding, who 
 promised him success ; and that the victory was facilita- 
 ted by the appearance of a cross in the air, in the form of 
 the letter X, as soon as the battle began. The village 
 over which this miraculous vision was seen still retains 
 the name of Mart/e, a contraction of miracle. Achaius 
 King of the Scots, by whose assistance Hungus obtained 
 this victory (for he sent him 10,000 men under the com- 
 mand of his son Alpinus), in commemoration of the fore- 
 said appearance of St Andrew's cross, afterwards institu- 
 ted an order of knighthood in honour of St Andrew, who 
 in times of popery was reckoned the tutelary saint of 
 Scotland. This happened about the beginning of the 
 ninth century. It is not certain at what period the origi- 
 nal church of this place was built ; but it is well known 
 that, towards the end of the twelfth century, .the parish 
 church of Athelstanefoord, and Crail in Fife, with their 
 tithes, were annexed to the monastery of St Martin, in 
 the parish of Haddington, by Malcolm the Fourth. This 
 was probably done in honour of the memory of his mother 
 Ada, Countessj of Northumberland, who founded that mo- 
 nastery. 
 
 In giving an account of the royal boroughs of Hadding- 
 ton, Dunbar, and North Ber\vick, we have already men- 
 tioned the most remarkable vestiges of antiquity belong- 
 ing to this county. A considerable number of others are 
 scattered over it. In the parish of Humbie, the vestiges 
 of a Roman castellum stativum is still to be seen upon the 
 estate of Whiteburgh, in the south-west part of the parish.
 
 Antiquities. It was of s. circular form, and consisted of three "walls, a 
 Roman the distance of thirteen feet from each other, built with 
 very large stones, and with cement only at the bottom. It 
 occupied more than an acre of ground. No information 
 can be got about the height of the walls ; but the propri- 
 etor of the lands remembers that the parts of them which 
 he has seen were sixteen feet thick. The whole work 
 has been carried off, at different times, for building the 
 present house and offices of Whijeburgh, and some farm- 
 houses on the estate. Near it were several tumuli, ia 
 which were urns full of bones or ashes. In the camp it- 
 self were found a medal of Trajan, & fibula, a patera, and 
 a horn of a moose deer. In the neighbourhood, but in 
 other parishes, are three other encampments, situated in 
 such a manner as to lead to the supposition that the whole 
 were intended to act in concert, and to overlook the Lo~ 
 thians. 
 
 Castle of About a mije above the Marquis of Tweedale's house 
 Veer. o y es ^ er ^ U p on a peninsula formed by the water of Hopes 
 to the east, and a large rivulet on the west, stands the 
 ancient catle of Yester. Sir David Dalrymple, in his An- 
 nals, relates, that " Hugh GifFord de Yester died in 1267 ; 
 " that in his castle there was a capacious cavern, formed 
 " by magical art, and called in the country Bob-hall, i.e. 
 " Hobgoblen-hall" A stair of twenty-four steps led down 
 to this apartment, which is a large and spacious hall, with 
 an arched roof ; and though it hath stood for so many 
 centuries, and here exposed to the external air for a pe- 
 riod of fifty or sixty years, it is still as firm and entire as 
 if it had only stood a few years. From the floor of this 
 hall, another stair of thirty-six-steps leads down to a pit 
 which hath a communication with Hopes water. A great 
 part of the walls of this large and ancient castle are still 
 Standing. There is a ^radition, that the castle of Yester
 
 AST LOTHIAN 1 . 4ft 
 
 was the last fortification in this country that surrendered Antiquities, 
 to General Gray, sent into Scotland by Protector Somer- 
 set. 
 
 Various remains of fortifications and artificial mounts 
 are to be found in the parishes of Garvald and Whiting- 
 ham, as might naturally be expected in a part of the 
 country which was often invaded by the Danes and the 
 English. In the parish of Whitingham, in the farm of 
 Priestlaw, is a strong fortification, all the parts of which 
 
 still remain entire. This ancient work stands on a kind Ancient , 
 - ...... r . -fortrcWt 
 
 or promontary, iormed by tne junction ot the water or 
 
 Whittater on the north and Kinsly on the east. The ele- 
 vation of the ground on the side of Kinsly is about 10O 
 feet, and on that of Whittater about 150. On the south 
 side the ground is nearly level to s6me distance from the 
 fortification, and then rises gradually up to the summit of 
 Priestlaw. The camp is of an oval form, with the broad- 
 est end, which is inaccessible, towards the north. Oft 
 one side are four ditches, parallel to each other ; and the 
 distance between each may be twelve yards. On the north- 
 side are three ditches ; and the outer ditch is carried 
 pound the whole. The circumference of this military 
 work measures about 2000 feet. In one place, on the 
 north, the rock is cut, in a sloping form, down to the bed of 
 Whittater below j and it is probable that through this pas- 
 sage the camp was supplied with water. There are three 
 gates or entries ;. one on the south side, which is 40 feet 
 wide ; another on- the east ; and the third on the west, which 
 are 20 feet wide each. 
 
 In the same parish, about a mile and a half north-west Traprea* 
 from the village of Whittingham, is Dumpender or Tra- Law> 
 prenelaw, a little hill or rock, of an oval form, rising by 
 itself in an open country. On the south side it is inac- 
 esssible ; and, on the other sides, round the extremity
 
 478 EAST LOTHIAN* 
 
 J 
 
 Antiquities. o f the summit, are the remains of an old dyke or wall; 
 the materials of which are large rough stones, rudely piled 
 up one above another. It is probable that it was con- 
 structed by the inhabitants of the adjoining country in the 
 days of barbarism, and was intended as a place of safety 
 when they were invaded by the Danes or the English. 
 On such occasions they went thither for shelter, and carried 
 their cattle and effects along with them. This solitary rock 
 was anciently called Dwnpenderlaw ; but afterMary Queen 
 of Scotland, so famous in history, was carried off by the 
 Earl of Bothwell to Hails castle, which stands to the 
 north on the Tyne river, about an Englith mile below it,' 
 it was called Traprenelaw, from the two French words 
 trope and reine. Several years ago, a small plantation of 
 different kinds of trees was made on its summit by way 
 of experiment; and inclosed with a stone dyke or wall six: 
 feet high. The trees succeeded very well while they 
 were sheltered by the wall ; but since that time they 
 have not made the smallest progress. 
 
 In the parish of Inner wick there is a small encampment 
 on Blackcastle hill, seemingly Danish. There are two 
 very beautiful tumuli, on the top of Which have been bu- 
 rial places. Near one of them is a bridge of one arch, 
 commonly called Ederkin, said to be a corruption for King- 
 Edward, who is supposed to have built it. 
 
 Battle of ^ a ^ ie P ar i sn f Spot, Downhill, about 500 feet above the 
 Dunbar. se a, is remarkable for being the place on which General 
 Leslie had his camp before (what is sometimes called) the 
 battle ofDunlar, but in general, over this country, the bat- 
 tle of Downhill, fought on the east side and neighbourhood 
 of the hill, between Oliver Cromwell and the Scottish army 
 under Leslie's command. From this strong intrenchment 
 .. ^Leslie was persuaded, contrary to his own opinion, to 
 come down ; was defeated by Cromwell, who was just 
 
 a
 
 EAST LOTHIAtf. 
 
 about to embark his troops at Dunbar for want of provi- Antiguhlc. 
 sions, and was pursued with great slaughter. Musket- 
 bullets, swords, human bones, and pieces of scarlet cloth, 
 are still found in the neighbouring fields. Many of the 
 killed were buried in and about Spott Dean. 
 
 On the northern shore of the county, along the frith; 
 from Aberlady towards Longniddery, are a great many 
 stone graves ; all of them that have been opened contain- 
 ing human bones. Particularly in Gossford links, they 
 are laid almost as thick as in a church-yard, and fill a 
 very considerable space of ground. It is remarkable that 
 many of them lie nearly south and north. In searching 
 lately for a stone quarry, there were found in a hole, in- 
 closed with stones about 30 inches by 18, the bones of a 
 human body, and a small well-formed tesselated urn, of a 
 very light blue colour ; but the workmen had not been 
 curious enough to observe whether there was any thing 
 in the urn, or if it had a cover. It is in the custody of 
 the Earl of Wemyss. At a small distance from these 
 graves are two pretty large tumuli. 
 
 The Castle of Dirleton is worthy of notice. The build- Dirleton 
 er of it, and the time of its erection, are both unknown. 
 It is mentioned in history as early as the year 1298. It 
 then belonged to one of the family of de Vallibus, or de 
 Vave : and when King Edward the First invaded Scotland 
 by the eastern borders, surrendered to Anthony Beck, 
 Bishop of Durham, after a very obstinate defence. 
 
 Heming says, " that at the siege of Dirleton in East Lo- 
 thian, about the beginning of July 1298, the English sol- 
 diers were reduced to great scarcity of provisions ; they 
 subsisted on the peas and beans which they pickt up in 
 the fields." 
 
 " This circumstance," says Dalrymple (from whom 
 this article is transcribed), " presents us with a favourable
 
 430 fcAST LOTHIAtf. 
 
 Antiquities. v j ew o f the state of agriculture in East Lothian as faf 
 back as the thirteenth century." 
 
 In the wardrobe account of the 28th of Edward First, 
 A. D. 1299 and 1300, we find many entries of provision 
 given by the king's order to Robert de Malo Lacie for 
 victualling his castle of Dirleton, A; D. 1306, by a re- 
 cord in Rymer, it appears that Aymer de Valence was 
 directed to seize the castle of Dirleton in the king's hands,- 
 with all its apurtenances, lands, and tenements, and all the 
 goods and chattels found in the said castle, which was to 
 be furnished with ammunition, and delivered to the bro- 
 ther of Mr John de Ryngeston, to keep if till the king 
 should give other orders. 
 
 In the reign of King Robert I. John Haly burton acqui- 
 red the lordship of Dirleton, by marrying the daughter 
 and co-heiress of William de Vallibus. In 1402 it be- 
 longed to Thomas Halyburton, who was one of the chief- 
 tains appointed by Archibald Earl of Douglas to attend 
 the motions of the English. 
 
 A. D. 1440, Sir Walter Halyburton, Lbrd High Trea- 
 surer of Scotland^ was created a peer by the title of Lord 
 Dirleton. About the beginning of the 17th century this 
 lordship belonged to John Maxwell, a zealous royalist, 
 who was by King Charles the First created Lord Dirleton ; 
 he lost his estate by his attachment to the royal cause 5 
 and soon after the restoration it came into the possession 
 of Sir John Nisbet, king's advocate, in whose family it 
 still remains, along with a handsome estate near it. Du- 
 ring the, civil wars, in the last century,- this castle was ta- 
 ken by General Lambert, after a gallant defence, and by 
 ' him reduced to its present ruinous state. 
 
 Cnlane ^ n t ^ le P ar ish f Dirleton are the ruins of Gulane 
 
 church. church ; a building apparently of great antiquity. This 
 
 ancient church once served the parish of Dirleton,
 
 EASt LOTHIAtf. 4S I 
 
 f 
 vicar had, A. D. 1268, an. annual salary of twelve merks, Country 
 
 SCfttft* 
 
 till the year 1612, when the church was, by act of parlia- ... v ,' ,j 
 ment, translated to Dirleton. The last vicar of Gulane 
 is said to have been deposed by King James the Sixth for 
 the high crime of smoking tobacco ; a weed which his 
 Majesty deemed only fit for diabolical fumigations ! 
 
 It would be in vain to attempt to enumerate, and much 
 more to describe, the great number of handsome villas, 
 which, along with their pleasure-grounds, adorn different 
 parts of this county. Two of the most remarkable of 
 these buildings are Amisfield and Wemyss house. TheWemjrss 
 latter, now finishing at Gossford; upon the shore of the 
 Forth, by the Earl of Wemyss, is a most magnificent and 
 elegant building. The two principal rooms are of an extra- 
 Ordinary size. The cornice of the drawing-room is sup- 
 ported by four beautiful marble columns of the Ionic order $ 
 and the pedestals, shafts, and capitals; are of exquisite 
 workmanship. It is seen from afar on both sides of the 
 Frith. Amisfield, in the parish of Haddington, was built Amjsfielfl. 
 by the same nobleman about 3 7 years ago; The body of 
 the house is 109 feet in length by 77 feet in depth. The 
 apartments are large, elegant; and numerous. The gal- 
 lery contains many capital paintings^ some of them by 
 the first masters ; particularly a CRUCIFIXION, by Impe- 
 riali; VENUS and ADONIS, by Annibal Caracci ; the SA- 
 CRIFICE of IPHIGENIA, by Pompeio ; a SEA-PIECE, by 
 Vandervelt ; the FLIGHT into EGYPT, by Murillo ; VER- 
 TUAINUS" and POMONA, by Ruben s, accounted a first-rate 
 piece ; APOLLO keeping the sheep of Admetus, by Guido 
 Rheni ; the BAPTISM of our SAVIOUR, by Poussin ; a 
 FLOWER-PIECE, by Michael Angelo ; JUDITH and HOLD- 
 JERNES, by Pompeio ; GENERAL MONK, by Sir Peter 
 Lely ; with FAMILY PORTRAITS, by Sir Joshua Rey-i 
 eolds, Aikman, Seaton, Ramsay, &c. 
 VOL. I. H h
 
 48-2. EAST LOTHIANV 
 
 Country. Tester House, belonging to the Marquis of- Tweedalc> 
 
 seats. 
 
 1 
 
 is a large, elegant, and magnificent structure, built of hewn, 
 housed stone > f a fi ne reddish, colour, brought from the lands of 
 Delgaty in Fife,, which formerly belonged to this noble 
 Salton hall, family. Salton Hall,.the seat of the family of Fletcher, may 
 also be mentioned as an ancient building, which has been 
 much ornamented of late years. It was formerly a place of 
 considerable strength, possessing all the appurtenances of, 
 an old fortress. The lawn in front commands, a rich and ex- 
 tensive prospect. The garden contains many of the rarest 
 exotics ;,and amongst others the suber, or cork tree, which 
 was long supposed to be too delicate for our northern cli- 
 mate. Here, however, it has attained a considerable size 
 in a common exposure. The pleasure ground is large, and. 
 affords a variety of romantic scenery, interspersed with ve- 
 nerable groups of aged elm and oak, and enlivened by the. 
 meandrings of a small stream called Salton water., which, 
 descends from the skirts of Lammermoor into the Tyne. 
 
 The house of Dunglass stands on. the west side of a 
 small river,, which divides East Lothian from the county 
 of Berwick. The banks of the river are steep, and co- 
 vered with uncommonly fine wood, through which a va- 
 riety of agreeable walks are cut, and kept in good repair. 
 The Castle of Dunglass is frequently mentioned in the- 
 Scottish history.. It. belonged for many years to the Earl 
 of Hume's ancestors,., and from this he has the title of 
 Lord Dunglass. It was here that James the Sbcth lodged 
 with his retinue the first night after he left Edinburgh oa 
 his journey to London in 1603. This fort was by acci- 
 dent or treachery blown up in the year 1640, when Lord 
 Haddington, and a number of the neighbouring gentle- 
 men, perished in its ruins. The present house, a modern- 
 building, is raised on the very spot where the ancient fort 
 stood. Near it stands an old chapel, which, though not.
 
 EAST LOTHIAN* 433 
 
 how used for the purpose it was originally intended, is Still Country 
 kept in repair. It Was built about the middle of the 14th y . , i 
 century by Sir Thomas Hume, who married Nicolas Pip- 
 die, heiress of Dunglass; 
 
 Many gentlemens seats in Scotlard are chiefly re- 
 markable on account of their situation, amidst beautiful 
 scenery, formed by waters running in deep valleys or 
 glens, with precipitous banks, adorned with wood. Such, 
 for example, is Spott House, romantically situated on a s ptt 
 rock, in a deep den or glen, about a mile long. Though 
 appearing in a very low site^ it has a prospect of the 
 German Ocean, Dunbar, the Bass, Isle of May, and the 
 neighbouring very rich coast of East Lothian. On each 
 side of the house there are rivulets falling in .beautiful 
 cascades over rocks into very deep pools. The banks, in 
 many places, are almost perpendicular, covered with very 
 tall old plane, ash, elm, and beech trees, many of whose 
 trunks and branches are twined about with ivy. There 
 is no space between the banks but what the burn occu- 
 pies, which runs into Spott water or Brocks burn, and en- 
 ters the German Ocean at Broxmouth, a seat of the Duke 
 of Roxburgh, near Dunbar. Of a similar character is whitting 
 Whittingham House, which bears marks of great anti*. ham * 
 quity. It is built on elevated ground, surrounded by 
 many natural beauties, improved by the embellishments 
 of art. The adjacent banks, for the space of an English 
 mile, are covered, from top to bottom, with various sorts 
 of trees, in a most flourishing state. Between the banks 
 there is a glen or valley, through which the Whitting- 
 ham rolls along its limpid stream in a winding course, 
 sometimes approaching one side, and sometimes the other. 
 Through the adjacent grounds several beautiful walks are 
 interspersed ; and, what rarely happens in other places, 
 they have always a dry bottom, both summer and winter, 
 
 Hh 2
 
 EAST LOTHIAW. 
 
