Hfc#ffl UC-NRLF *b ma A7E tf-'^jK-i-^ISBKj ^^ttt^l^i . A/\^ CC o ■ «: f err (*JCC< K CCC C C ''I rTf r Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2007 with funding from Microsoft Corporation http://www.archive.org/details/chroniclesofsainOOharvrich $$) HARRY BLYTH QHIEL ,f IE ST. BILLHEAD, CHROmCLEffW SAIHT MUM): ANTIQUITIES AND TRADITIONS OF GLASGOW. "Books are yours, Within whose silent chamber treasure lies. Preserved from age to age, more precious far Than that accumulated store of gold And orient gems, which, for a day of need, The Sultan hoards in his ancestral tombs. " Wordsworth. GLASGOW:— JOHN SMITH & SON. LONDON & EDINBURGH:— WILLIAM BLACKWOOD & SONS. MDCCCXLm. GLASGOW: Printed by Bell and Bain, 15 St. Enoch Square. DfiBfO HENRY MONTEITH, OF CARSTAIRS, ESQ., AND JAMES EWING, OF LEVENSIDE, ESQ., LL.D, \ (ffirfntlemen, WHOSE HEREDITARY CONNECTION WITH THE CITY OF GLASGOW, » AND CORDIAL INTEREST IN ITS AFFAIRS, $aue placeB (Mgf) tn ti)e Ssteem of tfjctr 4Felloto--«tti?ens, THE PRESENT VOLUME I* MtjipectfttHg 3fwJ«Hiieb. 347 PREFACE, It is perhaps unnecessary to state, that the present vol- ume, consisting of a series of antiquarian and general notices, illustrative of the history of Glasgow, lays claim to no literary merit beyond that of garnering up, in a somewhat novel form, those scattered fragments of knowledge, which, according to Milton, the world does not willingly suffer to perish. The antiquities and traditions of Glasgow, in differ- ent points of view, are objects of interest to the Scottish reader. Dating its foundation from a very early period, and bearing a hand in all the most remarkable events con- nected with civil and ecclesiastical history, — whether in the assertion of the truth and dominion of Popery, or contributing by might and main to its downfal — whether in the, at one time, zealous support of Episcopacy, at another, the waging against it, under the banner of Pres- byterianism, the most relentless war, — Glasgow pos- sesses much interest, to which few other towns can lay claim. Always one of the principal cities in Scotland, its rise and progress have been marked by those occur- rences which usually characterise places of importance. VI PREFACE. From perusal, it is trusted, the reader will be able to glean information conducive both to his amusement and instruction. In the Chapter embracing Lives of " Eminent Natives of Glasgow," he will probably be, for the first time, made acquainted with those "sparks of immortality," who, reared amid the same scenes with himself, have more than general claims upon his attention. Throughout, the Editor has been largely indebted to the various Histories of Glasgow which have already appeared, especially to the new edition of M'Ure's work, published in 1831 by Mr. D. M'Vean, — a gentleman of much sound general antiquarian knowledge. Acknow- ledgments are also due to the volume entitled, " Notices and Documents illustrative of the Literary History of Glasgow," presented in 1831 to the Maitland Club, by Richard Duncan, Esq. of this city, from which the Chapters on the "Literary Antiquities" and "Ancient Academy of the Fine Arts" have been almost wholly compiled, as well as to Professor Simpson of Edinburgh, whose papers on Leprosy, contributed to the Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Jownal, have supplied a large amount of the materials of Chapter Fourth. In conclusion, the Editor would express his personal obligations to his friend, Mr. William Park, M.A., Librarian to the University, for his ready assistance in affording perusal of works necessary for consultation. Glasgow, June, 1843. CONTENTS. INTRODUCTION. PAGE TRADITIONARY ACCOUNT OP THE ORIGIN OF THE NAME OF GLASGOW.— SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF ST. MDNGO OR KENTI- GERN. — DIFFERENT ORDERS OF THE ANCIENT POPISH ESTABLISHMENT, 3 CHAPTER I. ANCIENT ASPECT OF THE CITY, .25 CHAPTER II. REMARKABLE OLD EDIFICES FORMERLY EXTANT, ... 49 CHAPTER III. REMARKABLE OLD EDIFICES STILL EXTANT, ... 76 CHAPTER IV. THE LEPROSY AND PLAGUE IN GLASGOW, .... 97 CHAPTER V. THE PRETENDER IN GLASGOW, 116 CHAPTER VI. LITERARY ANTIQUITIES OF GLASGOW, 133 CHAPTER VII. ANCIENT ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS, 173 viii CONTENTS. CHAPTER VIII. PAGE MEMORABLE RIOTS IN GLASGOW, \QQ CHAPTER IX. MEMORABLE FIRES AND FLOODS, 278 CHAPTER X. ANCIENT AND MODERN POLITICAL CONSTITUTION OF THE CITY, 285 CHAPTER XI. SKETCH OF THE PROGRESS OF COMMERCE AND MANUFACTURES, 295 CHAPTER XII. ANCIENT AND MODERN NAVIGATION OF THE CLYDE, . . 307 CHAPTER XIII. EMINENT NATIVES OF GLASGOW, 315 CHAPTER XIV. REMARKABLE PUBLIC CHARACTERS, 396 CHAPTER XV. OUR ANCESTORS, . 4]4 APPENDIX, 427 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. INTRODUCTION. •Let Glasgow Flourish.' St. Mungo said, As he bowed his white and sacred head Over the first foundation stone Of a town, where the wild stretched waste and lone. An acquaintance with the customs and habits of our ancestors, contributes as much to our advancement in useful knowledge as the instructions dictated by personal experience improve us in the art of conducting our lives with wisdom and prudence. In both cases, a retrospec- tive view furnishes the means of preventing many mis- takes which might otherwise be committed. The indi- vidual, it has been remarked, who zealously labours in the promotion of the study of antiquity, is somewhat allied to the philosopher who, ardent in the elucidation of those principles which regulate the operations of the universe, confers a benefit on his fellow creatures. By accurate researches into what is past, and candid in- quiries into what is present, a wide field of useful con- templation is open to the mind. 4 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. In the present age, the importance of this truth seems to have become apparent ; for the now living generation, more, perhaps, than any which has gone before, is pecu- liarly distinguished for a spirit of antiquarian research ; and to procure any relic of by-gone times, every part of the world is now diligently searched by the inquisitive eye of the virtuoso and natural historian. And few countries teem with things of the past like our own land. In every district are to be seen objects, which, when con- templated, call up before the mind's eye some great event of a former day, the remembrance of which serves at once as a beacon to warn us, and as a lamp to guide our path in the pursuit of knowledge. No branch of the history of man is so much involved in obscurity as that which relates to manners and the progress of the useful arts. In the progression of civil society things are perpetually changing. Improvements are made proportioned to the state of our knowledge at the time; and to resist the march of improvement is impossible, since progress is the characteristic of civilized man. The true wisdom of a nation lies in cautiously advancing, and providing for the slow but sure eradi- cation of popular errors, by the extension of information. Peculiar customs originate from certain states of arts, which, after prevailing for a season, gradually disappear as the circumstances that gave rise to them fall into oblivion. What deserves most to be regretted is, that those circumstances, though of much importance in the history of civil society at the time they prevail, are no CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 5 sooner passed than they are entirely forgotten. At the time they are in existence no person attempts to describe them with care, because they are then deemed to be of such public notoriety as to be known to all ; and, when they begin to fall into disrepute, they are despised as unworthy of notice, and are suffered to slide imper- ceptibly into oblivion. From this obscurity they are sometimes attempted to be recovered by the antiquary, who, from incidental allusions of poets, or casual notices of other authors, is able, at best, to give but a faint and imperfect view, often an erroneous picture of them, while a few lines from a contemporary observer would have transmitted them with indelible force to posterity. But the knowledge which man receives from the study of antiquity is not merely derived from those national muniments, the verity of which all consider as indisputable. Popular tradition, also, is a subject preg- nant with useful knowledge, although often held in light estimation, as if the mere fiction of the mind, and desti- tute of all foundation in truth. Many accounts, to be sure, are handed down to us, both by oral and written tradition, of events which probably never took place, and which were, in all likelihood, at first the invention of some over-credulous or idle mind; but this is not a reason why all the statements made to us through this medium are to be branded as fabulous. Tradition, when it refers to the great events of a nation, is not unfre- quently a faithful historian, especially among a people like the Scots, whose wandering bards were, from time 6 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. immemorial, employed in celebrating these events, and perpetuating their memory. Some fables, and not a few errors, may have been interwoven with their narra- tions ; but these fables, or what to us now may seem to deserve that appellation, were, in many instances, we have reason to believe, founded on facts. Shall the wildest fables of Greek and Roman historians be, with almost a sacred care, faithfully transmitted to posterity, and be made to refer to events which actually took place, and shall the history of our own nation, for several com- plete centuries, be wholly rejected, as having no basis in truth, because there may be some things mentioned in that history for which we cannot easily account? The foundation of Glasgow, if we believe the tradi- tional account of the name, must be assigned to a very remote date. It is only by tradition, indeed, that the origin of most nations and families are discovered ; for, carrying us back to some remote period, we have pre- sented to our view certain persons and actions, the re- membrance of which many ages have not been able to obliterate. Proper names not unfrequently remain un- altered during the obscurity of barbarism, and amidst the devastations of war ; they often survive the greatest changes that take place in the customs and manners of nations, and retain their original meaning, though some- times obscured by the wildest fables, and most gloomy superstition. The name of Glasgow is dubious in its signification, but would seem to be of Celtic etymology. By some, the word is said to import a grey smith, which CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 7 is, indeed, the most literal etymon ; while others under- stand it to mean a dark glen, in allusion to the ravine at the east side of the Cathedral, near which the earliest settlements were made. Which is the most correct explanation, we presume not to decide. The Romans, while they remained in Britain, had a station about the spot where the Cathedral now stands. The wall of Antoninus, extending between the friths of Forth and Clyde, a few miles north of the city, embraced what was called the province of Valentia. Though often harassed by the inroads of the Caledonians, the Romans did not abandon this station till some time about the year 426, when they took their final leave of the island, to defend the " Eternal City," which was then assailed by the barbarous tribes which eventually overthrew the Roman empire. History tells us little more of this locality, till about the year 560, when the See of Glasgow was founded by Saint Kentigern. This holy man was the son of Eugenius the Third, by Thamata, daughter of Locht, king of the Picts, by Ann, daughter of the famous Uter Pendragon, and heiress of Britain. Having given early indications of piety, he was placed under the educational charge of Servanus, bishop of Orkney, with whom he became a great favourite, and who designated him by the familiar appellation of Mongah, which, in the Norse tongue, signifies "dear friend," whence the name Mungo, by which he and the See are generally known. He was contemporary with St. Columba, the celebrated Culdee, bishop of Iona, and was highly 8 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. esteemed by that divine. It is believed that St. Co- lumba and St. Ninian, of Candida Casa, at Whitehorn, in Galloway, jointly consecrated St. Kentigern at his installation. As to what were the motives which influenced St. Kentigern in selecting Glasgow as his peculiar place of residence, we are not informed. Probably they were much the same as those which have regulated the choice of ecclesiastical sites in all ages. The natural beauty of the situation, and, at the same time, its proximity to the Clyde, whose stream would afford his infant establish- ment the means of safe and speedy communication with the parent institution in Iona, we may conceive to have been some of the advantages which swayed him to this determination. Not long after his settlement in the west, Marken, king of the Strath Cluyd Britons, taking offence at his great popularity, compelled him to flee into Wales, where he founded the monastery of St. Asaphs. Marken, however, soon dying, he was recalled to Glasgow by his successor Roderic, and remained here until his death, which is said to have happened on the 13th January, 601. According to tradition, he was buried in the then Cathedral. So high was the estimation in which he was held, that many chapels were dedicated to him, particularly in Annandale, Culross — the supposed place of his birth — Auchterarder, Peebles, and Pennycuik. Like all the other saints in the calendar, many miracles are attributed to St. Mungo, which, however, CHRONICLES OF ST. MUXGO. 