 Eminent and are so conducted, that in some one of them it is gene* 
 ' I. y . rally pretty easy, at any season, to find shelter from the 
 wind and the storm* 
 
 But it is in vain to attempt to give particular descrip- 
 tions of the various country seats in this district. We 
 have already mentioned Tynninghame on account of the 
 extent of the plantations with which its vicinity is adorn- 
 ed j and we may farther mention the houses of Seton, 
 Gilmerton, Hopes, and North Berwick, as distinguished 
 by their situation or structure. 
 
 Although this county is by no means remarkable for 
 its extent, great numbers of persons have been born or re- 
 sided in it, who have acted a distinguished part in the pu- 
 blic business, or in the history of their country. The fa- 
 Cockburn. mily of Cockburn of Ormiston long possessed consider- 
 able eminence : they were protestants at the reformation, 
 and whigs afterwards. Cockburn, Lord Justice Clerk, 
 was eminent as a judge and lawyer. John, his son and 
 successor, was no less so as a statesman and a patriotic 
 representative of his country in the union-parliament, and 
 in several succeeding parliaments. He was for a consi- 
 derable time one of the lords of the admiralty. About 
 the year 1740 he retired from political business, and ex- 
 erted himself in the improvement of the agriculture and 
 manufactures of this county. He contributed to erect 
 the first bleachfield in Scotland ; and by his example and 
 influence produced the first vigorous exertions in making 
 and repairing the highroads in his neighbourhood. 
 
 The parish of Prestonpans has been the residence of se- 
 veral men of eminence. Of these we may mention the 
 honourable James Erskine of Grange, brother of the Earl 
 of Mar, and Lord Justice Clerk for the three last years of 
 Queen Ann. He resigned his seat on the bench in the 
 year 1734, that he might go into parliament to oppose Sir 
 Robert Walpole. He was proprietor of the lands now
 
 PAST LOTHIAN. 4S5 
 
 belonging to Schaw's Hospital and to Watson's Hospital. Eminent 
 Hugh Dairy mple, Lord Drummore, was a distinguished __ ., j 
 and popular judge. William Grant of Prestongrai.ge was Lord Pro 
 Lord Advocate in 1746, and carried on the prosecutions tonsran c- 
 against the unfortunate persons who had been engaged in 
 the rebellion, with such fidelity to the crown, and at the 
 same time with so much feeling and lenity for the ac- 
 cused, as gained him universal approbation. He was af- 
 terwards appointed one of the senators of the college of 
 justice, and one of the lords commissioners of justiciary. 
 Some gentlemen of the first merit in their several lines of 
 life were educated at the school here, viz. the late Colonel 
 Campbell Dalrymple, youngest son of Lord Drummore, 
 who was governor of Guadaloupe after it was taken in the 
 war 1756 ; Sir Robert Murray Keith, and his brother Sir 
 Basil Keith ; the last of whom died governor of Jamaica, 
 and the former, during a great number of years, occupied 
 the important station of British ambassador at the court of 
 Vienna. 
 
 The parish of Salton is remarkable for having given 
 birth, or afforded residence, to several very distinguished 
 characters. Among these may be mentioned Dunbar, oneDunbar,the 
 of the most distinguished of the early Scottish poets. He poct ' 
 was born at Salton, in the year 1465. In the earlier pe- 
 riod of his life he was a friar ; but he soon relinquished 
 the profession of a monk for that of a poet ; and by the 
 singular excellence of his compositions attracted the royal 
 attention, became a favourite at the Scottish court, and 
 was admitted as a companion of their select parties. The 
 versatile genius of Dunbar qualified him completely for 
 shining in these. Of all the productions of this bard, 
 his Golden Terge and his Thistle and Rose have been 
 most generally admired. The design of the Golden Terge 
 is to shew the imperceptible and dangerous power of love
 
 486 EAST LOTHIAN. 
 
 Eminent when indulged in opposition to reason ; the Thistle and 
 
 men. . 
 
 * ^ Rose was written to celebrate the marriage of the daugh- 
 ter of Henry the Seventh with James the Fourth. 
 Burnct. The historian Burnet, afterwards bishop of Salisbury, 
 was five years rector of this pansh, and began here his cle- 
 rical career. In 1669 he left this place, to assume the 
 office to which he had been appointed, of professor of di- 
 vinity in the university of Glasgow. He fulfilled the du- 
 ties attached to this office with much credit and ability till 
 16 T4, when the political jealousies of the times induced 
 him to resign his chair, and to leave his country. Having 
 gone to London, he contrived to introduce himself both to 
 King Charles the Second and to his brother the Duke of 
 York ; and, in consequence of the activity of his charac- 
 ter, and the faculty he appears to have had of pushing him- 
 self into notice, he became known in the political circles. 
 Having incurred the dislike of the Duke of York, after- 
 wards James the Seventh, upon account of his whig prin- 
 ciples, Burnet found it prudent, after the accession of that 
 prince, to retire to the continent. Here he found means to 
 ingratiate himself with the Prince and Princess of Orange, 
 William and Mary. He had been accused in England of pry- 
 ing impertinently into matters with which he had no con- 
 cern ; but this temper proved useful to him at last. While in 
 Switzerland, he discovered a plan which had been propo- 
 sed to the French court for kidnapping its great enemy, 
 the Prince of Orange, by landing a few men in a fishing 
 boat, and seizing the prince when taking an airing unat- 
 tended, according to his usual custom, upon the shore. 
 Burnet communicated information of this plot, and was ta- 
 ken under the protection of the Princess of Orange. When 
 the English nation, irritated by the attempt made by- 
 James the Seventh to overturn the whole constitution, 
 both of the church and state, invited his son-in-law, tlie
 
 ITAST 
 
 "Prince of Orange, to assume the government, Burnet's 
 peculiar temper led him to perform a service of some im- 
 portance. The prince was a man of a reserved character, 
 In entering upon such an enterprise as that of attempting 
 to dethrone the British monarch, it was natural that he 
 should consider well before-hand what reward he was to 
 obtain for encountering the hazard- of the undertaking. He 
 himself had no claim to the throne of England. By set- 
 ting his wife upon it, he would not obtain it for himself ; 
 and even the influence he might gain might be lost in an 
 instant by her death. These considerations induced him 
 to hesitate long about accepting the proposals made by the 
 English malcontents. At the same time, his reserved cha- 
 racter prevented hhn from explaining the cause of his he- 
 sitation -to his -counsellors, or even to his own wife. To- 
 yardsrthe latter he was restrained, by a sentiment of deli- 
 cacy, from proposing that she should make any renuncia- 
 tion in his favour of what might appear her birth-right. 
 In tli mean while, nobody suspected the nature of the dif- 
 ficulty -which kept the prince in suspence : but Burnet's 
 active genius, which led him to think of every thing, sug- 
 gested the propriety of making some arrangement upon 
 this subject before the expedition to England should be 
 undertaken. He supposed the idea had occurred to nobody 
 but himself; and as, in his intercourse with persons of 
 high rank, he seems never to have been affected or over- 
 awed by any sense of their dignity, or his own inferiori- 
 ty, he instantly waited upon the Princess of Orange, and 
 proposed that she and her husband should arrange before 
 hand the rank they were to occupy in the future govern- 
 ment of Great Britain, if the attempt to dethrone her fa- 
 ther should prove successful. The princess readily decla- 
 red that she was satisfied with possessing the affections of 
 her husband, and that she wished him to enjoy the whole
 
 488 BAST LOTHIAN. 
 
 Eminent power. Bnrnet next obtained an audience of the prince. 
 
 men. 
 v . aud ix- r e*iea uis conversation with the princess. The prince 
 
 heard mm wich astonishment, though he said little ; but 
 afterwards said to one of his counsellors, that this man, 
 Burnet, had surmounted, in an instant, a difficulty which 
 had perplexed him during six mouths. Burnet accom- 
 panied the Prince of Orange, in the character of chap- 
 lain, in the expedition which ended in the revolution of 
 16S8. By doing so, he not only hazarded his life, in case 
 he had been taken, but if he had been sent down to Scot- 
 land for trial, he would undoubtedly have been put to the 
 torture ; a practice which was not then abolished. As a 
 reward for his services he was afterwards created bishop 
 of Salisbury. His writings, both as a historian and as a 
 divine, are well known ; though, in the former character, 
 justice does not appear to have been done to him by his 
 successors in the same department. 
 
 Fletcher of This parish was the birth-place of Andrew Fletcher of 
 galtoi}. galton, the celebrated patriot whom we have already men- 
 tioned, and who was for some years the pupil of Burnet. 
 From him he seems to have imbibed much of that liberal 
 and independent character which he displayed through 
 life. His political principles, which were republican, dis- 
 gusted him completely with the despotic reigns of Charles 
 and James, and made him engage keenly in every project 
 forthe recovery of the constitution and liberties of his coun- 
 try. He was in the secret councils of Lord Russel, and 
 was a principal leader in Monmouth's expedition ; and 
 was one of the principal speakers in the Scottish parlia- 
 ment against the different articles of the treaty of union 
 with England. 
 
 Lord Mil- Lord Milton, nephew to this great man, and not infe- 
 rior to him in patriotism, was also a native of Salton. He 
 was born in the year 1692, and educated to the profession
 
 ;EAST LOTHIAW. 
 
 iif the bar : he was admitted an advocate, appointed a lord Emlmnt 
 of session, and at length raised to the distinguished office ^-^^ 
 of lord justice clerk. It was in this high station that he 
 did his country essential service during the unhappy re- 
 bellion in 1145. The conduct of almost the whole pub- 
 lic affairs of Scotland fell upon him ; and these he mana- 
 ged with such an uncommon degree of discretion, temper, 
 and moderation, that the impetuosity of wanton punish- 
 ment was restrained, and lenient measures adopted in fa- 
 vour of those whom indiscretion or ignorance had betray- 
 ed into hostility. He overlooked many of the informa- 
 tions which were brought to his office ; and it is stated here, 
 from the best authority, that after his death many sealed 
 letters, containing such information, were found unopened 
 among his other papers. With the same patriotic views 
 he engaged zealously in the abolition of heritable jurisdic- 
 tions, which had long been inimical to order and to jus- 
 tice. With unremitting ardour he pursued every scheme 
 that could promote the trade, manufactures, or agriculture, 
 ef his country. 
 
 The celebrated Scottish reformer John Knox was a na- j 
 tive of the parish of Haddington. He was born in the 
 Gifford gate, one of the suburbs of Haddington, leading 
 to the village of Gifford, which has probably occasioned 
 the erroneous account of him by Dr M'Kenzie, D. Bu- 
 chanan, and others, who tell us he was born at Gifford. 
 The house in the Gifford gate in which Knox was bora 
 still remains ; it has but a mean appearance, and, toge- 
 ther with two or three acres of land adjoining, belonged 
 for several centuries to a family of the name of Knox, un- 
 til they were purchased by the present Earl of Wemyss. 
 Knox was the hero in Scotland of the reformation from 
 .popery. He was educated at the university of St An- 
 's, where he took a degree in arts, and commenced
 
 49*0 "EAST LOTHIAN 
 
 ^ 
 
 1-minent teacher very early in life. At this time the new religion 
 
 < ' v '< of Martin Luther \vas but little known in Scotland. Mr 
 Xnox therefore at first was a zealous Roman catholic ; but 
 attending the sermon of a certain black friar named Gulal- 
 lium, he began to waver in his opinions ; and afterwards 
 conversing with the famous Wishart, who, in 1544, came 
 to Scotland with the commissioners sent by Henry Eighth, 
 tie renounced the Romish religion, and became a zealous 
 reformer. Being appointed tutor to the sons of the lairds 
 of Ormestoun and Longniddery, he began to instruct them 
 in the principles of the protestant religion ; and on that 
 account was so violently persecuted, by the bishop of St 
 Andrews, that with his two pupils he was obliged, in the 
 year 1547, to take shelter in the castle of that place ; but 
 the castle was besieged and taken by twenty-one French 
 galleys. He continued a prisoner on 'board a galley -two 
 years, namely, till the latter end of the year 1549 ; when, 
 "being set at liberty, he landed in England ; and having ob- 
 tained a licence, was appointed preacher, first at Berwick, 
 and afterwards at Newcastle. Strype conjectures that, in 
 1552, he was appointed chaplain to Edward the Sixth. 
 He certainly obtained an annual pension of forty pounds, 
 and was offered the living of Allhallows in London ; which 
 he refused', not choosing to conform to the liturgy. 
 
 Soon after the accession of Queen Mary he retired to 
 Geneva ; whence, at the command of John Calvin, he re- 
 moved to Frankfort, where he preached to the exiles. But 
 a difference arising on account of his refusing to read the 
 English liturgy, he went back to -Geneva ; and from 
 thence, in 1555, returned to Scotland, where the reforma- 
 tion had made considerable progress during his absence. 
 He now travelled from place to place, preaching and ex- 
 horting the people with unremitting zeal and resolution. 
 About this time (1556) he wrote alerter to the queen-re-
 
 EAST LOTHIAN. 491 
 
 gent, earnestly entreating her to hear the protestant doc- Eminent \ 
 trine ; which letter she treated with contempt. In the .. v .. ' 
 same year the English Calvinists at Geneva invited Mr 
 Knox to reside among them. He accepted their invita- 
 tion. Immediately after his departure from Scotland, the 
 bishop summoned him to appear ; and he not appearing, 
 condemned him to death for heresy, and burnt his effigy 
 at the cross of Edinburgh. 
 
 Our reformer continued abroad till the year 1559 ; du- 
 ring which time he published his First Blast against the 
 monstrous Regiment (government) of Women. Being now 
 returned to Scotland, he resumed the great work of refor- 
 mation with his usual ardour, and was appointed minister at 
 Edinburgh. In 1561 f^ueen Mary arrived from France. 
 She, it is well known, was bigotted to the religion in which 
 she had been educated ; and on that account was exposed 
 to continual insults from her reformed subjects. Mr Knox 
 himself frequently insulted her from the pulpit ; and when 
 admitted to her presence, regardless of her sex, her beau- 
 ty, and her high rank, behaved to her with a most unjus- 
 tifiable freedom. In the year 1571, our reformer was ob- 
 liged to leave Edinburgh on account of the confusion and 
 danger from the opposition to the Earl of Lennox, then 
 regent ; but he returned the following year, and resumed 
 his pastoral functions. He died at Edinburgh in Novem- 
 ber 1572, and was buried in the churchyard of St Giles 
 in that city. His history of the reformation was printed 
 with his other works at Edinburgh in 1584, 1586, 1644, 
 1732. He published many other pieces; and several 
 more are preserved in Calderwood's History of the Church 
 of Scotland. He left also a considerable number of ma- 
 nuscripts, which in 1732 were in the possession of Mr 
 Woodrow, minister of Eastwood. 
 
 As to his character, it is easily understood, notwith-
 
 492 EAST LOTHIAN. 
 
 Eminent standing the extreme dissimilitude of the two portrait! 
 >. y drawn by popish and calvinistical pencils. According to 
 the first, he was a devil j iu the ideas of the latter, an an- 
 gel. He was certainly neither. The following caaracter 
 is drawn by Dr Robertson, " Zeal, intrepidity, disinte- 
 restedness, were virtues that he possessed in an eminent 
 degree. He was acquainted, too, with the learning culti- 
 vated in that age, and excelled in that species of eloquence 
 which is calculated to rouse and inflame. His maxims, 
 however, were often too severe, and the impetuosity of 
 his temper excessive. Rigid and uncomplying, he show- 
 ed no indulgence to the infirmities of others. Regardless 
 of the distinctions of rank and character, he uttered his 
 admonitions with an acrimony and vehemence more apt 
 to irritate than to reclaim ; and this often betrayed him 
 into indecent expressions with respect to Queen Mary's 
 person and conduct. These very qualities, however, 
 which now render his character less amiable, fitted him to 
 be the instrument of Providence for advancing the refor- 
 mation among a fierce people, and enabled him to face 
 clangers, and to surmount opposition, from which a person 
 of a more gentle spirit would have been apt to shrink 
 back. By an unwearied application to study and to bu- 
 siness, as well as by the frequency and fervour of his pub- 
 lic discourses, he had worn out a constitution naturally 
 Strong. During a lingering illness he discovered the ut- 
 most fortitude, and met the approach of death with a mag- 
 namity inseparable from his character. He was constantly 
 /employed in acts of devotion, and comforted himself with 
 those prospects of immortality, which not only preserve 
 gpod men from desponding, but fill them with exultation 
 in their last moments. The Earl of Morton, who was 
 present at his funeral, pronounced his eulogium in a few 
 words 5 the more honourable for Knox, as they came from
 
 EAST LOTHIAff. 493 
 
 one whom he had often censured with peculiar severity : Eminent 
 
 men* 
 " Here lies he who never feared the face of man." v v j 
 
 The family of Maitland has long been distinguished in Family of 
 this county. Their ancient name was Mautalant. The 
 first that became eminent was an old Sir Richard, who li- 
 ved after the middle of the thirteenth century, and was 
 celebrated for his valour. He was then baron or laird of 
 Thirlestane in Haddingtonshire. In 1346 the family must 
 have been eminent ; ftfr in that year John Maitland of 
 Thirlestane married Agnes, daughter of Patrick Earl of 
 March. On the 28th January 1432, William Maitland 
 of Thirlestane obtained from Archibald, Duke of Tou- 
 raine and Earl of Douglas, a grant of the lands of Blyth 
 and others. Another chief of the family, William, who 
 first had the title of Lethington, married Martha, daughter 
 of George Lord Seaton, and was killed at Flodden in 1513. 
 