9 it would require some little stretch of our credulity to receive as gospel. Spottiswood, in his history of the sufferings of the Church of Scotland, gravely relates one, which, since it is popularly cited as the origin of a com- ponent part of the arms of the city, we shall here record : — A lady of rank in the country, having had occasion to cross the Clyde, by accident lost the ring which had been presented to her by her husband as a token of his regard. In order to save herself from the jealousy of her lord, she repaired to St. Mungo, stated her calamity, and implored his interposition. The man of holiness, with all the complaisance of his office, and willingness to befriend the unfortunate, acceded to her request. Having finished his devotions he betook himself to the spot where the fair had sustained her loss, and desiring an individual whom he saw angling, to bring him the first fish he should catch, he found in its mouth the redoubtable ring! The pious may place this miracle in the same category with Balaam's Ass and St. Peter's Haddock. The origin of the armorial bearings of the city, are assigned to its first foundation by the Saint. They consist of the following : — Argent, a tree growing out of a mountain base, surmounted by a bird in chief, all pro- per ; a salmon with an amulet in its mouth, Or, on the dexter side ; a bell pendant to the tree on the sinister. Discarding, however, the monkish fables respecting the origin of each separate part of this cognisance, we may conclude, with little danger of mistake, that the tree and the bird referred to the ancient forest which surrounded b2 10 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. the Cathedral,— the bell to the Cathedral itself,— the ring to the Episcopal office, — and the fish to the scaly treasures poured by the beautiful river below, at the foot of the venerated metropolitan. The motto is " Let Glasgow Flourish," to which in former times was added, "through the preaching of the word." Prior to the Beformation, the saint, mitred, appeared on the dexter side of the shield, which had two salmon for sup- porters. Saint Mungo was succeeded by one Baldredus, who founded a religious house at Inchinnan, near Renfrew ; but how long this bishop lived, or who were his suc- cessors, no account can be given. For the long space of four hundred and fifty years after this period, a veil of impenetrable mystery hangs over the history of the See ; and to account for this blank, it is supposed that the church was destroyed by the Danes, during their inroads into this country, who either slew or drove away the reli- gious community from Glasgow. During this period Scotland presented a picture of human nature in its most barbarous form. Civil wars, and an utter disregard to laws and property, were the distinguishing features of its policy. The first mention which we find made of the city of St. Mungo after this time, occurs under the year 1050, in the history of York Cathedral, when it is recorded, that three bishops in succession, Magsuen, John, and Michael, were consecrated to the See of Glasgow, by the Arch- bishop of York. Considerable doubts, however, are CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 11 entertained by historians, whether these records were not interpolated, as precedents to support the claim of superiority over Scotland, set up by the See of .York. On the reference of the question to Pope Alexander the Third, his holiness pronounced his decision in favour of Scotland; and when the subject was subsequently revived, the former judgment was corroborated, with a confirmation of the entire independency of the Scottish bishops, by Pope Sextus the Fourth, who at the same time erected the See of St. Andrews into an Arch- bishopric, in 1466. The first incontrovertible account, however, of the revival of the See, is to be found under the reign of Alexander the First, when David, subsequently king, but at that time Prince of Cumberland, inducted his chaplain, John Achaius, a man of great learning, to the Bishopric. To Bishop Joceline, an individual high in the favour of William, surnamed the Lyon, Glasgow owes many obligations. Him, indeed, more than any other of her prelates, has she reason to regard as the greatest of her benefactors ; for it was by his interest with the king that the town was raised to the rank of a royal burgh, and its inhabitants had many privileges conferred upon them, to encourage them in the cultivation of commerce and trade. From an old deed, still extant, the town appears at this time to have been governed by a provost and bailies, and to have been in all respects an organized corporation, having persons in official situations for the 12 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. investing and transferring of property, with courts of justice for determining disputes among the inhabitants. Royal Burghs were first erected by the wisest of our monarchs, with a view to rescue mankind from the oppressive power of the barons. For this purpose certain portions of the king's lands were bestowed upon them, and the management of the rights and privileges belonging to these lands were committed to the inhabi- tants. They are, consequently, to be viewed as so many free, and almost independent communities, existing in the midst of oppression and slavery. Justice was to be found in their courts; the lives and properties of the inhabitants were secured from the rapacity of the haughty barons ; arts, commerce, and industry, prospered within their territories ; and from them the cheering rays of liberty were widely diffused. The next individual who largely contributed to the prosperity of Glasgow, was Bishop Cameron of the family of Lochiel. After the installation of this prelate to the bishopric in 1426, he was promoted to the chancellor- ship of Scotland, which office he held with great ability for thirteen years. The See during his incumbency was in the zenith of its splendour, and his character has become the subject of unbounded praise and unlimited censure, as different parties have become his historians. It was not, however, till about the year 1484, during the incumbency of Bishop Blackadder, that the diocese of Glasgow was raised to an archbishopric. Perhaps one of the greatest eras in the history of CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 13 Glasgow, was the foundation of her University, in 1450, during the incumbency of Bishop Tumbull, — an institu- tion which has ever continued to shed a lustre on the city and the country in general. The founding of this great national seminary for the diffusion of learning, together with that of St. Andrews forty years pre- viously, we may regard as the first decided struggles of the human mind in northern Britain to wrest itself from the trammels of barbarism. It is impossible even to take a cursory retrospect of the events which followed this era in the history of our country, without being almost impressed with a belief that the history of ten centuries was comprised within the limits of that brief period. In the course of human affairs there are certain mighty crises, in which alone the energies of men and nations are fully developed, — in which great crimes are committed, great sufferings endured, and a great reversion of ultimate good secured. At these grand epochs, happily few, the human mind, acted upon by a prodigious number of concurrent impul- ses, gradually emancipated from the bondage of ancient prejudices, and having fully fathomed the depths of that degradation in which it has been plunged, soon reaches the point where the worn-out and decayed defences of old established error become too feeble to resist the con- stantly accumulating force by which it is urged forward, and where, bearing down every obstacle before it, it rushes onward with an impetuosity proportioned to the time by which its native energies have been repressed, 14 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. and the strength of the barriers it has overturned. Such a crisis was the Reformation, — that tremendous conflict between the spirit of ignorance and the spirit of improve- ment, — that first and bloodiest act of a mighty drama of which the catastrophe is even yet to be seen. The lead- ing events to which this gigantic movement gave birth, are too well known to require to be detailed here. The destruction of the ancient hierarchy, consummated by the expulsion from their authority of its chief abettors, was followed by a system which, though evidently an improve- ment, was nevertheless an abortion, — a combination of every heterogeneous element — the temporary triumph of terrorism and anarchy. It was, indeed, but a poor prac- tical argument in favour of the new creed, or the strength of the moral and religious convictions upon which it was founded, to consider as necessary for its safety, the total destruction of every object which could call up the remembrance of the old, and of that imposing ritual by which, as by an irresistible tenure, the church of Rome had so long bound the understandings of men. The con- duct of the Reformers, instead of exhibiting the calm and settled conviction of the superior reasonableness and truth of their doctrine, bore more affinity to the prepos- terous resolve of the drunkard, who, in a fit of remorse, and to secure himself against a repetition of his folly, had destroyed the beautifully wrought cup, the innocent instrument of his intemperance, instead of restoring it to its sacred position on the altar. Archbishop Beaton, nephew of the celebrated Cardi- CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 15 nal, was the last popish incumbent of the See. This prelate finding his power over the members of his dio- cese every day diminishing from the spread of the Re- formed doctrines, and auguring the immediate ruin of the ancient system, abdicated, in the year 1560, carry- ing with him to France all the writs, images, archives, and relics, belonging to the Bishopric of Glasgow, which he deposited in the Scot's College and Monastery of the Carthusians, at Paris. The same year the doctrines of the Reformation were established by law, but long and stormy was the period that intervened, between the fall of the papal power, and the reconstruction of society on the firm and well defined basis on which we now find it fixed in this country. Released, as we have seen, without due preparation, from the bonds of Romanism, the minds of men flew into every wild extreme ; fierce and daring natures, influenced by fanaticism, strove to blend all social and political institutions into what they deemed conformity with the religious views that every new and extravagant sect thought proper to set up as the guide of their conduct. To the hatred engendered by political differences, religious bitterness was now superadded, and the ordinary enmity of adverse factions was carried even to an excess of savage madness, that ceased not on the verge of battle, but pursued its victims to the very scaffold. The stormy nature of these wild times was well calculated, however, to bring forward men of bold daring and decided characters; and as planets and meteors, unobserved during the tranquil l(j CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. light of day, shine out in full splendour through the stormy darkness of night, so does the fame of many of the worthies of that period shine out with noble light through the gloom that gathered over their native land during the stormy years of the sixteenth century. This constellation of honour, loyalty, and gallantry, redeems by its lustre much of the blackness which evil deeds and evil passions cast in those days upon our country. Glasgow having, before the Reformation, been the residence of the second church dignitary of Scotland, and a numerous retinue of clergy, from whom its chief importance was derived, it may, perhaps, be not unin- teresting to take a slight glance at the principal orders of the popish establishment as they existed in this country. There is nothing regarding which, at the present day, a greater want of knowledge prevails, than of this subject ; and such ignorance should not exist, since, however much the system as a whole may appear to us ridiculous, it is still venerable as being the great parent of the ecclesiastical economy of our own time. The Clergy were divided into two great classes, — Regular and Secular. The former were so denominated because they were under an obligation to live according to certain rules, prescribed to them by St. Augustine or St. Bennet ; — the latter received their appellation from their living in the world abroad, without being shut up in convents and cloisters like the former. Of the Regular Clergy several distinct societies existed. The principal of these classes constituted an CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 17 Abbey, and were ruled by an abbot. Some abbots were independent of the bishop, and were called abbote* exempti. Others were invested with episcopal power, wore a mitre, and were called sovereign mitred abbots, and had a seat in Parliament. The second subdivision of the Regular Clergy formed a Priory. In early times the prior was only the ruler of the abbey, under the abbot, who was primate in the monastery, the former not being considered a dignitary; but afterwards, a party of monks becoming detached from the mother abbey, and obtaining a settlement in some other place, were formed into a separate convent. A prior was set over them, and their house was called cella obedentia, denoting that they depended upon a superior monastery. This personage was denominated a conventual prior, and held dignity ; while a prior in the abbey was only a claustral prior. In general, the priory lands were erected into a regality, of which the prior was lord. The third subdivision of the Regular Clergy was composed of monks, friars, and nuns. It is generally supposed, that the terms monk and friar are synony- mous : such, however, is not the case. They differed in this respect, that the former were seldom allowed to go out of their cloisters, while the latter were commonly mendicants, who travelled about and preached in the neighbourhood. They agreed so far as that they both wore the tonsure, or shaved crown, an emblem, they said, of their hope of a crown of glory. They vowed chastity, 18 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. poverty, and obedience, besides the titles of their respec- tive orders. The nuns were never allowed to appear out of their cloisters, after they had made their vows. They wore a grey gown and a rotchet, and followed St. Austin's rule. The principal orders of the friars were, — 1st, — The Dominicans, or Black Friars, so called because they wore a black cross on a white gown, and were instituted by Dominicus, a Spaniard. They were first brought into Scotland by William Malvoisin, bishop of Glasgow, about the year 1200. 