 His son, Sir Richard the Younger, a Scottish poet, wassirRicbari. 
 born in 1496 ; was educated at St Andrews, and went to 
 France to study the laws. Upon his return, says M'Ken- 
 zie, he became a favourite of James the Fifth, and in the 
 books of sederunt is marked an extraordinary lord of ses- 
 sion in 1513. By a letter of James the Sixth, it appears 
 that Sir Richard had served his predecessors faithfully in 
 many public offices. He unhappily became blind before 
 1561, in his sixty-fifth year; but, notwithstanding, he was 
 made a senator of the college of justice, by the title of 
 Lord Lethington, 12th November 1561 ; and on the 20th 
 December 1562 one of the council and lord privy seal^ 
 which last office he, held till 1567, when he resigned in 
 favour of John his second son. Sir Richard cohtimied * 
 lord of session during all the troublesome times of the re- 
 gents in the minority of James the Sixth till 1584, when 
 he resigned, and died 20th March 1586. He and his
 
 494 EAST LOTHIAW. 
 
 Eminent lady died on the same day, as appears from the following 
 <_- y . verses, written by his son Lord Thirlestane : 
 
 TJnus hymen, mens una, duos mors una diesque 
 Junxit, ut una caro, sic cinis unus erit. 
 
 Mr Knox accuses Sir Richard for taking a bribe from 
 Cardinal Beaton, to engage his kinsman, Lord Seaton, to 
 liberate him from his- confinement after the death of James 
 the Fifth. And no sooner was that artful prelate at li- 
 berty, than he had the address entirely to defeat the treaty 
 just concluded by the commissioners of the two kingdoms 
 for a marriage betwixt Queen Mary and Edward Prince 
 of Wales ; but Sir Ralph Sadler, who was perfectly ac- 
 quainted with all these transactions, says, Arran the re- 
 gent gave Lord Seaton orders to liberate the cardinal ; 
 though, to save appearances with the king of England, he 
 attempted to justify himself by throwing the blame on- 
 Seaton. 
 
 Mr Pinkerton has published two small volumes of 
 poems by Sir Richard and other cotemporary writers, ta- 
 ken from a manuscript collection of poems presented by 
 the Duke of Lauderdale to Mr Pepys, secretary to the ad- 
 miralty during the reigns of Charles the Second and James 
 the Second, one of the earliest collectors of rare books and 
 manuscripts ; and who, by his will, ordered the Pepysian 
 library at Magdalen college in Cambridge to be founded, 
 to preserve his very valuable collection, which is the most 
 curious in England, the British museum excepted. 
 Chancellor John Maitland, chancellor of Scotland, was the second 
 Maitland. son of si r Richard. His father, in 1567, resigned the 
 privy-seal in his favour. This office he held till 1570 ; 
 when, for his loyalty to the queen, he lost the seal, and it 
 was given to George Buchanan. He was made a senator 
 of the college of justice, or lord of session, in 1581, se- 
 
 4
 
 EAST LOTHIAN-- 
 cretary of state in 1584, and lorf high-chancellor in 158"6. Eminent 
 
 nun. 
 
 The chancellor's power and influence created him many 
 enemies among the Scottish nobility, who made several 
 attempts to destroy him, but without success. In 1589- 
 he attended the king on his voyage to Norway, where his. 
 bride, the Princess of Denmark, was detained by contrary- 
 winds. The marriage was immediately consummated ^ 
 and they returned with the queen to Copenhagen, where 
 they spent the ensuing winter. During their residence i 
 Denmark, the chancellor became intimately acquainted 
 with the celebrated Tycho Brache. In 1590 he was cre- 
 ated Lord Maitland of Thirlestane. Towards the end o 
 the year 1592,. the chancellor incurred the queen's dis- 
 pleasure,, for refusing to relinquish his lordship of Mus- 
 selburgh, which she claimed as being a part of Dunferm- 
 line. He absented himself for some time from court, but 
 was at length restored to favour j and died of a lingering; 
 illness in the year 1595, much regretted by the king. He 
 bears a high character,, both for talents and integrity. A- 
 mong all historians, Melville, who writes the Memoirs, 
 Mr Pinkerton observes, was his personal enemy ; so must 
 not receive much credit in his censures of him. Besides 
 his Scottish poetry in the Maitland Collection, he wrote 
 several letters, epigrams, &c. to be found in the Delicite 
 Poet arum Scotorum, vol. 2d. 
 
 There is a most superb and costly monument of the 
 chancellor and his lady in the aisle of the churcli of Had- 
 dington, belonging to the Lauderdale family, 24 feet in 
 length,. 18 feet in breadth^ and 18 feet high. There are twa 
 compartments, supported by three black marble pillars, five 
 feet high each, with capitals of white alabaster, of the Co- 
 rinthian order, arched above. In the western compartment 
 are figures of Lord Thirlestane and his lady, at full length, 
 in white alabaster, close to each other, in a recumbent 
 posture.
 
 LOTHIAN. 
 
 Eminent William Maitland, the elder brother of the chancellor/ 
 xncii* 
 
 is well known as secretary of state during the reign of 
 
 Mary Queen of Scots: The famous John Duke of Lau- 
 derdale, the grandson of the chancellor, was born at Le- 
 Duke of thing ton, 26th May 1616. The part this nobleman first 
 u cr ae " acted was that of a most zealous covenanter. He was one 
 of the commissioners appointed to carry the solemn league 
 and covenant from the convention of the estates of Scotland 
 to the English parliament. He was likewise a mem- 
 ber of the Westminster assembly as a ruling elder of the 
 church of Scotland. He afterwards supported the royal 
 cause. His long and most despotic administration after 
 the restoration are too well known to require notice here. 
 He appears to have been the most unprincipled and rapa- 
 cious of all the ministers employed during the unprincipled 
 reign of Charles the Second. Only it is worthy of no- 
 tice, that though he inherited a very dpulent fortune from 
 his ancestors, and possessed, for a period of above twenty 
 years, the most lucrative offices under government, and 
 was at one and the same time high commissioner to the 
 parliament, secretary of state, lord president of the coun- 
 cil, first commissioner of the treasury and exchequer, lord 
 of the bed-chamber, governor of Edinburgh Castle, go- 
 vernor of the Bass, and agent for the royal boroughs at 
 court, and also is accused of the greatest rapacity ; yet 
 such was his great profusion, that at his death his heir was 
 obliged to sell a great part of his estate to pay his debts. 
 The leaden coffin which contains his body, and a vase in- 
 closing his bowels, are deposited in a vault in the aisle of 
 the church of Haddington. 
 
 Blair, the author of the well-known poem entitled the 
 
 Grave, was minister of the parish of Athelstanefdord. 
 
 Home J^ n Home also, author of the tragedy of Douglas, was, 
 
 during ten years, clergyman of this parish, but was under 
 
 6
 
 the necessity of resigning his living, to avoid the hazard Eminent 
 of being deposed from holy orders, for the crime of ha- i 
 ving written one of the most beautiful dramatic perform- 
 ances in the English language. When the tragedy of . 
 Douglas was first acted in Edinburgh, m December 1756, 
 a prodigious ferment was excited in the minds of a large 
 portion of the public, on account of what, seemed an im- 
 pious novelty, that of a clergyman of the established 
 church producing a performance intended to be the sub- 
 ject of prophane theatrical exhibition, and which contained 
 what were called mock prayers, to be recited by play- 
 ers. The presbytery of Edinburgh and the presbytery of 
 Glasgow met again and again on the subject ; wrote warm 
 letters to the several presbyteries to whom any of the 
 clergymen belonged who had witnessed the exhibition of 
 the tragedy, insisting on their proceeding against them, 
 and bringing them to condign punishment ; emitted ad- 
 monitions and exhortations against the offensive practice, 
 and ordered them to be read in all the churches within 
 their bounds. In every instance, however, except two, 
 one of which was carried as far as the supreme court, 
 and of which the issue is to be seen in the magazines of 
 that time, the offence was done away, in the most pri- 
 vate manner^ by the several presbyteries who had been 
 written to : But even the general assembly was induced to 
 make a declaratory act against the stage, enjoining all 
 presbyteries to take care that none of the ministers of this 
 church do, upon any occasion, attend the theatre. In short, 
 the country was excited into a flame on this trifling occa- . 
 sion ; though not quite so strong and extensive, yet similar 
 in its nature to that which was raised twenty-three years 
 afterwards, in opposition to the popish bill. 
 
 The parish of Gladsmoor gave birth to George Heriot, George 
 founder of the hospital in Edinburgh which still bears bis 
 
 VOL. I. I i
 
 EAST LOTHIAN. 
 
 Eminent name. His ancestors were proprietors of the small vil- 
 u y lage of Trabraine ; and their names appear sometimes on. 
 the roll of the Scottish parliament. What is still more t 
 the honour of the parish, it was the first settlement of Dr 
 Robertson the historian of Scotland j and his history of 
 Scotland was composed here. 
 
 The parish of Yester gave birth to two men of talents, 
 Dr Wither- wno m their time made a considerable noise in the world. 
 
 spoon aril 
 
 . Dr John Witherspoon and Dr Charles Nisbet, botk 
 clergymen of the church of Scotland. Both of them 
 were zealously attached to the popular, that is the Cal- 
 vinistic, party in the church ; both of them were zea- 
 lous enemies to the unfortunate war which ended in the 
 dismemberment of the British empire, and divided the 
 European from the Transatlantic race of Britons ; both 
 of them ultimately settled in North America. Dr Wi- 
 therspoon was appointed president of the College of New 
 Jersey ; and Dr Nisbet was made president of the college 
 of Carlisle. It is certain that, for some time at least, the 
 latter of these gentlemen heartily repented his emigration. 
 The industrious Americans are so averse to the establish- 
 ment of sinecure places, and are so little acquainted with 
 the importance of literary leisure, which they consider as 
 mere idleness, that when Dr Nisbet went to take posses- 
 sion of his office of president of a college, he was not a 
 little mortified to find that, by the laws of the institution, 
 he was precisely in the situation of a schoolmaster, whose 
 whole time Was to be occupied in the task of teaching 
 lessons to young boys. His office of president sounded 
 well ; but it meant no more than that he had some ushers 
 under him. Accordingly ^ he would instantly have re- 
 turned to Scotland, had not his living in the church been, 
 
 given to a successor. For several years after settling in 
 America, his greatest pleasure seemed to consist in m*-
 
 EASf 
 
 king his escape at vacations from his college to JPhjladel- Population 
 phia, where he met with abundance of Scotsmen; in whose """"v 
 society, while conversing about Caledonia, he could for- 
 get his exile to a distant land. 
 
 THE following Table exhibits a statement of the po* 
 pulation of this county, according to the enumerations made 
 at the desire of Dr Webster in 1755, of Sir John Sinclair 
 from 1790 to 1797 inclusive, and in 1801 and 1802, in, 
 consequence of the requisition of the British legislature.
 
 50$ 
 
 JEAST LOfHlAtf. 
 
 1755. 1790-7. 
 
 1801-2. 
 
 Parishes. 
 
 Person.' 
 
 3 er6ons 
 
 Persons 
 
 Occupations. 
 
 Total 
 of 
 Persons 
 
 JS 
 
 $ 
 
 Females. 
 
 Persons chief- 
 ly employed 
 inagriculture. 
 
 Persons em- 
 ployed in 
 
 trades 
 
 All other 
 Persons. 
 
 Aberlady .... 
 AthelstaneFord 
 Berwick, North 
 Bolton 
 
 739 
 691 
 1412 
 
 359 
 
 1700 
 
 3281 
 
 774 
 1415 
 
 3975 
 157 
 94' 
 245 
 622 
 Sic 
 910 
 
 13'* 
 i<9( 
 761 
 
 727 
 631 
 24 si, 
 
 9 6> 
 
 7'4 
 1091 
 
 800 
 927 
 1300 
 
 235 
 I2OC 
 
 3700 
 
 73c 
 138, 
 
 39'5 
 676 
 960 
 190 
 498 
 864 
 
 *33 
 1176 
 
 2028 
 830 
 619 
 624 
 2732 
 994 
 655 
 900 
 
 4ro 
 
 394 
 
 708 
 
 117 
 
 5*7 
 73 6 
 
 60 
 
 355 
 668 
 1874 
 362 
 408 
 
 137 
 217 
 
 359 
 
 44 C 
 
 723 
 890 
 
 37 2 
 
 22^ 
 270 
 
 J 457 
 456 
 285 
 
 449 
 
 465 
 53 
 875 
 I 3 t > 
 59* 
 2215 
 
 6c 
 
 394 
 
 802 
 
 2175 
 423 
 
 43 8 
 117 
 
 249 
 407 
 48^ 
 
 74* 
 1074 
 
 39 6 
 276 
 
 35 C 
 '589 
 469 
 
 37." 
 48c 
 
 128 
 161 
 
 206 
 
 3 
 1074 
 
 335 
 
 26 
 273 
 
 210 
 4O2 
 
 2 r 5 
 
 249 
 
 45 
 81 
 
 108 
 
 53 
 290 
 
 3' 
 
 203 
 
 77 
 178 
 
 39 
 1 20 
 82 
 366 
 
 106 
 
 7' 
 
 37 
 II 
 
 39 
 
 602 
 
 2 
 
 63 
 
 6 4 
 
 376 
 
 39 
 84 
 18 
 46 
 49 
 "3 
 126 
 
 345 
 114 
 26 
 42 
 332 
 69 
 39 
 3" 
 
 641 
 665 
 1246 
 211 
 2 
 
 3 OI 4 
 
 92 
 413 
 
 1196 
 3 2 7' 
 53i 
 
 5^3 
 191 
 
 339 
 609 
 
 659 
 1055 
 
 5H 
 45i 
 
 399 
 400 
 2405 
 736 
 
 537 
 252 
 
 875 
 8 97 
 
 '583 
 
 252 
 
 "5 
 
 395 1 
 
 120 
 
 749 
 1470 
 4049 
 785 
 846 
 
 254 
 466 
 766 
 
 9 2 S 
 1471 
 1964 
 768 
 502 
 620 
 3046 
 921; 
 658 
 929 
 
 Dirleton 
 
 Fala, Hadding. 
 ton division 
 
 Gladsmuir .... 
 Haddington . . 
 
 Innervvick .... 
 Moreham .... 
 Oldhamstocks 
 Ormiston .... 
 Pencaitland . . . 
 Prestonkirk . . . 
 Prestonpans . . . 
 Salton ...... 
 
 Spott 
 
 
 Tranent 
 
 Whitekirk .... 
 Whittingham 
 Yester 
 
 Total .... 
 
 29709 
 
 128966 
 
 .3890 
 
 1 6096 
 
 5346 
 
 3-24 
 
 20342 
 
 29986
 
 EAST LOTHIAN. 
 
 In the part of the table extracted frort the report iinder Population, 
 the population act, the population of Oldhamstocks and 
 Fala is only stated so far as they belong to this county. 
 The remainder of their population is stated under the coun- 
 ties of Berwick and Midlothian. In the two first columns 
 of the table the full population of Oldhamstocks, at the 
 date of the respective enumerations, is set down. 
 
 One remark upon the population of this county, as well D'spropori 
 as of the whole of Scotland, can scarcely fail to suggest it- males and 
 self to the intelligent reader ; that is, that in numbers the a 
 females very considerably exceed the males j whereas, in, 
 England, the case stands otherwise ; as, by the reports 
 made out in consequence of the population act, it appears, 
 that the males are in that country considerably more nu- 
 merous than the females. The relative proportion of the 
 sexes in Scotland evidently results from the education and 
 habits of the people, which produce a great tendency to 
 emigration. As Haddingtonshire, however, is -a fertile 
 agricultural district, in which marriage is avoided by thos,e 
 who cannot support families easily, it probably gives 
 rise proportionably to less emigration than some poorer 
 districts. The females exceed the males in number only 
 to the amount of 2206 ; whereas in the county of Edin- 
 burgh, including the city, there are no less than J4,500 
 more women than men; and this, too, notwithstanding 
 the great numbers of young men who reside in the city 
 for the sake either of general education, or who are breed- 
 ing to the profession of the law. It is net impossible, that 
 an accurate examination of the state of English population 
 might explain how it comes to pass, that in England and 
 Scotland the proportions of the sexes are so much rever- 
 sed. It might probably appear, that what the one coun- 
 ^ry loses the other gains; that is, a part of the male p9-
 
 5t>2 EAST LOTHIAN. 
 
 population, pulation of England consists of young Scotsmen who have 
 emigrated thither. 
 
 From the description already given of the climate of 
 East Lothian, it cannot fail to be considered as upon the 
 whole abundantly salubrious. It is no doubt exposed to 
 cold easterly winds j but being fully cultivated, and conse- 
 quently well drained, the soil is dry, while at the" same 
 time it is far from being greatly exposed to frequent rains. 
 
 Singular In the parish of Haddington a very extraordinary in- 
 stance of longevity is recorded to have occurred in one 
 family. Mr Alexander Maitland, and Catherine Cun- 
 ningham his wife, were married August 6th, 1651. The 
 ages of nine of the children of this marriage amounted to 
 no less than 738 years. Another circumstance remarkable 
 of this marriage is, that the eighteenth year of it produced 
 twins ; and the twenty-first year trines, or three infants 
 at a birth. The ages of the trines amounted to 256, 
 This fact is ascertained beyond all possibility of doubt, as 
 it was communicated to the clergyman of the parish by 
 his intimate friend Mr Robert Keith, a gentleman of the 
 strictest honour and probity, and who was himself son of 
 Isobel one of the trines. 
 
 General du The following Table is worthy of attention, as afford- 
 ing a basis on which to form a calculation of the probable 
 duration of human life in this county. It shews the num- 
 ber of deaths, with the ages at which they occurred, m 
 the parish of Tranent, from 1755 to 1784, a period 
 thirty years, distinguishing males from females..
 
 EAST LOTHIAN. 503 
 
 Ihiratlon of 
 life. 
 
 Male?. Females. 
 Under l ....101 ..110 
 
 Between 1 and 2 .... 
 
 85 .. 71 
 
 2 and 3 .... 
 
 53 .. 35 
 
 3 and 4 .... 
 
 44 .. 23 
 
 4 and 5 .>... 
 
 20 .. 18 
 
 5 and 10 .... 
 
 41 .. 26 
 
 10 and 20 .... 
 
 31 .. 29 
 
 20 and 25 .... 
 
 23 .. 16 
 
 25 and 30 .... 
 
 17 .. 19 
 
 30 and 40 .... 
 
 37 .. 37 
 
 40 and 50 .... 
 
 31 .. 39 
 
 50 and 60 .... 
 
 60 .. 1O 
 
 60 and 65 .... 
 
 39 .. 62 
 
 05 and 70 . . . * 
 
 42 .. 57 
 
 70 and 75 .... 
 
 49 .. 61 
 
 75 and 80 .... 
 
 45 . 57 
 
 80 and 85 .... 
 
 50 .. 56 
 
 85 and 90 .... 
 
 17 .. 21 
 
 94 .... 
 
 1 .. 1 
 
 95 .... 
 
 1 .. 
 
 93 .... 
 
 .. 2 
 
 98 .... 
 
 1 .. * 
 
 99 .... 
 
 .. 1 
 
 102 .... 
 Total 
 
 .. 1 
 
 ,794 820 
 
 Ma 
 
 36 years 10 
 
 . 7 
 
 lis in the same period of 
 
 Ma!?. Females. 
 L055 
 826 
 
 MMHM 
 
 Difference, mostly emigrated 300 229
 
 504- 
 
 EAST LOTHIAN. 
 
 Schaw'g 
 mortifica- 
 tion. 
 
 The poor. To avoid unnecessary repetition, it may be sufficient t. 
 remark, that the poor are in this county supported in a 
 similar manner, and out of similar funds, as in the neigh- 
 bouring county of Midlothian. In the parish of Preston-, 
 pans is a charitable foundation of some importance. James 
 Schaw, proprietor of the estate of Preston, bequeathed the 
 lands and barony of Preston, with the residue of some 
 other funds, for maintaining and educating boys whose 
 parents are in poor circumstances. He died A. D. 1784. 
 The house of Preston was, according to the terms of the 
 deed, fitted up for the reception of the boys ; and the 
 establishment commenced in February 1789. There is a 
 master, housekeeper, and two maid-servants. At first 
 15 boys were admitted. Th,e number was afterwards 
 increased to 24. They are taught English, writing, and 
 arithmetic, and, as they grow up, some manual employ- 
 ment ; viz. to knit stockings, to mend their cloaths and 
 shoes, &tc. Four names have a preference, in the follow- 
 ing order, Schaw, M*Niel, Cunningham, and Stewart. 
 The age of admission is from four to seven. They may 
 remain in the house till they are fourteen. They must be 
 free from the king's evij, and from all contagious distem- 
 pers. The trustees are empowered to bind them as ap- 
 prentices, or otherwise to set them out to business, as they 
 shall judge best. 
 
 In the parish of Salton is a charitable foundation esta- 
 blished by the former clergyman of the parish, Bishop 
 Burnett. In the year 1711 he bequeathed 20,000 merks 
 Scotch to the parish of Salton, the annualrent to be ap- 
 plied to the following purposes, viz. the education and 
 clothing of 30 children ; the payment of their apprentice 
 fees ; the relief of the indigent ; and the annual increase 
 of a library in the manse, intended for the sole use of the 
 minister of the parish. Of this fund the lords of council 
 
 Burnet's 
 mortifica- 
 tion.
 
 EAST LOTHIAN. 505 
 
 aud session were nominated inspectors j and by their ap- The pdor.^ 
 pointment the proprietors of the estates of Salton and Her- 
 mistoun, together with the minister of the parish, act as 
 trustees. Under the judicious management of these trus- 
 tees, the funds have increased to a capital of upwards of 
 L. 2000 Sterling ; by which means the various purposes 
 of the donor's will are completely complied with. The 
 children are well clothed, properly educated, and instruct- 
 ed in so'me respectable trade. The poor are comfortablj 
 provided ; and the minister's library is supplied with most 
 of the ancient and modern classics. 
 
 Societies, formed by the common people for mutual re- 
 lief, in case of old age or disease, are not unfrequent in 
 this county. The collections at the church- doors still form 
 the principal public fund for the support of the poor ; but 
 in all quarters it has been found necessary, less or more, 
 to have recourse to parochial assessments : a measure 
 which, in proportion to the degree in which it is used, lo- 
 ses its effect and value, because the poor gradually learn 
 to regard parish-charity as a legal right, to which they are 
 entitled by law to have recourse, and which it is unneces- 
 sary to make great efforts to avoid. At the same time, 
 the ancient habits of the people of Scotland do not readily 
 lead to the abuse of public charity. The poorest of the 
 people are usually enabled, by their private resources and 
 extreme frugality, to rear up numerous families. The 
 eldest of the children usually engage themselves as servants 
 as early as possible, and very frequently assist their parents, 
 in rearing their younger brothers and sisters : nor is it till 
 their aid in this way becomes less necesary, that they in- 
 dulge themselves in the vanity of dress. 
 
 'There are three different classes of servants employed p "ce of la- 
 in the husbandry of this county, viz. the bj>nd,the cottager,
 
 566 ' EAST LOTHIAIT. 
 
 t Wages, a id the unmarried ploughihan, each of whom work a pair 
 of horses. 
 
 Of these the "hynd holds the first rank ; and, besides 
 working his horses, he must sow the corns in the spring ; 
 and he stacks, that is, he builds the ricks of corn in the 
 harvest. He and the cottager are both married servants. 
 
 Anciently, the rent of the landlord, and the wages of 
 the servants, were paid in kind : and the ancient usage 
 continues in strict observance so far as relates to the 
 hynd. He has a house found him, for which he gives * 
 shearer, i. e. a reaper (generally his wife), in harvest ; and 
 a small garden, for which he pays from two to four dung- 
 hill fowls, according to the size of it. His wages for the year 
 were formerly eight bolls of oats, two bolls of barley, and 
 two bolls of pease ; and a cow kept for him both summer 
 and winter, the dung of which belongs to the master. 
 
 Within these few years his wages have been increased, 
 by an additional boll of each of these kinds of corn. 
 
 He has, besides, his fuel brought h6me by his master, 
 and some other perquisites, which make his wages amount 
 to about L. 20 a-year. 
 
 The cottager is a mere ploughman. He has a house 
 and garden, for which he pays the same rent as the hynd. 
 His wages for the year formerly consisted of the follow- 
 ing particulars ; viz. six and a half bolls of oatmeal, at 
 eight stone Dutch per boll ; two firlots of bountith barley 
 for domestic use ; and from the name it would seem to 
 have been originally given as a donation or gratuity to his 
 wife ; two pair of shoes, and fourpence a week for kit- 
 chen ; a Roman custom, the meaning of which is suffici- 
 ently obvious, although the allowance may seem won- 
 derfully moderate ; and, lastly, his wages in money arc 
 about L. 4 a-year. 
 
 Over and above these allowances, in order to invite the
 
 BAST LOTfllATC. 501 
 
 cottager ard his wife to be careful in collecting dung, he Wages, 
 is allowed the first crop from all the dung he gathers 
 within the year. 
 
 The master leads it out, and lays it u|x>n a piece of 
 ground (probably not the richest in the farm), at the fate 
 generally of 50 double carts per acre. 
 
 The ground is ploughed and harrowed ; the cottager 
 finds the seed and reap's it ; and the master leads home the 
 Crop. 
 
 This usage, although Hot altogether confined to this 
 county, is by no means general Over Scotland ; and not- 
 withstanding that it may be attended 'with some inconve- 
 niences, the advantage resulting from this creation of dung 
 does greatly overbalance them ; and a considerable extent 
 of ground is annually manured in this county by what is 
 called the cottar dung. 
 
 At present, the cottager retains his meal, and the pro- 
 duce of his manured land ; and he receives from L. 8 to 
 L. 10 a-year ; which, with some other perquisites, brings 
 his wages nearly as high as that of the hynd. 
 
 Both the hynd and the cottager were accustomed to get 
 the sowing of one peck of lintseed upon a corner of the 
 fallow ; and their wives gave respectively three days 6f 
 skutching of lint, and six days for spinning of Wool up6n 
 the large wheel, to the wife of their master : during these 
 days they were maintained in his family. 
 
 This service has gone into general disuse ; and the sow- 
 ing of lint is accounted a pernicious custom ; for it is said 
 to injure the ground, and to deprive it of the most material 
 advantages resulting from the fallow. 
 
 The unmarried servant generally eats in the house of 
 Tiis 'master, and sleeps in the stable ; and his wages are 
 about L. 8 a-year, and two pair of shoes. 
 
 Formerly the food of these serrants consisted of oatmeal
 
 508 EAST LOtHIAW. 
 
 . Wages, porridge and milk, morning and evening ; and for dinner 
 there was a rotation for each day of the week, Sunday 
 excepted ; consisting of butter and eggs one day, herrings, 
 and milk another ; cheese and vegetables, &.c. ; and on 
 Sunday they were regaled with broth made of vegetables, 
 and salted beef. 
 
 At present they have animal food for dinner three times 
 a-week in summer, and four times in winter. 
 
 Formerly the blacksmith and the carpenter were paid 
 also in kind, at a given allowance for each plough ; but 
 lately, since their work has become more various and 
 complicated, they are now paid, partly at least, in mo- 
 ney. 
 
 The female servants formerly received only a small 
 portion of their wages in money : they were paid in fun- 
 gibles, such as cloth of different species, suited partly for 
 their wearing apparel, and partly for what was called their 
 providing, when they came to be married, such as blan- 
 kets, &c. And it is the universal practice at this day, 
 that the bride finds beds, sheets, and blankets, and the 
 bridegroom the wooden and kitchen furniture. 
 
 The present wages of the domestic female servants, in 
 the families of the husbandman, may be from L. 3 to 
 L. 3, 10 s. a-year, with the sowing of one-half peck o 
 Jintseed, and two pair of shoes. 
 
 As the farmers of this county are usually men in easy 
 circumstances, such of their sons as do not engage in agri- 
 culture emigrate to towns, and engage in genteel employ- 
 ments. They endeavour, like other persons of good edu- 
 cation, who can command a moderate sum of money, to 
 pursue fortune in the mercantile or manufacturing depart- 
 ments, or in some branch of the profession of the law, and 
 sometimes also in the military service of the state. 
 
 Concerning the state of society or of literature, it is i;n-
 
 EAST LOTHIAN. SO& 
 
 necessary here to make any' remarks, as, in consequence t Society. ^ 
 of their vicinity, East Lothian and Midlothian bear a close 
 tesemblance to each other. In general, however, it may 
 be remarked that, as in former times, the people of the east 
 of Scotland appear to have been less zealous covenanters 
 than in the west, and less violent in their opposition to the 
 two last princes of the house of Stuart : so to this day it 
 is thought that somewhat less anxiety exists in this quar- 
 ter about religious matters than in the west, or in the cen- 
 trical parts of the south of Scotland.
 
 ( 510 ) 
 
 BERWICKSHIRE. 
 
 ._, 1 HE county of Berwick, or the Merse, as it is sometimes 
 
 I ogogra- <f 
 
 phy. called, though not one of the largest, is, in point of fer- 
 tility, one of the richest counties in Scotland. Its form 
 is quadrangular ; the sides waving and unequal. Its east- 
 ern boundary is the German Ocean, from Dunglass bridge 
 to within about two miles of Berwick, a space of about 
 sixteen miles. On the west, it is bounded by a wing of 
 Midlothian, and part of Roxburghshire, for about eighteen 
 miles. On the south, the Tweed separates it from Nor- 
 thumberland for fifteen miles, and Roxburghshire for a- 
 bout twelve miles. The northern boundary, adjoining to 
 the county of East Lothian, runs along the ridge of Lam- 
 mermoor hills, from Soutra hill, perhaps the highest eleva- 
 tion of this mountainous ridge, passing Fassney water and 
 Cranshaws, towards Dunglass bridge, upwards of thirty 
 miles. 
 
 _ . Jn the common language of the county, it is repre- 
 trict*. sented as consisting of three districts, Lammermoor, Lau- 
 derdale, and the Merse. Lauderdale, however, is ex- 
 tremely small ia proportion to the other two. It consists 
 of the territory in the most western part of the county ad- 
 Landerdalc. joining to Leeder water. In general description, Lauder- 
 dale may, without impropriety, be considered as forming 
 a part of th^e other two divisions ; the higher district of it 
 
 3
 
 BERWICKSHIRE. 511 
 
 being iacluded under Lammermoor, and the lower under 
 the Merse. Lammermoor is the northern and most ele- 
 vated part of Berwickshire, from which the waters descend 
 south and south-east towards the Tweed and the German 
 Ocean. The Merse, so called from its forming a part of 
 the march or boundary of the kingdom of Scotland, is the 
 southern or low and fertile division of the cpuntj adjoin- 
 ing to the Tweed, or to Roxburghshire ; which last inter- 
 poses between the upp.er or western part of this county and 
 the Tweed. Berwickshire, from this description, may be 
 considered, upon the whole, as having a southern expo- 
 sure, or as resting upon a declivity towards the south or 
 south-east. The county, however, may be considered as 
 divided into two portions of territory, the extremes of 
 which are most completely unlike to each other. The 
 one, or northern district of Lammermoor, consists of moun- 
 tainous or moorish territory, fit chiefly for the support of 
 the hardy black-faced sheep. This character, however, 
 iocs not apply to the banks of the waters ; and the whole 
 gradually alters, towards the south, into green pastures, 
 or land adapted to turnip husbandry ; and ends in what 
 is called the Merse, or low southern district, consisting of 
 9, deep soil, fully inclosed, and in a state of the highest 
 cultivation. 
 
 Lammermoor, or the northern district, ha* been suppo- 
 sed to contain about 362 square miles, or 231,689 acres ; 
 and the Merse about 148 square miles, or 94,720 acres; Extent of 
 amounting in all to 510 square miles, or 326,400 English 
 acres. But this calculation has by some been thought 
 over-rated, and that the county contains little more than 
 431 square miles, or 276,000 English acres. 
 
 In the high elevation of the Lammermoor district the Lammcr- 
 air is dry but keen. The ridge of Lammermoor hills is a 
 of considerable height j and besides forming, for many
 
 512 
 
 Topogra- miles, the northern boundary of the county, it also infer- 
 
 phy. . J 
 
 * y- rupts the view from the Ochil hills of the Cheviot, or any 
 
 ^^ other of the southern mountains. Of this ridge Soutra 
 hill is supposed to be the highest ; but hitherto no actual 
 mensuration is known to have been taken of it : but, in judg- 
 ing by the view, from its elevated top, of the neighbouring 
 hills and Country, it must be upwards of 1500 feet high. 
 The height of Manslaughter (Manslaughter) Law, in 
 the parish of Longformacus, above the sea, has by actual 
 mensuration been ascertained 1260 feet. Cockburn Law, 
 also, is known to be 900 feet above the sea's level ; and the 
 two hills called Durington laws, in the parish of Longfor- 
 macus, are nearly of the same height. The whole surface 
 of the upper parts' of the district of Lammermo6r consists of 
 a light peat mold, covered with heath ; the soil is mixed 
 with sand and clay. In some of the lower parts of it, as in 
 the parish of We struther, there is much moss and swampy 
 territory, which during winter lies under water, and in its 
 natural state is of little value j but on the sides of the wa- 
 ters there are extensive valleys, whose fertility and beau- 
 ty are augmented to the eye from the neighbourhood in 
 which they are placed. 
 