2d, — The Franciscans, or Grey Friars, so named from their wearing a grey gown and cowl, with a rope about their waist, and from being established by St. Francis, an Italian, in the year 1206. 3d, — The Carmelite, or White Friars, a less numerous order, were instituted about the same period. The Secular Clergy consisted of the bishops and parish ministers, &c, and lived in the world abroad. Of this class, colleges or associations were formed, for the performance of divine service, and singing masses for the souls of their founders and their friends. These colleges were sometimes removed to Cathedrals, some- times to ordinary churches, which then became colle- giate churches. In the former case, the bishop was the ruler; the latter were governed by a provost or dean. The members of the colleges were canons, or prebendaries, who had their stalls for singing the canonical hours, &c. Canons secular, (so called to CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 19 distinguish them from the regulars in convents,) were ministers, or parsons, within the diocese, chosen by the bishop to be members of his chapter or council. They lived within the college, performed divine service in the cathedral, and sung in the choir, according to the rules of the chapter. Prebendaries had each a portion of land allotted him for his service. The difference between Canons and Prebendaries lay chiefly in this, that the Canon had his canonica, or portion, merely for his being received, although he did not serve in the church ; but the Prebendary had his prebendum only when he officiated. Every Canonry had a Vicarage annexed to it, for the better subsistence of the Canon, who had the great tithes of both parishes, and was generally the patron of the annexed Vicarage. The Dignitaries of the church, exclusively of the bishop, were five in number : — The Dean, who presided in the chapter, or during the absence of the bishop. The Archdeacon, who visited the diocese, examined for candidates' orders, and was the bishop's vicar. The Chanter, who regulated the music, and when present, presided in the choir. The Chancellor, who was the judge of the bishop's court, the secretary of the chapter, and the keeper of their seal. The Treasurer, who had the charge of the common revenue of the diocese. All these had rich livings, and deputies to officiate for them ; and, with the addition of some canons and prebendaries chosen by the bishop, constituted his privy 20 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. council, and in a vacancy, elected for bishop whom the king recommended. The inferior clergy were parsons, vicars, ministers of mensal churches and of common churches, and chaplains. Parsons were those who had a right to the tithes, and were the ministers and rectors of parishes. Vicars were the curates of the rectors. In order to augment the revenues of the bishop, and the other dig- nitaries of the church, and the canons, parish churches were annexed to the churches in which the rectors served, who were the rectors and parsons of such annexed churches. They claimed the tithes as a right, and they appointed Vicars to perform the duties of the cure, to whom an allowance was made of a portion of the tithes as their stipend, which generally consisted of the small tithes. Ministers of mensal churches took charge of furnishing the bishop's table. Common churches were so called, because the tithes of them were for the common good, or for the common exigencies of the diocese. Chaplains were those who officiated in chapels. These chapels were of different kinds. In parishes of great extent, chapels were erected in out corners for conve- nience, and the rector of the parish maintained a curate there to read prayers and say masses. These were called Chapels of Ease. Some chapels were called free chapels, which were not dependent on any parish, but CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 21 had proper endowments for their own ministers, whose charge was called a chaplainry. Besides these, there were domestic chapels, or oratories, built near the resi- dence of great men ; and almost in every parish there were private chapels built by individuals, that mass might be celebrated for the souls of themselves or their friends. The office of saying mass in such chapels, was called chantery. The priest's salary wels termed alter- age. The service performed for the dead was called the obit, and the register of the dead, the obituary. In the first part of the obit, are the words, Dirge nos domine, and hence came the dirge. The government of the diocese was vested in the bishop, who had for his convenience, officers and courts, ecclesiastic, civil, and criminal. These courts were five in number : — The Chapter was the principal. The legislative power was lodged in the court, or rather in the bishop, who, with the advice of the Chapter, made laws, canons, and regulations for the diocese, erected, annexed, or disjoined parishes, pur- chased, sold, or let in tack church lands. Diocesan Synods were called at the pleasure of the bishop, who (or the dean in his absence,) was president. Cases of discipline, and appeals from deaneries were cognosced in these synodical meetings ; and from them the protestant church took the plan of provincial synods. The diocese was divided into deaneries, which seem to have been, in some respect, what presbyteries are in our own day. 22 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. The Consistorial Court was held in the bishop's name, by his official. It judged in all matters of tithes, mar- riages, divorces, testaments, and mortifications, &c. This court granted dispensations, allowing marriages betwixt persons within the degrees of consanguinity or affinity. The bishop also seized on the effects of those who died intestate, to the exclusion of the widow, children, relations, and even creditors, under pretence of applying them for promoting the good of the soul of the deceased. This court is now succeeded by the Commissary Court. The next court was that of Regality, the jurisdiction of which also extended over the diocese. The chief revenues of the clergy arose from tithes, from church lands mortified to them by the crown, and from private mortifications and donations ; and such was the power and wealth of the church, that before the Reformation it possessed no less than fifty-three votes in the Scotch Parliament. The Diocese of Glasgow was very extensive, com- prising the counties of Dumbarton, Renfrew, Ayr, and Lanark, with part of Roxburgh-shire, Peebles-shire, Selkirk- shire, and Dumfries-shire, and included no less than two hundred and forty parishes. When the bishop was raised to the rank of an Archbishop, the Sees of Galloway, Argyle, and the Isles, were put under his jurisdiction. The Reformation, in destroying the spiritual and temporal monopolies which the Roman Catholic bishop- CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 23 rics had so long enjoyed, contributed also to their destruc- tion in all other points of view. Trade and commercial enterprise being as yet almost completely unknown, the church was the sole source of subsistence to the lower as well as higher orders of society ; consequently when this was withdrawn, many towns were thrown back into that obscurity from which the greater number were destined never again to emerge. It was for- tunate, however, for Glasgow, that the same natural qualities which had first made it valuable as a religious station, were^found to be equally applicable to the pur- poses of commerce. Its inhabitants, compelled to turn their industry into new channels, were not slow in avail- ing themselves of these advantages ; and from vassals of the will and stipendiaries on the bounty of arrogant churchmen, on becoming free agents in their own affairs, they laid the foundation of a system of commercial en- terprise, which the industry of successive generations, though long retarded by the incessant civil wars which existed in the land, has at length so extended, as fully to realize the pious ejaculation of St. Mungo, when he "bowed his white and sacred head" over the first stone of the city of Glasgow. What is in reality the great distinguishing difference between our citizens of the existing and those of preced- ing generations, the present work will attempt to explain. "Are we better or worse than our ancestors?" — is a question which has been often asked. At the close of each revolving century, it is true we can point out 24 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. immense improvements, and greater advances toward wisdom, than the beginning of that century could indicate. But instead of taking much credit to ourselves on this account, we ought to inquire whether we have made more or less use of our means and opportunities. We must at all times regard the feelings of our ancestors with respect, for they are to be looked upon both as the great artificers of our knowledge and as those who have preserved unbroken the vast chain of human acquisition — who have bequeathed to us the richest of all legacies, the " Gold of the dead Which time does still dispense, but not devour. m 25 CHAPTER I. ANCIENT ASPECT OF THE CITY. Non te pontificum luxus, non insula tantum Ornavit, divi quae tibi causa mali, Glottidse quantum decorant te, Glasgua, musae, Quae celsum attollunt clara sub astra Caput, Glotta decus rerum piscosis nobilis undis, Finitimi recreat jugera laeta soli, Ast Glottae decus, et vicinis gloria terris, Glasgua, faecundat flumine cuncta suo. Arthur Johnston. Our notions respecting the earliest appearance of Glas- gow, are confused and undefined. They picture to the imagination a rural hamlet composed of a few straggling houses, which, with advancing time, also increased in numbers ; till upon the foundation of the Cathedral, it began to assume the appearance of a town, destitute of trade, and inhabited only by religious devotees. Nor even after this period does its progress seem to have been rapid, for two centuries subsequently, long after it had been erected into a royal burgh, it was reckoned so inconsiderable as not to be admitted into the number c 26 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. of cautionary towns assigned to Edward of England for payment of the ransom of David II. Upon the building of the bridge over the Clyde, by Bishop Rae, in the year 1350, the town seems gradually to have extended itself in that direction, from the high grounds near the Cathedral, but it was not till after the accession of Bishop Cameron in 1426, that it increased rapidly in size. This prelate obliged the whole preben- daries of the diocese to erect houses, and to live in the city, while their cures in the country were served by vicars. He also laid out the town upon a new plan, by forming the High Kirk- Street, the Dry gate, and Rotten- row ; * and the intersection of these streets was at that period considered as the cross of Glasgow, and conse- quently the place of public resort. A bout this period also, many of the nobility erected houses in the city, and royalty itself made it the place of its occasional residence. When the University was founded in 1450, the build- ings went on with such alacrity, that about the latter end of the reign of James V., the High-Street extended the length of the present cross. The Saltmarket, Gal- lowgate, and Trongate streets were formed, and many houses built in each of them, particularly in the Salt- market, which continued to be the thoroughfare towards * With regard to the two former of these words, their etymon suggests itself at once to the reader. The etymology of the word Rottenrow, however, is somewhat obscure, but would seem to be derived from two French words, routine, signifying usual, and route, way ; from the circumstance of that street, in ancient times, being the common road to the west part of the city from the Cathedral. CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 27 the bridge, from the most ancient part of the city.