 Mtoedis- The northern boundary of the jVIerse, or southern dis- 
 trict of the county, proceeds from Home castle on the west, 
 'to Greenlaw, Polworth, Dunse, Lentlaws, Preston, and 
 to the sea at Coldingham. In all this tract, south as far 
 as the Tweed, there are no hills, or any elevation deser- 
 ving the name, except Lammerton hills beyond Aytouh 
 on the east ; and on the west that lofty eminence on which 
 stands Home castle. This whole tract of country, viewed 
 from a central eminence, such as Langton Edge, exhibits 
 to the wondering eye a scene beyond description. The 
 deception from this high elevation is so great, that this 
 large tract, "from near Kelso to Berwick, sixteen or eighteen 
 
 4
 
 feiiles, and nine over, appears a dead fiat, chequered with [ Waters. ^ 
 numberless seats and plantations ; the whole landscape as- 
 suming the appearance of a garden. 
 
 The uniform apparent flatness of the country, however, 
 is not real ; for gentle acclivities or ridges are less or 
 more interspersed throughout the whole. 
 
 The Leeder is the most westerly of the waters of thisLceder. 
 county, and towards the lower part divides it from Rox- 
 burghshire. It rises in the heights of Lammermoor, in 
 that part called the Soutra hills, a little to the west of 
 Channel Kirk. It takes a winding course through the 
 fertile vale of Lauderdalej and, after running upwards qf 
 20 miles, it falls into the Tweed about two miles above 
 Dryburgh Abbey. It formerly abounded greatly with 
 fine trout, and also with salmon ; but the numbers of 
 both of these are said to have greatly declined of late 
 years. This is ascribed to the abundant use of lime upon 
 the neighbouring lands for purposes of agriculture. The 
 lime being conveyed, by heavy rains, from the surface of 
 the soil into the stream, is supposed to injure or offend 
 the fish. 
 
 The water of Eden also rises in the southern part of Eden. 
 Lammermoor, and descends southward into the Tweed. 
 It contains some trouts and eels ; though fewer, it is said, 
 than formerly, for the reason already mentioned, the use 
 of lime upon the soil in its neighbourhood. Where it 
 separates the parish of Stitchel, in Roxburghshire, from 
 that of Nen thorn in this county, it falls over 'a rock, 
 nearly perpendicular, of about 40 feet in height. In a 
 flood, or in a hard frost, this cataract forms a most beau- 
 tiful object. It is at a small distance from Newtondoh 
 house. 
 
 The Blackadder, Blackatter, or Blackwater, rises in BUtkatter 
 the southern part of Lammermoor, out of some mossv 
 
 VOL. I. K k
 
 514 BERWICKSHIRE, 
 
 , w aters. ^ grounds, in tl>e parish of Longformacus. Soon after it* 
 rise it is joined by a small rivulet from the parish o 
 Westruther. After a verj irregular course of 16 or IS 
 miles it falls into the Whittater or Whitewater, at a vil- 
 lage called Allintan, in the parish of Edrorn. A singular 
 peculiarity is said to be observed with regard to the 
 Blackadder r that no salmon can live in it ; and if any hap- 
 pen to enter, which they seldom do, even in the spawning 
 season, they are always found dead a. little way up from, 
 the mouth of the river ; although the Whitatter, from 
 whence they come into it, abounds with them from the 
 Tweed, and carries them many miles above the place 
 where it meets with the Blackadder. Every other stream. 
 ia this country, communicating with the Tweed, contains 
 salmon during the season. 
 
 Whitatter. The Whitatter, Whittadder, or Whitewater, into which 
 the last mentioned river falls, rises also in Lammermoor, 
 on the borders of the county of Haddington, and crosses 
 Berwickshire, in a south-easterly direction, towards the 
 Tweed* In its upper part it receives a stream called the 
 Dye, which abounds with trout. The course of the 
 Whitatter is between 30 and 40 miles in length. It a- 
 bounds in common trout i which, however, are said to 
 be of no very high flavour, nor rich quality : but there is. 
 also in this water a larger sort of fish called a wbit- 
 ling. It is a large fine trout, from 16 inches to 2 feet 
 long, and well grown ; its flesh is red and high coloured 
 like salmon, and of fully as fine a flavour. It is a most deli- 
 cate fish, and affords most excellent sport to the angler. It 
 goes to the sea in its season, and returns strong, vigorous,, 
 and healthy ; but if, from the smallness of the river, in 
 a dry season, it is prevented from getting to the sea, it 
 becomes lank, small, and spiritless, and loses its red colour 
 and flavour. The Whitatter falls into the Tweed, about
 
 BERWICKSHIRE. $15 
 
 $2 miles east from Dunse, and 3 miles above Berwick. Wateri. 
 From the Tweed, which abounds in iine salmon, a great 
 many of these fish get into the Whitatter ; and, in the 
 months of September and October, are found 30 miles up 
 that river, passing into the small brooks among the hills 
 in Lammermoor,; till their backs are not covered, and. 
 there lodge their spawn among the gravel. The river 
 Whitatter runs with great rapidity, and, at some places, 
 when in flood, rises 15 feet perpendicular above its ordi- 
 nary channel, overflowing the haughs or level plains ad- 
 joining, and carrying off great part of the soil. Attempts 
 have been made by several proprietors to make barrica- 
 does, but few of them have been successful. A very great 
 flood happened in October 1755, which carried down all 
 the bridges excepting the bridge of Preston. They have 
 since been rebuil' at very considerable txpence. 
 
 The water of Eye, rising likewise in Lammermoor, iflEje. 
 the parish of Cockburn's path, proceeds, in a south-eas- 
 terly direction, through the parishes of Coldingham and 
 Ayton, and falls into the German ocean at Eyemouth. 
 In this water there are abundance of trouts of excellent 
 quality, though generally small. There are indeed some 
 pretty large, from 16 to 24 inches in length ; but none of 
 them of the true salmon kind. Above Eyemouth the 
 Eye receives a smaller stream^ called Ah water, which 
 also rises in Lammermoor. 
 
 The only remaining stream connected with this county Tweed.' 
 is the river Tweed, which, as already mentioned, to a 
 certain extent divides it from England. Of this river we 
 shall have occasion frequently to take notice, when we 
 come to treat of the higher territory through which it pro- 
 ceeds. The Tweed here is a large river. Though many- 
 projects have been formed for rendering the Tweed sub- \ 
 servient to navigation, either by deepening the bed of the 
 Kk. 2
 
 BERWICKSHIRE. 
 
 Wa * ere * river, or by carrying a canal along its banks, none of thenj 
 have hitherto been carried into effect. The former of 
 these measures is probably impracticable, and the latter 
 is too expensive to be undertaken in a county which is al- 
 together agricultural. The tide, however, flows to Nor- 
 ham castle, which is ten miles above Berwick ; and a 
 boat of 30 tons can come up the river to New-water ford, 
 which is six miles above Berwick. The Tweed is not, 
 in this county, a pastoral stream, as in the higher dis- 
 tricts, through which it descends to this low and fully 
 cultivated territory. Flowing in a level tract, it does not 
 produce that bold picturesque scenery which is peculiar to 
 the rivers of mountainous countries. 
 
 Fishings. The Tweed produces bull trouts, whitlings, gilses, sal- 
 mon, and all other kinds of fish common to the rivers in 
 the south of Scotland. Bull trouts make their appearance 
 in the Tweed during the spring months, and soon after go 
 away. When they come in numbers, they are thought to 
 prognosticate a plenteous season for gilses and salmon. 
 The intercourse carried on betwixt Berwick and London, 
 by means of the Berwick smacks, and the contrivan- 
 ces now used for conveying fish, in a sweet or unsalted 
 state, to a distant market, render the prices of gilses and 
 salmon as high on the banks of the Tweed as at Billings- 
 gate market in the metropolis ; nay, the prices are, in ge- 
 neral, considerably lower in London than in Scotland. 
 Tweed is open to fishing from the 10th of January to the 
 10th of October. In the rivers to the north, which abound 
 in such fish, the close season, as it is called, which com- 
 prehends the rest of the months, varies, and is earlier, for 
 the most part, in proportion to the latitude of those rivers 
 northwards, in Scotland, to the Tay > Don, and Dee. . 
 
 Before quitting the subject of the waters of this county, 
 it may be remacked, that, there is a beautiful fresh-water
 
 BERWICKSHIRE. 5'l ; 
 
 fake, about a mile west from St Abb's Head, called Col- t Watm* ^ 
 dingham loch. It is of a triangular figure, about a mile Colding- 
 in circumference. The water is clear, and is several fa- 
 thoms in depth. No stream runs into it ; and it has no 
 visible outlet. The depth always appears to be the same. 
 It is probably supplied by springs, and the superfluous 
 water carried off by porous strata on a level with the sur- 
 face of the Jake. It is situated many fathoms above the 
 level of the sea. The only fish contained in it is the 
 perch, from five to eight inches in length ; compact and 
 firm in appearance, but dry when eaten. 
 
 The sea-coast adjacent to the eastern part of the coun- Se 
 ty, as well as to the county of East Lothian, is in general 
 rocky and bold. The promontory of St Abb's Head is 
 well known to mariners. Around it, and to the west- 
 ward, the shore is dangerous and inaccessible, except at 
 Lumsden, where there are several fishing boats. On the 
 eastward of St Abb's Head, at Coldingham sands, the 
 shore is smooth and accessible^ Eyemouth, which will 
 be afterwards noticed, is the only harbour in Berwick- 
 shire, and it is the most accessible of any between Holy 
 Island and the Frith of Forth. There is a fine bay be- 
 tween St Abb's Head and the fort of Eyemouth, in which 
 ships bound for Eyemouth cast anchor, and wait the time 
 of tide for going into the harbour. Great plenty of fish 
 are caught in the sea on this part of the coast, such as 
 haddocks, whitings, cod, and ling, lobsters,, crabs, and 
 other shellfish, turbot, skate, and herrings, all of excellent 
 qualities ; which, after supplying the people in this neigh- 
 bourhood, are carried to Dunse, Kclso, &c. and a great 
 part are carried by sea to Edinburgh. The difference be- 
 tween the highest and lowest tides on this shore is about 
 20 feet ; and there are great quantities of sea- weed, com- 
 called sea-ware^ thrown ashore here ; the coarser
 
 BERWICKSHIRE. 
 
 f Waters. p ar t o f w hich is carried off with avidity, and applied as 
 manure to the land near the shore. The finer parts are 
 manufactured into kelp, and produce in one parish from 
 30 to 40 tons yearly. The greater part of this finer sort 
 grows upon the rocks situated between the high and low 
 water marks, and is cut and manufactured into kelp only 
 once in three years. 
 
 Sea-fowls. There is a prodigious number of sea-fowls, known by 
 the name of scouts and kittyixakes, with a mixture of sea- 
 gulls, that arrive in the spring yearly upon the high and in- 
 accessible rocks on the south side of St Abb's Head. They 
 breed incredible numbers of young ; and about the end 
 of May, when the young are said to be ripe, but before 
 they can fly, the gentlemen in the neighbourhood find ex- 
 cellent sport by going out in boats, and shooting great 
 numbers of them. When they are killed or wounded, 
 they fall from the rocks into the sea, and the rowers lift 
 thetn into their boats. Their eggs are pretty good, but 
 their flesh is very bad ; yet the poor people eat them. 
 They leave the rocks about harvest 5 and none of them 
 are ever seen here before the next spring. Where they 
 go in winter nobody knows. 
 
 Agricul- From what has been already stated concerning the di- 
 ure ' versify of soil which here exists, it would evidently be 
 in vain to attempt to give a general and indiscrimina- 
 ting character or description of the agriculture of this 
 county. At the same time a similar spirit of enterprise, 
 in consequence of imitation and vicinity, exists in every 
 part of it. 
 
 Great The reatest P art f ^e county is now occupied by 
 
 iarms. such farmers as, at an earlier period, or in several other; 
 
 counties in Scotland, would be termed great farmers. 
 
 There is, however, a great difference in the size of the 
 
 farms ; they run from L. 30 to L. 1200 ; if below L. 30,
 
 BERWICKSHIRE. 519 
 
 ture. 
 
 they are called possessions. It is no uncommon thing for Agricul- 
 -ene tenant to have two or three of the middling class, v 
 which is reckoned from L. 100 to L. 300 a-year. The 
 cause of this accommodation in general arises from a great 
 quantity of land, originally moor (that cannot be farmed 
 by itself), being attached to the good lands, but oftener 
 from the experience the proprietor has of his being more 
 likely to have the land better improved, and the rents 
 more regularly paid, by accepting of a great tenant rather 
 than several small ones. It has been found and expe- 
 rienced in this county, that the great, considerable, and 
 middling rank of farmers, pay their rents best ; and this 
 has been attributed by some to their having the land 
 cheaper than smaller tenants : but this is not believed to 
 be the case. Small tenants cannot exist on a possession 
 of poor land, which in general thgy look out for, unless 
 they have another business, or are employed by the pro- 
 prietors anj^ greater farmers for bringing home carriages 
 of lime, &:c. ; in which they employ their horses and ser- 
 vants during the whole of the improving seasons, and en- 
 tirely neglect the culture of their own possessions. In 
 few or no instances in this county, is it known or belie- 
 ved that a small tenant pays a greater rent than a greater 
 tenant would most readily pay for the same possession, 
 unless it be in the neighbourhood of towns or villages, 
 where the lands are parcelled out into acres or small 
 fields for the accommodation of horse-dealers, cow-feed- 
 ers, and trading people. On all poor grounds, small te- 
 nants have been found to be a burden . In many of the 
 estates in this county, at a distance from towns, these 
 tenants are employed by their landlords or the neigh- 
 bouring tenants. This circumstance shews, that all the 
 labour they can bring forward is necessary Jbr carrying 
 on the operations of the county ; and if they are not em-
 
 BERWICKSHIRE. 
 
 Agricul- ployed as poor tenants, they will be employed as ser- 
 -y vants ; and most probably with more profit, more com* 
 fort, and less care to themselves. But the desire of trades- 
 men, labourers, gardeners,, and hinds, who have saved a 
 little money, to become small tenants is general ; and, 
 tvhen they get a possession, they suppose themselves inde*. 
 pendent. The result too frequently is, that instead of ri, 
 sing to actual independence, they lose the money they pre- 
 viously accumulated ; an event which, in this as well ae 
 every other branch of speculative industry, is apt to await 
 those who engage in enterprises which their capital or 
 credit do not enable them to conduct. 
 
 Lhne. On the arable lands of Lammermoor, the great sources 
 of fertility are lime, turnip, and artificial grasses. Lime 
 is the extensive and general manure in this tract of coun-. 
 try. It is brought from the Lothians, and conveyed to 
 the distance of from eight to seventeen miles ; but its 
 great success, as a means of improving a mossy soil or 
 moor, together with the late improvements upon the roads, 
 render the use of it not only practicable but universal. 
 The fertility produced by it is so great, that after a car- 
 riage of fifteen miles, the whole expence is often defray- 
 ed by the first crop of oats after fallow. 
 
 The quantity of lime necessary upon dry, sound, moor 
 land has been much reduced of late, and the effect greater, 
 by applying it upon well-prepared fallow, not by any 
 means suffering the lime to be previously saturated with 
 water, as is too often done, but spread on the field quite 
 hot in its pulverised state. Thus the lime exerts its full 
 effect ; and ten cart loads, or forty bolls, shell-lime, ma- 
 nures an acre of such land well ; but upon sour swamps, 
 or where water has stagnated in winter, if such can be 
 well drained, it is thought a much safer improvement to 
 give it a top dressing with lime, or other manure, upon
 
 BERWICKSHIRE. 52l 
 
 the sward, and retain it as an improved pasture, than in Agricul. 
 
 turc. 
 
 that situation to risk tillage, or even the probability of . v 
 hme having any effect. 
 
 Since the year 1710, turnips have become a general Turnip*, 
 crop throughout the county ; and, in the scale of improve- 
 ment, have promoted agriculture more than any one plant 
 ever introduced to the fields. They are both carried off 
 the land for cattle feeding in the shades ; or, where the 
 land reqxiires it, are eat off by sheep, which are either 
 enclosed by flakes or netted in all day. Turnips arc 
 sown upon all new broken up lands, those especially re- 
 cently reclaimed from moor and hilly districts ; but only 
 where the land is light. They are generally sown in 
 drills two feet and a half asunder. The land having 
 been previously limed, and the drills dunged, they become 
 an excellent preparation for grass seeds sown along with 
 the red oat next spring. This has made a very rapid 
 and substantial improvement in this county. Indeed in 
 the Lammermoor district, the turnip has in a great mea- 
 sure supplanted the summer fallow. Upon a soil tole- 
 rably light, it performs every service to be expected from 
 summer fallow, while at the same time the turnip crop is 
 in some degree a clear gain obtained by the community. 
 Upon the breeding sheep farms, however, the use of tur- 
 nip is restricted in some measure to lands detached from 
 the sheep walk, or to enclosed lands ; because otherwise 
 the sheep must be kept at a great distance from the tur- 
 nip field during winter. A considerable extent of pas- 
 ture is thus lost, to avoid the necessity of harassing these 
 animals by driving them off from the land in crop, which 
 if once tasted is a perpetual temptation to them. 
 