* To these streets may be added the Bridgegate, which ap- pears to have been in these times inhabited principally by fishermen, who supported themselves by supplying the community with the fish caught in the river, and was known before this period as the Fishergate. If we take a view of the style of architecture that prevailed during the early stages of the history of the town, we will find that it was in general mean, gloomy and inconvenient. The houses of the greatest antiquity were built, like those in the rural districts, of stone and turf, covered with thatch, to the height of one storey. In process of time, wooden fronts became frequent ; when the houses began to be constructed of two or more storeys, each projecting a little way farther out upon the street than the one immediately under it. The greater part of these, however, appear to have been still covered with thatch, and it was not till the fire in 1652, when many of them fell a prey to the violence of the flames, that stone build- ings covered with slate, became more general. But the long period of civil wars which devastated Scotland, after the accession of James VI. to the English throne, effectually prevented the rapid increase of Glasgow ; and accordingly we find that at the period * The origin of these designations is palpable. " Saltmarket- Street" seems to have been so called, from its being a place of extensive traffic in the commodity of salt ; — "Gallowgate" from the circumstance of that street being the road to the " Gallow- Muir," on the east part of the city; —and " Trongate," from the fact of a public * Trone" or balance for weighing heavy wares being situated in that locality in the vicinity of the cross. 28 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. of the Union, in 1707, it extended to the eastward only so far as the Saracen's Head Inn in the Gallowgate, and westward to the Black Bull Inn in the Trongate. The grounds upon which Bell's Wynd, Candleriggs, King- Street, Prince's-Street, and Stockwell-Street now stand, though formerly included within the precincts of the city, were at that time corn fields, relieved only by an occasional house surrounded by a garden. Shortly after the period of the Union, however, these streets began to be laid out, and in a few years were completely built up with handsome and commodious houses, inhabited by the wealthier class of citizens. About the year 1730, there were altogether within the city, ten principal streets, viz., High Kirk- Street, Dry- gate, Rottenrow, Gallowgate, Saltmarket, Gibson's Lane, (now Prince's-Street,) Bridge-Street or Bridge- gate, King-Street, Stockwell-Gait, (now Stockwell- Street,) Trongate. There were also sixteen wynds: — Limmerfield Wynd, Greyfriars Wynd, New Vennal, Grammar- School Wynd, Blackfriars Wynd, (now Buns Wynd,) Bell's Wynd, Old Vennal, Spoutmouth Wynd, Baker's Wynd, (now St. Andrew's- Street,) Armour's Wynd, Main's Wynd, (now Back Wynd,) New Wynd, Old Wynd, Aird's Wynd, (Goosedubs,) Moody's Wynd, St. Enoch's Wynd. CITY PORTS. In the ruder ages, before the uncouth nature of man gave place to the progress of civilization, it was con- sidered necessary that all towns of importance should be CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 29 furnished with gates or ports at their different avenues of approach, the opening and shutting of which were under the control of the civil authorities, — as well to prevent the intrusion of any dangerous foe, as to afford the means of ingress and egress to peaceable and well disposed lieges. It does not appear that Glasgow in ancient times was fortified by a wall ; but at the different avenues leading to the city, there were situated from an early period, eight gates or ports : — At the northern boundary, between the wall sur- rounding the garden attached to the castle inhabited by the bishop, and the west side of the street, stood the " Stable-Green Port," so named from its contiguity to the castle stables; and upon the opposite side of the prelate's palace extending across the street to the Cathedral, and in immediate proximity to the High Church yard, was situated what was called the " Castle Gate." A part of the wall of this gate was in existence till within a few years of the close of last century, when it was removed with an old tower that bounded it on the south, to make room for the Barony Church. At the western extremity of the Rottenrow there ap- pears also to have been a " Gate," as also at the eastern termination of the Drygate ; the space between which, measuring 1118 ells, was anciently reckoned the breadth of the city from east to west. The avenue leading to the city by the east, along Gallowgate- Street, was guarded by what was termed the " Gallowgate Port," situated immediately to the west 30 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. of the entry to St. Mungo- Street, (more anciently known by the name of Burnt Barns*) and extended across the street to a well frequented hostelry, known as the Sara- cen's Head Inn. The gate which guarded the western extremity of the city, at the termination of the Trongate, was designated the " West Port," and extended from the house situated on the south side at the head of Stockwell-Street,tothat which stood on the north side. Till the middle of last century, when they were both taken down, the Gallow- gate and "West Ports" were regarded as the eastern and western boundaries of the city ; and up to that period there existed only a few thatched houses outside. At the foot of Stockwell-Street was situated a gate, called the " Water Port," the vestiges of which were to be seen about the commencement of the present century, adjoining to the wall of a house at the western extremity of the Bridgegate. The junction of Bell's Wynd with Candlerigg-Street, was guarded by a " Grate," which, in point of architec- tural beauty, far surpassed the others. It was taken down about the year 1715. PUBLIC GREENS. The city was anciently furnished with three public parks or * greens," which, however, in the course of time * So called from the circumstance of Sir William Wallace, when he gained a victory over the English general, Percy, having set fire to the barns in this spot, then a rural suburb of the town.— Seepage 194. CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 31 have very much changed in appearance. They were situated outside the city ports, and were at all times pleasant places of resort to the inhabitants. The first was situated on the north-east corner of the city, and was known as the Merchants' Park* It was highly ornamented with a stately grove of fir trees, and while it overlooked the gloomy pile of the Cathedral, it afforded to the visitor a fine view of the whole city and adjacent country. A continuation of this park a little to the north, was the ancient washing green of the citizens. The second was that which was known a century ago as the " New Green," but is now generally described as " Glasgow Green." It is situated on the south-east corner of the city, and is bounded on the south by the Clyde. It was anciently enclosed with a stately stone wall, 2500 ells in length, the last vestiges of which, how- ever, have now disappeared ; the building up of the south side of Great Hamilton-Street having necessitated their removal. It was also formerly encircled by fine rows of elm trees, which have in modern times been in a great measure removed.! The third was generally known by the name of the " Old Green," and was situated at the beginning of last * The site of the Necropolis. + It is here worthy of remark, that the Clyde is conjectured to have flowed at an early period over that portion of the green known in modern times as the " Flesher's Haugh." This conjecture is founded upon the fact of the soil in this part being of an alluvial character, and upon the circumstance of this appearing from ex- amination to be the natural course of the river. 32 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. century at the south-west corner of the city, — viz., be- tween the Old Bridge and the foot of Jamaica- Street. It was much smaller than the other two, and was fenced round with a "paling," and a hundred and fifty large trees. It extended to the north nearly as far as Dunlop- Street, and was occupied by the "ropework," which still exists, and the " glasswork " on the west end. Upwards of a century ago, the Old Green appears to have been the fashionable promenade of the city. BRIDGES. As already remarked, the Old Bridge, situated at the foot of Stockwell- Street, was built by Bishop Rae in 1350. It consisted of eight arches, and was erected at his own private expense, with the exception of the third arch from the northern side of the river, the cost of which was defrayed by a certain Lady Lochow, then resident in the city.* To commemorate her benefaction her bust was placed in a niche of this arch, which remained till about the middle of last century. In the year 1671, an accident of rather a serious nature occurred, by the falling of the most southerly arch of the bridge. What is rather singular, this happened about noon of the 7th of July, — the fair Friday ; and although hundreds of persons must have passed and repassed previously, not an individual lost his life, or sustained any injury. The deficient arch was speedily replaced at the expense of the city, and a century after, in the year 1777, it was widened ten feet * For further information respecting Lady Lochow, see page 97. CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 33 by an addition made to its eastern side. Between the centre of the bridge and its southern extremity, at one time stood a " Gateway " or " Porch," which was " taken down in order to open a wider communication." The bridge was still further widened in the year 1821. Although there were anciently twelve one arch bridges in different parts of the town, one only now remains to claim our notice. It leads across the Molendinar Burn, from the eastern extremity of the High Church- Yard to the Merchants' Park, and is now covered over by the handsome arch leading to the Necropolis. Its anti- quity is unknown. DESCRIPTIONS OF GLASGOW BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. In order to give the reader a notion of the appearance and conveniences of the city after it began to acquire importance about the end of the sixteenth century, we will quote the descriptions given of it by different authors at various periods, during the subsequent hundred years. 1650. — In this year Cromwell and his army arrived in Glasgow, and the appearance of the town seems to have made a favourable impression on the eyes of the soldiers : — " On Friday, October 24th, in the afternoon, we reached Glasgow ; that morning my lord at a rendez- vous, gave a special charge to all the regiments of the army, to carry themselves civilly and do no wrong to c2 34 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. any. The town of Glasgow though not so big and rich, yet to all seems a much sweeter and more delightful place than Edinburgh, and would make a gallant head quarters were the Carlisle forces come up. We found the magistrates and the chief of the town all fled, and they had possessed the generality of the people with the same opinion of us here as elsewhere, although I do not hear of the least injury that the soldiers'offered to any during our abode there. And they say, that if ever we come that way again, they will persuade their friends to abide at home. Our stay at Glasgow was but for two days ; so that we effected nothing more than to say, we had been there." — Several Proceedings in Parliament. 1658. — Glasgow, a city of a pleasant site, upon a river navigable for small boats, which usually bring up pro- visions from Patrick's-town, ten miles thence, where ships of good burthen may ride. In Glasgow the streets and houses are more neat and clean than those of Edin- burgh ; it being also one of the chiefest universities in Scotland. — The Perfect Politician. The following is a description of Glasgow from Franck's Northern Memoirs, written in the above year. It enumerates, in the form of dialogue, the various beauties of which it could at that time boast, in the most grandiloquent terms. The speakers are represented as two tourists, bearing the classic-looking appellations of Arnoldus and Theophilus: — CHRONICLES OP ST. MUNGO. 35 Arnoldus. — Nor will Glasgow be any impediment in our way whilst we only survey her beautiful palaces so direct to the lofty turrets of Dumbarton. Theoph. — Let the sun or his star the beautiful Aurora arrest me if otherwise I arise not before the break of day, and be in re" diness for a march to the famous Glasgow, where yo . purpose to refresh, and briefly examine the city cu iosities ; as also the customs of their magnificent situ .tions; whose academic breasts are a nursery for e " ucation, as the city for hospitality. And let this be your task as we travel to Dumbarton, to give us a nar- rative of the antiquities of Clyde, as also the town of Kilmarnock, where we slept this night, that so bravely refreshed us. Am. — That I can do as we ride along. Theoph. — Must we dismount these hills to traverse those valleys? Am. — Yes, surely, we must, if designing to trace the fertile fields and beautiful plains of the now famous and flourishing Glasgow, where we may accommodate our- selves with various curiosities; for the days are long enough, and our journey no more than a breathing to Dumbarton. Now, the first curiosity that invites us to gaze at, is a large and spacious bridge of stone, that directs to the fair embellishments of Glasgow. But our next entertainment is the pleasant meadows, and the portable streams of the river Clyde, eminent in three capacities. The first is, because of her numberless num- bers of trout. The second is, because of her multiplicity 36 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. of salmon. But the third and last is, from her native original, and gradual descents; because so calmly to mingle her streams with the ocean. Not that we now consider her florid meadows, nor shall we recount her nativity from Tintaw, (Tintoc,) because so strongly opposed and presumed from Erricsteen, distant from thence some few odd miles. Theoph. — If you please, let that argument drop till farther opportunity. Am. — I am thinking to do so, and proceed to discourse this eminent Glasgow. Which is a city girded about with a strong stone wall, within whose flourishing arms the industrious inhabitant cultivates art to the utmost. There is also a cathedral (but it's very ancient) that stands in the east angle, supervising the bulk of the city, and her ornamental ports. Moreover, there are two parish churches ; but no more to the best of my observa- tion. Then, there is a college, which they call an uni- versity; but I'm at a stand what to call it, where one single college completes a university. Now, let us descend to describe the splendour and gaiety of this city of Glasgow, which surpasseth most, if not all the corporations in Scotland. Here it is you may observe four large fair streets, modelled, as it were, into » a spacious quadrant ; in the centre whereof their market- place is fixed ; near unto which stands a stately tolbooth, a very sumptuous, regulated, uniform fabric, large and lofty, most industriously and artificially carved from the very foundation to the superstructure, to the great ad» CHRONICLES OF ST. xMUNGO. 