 Upon the whole lands in the county, the farmers are 
 considered as possessing a wonderful dexterity in turning 
 fheir lands from tillage to grass, and from grass to corn.
 
 522 BERWICKSHIRE, 
 
 Agricul- Of t he lower district of the county, it is supposed that 
 
 iure. . . J 
 
 fc Y . nearly one half is at all times in grass ; of the upper dis-r 
 
 trict, upon wet lands, the plough is only used to improve 
 the pasture ; and even the dry soil, which is fittest for 
 turnips, must in Lammermoor be at times brought under 
 the plough to preserve the pasture in a valuable condi- 
 tion. 
 
 Grasses The grasses used in the county are red and white clo- 
 !psc< ^' ver, rib grass, yellow clover, and rye grass ; and these in 
 such variety of proportions as suits the nature of the soil 
 or the ideas of the farmer. Eight pounds of white, four 
 pounds of red, and one bushel and a half of rye grass, 
 with two pounds of rib grass to the acre, is a common 
 proportion where the -field is intended to remain in pasture 
 some years. If it is sown down with a view to one crop 
 of hay only, the greater proportion of the grass seeds is 
 red or broad clover. It is believed that there is L. 10,000 
 Sterling paid yearly by the county for grass seeds import- 
 ed from England and Holland ; the importers and retail- 
 ers thereof charging at least If) per cent, profit, the county 
 pay to them L. 100O Sterling yearly. 
 
 On the arable lands of Lammermoor, the crops of grain 
 consist of barley and oats, or perhaps peas. The oats, in 
 the scale of agricultural improvement, are the only grain 
 hitherto known, whereupon the farmer can with confi-r 
 dence trust to repay his labour in the early stage of cul- 
 tivation. 
 
 Oats. Qats are therefore, with perfect success, sown upon all 
 newly broken up lands ; whether wet or dry, clay or gra- 
 vel, there is no soil comes amiss to this plant. Old leys, 
 pasture, and grass lands, are sown after one furrow. It is 
 also found to be the hardiest of all grain, and will flou- 
 rish at the height of five or six hundred feet above the 
 sea's level, and there produce good props, if not too much.
 
 BERWICKSHIRE. 523 
 
 .exposed to high winds. It is found, however, by too fa- Agricul T 
 
 ture. 
 
 t#l experience, that this valuable plant is, above all others v - y 
 hitherto k^own, the most pernicious to the interests of 
 both the farmer and proprietor, if an undue repetition of 
 crops is persisted in, particularly with the use of exciting 
 manure. The plaat being prone above all others to ferti- 
 lity, deceives ttie too avaricious farmer; and by an excess 
 of this principle, it will continue productive till every 
 other plant, even grass itself, ceases to vegetate where it 
 grew. 
 
 As the highest part of Lammermoor is an open sheep 
 country, the remarks made concerning it, when treating 
 of East Lothian, apply to this county, and render a repe- 
 tition of them unnecessary. 
 
 In the southern district of Berwickshire, or the Merse, M^ 1 
 
 ^ . culture. 
 
 the soil chiefly consists, in the lower part of the country, 
 
 of strong clays, almost wholly destitute of stones or gra- 
 vel ; but higher up in the Merse, towards Dunse, the 
 lands grow lighter, more kindly for grass and the turnip 
 husbandry. Water for cattle, and materials for roads, 
 are also here in plenty. 
 
 This part of the county lies but very little above the. 
 sea?s level ; for at Kelso bridge, 20 miles from the sea, ' ^ 
 there are only 90 feet of elevation. The air is therefore 
 mild, lying in the middle space between the Cheviot and 
 Lammermoor ridges of hills, where heavy rains are nei- 
 ther so frequent, nor of such continuance, as in the vici- 
 nity of these mountains. Though snow lies a long time 
 some seasons in the Lammermoor district, and to a great 
 depth, its continuance here in the low country is only a 
 few davs. About the time of the autumnal equinox, 
 there is sometimes very tempestuous weather on the east 
 coast. 
 
 As already mentioned, almost the whole of the arable
 
 524 BERWICKSHIRE* 
 
 Agricul- lands of this county are now enclosed ; the sire of en. 
 
 ture. . ...... 
 
 .. < closures is extremely various, being from 10 to 100 acres.* 
 
 Enclosures, j^ j n g enera i, for a farm of 400 or 500 acres, enclosures 
 of 40 or 50 English acres are accounted advantageous. 
 It has been found in the Merse, that, by long cultivation, 
 the soil is gradually ameliorated in a degree which no 
 sudden efforts of industry can produce ; and accordingly 
 the ancient in-field lands are still found, and will probably 
 long remain, superior in value to those in their neighbour- 
 hood which have been recently improved from a state of 
 moor or out-field. In the progress of enclosing and im- 
 provement in this county, some occupiers of land attempt- 
 ed to destroy the distinction of out-field, moor, and in- 
 field, by making square and regular enclosures, often ta- 
 king parts of all the three classes of soil into the same- 
 field. However, those proprietors and occupiers of land, 
 who studied more the classing of the same kind of land 
 into one enclosure than the regularity of the enclosure, or 
 their equality in size, have done best'; as it is now found, 
 by undoubted experience, that the different classes of soil 
 require different culture to keep them in an improving 
 state. 
 
 jrr <j s of There are a great many kinds of fences in those parts 
 fcBccr ' of this county where stones can easily be procured. Stone 
 walls are preferred on high roads. Sometimes the fences 
 are made by throwing out two ditches nine feet asunder, 
 making them four or six feet wide at top, three or three and 
 half deep, and nine inches wide at bottom. The earth 
 thrown out of both ditches is neatly formed into a sloping 
 ridge or bank between the ditches ; a row of quicks, three 
 or four years transplanted, is set on each side about six 
 inches higher than the edge of the ditch, and nine inches 
 back from it, so as to form a scarcement. This is called 
 a double ditch. A dead hedge is generally placed on the
 
 "BERWICKSHIRE, 525 
 
 top of the bank. To save land, a single ditch and hedge Agrkulr 
 
 tiuc. 
 is sometimes used ; and at the back of the hedge a wall y J 
 
 of stone is placed, coped with turf, to protect the hedge 
 till it acquire strength. There is a great deal of the soil 
 not friendly to the growth of quickset hedges, owing to 
 the cold till-bottom. The cleanness of the skin and vi- 
 gour of the thorn are always held as marks of the good 
 quality of the land ; and they seldom fail to be just ones. 
 It is thought by some that the pruning knife or hcdgebiil 
 is too much used. This may be the case on some lauds 
 where hedges thrive well ; but in a great deal of the lands 
 of the county, the hedges fog at the stem or root, and 
 would entirely die out, were they not cut over within a 
 few inches of the ground ; however, where they do not 
 require this cutting from the above-mentioned cause, and 
 where they keep close at the root, they should be allowed 
 to grow up. In general, the enclosures of Berwickshire 
 are kept in far superior condition to those of any county 
 in Scotland. 
 
 With regard to the important point of the rotation of 
 crops, it is difficult in this county to state the practice with 
 precision. 
 
 The lands in most cases are turned from tillage to grass R otat ; on of 
 with such rapidity, that there are very few tenants who 110 ?* 1 
 for a succession of years follow any fixed rotation of crop- 
 ping, except where they possess good wheat lands, and 
 continue the old system of cropping with wheat, peas, 
 barley, and oats. Many of the tenants can with truth 
 say, that what they are doing is better for the land than 
 what they ought to have done by their leases. The great 
 security to the landlord is considered to arise from the- 
 half, or a certain proportion, being always in grass, and 
 so much at the end of the lease being generally agreed 
 upon to be left in grass a certain number of years old.
 
 526 BERWICKSHIRE'; 
 
 Agricul- All these matters are adjusted at the time of making flirf 
 Ciy-^, bargain fora lease. On the dry lands lying along the 
 Tweed-side, and in several other parts' of the county, very 
 At for turnips, the common rotation is, istj Fallow and 
 turnips with dung ; 2d, Barley and grass seeds ; 3d, Hay* 
 or pasture ; 4tb, Wheat or oats. 
 
 When the lands are not ploughed for oats or wheat the" 
 fourth year, as in the above mentioned rotation, but al- 
 lowed to remain two or three years in pasture, they are; 
 ploughed in Jantfary of February, and cropped, 1st, oats ; J 
 2d, fallow and turnip,' with dung ; 3d> wheat, oats, of 
 barley, with grass seeds. 
 
 To carry oh the system of having wheat after turnip^ 
 the land must be good and early, otherwise the wheat 
 sown in February or March will not ripen in season. If 
 it do, the lands carrying a good crop are held to be the 
 most valuable in the county. Wheat is not sown after* 
 turnips, except on land near the Tweed or the sea coast. 
 Land not reckoned good for wheat, nor fit for turnip, gets 
 more time to rest than the othef classes ; especially if it is 
 tvhat is called grassy land, it remains in pasture from one' 
 to five, six, or seven years. When it is brought again into' 
 tillage, it is ploughed soon after Christmas, that it may get 
 the winter's frost, to expedite the operation of harrowing ; 
 then it is sown with, 1st, oats ; 2d, peas ; 3d, barley ; 
 4th, oats ; 5th, fallow, limed or dunged ; 6th, barley or 
 oats, with grass seeds. Or, what is now reckoned bet- 
 ter husbandry, 1st, oats ; 2d, barley ; 3d, oats ; 4?th, 
 fallow, limed or dunged ; 5th, barley, with" grass seeds. 
 
 On the good wheat lands, where the old system of 
 cropping already mentioned is a little departed from, the 
 rotation is, 1st, fallow, limed and dunged ; 2d, wheat, 
 with grass seeds ; 3d, hay, or broad clover j %th t wheat, 
 or oats.
 
 BERWICKSHIRE. 52f 
 
 When this last kind of land is laid to grass for pasture. Agricul- 
 
 ture. 
 
 It is generally sown with the first crop after fallow. ^ y J 
 
 It is not uncommon to take a crop of oats after wheat, 
 and thereafter to fallow and manure the land ; but very 
 often this practice is forbid by the leases. 
 
 The Merse fanners are all, from their earliest years, Graziers; 
 trained up in the knowledge of cattle, in which they are 
 eminent. They are almost to a man dealers or jobbers* 
 
 The lower district of the county being now almost 
 \vholly inclosed and greatly improved, and, as already 
 mentioned, so much of it in grass, the rearing and feedings 
 of stock must be a great object. Farmers of experiences 
 and observation have no hesitation in asserting r that the 
 stock in the county at large must pay the whole rent of ity 
 otherwise the tenants will not thrive. If the grain produ- 
 ced pay all other expences of labouring the county, and 
 feeding the labourers and horses, &.c. it does well. This 
 is not precisely the case on the rich lands adjoining to the 
 Tweed, the Whitatter, and some parts of the coast j but it 
 is held to be true by the majority of the county. Sheep and 
 black cattle are the kinds on which the payment of the 
 rents depends. Sheep and cattle in this county are of three 
 sizes ; the Merse breed, the Cheviot breed, and the Lam. 
 mermoor breed, which is the smallest. It has been found, 
 by experience in this county, that the cattle improve in, 
 proportion as the pasture is improved ; that it is in vain 
 to carry the heavy Merse breed of sheep and black cattle 
 to Lammermoor, where they are sure to decline. Every 
 breeder of cattle in the county, therefore, is attentive to 
 have his sheep and cattle of as large a size, and of as 
 good a breed, as his pastures will carry forward, and 
 no more. Hence, in the opinion of the farmers, there al* 
 ways must be a variety in the size of the stock in pro- 
 portion to the variety of soil and climate, even where e
 
 528 BERWICKSHIRE. 
 
 Agricul. ver y thing else is equal in point of skill and attention. 
 
 ture. 
 
 *.. y Hence the employment of a grazier is considered as re- 
 quiring much experience and discernment, to enable him 
 to distinguish with correctness, in the market, the cattle 
 that correctly suit his pastures. 
 
 Hqrst*. The number of horses reared within the county is not 
 equal to the supply of the stock required for farming and 
 other purposes of draught. There are about 4000 draught 
 horses in the county ; and the sum of L. 8000 is sent 
 yearly out of it to the west for horses to keep up this 
 stock, and afford a supply to the farmers on the south side 
 of the Tweed, who apply to the dealers in this county ; 
 but it is believed that the sale of horses in this county does 
 not exceed L. 1000 yearly. 
 
 The manures in use in the county are, lime, farm-yard 
 dung, rock or clay marl ; and, in four or five situations 
 only, shell-marl and sea- weed. The lime is brought 
 from Berwick and Northumberland, or from Mid and 
 East Lothian s. On the one side, it is from three to six 
 miles beyond the bounds of the county, and on the other it 
 is from four to eight ; yet, with all these disadvantages, the 
 quantity of lime that has been laid on the county, with- 
 in these last thirty years, has been great. Excepting some 
 old grass lands, that have not been in tillage in that pe- 
 riod, and some of the high outfields in Lammermoor, that 
 are only ploughed for the sake of keeping down the hea- 
 ther, the greatest part of the county has been once limed ; 
 and a considerable part of it, though at the distance of four- 
 teen or sixteen miles from the lime pits, has been limed two 
 r three times in the course of a twenty-one years lease. 
 So universally has the use of this manure been considered 
 to contribute to the farmer's profit; and the improvement of 
 the lands, that, to a proverb in the county, an entering te- 
 nant should get credit in proportion to the extent of his 
 
 3
 
 BERWICKSHIRE. 529 
 
 fallow field, and the number and size of his lime-heaps. Agricul- 
 
 . , ture - 
 Much has been done, and much may still be done, in -y - 
 
 Lammermoor, by this excellent and immediately opera- 
 ting manure. The great danger from the use of it on 
 light dry loamy lands arises from over-cropping them af- 
 ter being lihied. This ought 'to be guarded against by 
 the landlord, in proportion to the encouragement he gives 
 to the tenant to lime ; and by the tenant, in proportion to 
 the confidence he has of getting a renewal of his lease on 
 fair terms. For it is now believed by most tenants ac- 
 quainted with the effects of lime on dry lands in the coun- 
 ty, that an unlimed farm, in a situation where lime is not 
 difficult to be obtained, is of more value than one that has 
 been limed, and afterwards over-cropped. 
 
 Rock and clay marl have been found in great abun- Marl, 
 dance on the banks of the Whitatter and Blackatter, and 
 in many fields of the lower district of the county ; and 
 when improvements first began to be carried on with spi- 
 rit, by many of the farmers and gentlemen in the county, 
 it was the manure most used in all cases where it lay near 
 the fields to be improved. The quantity laid Cn an acre was 
 from 300 to 500 waggon-loads, or from 400 to 600 cart- 
 loads ; which not only added a niffkient quantity of calca- 
 reous matter, but also an additional thickness to the soil ; 
 and was then, and still is, considered as an excellent ma- 
 nure for moor and thin dry soils ; but it is not always to 
 be had in the neighbourhood of them. The expence of 
 marl, on account of the large quantity necessary, is little 
 less than that of lime ; while, at the same time, a great 
 loss of time is occasioned by means of it ; a circumstance 
 which has caused it to be generally relinquished. Shell- 
 marl has been found only in a few pjaces within the dbun- 
 ty, and has not been allowed to be carried beyond the 
 estates where it has been found. A large field of from 
 
 VOL. I. L 1
 
 BERWICKSHIRE, 
 
 Agricul- go to 100 acres of shell-marl has been discovered in the 
 v y _ adjoining county of Roxburgh, at the south-west corner 
 of Berwickshire, upon the estate of Harden. It is cover- 
 ed by five or six feet of peat-moss or turf. 
 
 As the towns or villages in the county are very small, 
 no manure is obtained from them ; and the farmers use 
 the finest of their dung for their turnip, and the coarsest 
 for their wheat. 
 
 Sea-ware. On account of the nature of the coast, which in general 
 consists of a high rocky shore, sea-weed or sea-ware is 
 . not obtained in abundance. In some situations, however, 
 it is found, and is eagerly sought after. It consists chiefly 
 of the weed known by the name of tangle (Jucus palma- 
 tus), having a very long stalk and a broad spreading 
 leaf. It seems to grow upon all the rocks which are 
 never left bare by the tide, and whose depth below the 
 surface of low water does not exceed twenty fathoms. It 
 thus occupies a space along the shore of about half a mile 
 in breadth, in which it grows like a forest, rising eight 
 or ten feet from the bottom, the flat blade of the plant 
 being visible when the sea is at its lowest ebb. This belt 
 of sea-ware may be distinguished, when sailing in a boat, 
 by the colour of the water ; and it is well known to the 
 fishermen, from whose report the above account is chiefly 
 taken. In violent storms the sea tears the plant from the 
 rocks, and drives it on shore ; it is then eagerly carried ofF 
 by the farmers, who spread it directly upon the ground 
 where it is to be used, and plough it in as fast as possible. 
 It is the opinion of many good farmers, that a cart-load of 
 good ware is, at any season of the year, equivalent to an 
 equal load of dung ; but, at the time of sowing barley, it 
 is considered as at least of double value ; partly owing to 
 its being, as they say, ripe at that season, having the 
 strongest manuring quality, and partly to its efficacy in
 
 BERWICKSHIRE. 531 
 
 producing fine crops of barley, both in quantity and qua- Agricul- 
 lity. When the ground is very dry, the ware is often T _ 
 spread upon the ground after the corn is sown, or even 
 sprung ; and, when applied in this manner, it is supposed 
 to produce the best and surest effects. Ware barley is 
 much esteemed by the brewers^ and is in great request 
 for seed, particularly by the upland farmers, as it is said 
 to ripen at least a week earlier than any other. 
 