37 miration of strangers and travellers. But this state- house, or tolbooth, is their western prodigy, infinitely excelling the model and usual built of town halls ; and is, without exception, the paragon of beauty in the west ; whose compeer is nowhere to be found in the north, should you rally the rarities of all the corporations in Scotland. Here the reader (it's possible) may tnink I hyperbolize ; but let him not mistake himself for I write no ambigui- ties. Truth stands naked in plain simplicity ; and par- tiality I abhor as a base imposture. He that reads my relation, and the morals of this famous Glasgow, will vindicate my description, and place the fault to him that invents the fable ; for it's opposite to my genius, as also to my principles, either to deface a beautiful fabric, or contract a guilt by magnifying it beyond its due merit. I have, and therefore shall, as near as I can, in an equal poise balance things aright. Permit me, therefore, as a licentiate, to read you but a short, yet pertinent lecture, and I'll tell you what entertainments we met with in Glasgow, as also what hopes we have to meet with the like in the circuit of our intended northern progress. But this I offer to the dubious only ; if, peradventure, there be any such as scruple, I'll refer them to the natives to evidence for me, which I am satisfied they will with ten thousand manifestoes. In the next place, we are to consider the merchants in this eminent Glasgow, whose storehouses and ware- houses are stuffed with merchandise, as their shops swell 38 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. big with foreign commodities, and returns from France, and other remote parts, where they have agents and factors to correspond, and enrich their maritime ports, whose charter exceeds all the charters in Scotland; which is a considerable advantage to the city-inhabitants, because blest with privileges as large, nay, larger than any other corporation. Moreover, they dwell in the face of France, and a free trade, as I formerly told you. Nor is this all, for the staple of their country consists of linens, friezes, furs, tartans, pelts, hides, tallow, skins, and various other small manufactures and commodities, not comprehended in this breviat. Besides, I should remind you, that they generally exceed in good French wines, as they naturally superabound with fish and fowl ; some meat does well with their drink. And so give me leave to finish my discourse of this famous Glasgow, whose ports we relinquish to distinguish those entertainments of Dumbarton, always provided we scatter no corn. Theoph. — What to think, or what to say of this emi- nent Glasgow I know not, except to fancy a smell of my native country. The very prospect of this flourishing city reminds me of the beautiful fabrics and the florid fields in England, so that now I begin to expect a plea- sant journey. Pray, tell me, Amoldus, how many such cities shall we meet with in our travels, where the streets and channels are so cleanly swept, and the meat in every house so artificially dres't? The linen, I also observed, was very neatly lapped up, and, to their praise be it spoke, was lavender proof; besides, the people were CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 39 decently dressed, and such an exact decorum in every society, represents it, to my apprehension, an emblem of England, though, in some measure, under a deeper die. However, I '11 superscribe it the nonsuch of Scotland, where an English florist may pick up a posie ; so that should the residue of their cities, in our northern pro- gress, seem as barren as uncultivated fields, and every field so replenished with thistles that a flower could scarcely flourish amongst them, yet would I celebrate thy praise, Glasgow! because of those pleasant and fragrant flowers that so sweetly refresh 'd me, and, to admiration, sweetened our present enterments. Note by Sir Walter Scott. — The panegyric which the author pronounces upon Glasgow gives us a higher idea of the prosperity of Scotland's western capital, during the middle of the 17th century, than the reader perhaps might have anticipated. A satirist with respect to every other place, Frank describes Glasgow as the "nonsuch of Scotland, where an English florist may pick up a posie." Commerce had already brought wealth to Glasgow, and with wealth seems to have arisen an attention to the decencies and conveniences of life, unknown as yet in other parts of Scotland. 1661. — From Stirling we went, Aug. the 22d, to Glascow, which is the second city in Scotland, fair, large, and well built, cross-wise, somewhat like unto Oxford, the streets very broad and pleasant. There is a cathedral church built [repaired] by Bishop Law; 40 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. they call it the high kirk, and have made in it two preaching places, one in the choir, and the other in the body of the chnrch ; besides, there is a church under the choir like St. Faith's in London ; the walls of the church-yard round about are adorned with many monu- ments, and the church-yard itself almost covered with grave stones ; and this we observed to be the fashion in all the considerable towns we came to in Scotland. The bishop's palace, a goodly building near to the church, is still preserved. Other things memorable in this town are, — 1. The college ; 2. A tall building at the corner, by the market-place of five stories, where courts are kept and the sessions held, and prisoners confined, &c. ; 3. Several fair hospitals, and well endowed; one of the merchants now in building ; a very long bridge of eight arches, four whereof are about fifty feet wide each ; and a very neat square flesh market, scarce such a one to be seen in England or Scotland. — Rae's Account of Glas- gow. 1689. — Glasgow is a place of great extent and good situation ; and has the reputation of the finest town in Scotland, not excepting Edinburgh, though the royal city. The two main streets are made crosswise, well paved and bounded with stately buildings, especially about the centre, where they are mostly new with piazzas under them. It is a metropolitan see, and at the upper end of the great street stands the archbishop's palace, formerly without doubt a very magnificent structure, but CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 41 now in ruins, and has no more left in repair than what was the ancient prison, and is. at this time a mean dwelling. — Mover's Account of Scotland. About 1700. — The following verses are given by M'Ure in his history of the city, and represents its ap- pearance about the close of the seventeenth, or commence- ment of the eighteenth century. Rome herself, in her palmy days, could scarcely, in the opinion of the writer, have outvied our city: — Glasgow, to thee thy neighbouring towns give place, 'Bove them thou lifts thine head with comely grace. Scarce in the spacious earth can any see, A city that's more beautiful then thee. Towards the setting sun thou'rt built, and finds The temperate breathings of the western winds. To thee, the winter colds not hurtful are, Nor scorching heats of the canicular. More pure then amber is the river Clyde, Whose gentle streams do by thy borders glide. And here a thousand sail receive commands, To traffic for thee into foreign lands. A bridge of polish 'd stone doth here vouchsafe, To travellers o'er Clyde a passage safe. Thine orchards full of fragrant fruits and buds, Come nothing short of the Coreyran woods. And blushing roses grow into thy fields, In no less plenty then sweet Psestum yields. Thy pastures, flocks, thy fertile ground, the corns, Thy waters, fish, thy fields the woods adorns, Thy buildings high and glorious are; yet be More fair within than they are outwardly. Thy houses by thy temples are outdone, Thy glittering temples of the fairest stone; And yet the stones of them however fair The workmanship exceeds which is more rare. 42 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. Not far from them the place of justice stands, Where senators do sit and give commands. In midst of thee Apollo's court* is plac'd With the resort of all the muses grac'd. To citizens in thee, Minerva arts, Mar's valour, Juno staple wealth imparts; That Neptune and Apollo did, its said, Troy's fam'd walls rear, and their foundations laid. But thee, O Glasgow ! we may justly deem That all the gods who have been in esteem, Which in the earth and ocean are, Have joined to build with a propitious star. 1715. — The chief city of this county is Glasgow, the best emporium of the west of Scotland ; it is a large, stately, and well built city, and for its commerce and riches is the second in the kingdom; it is pleasantly situated upon the east bank of the river Clyde, which is navigable to the town by ships of considerable burthen, but its port is new Port- Glasgow, which stands on the mouth of Clyde, and is a harbour for ships of the greatest burthen. The city obliges merchants to load and unload here ; have a large public house, and the customhouse for all the coast is in this place. The city is joined to the suburbs on the west bank of Clyde by a noble and beautiful bridge of eight arches, built with square hewen stone. Most of the city stands on a plain, and lies in a manner four square ; in the middle of the city stands the tolbooth, a magnificent structure of hewen stone, with a very lofty tower, and melodious chimes, which ring pleasantly at the end of every hour. The four principal * The College. CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 43 streets that divide the city into four parts centre at the tolbooth, a magnificent structure, and all of them are adorned with several public buildings. — The Present State of Scotland. 1727. — Glasgow is the emporium of the west of Scot- land, being, for its commerce and riches, the second in this northern part of Great Britain. It is a large, stately, and well built city, standing on a plain, in a man- ner four square ; and the four principal streets are the fairest for breadth, and the finest built that I have ever seen in one city together. The houses are all of stone, and generally uniform in height, as well as in front. The lower stories, for the most part, stand on vast square Doric columns, with arches, which open into the shops, adding to the strength, as well as beauty of the building. In a word, 'tis one of the cleanliest, most beautiful, and best built cities in Great Britain. It stands on the side of an hill, sloping to the river; only that part next the river, for near one-third of the city, is fiat, and by this means exposed to the water, upon any extraordinary flood ; it is situated upon the east bank of the Clyde, which is not navigable to the town but by small vessels. Its port therefore is new Port- Glasgow, which stands near the Clyde's mouth, and is an harbour for ships of the greatest burden. Here it is on a good wharf or quay the merchants load and unload. Their cus- tomhouse is also here, and their ships are here repaired, 44 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. laid up, and fitted out either here, or at Greenock, where work is well done, and labour cheap. — Defoe's Tour. 1760. — We may now be permitted to give the humorous account of our city by Dougal Graham * the Glasgow bellman, and author of the history of the rebellion, and many other works in prose and verse. He puts the description into the mouth of a rustic Celt, and desig- nates it as — JOHN HIGHLANDMAN'S REMARKS ON GLASGOW. Her nainsel into Glasgow went, An erran there to see't; And she ne'er pe saw a ponier town, Was stan'ing on her feet. For a' the houses that be tere, Pe theiket wi' plue stanes, And a stane ladder to gang up, No fa' to prack her banes. She'll gang upon a staney road, A street they do him ca', And when me seek the shapman's house, Her name be on the wa'. I gang to seek a snish tamback, And standing at the corse, And tere I saw a dead man, Was riding on a horse. And O he pe a poor man, And no hae mony claise, Te progs be worn aff her feet, And me see a' his taes. * For a particular account of Dougal Graham, see page 166. CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 45 Te horse had up his muckle fit, For to gie me a shap, And gaped wi' his great mouth, To grip me by the tap. He had a staff into his hand, To fight me an he could, Put herseP pe rin awa frae him, His horse be unco proud. But I be rin around about, And stand about the guard, Where I see the deil chap the hours,* Tan me grow unco fear'd. Ohon! ohon! her nainsel said, And whare will me go rin? • For yonder pe te black man, Tat burns te fouks for sin. I'll no pe stay nae langer tere, But fast I'm rin awa, An' see the man a thrawing rapes, Peside the Proomielaw. An' O she be a lang tedder, I speir fat they do wi't; He said, To hang the Highlandman's, For stealing o' their meat. Hout, hersel's an honest shentleman, I'm never yet be steal, But whan I meet a muckle purse, I like her unco week Tan fare you weel you saucy loon, I fain your skin would pay; I came to your town the morn, but, And I'll gang out yesterday. * At that time a clockmaker in Trongate had a figure of the devil which struck the hours. 