 There is not much natural wood in the county ; about Wood*. 
 200 acres may be the utmost extent. It is mostly dwarfy, 
 and not seemingly in a thriving state ; which cannot be 
 easily accounted for : probably the allowing of sheep to 
 pasture in the woods soon after being cut or bagged, is 
 hurtful to the growth of it. 
 
 Most of the gentlemens seats in the county are decorated 
 with pretty well-grown trees, consisting of oak, ash, 
 beech, elm, poplar, chesnut, larches, Scotch and spruce 
 firs, &.c. The weedings hitherto have been equal to the 
 demand for the purposes of husbandry in the county, and 
 no more. All the kinds are to be found of various sizes. 
 From nine to twelve feet round is among the largest of the 
 oak, ash, beech, and elm. For these many years past, 
 most of the gentlemen have been embellishing their estates 
 by new plantations. Many are of considerable extent, 
 and clumps, strips, and ring-belts, &c. have been plant- 
 ed in many parts of the county, which will soon add to the 
 beauty and riches of it. 
 
 There is a want of hedge-row trees in this county : they 
 seldom thrive well, and are always slow in growth ; which 
 is one reason of their not being so generally planted as 
 they ought to be. It is alleged also, that they hurt the 
 hedges ; but this is not believed to be the case, unless 
 where hedges surround thick plantations. On the whole, 
 there are about 3500 acres of planted land in the county ; 
 
 LI Z
 
 BERWICKSHIRE. 
 
 Planting 
 
 moor. 
 
 Agricul- Much of this is affording at present, as it has done fat 
 .. M . i many years past, a considerable yearly income to the 
 planters or their heirs. 
 
 Planting would be of the greatest utility to Latnmer- 
 Hioor, by giving shelter to the cold bleak hills and moors, 
 3,^ by i m p rov i n g the soil so planted. But there are ma- 
 ny discouragements to planting in this tract : it is found 
 that trees will not grow, on any kind of soil, on the sum- 
 mits of the hills ; neither will they grow on moss ; and 
 there is a considerable part of the moorlands unfit for im- 
 provement, on account of the thinness of the soil, and the 
 wetness and badness of the bottom ; and upon these trees 
 will not grow, as has been learned by experience in seve- 
 ral situations : add to this, that it is very difficult to make 
 'fences sufficient to hold out highland sheep, especially 
 where stones are not to be found. Planting thrives well 
 on moors of a gravelly or rocky bottom, if they are not 
 much exposed to winds ; but a great part of the flat moor- 
 lands have something at bottom unfriendly to the growth 
 of trees. It is believed that raising of whins or broom, 
 whins ad- on many of the moors of the upper district, would be a 
 moor*. considerable improvement. The sheep are fond of them ; 
 and they prove an excellent relief in a heavy fall of snow, 
 on account of their giving both food and shelter : and 
 there are seldom any unhealthy sheep where the fields in 
 Lammermoor abound with whins and broom. Indeed.,, 
 Nature seems to have provided the small and hardy shrubs 
 aS one of the means of enabling a barren and exposed soil 
 gradually to acquire the degree of fertility and shelter 
 necessary to enable it to bear forest trees. The first 
 steps of the process by which Nature covers the earth 
 with fertility and beauty consist of the growth of the 
 hardy fungi and moss plants upon naked stones and rocks. 
 These afford shelter to tribes of small animals ; and the
 
 BERWICKSHIRE. 533 
 
 ruins of animal and vegetable life gradually produce a AgrlcnU 
 fertile mold, which supports heath and coarser grasses. In -y-L-f 
 sheltered situations, these are succeeded by more delicate 
 plants ; but, in a bleak and exposed soil, the hardiest 
 shrubs ought to be planted, that, by the activity of their 
 roots in penetrating the earth, and by the shelter which 
 they afford, they may prepare the territory for gradually 
 supporting the larger vegetable productions. 
 
 In this county, it is generally understood that L. 4 of Agricultn- 
 
 i c ral capital 
 
 capital is necessary, at an average, to enable a farmer toi n Ber- 
 
 pay L. 1 of rent. About ten years ago, the rental of the wickshu>e> 
 
 county was estimated at L. 112,000 ; from which L. 5000 
 
 per annum ought to be deducted for land in the possession 
 
 of the proprietors ; and as the rental of lands in Scotland 
 
 has in general doubled every twenty years, and in some 
 
 places in a shorter period, the rental of Berwickshire, in 
 
 the hands of tenants, may be considered as amounting to 
 
 L. 150,000 ; to produce which a capital of L. 600,000 is 
 
 necessary. 
 
 The farm-houses and offices formerly were mean huts, Farm- 
 built with stone and clay, and covered with thatch and di- 
 vot. Two or three farm- steadings were often found toge- 
 ther in one village. This had no doubt been originally 
 adopted, either with a view to protection or society, per- 
 haps to both. In general, now, they are well situated, 
 and substantially built. All the modern farm-houses are 
 two stories high, covered with slate, and have from four 
 to eight or ten apartments, with an out or back kitchen. 
 Several of the houses are neat and handsome ; and, in 
 some cases, the tenants are thought to be exceeding in the 
 article of fine houses, fine furniture, &c. However, when 
 this is narrowly examined, the excess, if there be any, is 
 not great, nor yet (to the detriment of improvement in 
 agriculture) extensively diffused over the county. Two
 
 534 BERWICKSHIRE. 
 
 Agrlcul- or three thousand pounds of capital, engaged in stock, and 
 
 v y outlay for labour and improvement of a farm, entitle the 
 
 possessor to be comfortably lodged. If this could not be 
 
 the case, he would certainly follow another business than 
 
 that of farming. 
 
 The offices are now likewise made substantial and con- 
 venient ; many of them covered with tyles. Where farm- 
 buildings require to be renewed, or removed to a more 
 convenient situation, the tenant is always taken bound to 
 lead all the carriages ; which he agrees to without re- 
 luctance on account of his getting additional accommoda- 
 tion. In some cases the tenant accepts of a sum, for which 
 he agrees to build or renew the buildings. On a farm 
 from three to four hundred pounds a-year, it costs about 
 a year's rent. 
 
 The length of leases in general is nineteen or twenty- 
 one years. In cases where a tenant agrees to give a great 
 rise of rent, and ties himself down to considerable im- 
 provements, by enclosing, building, &c. they are length- 
 ened out to twenty-four and thirty years. The covenants 
 as to the management of lands are various, according to 
 the nature of the soil, and the situation it is in with re- 
 spect to improvement. They are generally calculated, 
 sometimes twisted, to meet the ideas of the proprietor and 
 tenant at the time of making a bargain for a lease. Where 
 care is taken and ability employed, the articles are adopt- 
 ed which are best calculated to keep the soil in an impro- 
 ving state ; and, till the late scarcity, there was hardly 
 any such practice in the county, as in some others in 
 Scotland, of letting old rich grass lands out to plough 
 on a short lease at a high rent. The distance of lime, 
 the want of dung, and the difficulty of restoring the land to 
 its former state or rent, forbid the practice. 
 
 The articles of a lease in general are, that the tenant
 
 BERWICKSHIRE. 535 
 
 shall neither assign nor subset his farm ; and that his ere- 
 ditors shall have no power to seize it. The landlord re- 
 serves right to search for and work all quarries and mine- 
 rals on paying surface damages. The endurance of the 
 lease, twenty-one years ; entry to houses and grass, on the 
 26th of May, and to the tillage land, at the separation 
 of the crop of that year from the ground ; rent payable 
 at two terms in the year, Martinmas and Whitsunday, by 
 equal portions ; the first sum payable at the end of six, 
 twelve, but often eighteen months, and in some cases 
 twenty-one months, after entry to houses and grass ; and 
 the second payment, six months after the first. The 
 tenant receives the houses in good repair, and upholds 
 and leaves them in such repair at his own expence. In 
 some cases he is allowed wood and workmanship. He in 
 general upholds the whole of the fences, in some cases 
 only the half. He is taken bound to have the half of the 
 lands always in pasture grass, at least towards the end of 
 the lease. One-fifth or one-fourth part of the tillage lands 
 is yearly in fallow or turnips ; one-fifth or one-fourth un- 
 der a green-leafed grass. Wheat is not sown above once 
 between fallows ; and oats and wheat are not allowed to be 
 sown in general after oats or wheat. The fallow division 
 is manured with dung or lime, sometimes with both ; and 
 all land sown up with grass seeds, in most cases, is sown 
 with the first crop after fallow. At the end of the lease 
 a certain quantity of the grass is left a specified number of 
 years old. 
 
 Grass lands or parks are let from year to year. Entry 
 in May ; removal in November or December ; rent pay- 
 able at Martinmas first after entry. The takers grant bill 
 with a surety for the rent ; and in general this is a well 
 paid rent. 
 
 Jn J^ammermoor it is common* to restrict the tenants
 
 53G BERWICKSHIRE. 
 
 Agricul- from ploughing above one-third of the arable lands. Iu 
 
 ture. 
 
 v Y- - 1 cases where the landlord allows the tenants prime cost of 
 lime, they are taken bound not to take above three crops 
 before sowing off with grass seeds. The moor land, 
 ploughed up, fallowed, and limed, is generally left with- 
 out restriction, which has been the ruin of it in many 
 places. 
 
 There is little commerce in this county but what arises 
 from the business of husbandry and grazing, or feeding 
 black cattle and sheep, the exports from Eyemouth be- 
 ing chiefly grain and meal; and the imports, timber, iron, 
 slates, tyles, grass seeds, salt, grain, rags, lime, and lately 
 coal. 
 
 Gram ex- The grain from the east part of the lower district 
 of the county, which is by far the most productive of 
 that article, is shipped at Berwick or Eyemouth, and 
 carried coastwise, to the amount of nearly 12,000 quar- 
 ters annually from the port of Eyemouth ; and from the 
 port of Berwick there are sometimes shipped 11,000 
 or 12,000 quarters of wheat, as much barley, more than 
 twice that quantity of oats, besides peas, and some thou- 
 sand quarters of rye ; but only half of the wheat and oats, 
 and two-thirds of the barley, shipped at this port, it is 
 
 Cattle ex- supposed, go from Berwickshire, the rest from Northum- 
 
 ported. berland. 
 
 From the west end of the lower district, and the north 
 district, the grain and meal are carried to Dalkeith, Edin- 
 burgh, Haddington, and Dunbar ; and the carriages re- 
 turn with coals, lime, wood, iron, tar, tyles, slates, &c. 
 The commerce, if it deserve that name, carried on be- 
 tween the graziers, butchers, and breeders in this and 
 the neighbouring counties, is considerable. Great part 
 of the stock is purchased for driving to England all the 
 summer season ; and th'e great markets of Edinburgh and
 
 BERWICKSHIRE. 53*1 
 
 Morpeth take off all the fat cattle and sheep that can be Agricul- 
 ture, 
 spared the whole year, to a very great extent in point of * v ' 
 
 number and value. Many of the people employed in 
 buying up this stock, both lean and fat, keep no accounts ; 
 so that it is almost impossible to ascertain the quantity ; 
 but it must be considerable, as it is thought that the va- 
 lue of what is killed in the county yearly does not ex- 
 ceed L.SOOO or L. 9000. 
 
 The two London roads passing thro' this county fromE-Roadi. 
 dinburgh,one by Ay ton and Berwick, the other by Green- 
 law and Coldstream, with a branch by Lauder, have been 
 productive of much improvement to the county. Indeed the 
 building of Coldstream bridge some years ago, and open- 
 ing the west load to England, has produced a striking 
 change upon the western part of the county. Coal and 
 lime are now brought in carts to all parts of Lauderdale, 
 and even to Tweedale, from Lothian. 
 
 Upon the eastern part of the county, since building the 
 Pease bridge, the like access is opened to the lime- works in f 
 EastLothian. At all seasons, by the goodness of these roads 
 and bridges, there is ready access, free of danger, to mark- 
 ets, often near thirty miles. Where the distance is so very- 
 great, the carts travel much in the night-time, carrying 
 to market grain, the produce of the farm, and next 
 day returning loaded with either coal or lime ; neither of 
 which, in the former state of the country, could have been 
 attempted, except only when carried in bags upon horse- 
 back. 
 
 The roads in the Merse have always been a reproach 
 to the county, and have very much retarded its improve- 
 ment. The present proprietors, sensible of these disad- 
 vantages, have made great exertions, which have brought 
 about a thorough repair of most of the roads, and accele-
 
 BERWICKSHIRE. 
 
 Agricul- 
 ture. 
 
 Pease 
 frridge. 
 
 Spirit of 
 improve- 
 ment. 
 
 rated the progress of improvement beyond what was for- 
 i merly known. 
 
 Various acts of parliament have been obtained for ma- 
 king the roads, which, in the lower part of the county, in 
 consequence of the nature of the soil, and the scarcity of 
 proper materials, is an expensive operation. Tolls have 
 been erected, and the statute labour is converted into a pe- 
 cuniary payment ; in consequence of which ample funds 
 have been established. 
 
 The Pease bridge was an important work, necessary to- 
 wards rendering complete the road from Edinburgh to 
 London by Berwick. It stands upon the north-east angle 
 of the county, and is thrown over a vast chasm, at the 
 bottom of which is a small stream of water. It consists 
 of four arches ; and its romantic situation, and stupendous 
 height, render it an object of curiosity, or rather of asto- 
 nishment, to travellers. The Pease bridge is 123 feet 
 from the bottom of the water of the burn to the top of the 
 rail j it is 300 feet long, within the parapet walls 15 feet 
 wide, and 6 feet from the level of the road to the top of 
 the rail. In passing by the Pease bridge, the road is 
 lengthened between one-fourth and one-half of a mile ; 
 but a great saving is obtained in point of level, as the le- 
 vel of the present bridge is 200 feet in perpendicular 
 height above the spot at which the old road crossed the 
 Pease burn, near the sea ; and the old road, upon the east 
 side, rose through a perpendicular height of 150 feet, at a 
 declivity of nearly one inch in five. 
 
 Upon the whole, there exists in this county an univer- 
 sal and a most active spirit of improvement, so far as re- 
 gards the cultivation of the soil. The greatest disad- 
 vantage under which it labours appears to consist of the 
 want of the two important articles of coal and lime, so a- 
 bundant on the northern side of the Lauimermoor hills,
 
 BERWICKSHIRE. 538 
 
 but hitherto undiscovered upon their southern declivity. 
 These valuable but weighty articles must be conveyed to \ 
 most parts of the county, by a very distant inland car- 
 riage, from the Lothians or from Northumberland. We 
 have already mentioned, that a proposal has been repeat- 
 edly made to construct a canal for navigation along the 
 banks of the Tweed from the sea, at Berwick to Kelso, 
 which is in Roxburghshire, but adjoining to this county ; 
 a work which would remove these inconveniences. Kel- 
 so is 20 miles from the sea, and the elevation is only 90 
 feet ; but the want of fuel and lime prevents the establish- 
 ment of manufactures, and of a crowded population, whose 
 wants or productions might defray the expence of a work 
 which agriculture alone cannot be expected to accomplish. 
 Perhaps the cheaper expedient of a waggon-way, formed 
 of cast iron, might sufficiently fulfil the object in view, ami 
 lay open this valuable district to all advantages of com- 
 merce.
 
 JO THE 
 
 FIRST VOLUME. 
 
 for drawing, page 59. 
 Admiralty court, 143. 
 Advocates library, 60. 
 African ctxmpany, 228. 
 Agriculture of Midlothian, 249. 
 
 Near Edinburgh, 25 1. Crops 
 
 cultivated, 253. 
 Almond water, 243. 
 Aruisfield, 481. 
 
 Amusements of Edinburgh, 70. 
 Ancient state of Scotland, 184. 
 Ancient pageant, 209. 
 Animals, \vil3, in Midlothian, 283. 
 Antiquities of Midlothian, 305. At 
 
 Pennycuik, 308. A.tNewhall, 310. 
 
 At Monk's burn, 311. Roman 
 
 station, 321. At Inveresk, 334. 
 
 Of East Lothian, 476. 
 Archers, 77. 
 Arniston, 346. 
 Assembly rooms of Edinburgh, 76. 
 
 B. 
 
 Bank of Scotland, 88. Office of, 89,. 
 
 Bank, royal, 91. 
 
 Bankers, private, 93. 
 
 Bailie court, 112. 
 
 Jlaron bailie, 113. 
 
 Barley mill, first imported to Sal- 
 
 ton, 472. 
 Battle of the Borough moor, 182. 
 
 Of Flouden, 189. 
 Bass, a rock in the sea, 452. 
 Berwickshire, three districts of, 510. 
 
 Agriculture of, 518. 
 Blackatter water, 513. 
 Borthwick castle, 322. 
 Breweries of Edinburgh, 159. 
 
 Bridewell, 1*4. 
 
 Bridges of Edinburgh, 16. 
 
 British Linen Company, 93. 
 
 Brotherton, scenery at, 342. 
 
 Bugs, kiiled by the smoke of pt, 
 
 285. 
 Burnet, bishop of Salisbury, 486. His 
 
 mortification, 504. 
 
 C. 
 
 Cairns or heaps of stones, 324. 
 Calder house, 343. 
 Capital employed in agriculture, 536. 
 Carberry, surrender of Queen Mary 
 
 at, 340. 
 Castle of Edinburgh, 7. Captured 
 
 by the English, 180. Demolish- 
 ed, 181. Rebuilt, 183. 
 Caledonian hunt, 84. 
 Charity workhouses, 65. 
 Candles and soap manufactured, 160. 
 Cattle exported from Berwickshire, 
 
 536. 
 
 Charles Second's government, 225. 
 Cfvil war, 224, 207. 
 City guard of Edinburgh, 106. 
 Climate of Edinburgh, ai. Of East 
 
 Lothian, 420. 
 Clergy, duties of, 409. Character of, 
 
 411. Sedition of, 212. 
 Coal, great field of, 268. Modes of 
 
 working, 269. When discovered, 
 
 s.7i- 
 
 Coaches, 167. 
 
 Colliers, ancient slavery of, 274. 
 Cock-fighting, 87. 
 College church of Edinburgh. 39. 
 Cockburn, Lord Justice Clerk, 484. 
 Corn-fanners, when imported from 
 
 Holland, 472.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Commissary court, 143. 
 
 Convention of boroughs, 146. 
 
 Corstorphine hills, remarkable view 
 from, 26. Flat soil near, 250. 
 Cream, 286. 
 
 Court of session, 128. Jurisdiction 
 of, 130. 
 
 Court of justiciary, 137. Of exche- 
 quer, 139. 
 
 Covenant subscribed, 123. 
 
 Cowgate of Edinburgh. 15. 
 
 Cramond, village of, 287. 
 
 Craigmillar castle, 330 
 
 Craig, Sir Thomas, 358. 
 
 Cromwell wit, 305. 
 
 Cross of Edinburgh, 13. 
 
 Cullcn, the celebrated Dr William, 
 355- 
 
 Dalhousie, 346. 
 
 Dalkeith, village, 289. House, and 
 
 portraits there, 349, 351. 
 Dean of guild court of Edinburgh, 
 
 112. 
 
 Diseases in Midlothian, 384. 
 Distillation of whisky, 157. By steam, 
 
 158. 
 
 Dispensary, 69. 
 
 Dirleton castle, 479. 
 
 Dissenters, 43. If dissenting meet- 
 ings an evil, 402 
 
 Drum, house of, 352. 
 
 Duddingston loch, 126. House, 353. 
 
 Dunbar, the pact, 485. 
 
 Dunbar. the royal borough, 444. The 
 harbour of, 445. The church of, 
 446. The castle 0^447. The castle 
 defended by a lady, 448. Battle 
 of, 478. 
 
 Dundonald's tar, 391. 
 
 Bunglass, 482. 
 
 E. 
 
 East Lothian, 412. Face of the coun- 
 try in, 413. River, 415. Agri- 
 culture, 417. Mineral?, 433. Bo- 
 roughs, 436. Villages, 470. An- 
 tiquities, 476. Country seats, 481. 
 Eminent men, 484. 
 
 Eden water, Berwickshire, 513. 
 
 Edinburghshire. See Midlothian. 
 
 Edinburgh, city of, 2. Iti topogra- 
 
 phy, 2. Its northern ridge, 3. Cen- 
 tral and southern ridge*, 4. Hills 
 and country adjacent, 5. Castle 
 of, 7. Old Town of, n. Names 
 of the High Street, 12. The cross 
 13. The Cowgate and lanes, 15. 
 Bridges, to. Earthen Mound, 19. 
 Southern district, 20. NewTowti, 
 ai. Scenery around, 25. Supply of 
 water, 29. State of society, 31. 
 Luxury, 32. Religious establish- 
 ments, 35. Literary institutions, 
 45. Charitable institutions, 62. 
 Public amusements, 70. Banking 
 companies, 85. Municipal insti- 
 tutions, 96. Political dhto, nS. 
 Manufactures, 155. Population, 
 172. History, 177 First fortified, 
 187. Second wall, 190. Causc- 
 vr.'.yed. 191. Supports the crow u , 
 aio. King flies from it, 214. Re- 
 turns, 215. Removal of the court, 
 216. James the Sixth and Charle* 
 First visit Edinburgh, 218. Pri- 
 vy council insulted, 222. 
 
 Education in Edinburgh, remarks on, 
 48. 
 
 Episcopal chapels in Edinburgh, 41. 
 
 Fsk, water of, 245. 
 
 Esther, Lady's church, 41. 
 
 Eye, water, 5 15. 
 
 F. 
 
 Fallowing of land introduced into 
 
 East Lothian, 424. 
 Farms, great, in Berwickshire, jig. 
 
 Farm-houses in ditto, 536. 
 Farmers in Midlothian, character of, 
 
 263. 
 
 Flax mill invented, 474. 
 Fishwives, 209. Ditto causeway, 335, 
 Foreign trade of Leith, 169. 
 Fletcher of Salton, 488. 
 Fruits reared in Midlothian, 171. 
 
 G. 
 
 Gardens in Midlothian, 267. 
 Gcddes, Jenny's, reformation, 2JO. 
 General assembly, 147. 
 Gentle Sfiepherd, scene of the, 246. 
 Gillespic's hospital, 69. 
 Golf, 83. 
 
 GladsBiuir, thunder storm at, 471. 
 3
 
 512 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Gilraertori cave, 490. 
 
 Grain exported from Berwickshire, 
 
 536. Grasses used in ditto, 511. 
 
 Graziers in ditto, 526. 
 Great trees in Midlothian, 260. 
 Great yew tree, 430. 
 Greyfriars church of Edinburgh, 39. 
 Gunpowder mills, 289. 
 Gulane church, 480. 
 
 H. 
 
 Haddington, 434. Woollen manu- 
 factory, 435. Old monastery, 436. 
 History of, 439. Town often burn- 
 ed, ib. Garrisoned by the Eng- 
 lish, and besieged by the Scots, 
 441. Evacuated by the English, 
 444- 
 
 Hawthornden caves, 320. 
 
 Heriot, George, born in East Lo- 
 thian, 497. 
 
 High school of Edinburgh, 58. 
 
 Home, author of the tragedy of Dou- 
 glas, 496. 
 
 Hope, Sir Thomas, 363. 
 
 Horses, number of, in Berwickshire, 
 ja8. 
 
 Hospitals. Heriot's, 62. Watson's, 
 64. Merchants maiden, and or- 
 phan, 67. Trinity, 68. Gilles- 
 pie's, 69. For the blind, and ly- 
 ing-in, 70. Remarks on hospitals, 
 65. 
 
 Implements of husbandry in Midlo- 
 thian, 257 
 
 Imports to Leith, 169. 
 
 Inchkeith, 341 
 
 Incorporations of Edinburgh, 97. Of 
 
 . Leith, 15 a. 
 
 Infirmary, royal, 55. The building 
 described, 56. Medical attendance 
 and lectures, 57. 
 
 invasion under Henry Eighth, 196. 
 Under Edward Sixth, 198. 
 
 K. 
 
 Kaim, a ridge at Newton, 329. 
 Kirk sestion, 410. 
 
 King's park, 124. 
 
 Knox's picture, 307. Account of Ms 
 life, 489. 
 
 L. 
 
 Labour, price of, in East Lothian, 
 
 305- 
 Lammermoor, 413. Soil of, 417. 
 
 Breed of sheep, 418. Part of, i 
 
 Berwickshire, 511. 
 Lands, tenures of, in Scotland, 454. 
 Lauderdale, the Duke of, 496. A 
 
 district in Berwickshire, 510 
 Law of Lauriston, account of, 359. 
 Leeder water, 5 13. 
 Leases, articles of, 535. , Length of, 
 
 534- 
 
 Leith bank, 152. Water of, 244. 
 Lenox tower, 306. 
 Little France, 331. 
 Lethington park, 436. 
 Lime, a great source of fertility, 520. 
 
 Remarkable quarry of, at Gilmer- 
 
 ton, 277. 
 
 Lords of the Congregation, 201. 
 Longevity, instances of, 384. Sin- 
 gular in one family, 502. 
 Lues venerea, 189. 
 Lying-in hospital, 70. 
 Lyon court, 144. 
 
 M. 
 
 Magdalen asylum, 69. 
 
 Magnesia alba, how manufactured, 
 163- 
 
 Mary Queen of Scots, her arrival 
 from France, 204. Dethroned, 
 207. 
 
 Markets of Edinburgh, 117. 
 
 Manufactures of Edinburgh, 155. 
 
 Maitland, the family of, 493. 
 
 Merchant company of Edinburgh, 
 98. Their hospital, 67. 
 
 Melville castle, 346. 
 
 Merse, a part of Berwickshire, 5 T O, 
 512. Agriculture of, 522. En- 
 closures in, j 43. Rotation of crops 
 in, 524. 
 
 Midlothian,!. Agriculture and soil of, 
 249 Antiquities of, 305. Mine- 
 rals of, 267. Mineral waters, 281 . 
 Country seats, 343. Eminent cha-
 
 INDEX. 
 
 54* 
 
 farters anciently in, 354. Popu- 
 lation, 372. Poor, 386. State of 
 society, 397. 
 
 Mint, 126. 
 
 Minerals of East Lothian, 432. 
 
 Milton, Lord. 488. 
 
 M'Kenzie, Sir George, 363. 
 
 Monteith, parson of Duddingston, a- 
 necdote of, 370. 
 
 Morton, ancient camp at, 332. 
 
 Mortonhall, 353. 
 
 Moving moss, 279. 
 
 Mussleburgh, 295. Manufactures at, 
 297 Fishery at, 299. 
 
 Musical society, 72. 
 
 N. 
 
 Napier, inventor of the logarithms, 
 
 363 
 
 Newbattle abbey, 348. 
 
 Newhaven, 154. Incroachments of 
 the sea, 155. 
 
 Nisbet, the Rev. Dr, 498 
 
 North Berwick, 450. Ancient nun- 
 nery at, 451. 
 
 North Leith, 153. Citadel and bat- 
 tery, 154. 
 
 O. 
 
 Oil of vitriol, how manufactured, 
 
 166. 
 Origin and name of Edinburgh, 178. 
 
 Of the Canongate, 179. 
 Ormiston, 470. 
 Oxcnford castle, 352. 
 Orphan hospital, 67. 
 
 P. 
 
 Palace of Holyroodhouse, 1 1 8- Cha- 
 pel of, iai. Ancient abbey of, 12 it 
 
 Parliament close of Edinburgh, 13. 
 
 Parliament, when first held in Edin- 
 burgh, 180. 
 
 Parliament house, 140. 
 
 Paper mills, 289. 
 
 Pease bridge, 538. 
 
 Pedlars, society of, 461. 
 
 Pennycuik, village, 288. House, 344. 
 
 Philip, Judge-Admiral, anecdote of, 
 
 364- 
 Pinkey, battle of, 337. 
 
 Piper's grave, 327. 
 
 Planting, useful to|Lammennoor,53. 
 
 Police of Edinburgh, 106. 
 
 Population of Edinburgh and Leith, 
 172. Of Midlothian, 372. Of 
 East Lothian, 500 
 
 Popery, origin and nature of, 192. 
 Rites of, insulted, 199. Causes of 
 the fall of, 194. 
 
 Porteous mob, 233. Efforts to re- 
 venge the death of Porteous, 236. 
 
 Portobello, village, 301. Baths erect- 
 ing at, 302. 
 
 Poor, the funds for their support, 386. 
 Amount of the relief granted to 
 them, 389. 
 
 Poors rate danger of, 387. 
 
 Practitioners of the law, 135. Their 
 character, 137. 
 
 Prison of Edinburgh, 113. 
 
 Preston, battle of, in 1745, 462. 
 March of the armies, and num- 
 bers, 465. Rout of the royal 
 troops, 468. 
 
 Prestongrange, 485. 
 
 Prestonhall, 352. 
 
 Prestonpans, village of, 453 . Its har- 
 bour and ancient trade, 456. Ma- 
 nufactures, 457. Oyster fishery, 
 4j8. 
 
 Proceedings of the reformers from 
 popery, 200. 
 
 Provost of Edinburgh, his rank, &c. 
 in. 
 
 Public revenue, 108. 
 
 Quarry of lime, 277. Of free stone, 
 278. 
 
 R. 
 
 egalia of Scotland, 9. 
 eligion, state of, 43, 4 
 
 40 1. Tumult s 
 
 Rcligio 
 about, 221. 
 
 Rebellion in I71J*33- In 1745,237. 
 
 Reformation from popery, 192. 
 
 Register office, 141. 
 
 Rescue of James Third, 188. 
 
 Revolution, 125. 
 
 Rings or enclosures, their ancient use, 
 325- 
 
 Roads in East Lothian, 428. In Ber- 
 wickshire, 537. 
 
 Robertson, Dr, the historian, 367.
 
 54! 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Roslin castle, 313. Chapel, 3:4. -Ap- 
 prentice's pillar, 315. Battle near, 
 318. 
 
 Rotation of crops in Midlothian, 256. 
 In 'East Lothian, 422. 
 
 Routing well, 280. 
 
 Roman baths, 335. 
 
 Royal Exchange, 316. 
 
 Royal society of Edinburgh, 60. 
 
 S. 
 
 Fal ammoniac manufactured, 162. 
 
 Fahon wood, 429. 
 
 Saltonhall, 482. 
 
 Sandilands, Kir James, account of, 
 
 354- 
 
 Schaw's mortification, 504. 
 
 Schools, parish, 404. Produce emi- 
 gration, 405. 
 
 Sea-ware, a valuable manure for bar- 
 ley, 53- 
 
 Silver mine, 279. 
 
 bheriff court, 145. 
 
 Solan geese, 453. 
 
 Society, state of, 397, 508. 
 
 Society for propagating Christian 
 knowledge, 44. 
 
 Societies or clubs of students, 49. 
 
 Soutra hospital, 327. 
 
 Spirit of improvement In Berwick- 
 shire, 538. 
 
 St Anthony's chapel, 1 24. 
 
 St Andrew's church, 42. 
 
 St Cuthbert's church, 41. 
 
 St Giles's church, 36. 
 
 Spottiswoods, two eminent clergy- 
 men, 354. 
 
 Spott, 483. 
 
 State of Scotland after the union, 
 217. 
 
 Stool of repentance, 410. 
 
 Sugar-baking, 160. 
 
 T. 
 
 Tamtallon/452. 
 Ten-merk court, 112. 
 
 Tranent, village of, 470. 
 Thrashing machine, 425. 
 Theatre, royal, of Edinburgh, 70. 
 r fown-(ouncil of Edinburgh, 96. How 
 
 elected, 103 
 
 Tron church of Edinburgh, 41. 
 Trinity hospital, 68. 
 Turnip husbandry in Berwickshire, 
 
 521. 
 
 Tweed, river, 515. 
 Tyne, river, 414. 
 TyrminghAm, woods at, 43 r. 
 Tytler of Woodhouselee, writings of, 
 
 366. 
 
 U 
 
 Union of Scotland and England. 215. 
 Propriety of, 230 Tumults at, 23 1. 
 
 University of Edinburgh, 45. Its 
 history, 50. Library, 51. Bota- 
 nic garden, 52. Observatory, 53. 
 
 Volunteers of Edinburgh, 1 2 ?. 
 
 W. 
 
 Wages of labour, 395. 
 
 Walker, Dr, his remarks on popula- 
 tion, 378. 
 
 Water ho w obtained in Edinburgh, 29. 
 
 Waters of Midlothian, 243. 
 
 Watson's hospital, 64. 
 
 Wemyss house, 48 1. ; 
 
 Witherspoon, the Rev. Dr, 498. 
 
 Whins, plantafons of, on high moors, 
 recommended, 532. 
 
 Whittingham, 4^3. 
 
 Whitatter, river, 514. 
 
 Wilkie, author of the Epigoniad, 359-. 
 
 Winds in Edinburgh, zt. 
 
 Wolves, anciently in Scotland, 327. 
 
 Wood, quantity of, in Berwickshire, 
 
 53 1 - 
 Workhouses, 392. 
 
 y. 
 
 Ycster castle, 476. 
 
 END OF THE FIRST VOLUME, 
 
 Edinburgh : 
 Printed by JOHN BROWN.