46 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. Tan she'l gaed to her quarter house, The toor was unco pra', For tere they had a cow's husband Was pricket on the wa'. tere we gat a shappin ale, And tan we gat a supper, A filthy choud o' chappit meat, Was boil'd amang a butter. It was a filthy dirty beef, His bains was like te horn ; She was a calf wanting the skin, Before that he was born. Next day I'm gang upon the kirk, To hear a lawland preach, And mony a ponny sang they'l sing, Tere pooks they did him teach. And tere I saw a ponny mattam, Wi' feathers on her wame, 1 wonder an' she be gaun to flee, Or what be in her min'. Another mattams follow her, Wha's nerse was round like cogs; And clitter clatter cries her feet, She had on iron brogues. And tere I saw another mattam, Into a tarry seek, And twa poor man's be carry her, Wi' rapes about hims neck. She pe sae fu' o' fanity, As no gang on the grun', Put twa poor mans pe carry her, In a barrow covered abune. CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 47 Some had a fish tail till her mouth, And some pe had a bonnet, Put my Shanet and Donald's wife, Wad rather hae a bannock. SUBURBS OF THE CITY. Gorbals. — This prosperous Barony, once an insig- nificant village, is situated on the south bank of the Clyde, opposite the city, running parallel with it nearly a mile. The origin of the ancient village, and the ety- mology* of its name, are rather uncertain; but ever since the building of the Old Bridge, it has been indif- ferently distinguished by the name of Gorbals, and that of Bridge-end. The village and barony, in 1571, were feued from Archbishop Porterfield, by Sir George Elphinston, merchant in Glasgow, and by his interest it was erected into a burgh of regality. The adjacent districts of Hutchesontown, Laurieston, and Tradeston, are not of ancient date, and have originated from the progressive extension of Gorbals. Anderston. — This suburb lies about a mile west from the cross of Glasgow, and on the same side of the Clyde. It derived its name from Anderson of Stob- cross, who, as early as 1725, formed the design of erect- ing a village. The estate was purchased, in 1735, by John Orr, Esq. of Barrowfield, who found the pro- jected village in a state of infancy, consisting only of a * In the Celtic of the ancient Strathclyde Britons, " Gorbal " signifies the ample expansion, the wide level plat. 48 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. few thatched houses. By the proper encouragement of manufactures, however, it has quickly risen to be a large and populous suburb. Cowcaddens. — This district derives its designation from the circumstance of it being anciently the grounds where the citizens pastured their cattle. The direct road leading to it from the city was through the West Port and up the Cow Loan* C alton. — At the commencement of the last century, this place was called Blackfauld, from the ground on the east of Glasgow, upon which it was built, having been formerly occupied as a fold for black cattle. This property was purchased in 1705, from the community of Glasgow, by Walkingshaw of Barrowfield, who first projected the village. It was chiefly completed, how- ever, by John Orr, Esq., who acquired the Barrowfield estate. Bmdgeton. — This district is not of ancient date, and is so named from its vicinity to the bridge thrown over the river in 1777, leading to the ancient borough of Rutherglen. * The site of Queen-Street. 49 CHAPTER II. REMARKABLE OLD EDIFICES FORMERLY EXTANT. Time has seen, that lifts the low. And level lays the lofty brow; Has seen this broken pile complete, Big with the vanities of state." Prior. To a reflecting mind it is something more than merely amusing to mark the contrast betwixt Glasgow as it has been, and Glasgow as it is. When, from accident or design we find ourselves wandering among u Those noble, stately domes, Where Scotia's kings, of other years, Fam'd heroes, had their royal home," it is impossible to resist the associations which are con- nected with a spot so venerable. We examine the dilapidated walls of the noble mansions which on all sides surround us, and discover symbols of their former importance. We gaze on the arched passways — the square courts — the narrow windows — and the ruined D 50 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. offices, with an interest which no other circumstance than historical association can excite, and in one moment we are present with men of other times. We hear the clattering of horses feet, — we see knights clad in armour, feudal dames mounted on spirited palfreys, — and obsequious esquires, moving like pieces of machinery, at the nod of their superiors. We are too intent on the usages of the feudal age to reflect on the long period of time which separates us from men who hare mingled three hundred years with their native earth ; and cast- ing a melancholy glance on the marks of time which every where meet the eye, start from our abstraction with feelings of deep and reverent humiliation. There stand the walls on which our ancient monarchs and their courtiers, and "the monks of olden time" have often gazed, and these paved courts, which have often resounded to the tread of many a proud steed, now heavily answer to the whoop of noisy ragged little urchins, or to the more ponderous summons of some herculean mechanic, as he passes onward, unmindful either of the place or the imperishable associations with which they are connected. Every thing has changed. — The chivalrous aristocracy and the lordly priesthood of these ages have gone, and with them outward turbulence and disorder, and chi- canery and hypocrisy. No trace is left by which wc might detect the habits and manners of people whose existence, chronologically speaking, is not remote ; and tho whole frame-work of society is so perfectly altered, CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 51 that the recollection of the events which gave celebrity to the scene, seems like an idle dream or an airy fiction. But while these remarks apply more particularly to such buildings of the "olden time," as still remain like monumental pillars in the stream of time, inscribed with the names of our native chivalry and early hier- archy, we will endeavour to " snatch from the grave" a slight memorial of such whose material semblance has long since passed away, but the remembrance of which, serves strongly to remind us of the time when — " In Saxon strength proud Abbeys frown'd With massive arches, broad and round, That rose alternate, row and row, On ponderons columns, short and low." MANSIONS INHABITED BY THE BISHOP AND PREBEN- DARIES OF THE DIOCESE. The dignitaries of the diocese, who, as already re- marked, were obliged by Bishop Cameron to erect man- sions within the city, are handed down as having been the prebendary of Cadzow, dean of the chapter; the prebendary of Peebles, archdeacon of Glasgow ; the pre- bendary of Ancrum, archdeacon of Teviotdale; the prebendary of Monkland, subdean; the prebendary of Cambuslang, chancellor; the prebendary of Carnwath, treasurer; the prebendary of Kilbride, chantor; the prebendary of Glasgow primo, the bishop's vicar ; the prebendary of Glasgow secundo, subchantor; the preben- dary of Campsie, sacrist ; the prebendary of Balernock, styled lord of Pro van ; the prebendary of Carstairs ; the 52 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. prebendary of Erskine ; the prebendary of Cardross ; the prebendary of Renfrew ; the prebendary of Eaglesham ; the prebendary of Govan ; the prebendary of Kirkmahoe ; the prebendary of Manor ; the prebendary of Morbottle ; the prebendary of C alder; the prebendary of Lanark; the prebendary of Moffat ; the prebendary of Tarbolton ; the prebendary of Killearn ; the prebendary of Douglas ; the prebendary of Durisdeer ; the prebendary of Edle- stoun ; the prebendary of Stobo ; the prebendary of Ayr ; the prebendary of Roxburgh ; the prebendary of Ashkirk ; the prebendary of Luss ; the prebendary of Hawick ; the prebendary of Bothwell ; the prebendary of Sanquhar ; the prebendary of Cumnock ; the prebendary of Strath- blane and Polmadie.* Such are the names of dignitaries of the Roman Catholic Church, whom history records as having inhabi- ted handsome and commodious residences in the vicinity of the Cathedral. Of a considerable number of these mansions no traces nor tradition can now be gleaned ; those buildings, however, the existence of which has been distinctly ascertained, are the residences of the preben- * It is handed down as a tradition, that upon the completion of the prebendal houses in 1440, Bishop Cameron made a grand pro- cession to the Cathedral, entering by the grand western entrance. He was preceded on this occasion by twelve officers bearing his pastoral crosier, and eleven silver maces, followed by his Dean and numerous Chapters, and attended by a lengthened train of nobility and gentry. His approach to the sacred edifice was announced by the ringing of bells and the acclamations of the multitude, and his entry within its precincts, welcomed by the choral swell of the majestic organ. CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 53 dariesof Cadzow, Peebles, Ancrum, Monkland, Cambus- lang, Glasgow primo, Campsie, Carstairs, Balernock, Cardross, Erskine, Eaglesham, Renfrew, Grovan, Luss, Edlestoun, Morbottle, and Stobo * ARCHIEPISCOPAL PALACE. This ancient fabric stood on the site now occupied by the Royal Infirmary, and its last remaining, but ruined portions, were removed about the year 1792, to make room for that building. At what period the bishop's castle was founded is unknown, but it appears that Bishop Cameron about the year 1420, founded the Great Tower which constituted the principal portion of the building. The precincts of the castle were enclosed by a wall by the first Archbishop Beaton, about the year 1510, who placed upon it in several places the armorial bearings of his family. At one angle of this wall was constructed a Bastion, and at the other a stately Tower of a square form and embattled. Beaton's immediate successor, Archbishop Dunbar, completed the castle edi- fices by erecting a " noble Gatehouse," flanked with round towers, machiolated and adorned on the side next the Cathedral, with the royal arms of Scotland, and below with those of the Bishop, viz., " three cushions within a double tressure." From the imposing appearance which * While fourteen of the above edifices are considered to have perished, it is somewhat certain that the walls of most of them are stilJ extant. To determine, however, of what mansions they anciently formed a part, is considerably beyond the power of the antiquary. 54 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. this antique building presented, even up to the period of its final removal, it was sufficiently apparent that the prelates of the diocese of Glasgow were accommodated with a residence suited to their dignity and station in the church* A fine painting representing its appear- ance in a dilapidated condition, is in the possession of John Smith, Esq., LL.D. PREBENDARY OF BALERNOCK'S MANSE. The house of this dignitary stood in the neighbourhood of the Stable-Green Port. He was an individual of considerable consequence, and held the title of the Lord of Provan, from his rectory, which constituted a local barony, generally styled the Lordship of Provan, situated a little east of the city.f A tradition handed down by M'Ure, informs us, that, in one instance, royalty itself bore this title, in the person of Bang James II. who was a canon of Glasgow Cathedral, and prebend of Balernock. The building was removed about the com- mencement of last century. * It is here worthy of remark, that in addition to their town residence, the Bishops of Glasgow had one on the banks of the Kelvin, and according to tradition, another at Polmadie. The remains of the former continued in existence till about the year 1836, when they were removed to make room for the erection of a mill; all remnants of the latter have long since disappeared. Bishop Cameron had a residence at Lochwood, a few miles north of the town, where, according to Buchanan, he died under circum- stances of peculiar horror. f In 1652, the city acquired the lands, lordship and barony of Provan, from Sir Robert Hamilton of Silverton Hall. CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 55 HOUSES OF THE PREBENDARIES OF LUSS AND CARSTAIRS. The spot on which these mansions were situated, is now completely unknown. With respect to the former, all the information that can be gathered, states that it was built on ground in ancient times held by the lairds of Luss, and on which, in the early part of last century, Mr. John Robertson, a merchant of the city, built several tenements. With regard to the latter, tradition records, that after the Reformation it became the residence of Mr. David Wemyss, first presbyterian minister of the city, through the marriage of whose daughter with Mr. John Hall, surgeon, the house became the property of the latter, and from him descended to his heirs. PREBENDARY OF CADZOW OR HAMILTON'S HOUSE. This dignitary as Dean of the Chapter, occupied the Deanery, which, with its extensive garden, was situated at the western termination of Rottenrow- Street, imme- diately outside the gate termed the Rottenrow Port, at the head of the street known at the present day as the Deanside or Balmanno " Brae." In 1505, this property was bestowed by the crown on the city, under condition that, with the revenue accruing from it, the Cathedral and the bridges that had been constructed at the ex- pense of the church, should be kept in repair. PREBENDARY OF ERSKINE'S HOUSE. This dignitary had his residence at the foot of Rotten- row-Street, on tjie south side. Several years before the 56 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. era of the Reformation, it was sold by David Stuart, at that time Rector of Erskine, to a Mr. James Fleming. Its site is now occupied by a modern tenement. PREBENDARY OF RENFREW'S MANSE. The site of the manse of this clergyman was in the Rottenrow. At the Reformation it was in the possession of a Mr. John Wardlaw, who bestowed it on his nephew, a younger son of the house of Torie. It subsequently passed into the hands of Mr. John Bell, minister of Cardross, and afterwards became the property of one of the city clergy, from whom, by a succession of other pro- prietors, it fell into the hands of a Mr. Crawford. PREBENDARY OF GOVAN'S HOUSE. The mansion of this dignitary has passed away, leaving neither a "wreck" nor memorial behind. It is sup- posed to have stood in the Rottenrow. PREBENDARY OF ANCRUM'S HOUSE. This mansion stood a little north from the Castle. At the Reformation it was sold to Graham of Knockdolian, by whom it was transferred by purchase, to the Earl of Montrose, and afterwards by the latter to John, Earl of Wigton. PREBENDARY OF MONKLAND'S HOUSE. This house was situated on the margin of the Molen- dinar Burn, a little southward from the Cathedral. CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 57 PREBENDARY OF MORBOTTLE'S HOUSE. This mansion stood a little south of the street now known as St. Nicholas' Lane. It was purchased by the corporations of Glasgow about the period of the Reformation, and converted into an Alms' House and Trades' Hall* PREBENDARY OF STOBO'S HOUSE. This fabric stood a little below the Drygate. It does not appear, however, to have been built so soon as the others, in proof of which conjecture, M'Ure remarks that the coat armorial, sculptured in front of the manse, was erected by Adam Colquhoun, Rector of Stobo, and Commissary of Glasgow, in the reign of King James V. It disappeared about the middle of last century. RECTOR OF EAGLESHAM'S HOUSE. This stood at the end of Drygate, on the site of what is now called the Duke's Lodgings, f PARSON OF GLASGOW'S HOUSE. This mansion stood near the upper end of Limmerfield Lane. Its occupant was commonly designated Glasgow Primo, and held the office of Bishop's Vicar. By Mr. Archibald Douglas, parson of Glasgow, at the Reforma- tion, and one of the senators of the College of Justice,! * See Trades' Hospital, page 63. f See Chapter III. X At this period, churchmen often held the office of civil judge. 1)2 68 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. the manse was conveyed to Captain Crawford, of Jordan- hill, a younger son of the Kilbirnie family .* From Captain Crawford it passed into the hands of Lord Boyd, and was sold by the Earl of Kilmarnock in the year 1730, to a Mr. Hill. In 1816 it was occupied as a public-house, since which period it has disappeared. PREBENDARY OF EDLESTOUN'S HOUSE. This mansion was situated near the head of the Rot- tenrow. The occupant at the period of the Reformation was George Hay, a son of the house of Linplume, in Renfrewshire. From Hay's hands it passed into the possession of his brother, Andrew, Rector of Renfrew. Having remained in the possession of his family for two subsequent generations, it became the property of the Crawfords of Jordanhill. In 1736 it belonged to the Incorporation of Weavers. YICAR ALLEYS. At the back of the Cathedral stood in ancient times a suite of buildings known by this title, from their having been inhabited by the vicars-choral of the Cathedral. Although no record exists of the form of these edifices, yet from extant specimens of similar structures, we may suppose that they formed a small court of a square shape, having in front of each side an arcade or cloister, * The same individual who surprised and captured Dumbarton Castle. CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 59 beneath the shade of which the reverend inmates would be wont to pace up and down in holy meditation. It is highly probable, also, that these houses were built by Bishop Muirhead about the year 1460 ; by which prelate the Priest- Vicars themselves are said to have been introduced. SEMINARY OF CANONS REGULAR. Tradition informs us, that a building under this desig- nation stood at the head of the street, named with refer- ence to it, Canon- Street. Nothing, however, is known respecting it, farther than the simple fact of its existence. ANCIENT PEDAGOGIUM, OR COLLEGE OF ARTS. The University, although confirmed by a papal bull in 1450, did not possess premises on the site of the pre- sent University, till ten years subsequently. The build- ings used as such during this interim were situated in the Rottenrow. In the year 1459, James, Lord Hamilton, bequeathed to the University a tenement lying on the north side of the convent of Blackfriars, with four acres land in the Dowhill* In 1466, another adjoining tene- ment was bequeathed to the College, by Mr. Thomas Arthurlie. In the course of a century, however, the * By the terms of his lordship's bequest, the regent and students were required every day after dinner and after supper, to stand up and pray for the souls of the testator, of Euphemia his spouse, Countess of Douglas, of his ancestors and successors, and of all from whom he had received any benefit for which he had not made a proper return. 60 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. building became so completely ruinous that they were obliged to be removed, and the present fabric erected in their stead.* RELIGIOUS AND CHARITABLE PAPAL HOUSES. MONASTERY OF BLACKFRIARS. This convent was founded by the bishop and chapter in the year 1270. It stood a little to the south of the College Church, upon the east side of the High-Street, in immediate vicinity to the Blackfriars Wynd.f It was an elegant and extensive fabric. The church attached to it was built in the same style as the Cathedral, and was surmounted by a square tower with a lofty spire. In 1668, the whole building was so much damaged by light- ning as to necessitate its removal. This establishment was maintained by contributions from private individuals. The first benefaction recorded as having been given for this purpose, was made by King Robert Bruce, on April 28th, 1327, in the shape of an annuity of 20 merks ster- ling, out of the crown's lands of Cadzow. The other benefactors of high rank whose names are handed down to us are, "Allan Cathcart, Lord Cathcart, (1886;) Margaret Stuart, Lady Craigie, (1399;) John Stuart, Lord Darnley, (1419 ;) Duncan Campbell, Lord Lochow, (1429, and 1451;) Alexander Cunningham, Lord Kil- maurs, (1450;) Isabella, Duchess of Albany and Countess of Lenox, (1451;) Matthew Stuart, of Castlemilk, (1473, and 1540.)" * See Chapter III. f Now called Regent-Street. CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 61 The ground upon which the monastery stood has long since been appropriated to other buildings. The right to the property, and superiority of the tenements so erected, were given by the crown, at the dissolution of the religious houses, to the University, and they, in right of the Blackfriars, have the uplifting of the feu duties, the property itself being long since transferred. MONASTERY, OR CONVENT OF GREYFRIARS. This convent stood at the foot of the wynd, called Greyfriars Wynd* but now Buns Wynd, leading from the High-Street to Shuttle- Street, and in a place called Craignaughtt No traces of this building are now visible, it having almost been completely demolished by the Duke of Chatleherault and the Earl of Argyle in 1560. It was at the special request of a prior of this order, that the fair which is held in Glasgow from the second Mon- day of July, was established. In consequence of his pro- curing the community this favour, the magistrates and principal inhabitants, upon the last day of the fair, an- nually went and paid their respects to the prior of the order at the convent. And, indeed, for many years, the * The name of Greyfriars Wynd has in modern times been transferred to what was formerly called the Grammar School Wynd. f There is a whinstone rock or dyke opposite to west end of College Street. In digging the foundation of a house in 1830, it appeared about two feet above the level of the street. It is pro- bable that in former times some part of the rock appeared above the surface, and hence the name. 62 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. fair was fenced within the inclosure or garden where the convent stood.* CHAPEL OF ST. ROQUE, OR ROLLOX. This chapel stood a little way without the Stable- Green Port, near the head of that street now called Castle- Street. No vestiges of it have been visible for upwards of a century, though the wall that inclosed the burying-ground remained to a much later period. In the cemetery were buried a number of persons of distinction, who died of the plague in the city, during the year 1649. This church belonged to the Blackfriars, one of whom officiated in it weekly. ST. NICHOLAS' HOSPITAL. This charitable institution was founded and endowed by Bishop Muirhead, about the year 1450, for the main- tenance of twelve poor men and a chaplain. The funds of this charity were, however, almost entirely dilapidated at the Reformation, and notwithstanding donations by Archbishop Leighton, after that event, they at present afford but a scanty subsistence to four old men, presented by the magistrates and council, who are the patrons. The receipt of each pauper amounts to little more than £2 sterling. The building, which was a neat Gothic edifice of ashler, stood at the head of the Kirk- Street, upon the left hand, and nearly opposite to the new Barony * For an account of the " Fair," see Chapter XVI. CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 63 Church. On the front and above the door were the founder's arms. ALMS' HOUSE AND TRADES' HOSPITAL. This hospital was founded and endowed by the incor- porations, but at what particular time is now uncertain, though probably about the period of the Reformation ; they having, about that time, acquired for this purpose the parsonage-house of the rector of Morbottle, arch- deacon of Teviotdale. It stood in the Kirk- Street, upon the left hand, betwixt the entry of the Rottenrow and St. Nicholas' Hospital. It had a small projection towards the street, with a turret and bell, called the Alms' House. The bell tolled at the passing of every funeral, and most commonly a small sum was left or put into a box appropriated for the purpose, in a window of the house. Above this box was the inscription cut in stone, " Give to the pvir and thou sal have treasur in Heavin, Matt, xix chap." In this hospital was a hall where the incorporations used to convene at their elections and upon other public business, prior to the building of the Trades' Hall in Glassford- Street. This room, which was only betwixt twenty and thirty feet in length, contained paintings emblematic of the fourteen professions, and six portraits of the most distinguished donors in favour of the charity, besides inscriptions, mentioning many others of its benefactors. 64 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST CHAPEL. This religious structure was dedicated to St. John the Baptist, but at what time, or by whom founded, we can- not tell. It stood at the head of the Drygate, at the back of that large house, some time belonging to the heirs of Sir George Elphinstone. ST. THANEW'S CHAPEL. St. Thanew or Thametes was daughter of Locht, king of the Picts, and mother to St. Mungo, or Kentigern. From this circumstance, a chapel was founded and dedicated to her. Its situation was in the High- Street, upon the right hand, at no great distance above the Cross. ST. MUNGO'S CHAPEL. This building was situated in the Dovehill. CHURCH OF ST. ENOCH. This church, whose founder is now unknown, stood with a cemetery around it, nearly in the situation of the church at present situated in the square of that name in Argyle-Street. Its ruins were visible, as well as the tomb stones, about the commencement of last century. ST. NINIAN'S HOSPITAL. This building was founded by Lady Lochow,* in Gor- bals, for the reception of lepers, about the year 1350. * For a particular account of the hospital and its purposes, see page 97. CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 65 HOSPITAL AT POLMADIE. Though this hospital was not situated within the city, yet it appears to have been connected with it, and under the superintendence of the bishop and clergy. It appears to have been a considerable institution, intended for paupers of either sex. The time of its foundation is now unknown ; we are, however, certain of its having existed before the year 1391, as we find from the chartulary, that Bishop Glendening, that year, preferred a person of the name of Gillian Waugh to its benefits. PUBLIC AND PRIVATE EDIFICES. THE TOLBOOTH. The tolbooth was a lofty edifice, placed at the angle formed by High and Trongate Streets. Towering to the height of five stories, — embattled, — its upper corner adorned with quadrangular turrets, it was certainly a distinguished ornament of the very heart of the city. Below the royal arms above the portico, was cut in stone the following inscription : — " Haec domus odit, amat, punit, conservat, honorat, Nequitiam, pacem, crimina, jura, probos." In the angle formed by the projection of the steeple from the eastern side or end of the jail, at a due degree of elevation from the pavement below, and fronting both to the south and east, was constructed a platform sur- rounded by an iron railing. On this platform, to which a door opened from the east end of the jail, public execu- tions were exhibited ; and on it were also exposed, with labels indicative of their offence suspended from their 66 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. necks over the front of the railing, those who for less atrocious crimes were condemned to the pillory. Enter- ing the building by the principal door of the prison, the visitor of the interior of this structure found himself in a spacious lobby, the roof of which rested on massy pillars ; and on the east and west sides of which were entrances leading, the former to jail apartments, the latter to the Town Hall. The prison rooms were divided into those for debtors, and those for criminals ; the apartments of each class being clean and well aired. The Justiciary Hall was tolerably large, commodious, and well fitted up. In a niche at the north end of it were placed, over a figure of Justice with her balance and sword, the royal arms. Near the hall, which was at once ornamented and lighted by a large Venetian window looking towards High- Street, were apartments for the Town Clerk, for the preservation of records, &c. These were not, how- ever, in the tolbooth itself; but, as well as the hall of justice, formed part of an adjoining building on the north, purchased by the town about the year 1800 for the pur- pose of adding to the tolbooth. The length of the tol- booth was 66 feet ; its breadth about 25 feet. What was termed the King's Hall, was 44 feet by 24. It was taken down in the year 1814, for the erection of the tenement which now occupies its site, but its memory is everlast- ingly chronicled in Scott's novel of " Rob Roy." MERCHANTS' HOUSE. This old building, sometimes called the Guild Hall, was built in 1659, and was situated on the south side of CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 67 Bridgegate- Street. The fa9ade of the Hall presented two stories of architecture, the steeple rising from the middle of the back part of the edifice. In the centre of the lower front division opened a spacious gate of entrance, consisting of a rustic archway, semicircular in form, wrought beneath an entablature supported by- Doric columns, that flanked also the entrance. From the centre of the entablature rose on their pedestals two Ionic globes placed over the capitals of the Doric columns below. Between the Doric columns, which supported a pediment, on the apex of which rested a second, larger pediment, were two compartments of sculpture, — the lower one exhibiting, along with the city arms, the appropriate emblem of a ship in full sail, — the upper one, in allusion to the charitable design of the instil tution, three old men clad in the habit of pilgrims, and meant to represent decayed members of the house. The whole upper part of this edifice was formed into one • spacious Hall, lighted by eight windows fronting the street, provided with two fire places, hung round with portraits of several of the more eminent benefac- tors to the poor of the Merchants' House, and farther ornamented by the, model, large and beautiful, of a full- rigged ship, pendant from the roof. In the room hung also a list of all the Guildry Deans of Glasgow, and a variety of boards, on which were recorded, in gilt letters, the names, styles, bequests, &c, of numerous bene- factors to the Hospital part of the institution. At one time the Hall contained also a board on which were 68 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. inscribed scripture directions for buying and selling with a safe conscience. •Among the paintings were full length portraits of Provost and Dean of Guild Aird, of Deans of Guild James Govan, Thomas Peter, and Thomas Thomson, and of Robert Sanders of Auld-house, printer in Glas- gow, all of whom were very liberal benefactors to the Hospital. Adjoining to the Merchants' House, on the south, was at one time a Flower-garden of about 200 feet by 70, surrounded, except where the house consti- tuted its fence, by a substantial wall of stone, 9 feet high. The steeple is still standing, and known by the designa- tion of the " Bridgegate Steeple." HUTCHESON'S HOSPITAL. On the northern side of Trongate- Street stood, till it was removed in order to make way for the opening of Hutcheson- Street, Hutcheson's Hospital. The aggregate buildings of the Hospital were, it is thought, intended to form a quadrangle, of which, however, only the southern and western sides were actually built. A leaded spire, 100 feet high, graced the principal front of the edifice. Beneath this steeple, which contained a public clock, was wrought the grand entrance to the Hospital, and to the inner court. Up to the gateway, which was decorated with rustic, a flight of steps led ; and over it, in gilt capital letters upon marble, was the following inscription : — CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 69 "GERONTOCOMEION ET ORPHANOTROPHEION DUORUM FRATRUM GEORGII ET THOMiE HUTCHESONORUM MUNIFICENTIA DEDICATUM, 1642. Nobilis hospitii si forte requiris alumnos Orphanus hie habitat pauper, inopsque senex ; Tu ne temne domos, ignarus sortis; egestas Forte tuum senium progeniemque premet. Quis scit, an hinc veniant quos publica fama celebret Sine armis surgat gloria sive toga?" Within the court, on each side of the steeple, were full length effigies, in niches, of the two brothers, George and Thomas Hutcheson, co-founders of the Hospital. On this side was a second inscription in gilt letters. — " Adspicis Hutchesonos fratres; his nulla propago Cum foret, et numero vix caperentur opes; Haec monumenta pii, votum immortale, dicarunt Dulcia quae miseris semper asyla forent, O bene testatos! hseredes scripsit uterque Infantes inopes invalidosque senes." North of the Hospital were pleasant and well kept gardens, much resorted to for the recreation of walking. CROMWELL'S HOUSE. The house known by the above designation, from the circumstance of the Protector, when in Glasgow, in the year 1650, having there taken up his lodgings, was situated in Saltmarket-Street, at the northern corner of Steel- Street, and nearly opposite to the Bridgegate. The room in which he held his levees was possessed for many years before the building was finally removed by a Mrs. Morrison, as a sale-room for old furniture. 70 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. HOUSE OF THE NOBLE FAMILY OF LENNOX. The house inhabited by this noble family, which long exercised great power and influence in the City,* stood on the west side of High- Street, between the Cross and Bell-Street. PROVOST GIBSON'S HOUSE. The fabric known by this designation stood in the Saltmarket, and formed the north corner of Prince 's- Street. It was built at the close of the seventeenth century, by Walter Gibson, merchant, Provost of the city, after designs by Sir William Bruce, a well known architect of that time. It was supported by eighteen pillars. On Sunday morning, February 16th, 1823, this fine old house fell with a tremendous crash. The south part struck the house on the opposite side of Prince's- Street, and shattered it in a dreadful manner. On the preceding day the inhabitants had been warned to quit the house. One man was killed, and a woman was taken alive out of the ruins. SIR JOHN BELL'S HOUSE. Sir John Bell, Provost of Glasgow, in the year 1681, was a zealous loyalist, and was with the royal army at the battle of Bothwell-Bridge. The house which he * See Chapter X. CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. < 1 inhabited stood on the south side of the Bridgegate. What renders it .worthy of particular remembrance is the circumstance, that on October 3d, 1681, when the Duke of York (afterwards the unfortunate James II.) came to Glasgow, he took up his residence in the Provost's house.* CAMPBELL OF SHAWFIELD"S HOUSE. This was a house built in 1711, by Daniel Campbell, Esq. of Shawfield, at the foot of the modern Glassford- Street. In front was a wall of hewn stone that separ- ated the small area before the house, from the street itself. On this wall were placed two sphinxes, the effect produced by which, together with the fine house that appeared rising from behind, while it improved greatly the perspective of Trongate-Street, was particularly im- posing on the stranger, who, by Stockwell- Street, entered Glasgow from the south. In 1 725, the windows of this house were smashed by a mob.f Having afterwards become the property of William M'Dowall, Esq. of Castle Semple, it was by him sold for 1700 guineas, to Mi*. John Glassford, of Dougalstone, in whose posses- sion it was, at the visit of Prince Charles to the city * His Royal Highness was welcomed on this occasion by the military and the citizens in the city with a salute, and every accla- mation of joy. He was presented by the town council with the freedom of the city, enclosed in a gold box. Addresses were also delivered to him from the rector, principal, and professors of the university. + See page 254. 72 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. in 1745, and is worthy of peculiar consideration, as being the place of his Royal Highness' residence on that occasion* By Mr. Grlassford 's son, Henry Grlassford, Esq. M.P., it was sold in 1792 to Mr. William Home, for the purpose of being demolished, in order to allow the opening of Grlassford- Street. On the demolition of the building, the two sphinxes mentioned above, were transported to the vicinity of Cathcart, and they now surmount the porch in front of Woodend House, the property of William Barclay, Esq. * SPREUL'S HOUSE. This building, which presented a very stately appear- ance, stood a few yards east from that built by Campbell of Shawfield, on the site of that modern tenement desig- nated " Spreul's Land." It was built about the close of the seventeenth century by a Mr. Spreul, a merchant in the city, whose name is handed down to us in " death- legs fame," from the sufferings which he endured "for conscience sake," during the long era of religious perse- cution, f The house and the name of Spreul are immor- talized in the celebrated novel of " Cyril Thornton." OLD COFFEE HOUSE. This building, the first house of the kind, built by the merchants of the city for their own convenience, stood upon the south east corner of the Trongate, and was * See Chapter V. + See Memoir of Mr. Spreul, Chapter XV. CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 73 built near the close of the seventeeeth century. After falling into disuetude, from similar houses starting through course of time in the town, it was used for various purposes, and in the years 1766-69, as an auction-room by Messrs. R. &.• A. Foulis, the celebrated printers.* TRADES' LAND. The building formerly thus designated by the citizens stood at the ver^ corner of the Gallowgate, and occupied the site of the entrance to the modern London- Street. It stood upon eighteen arches and stately pillars, and presented a fine and imposing appearance.f PROTESTANT CHURCHES. TRON, OR LAIGH KIRK. Although a church was founded on the site of the modern erection in the palmy days of Catholicism, still by the time of the Reformation, it had gone much into decay. A new church was therefore erected by the pro- testant community in 1594, which, having survived for the space of two centuries, was destroyed by fire in the year 1793, when the present building was erected. * For a notice of the Messrs. Foulis see Chapter VI. t About thirty years ago, when many handsome old edifices still remained, the air of grandeur which arches and pillars imparted to the Saltmarket, Trongate, and High Streets, was particularly fine. Only one specimen is now extant, at No. 27 High -Street 74 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. THE WYND CHURCH. This building was situated to the west of King- Street, with which it had a free communication, and betwixt the Back and New Wynds, about half way down towards the Bridgegate. This church was originally built by a party of Presbyterians in the year 1687, in consequence of an indulgence at that time allowed them by government, to hear their own preachers, in place of the curates, then in possession of the established churches. It was after- wards rebuilt at the expense of the community, and neatly finished within, but has now altogether disappeared. THE NORTH-WEST, OR RAMSHORN CHURCH. This building was situated at the northern extremity of the Candleriggs- Street, to which with its lofty steeple it had a fine termination. It was erected by the town in the year 1724, in consequence of the increasing population of the city. Its form was that of a parallelo- gram, lying east and west. From the front towards the south, rose a square tower with a ballustrade. MARKET PLACES. MEAL MARKET. The oldest Meal Market connected with Glasgow, of of which we have any account, stood on the west side of the High- Street, opposite the College. It was' built during the provostship of Sir Patrick Bell, about the year 1645, and existed till the year 1 796. Before it was built there appears to have been another, as the College CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 75 claimed in 1633 "the privileges of the Meil-mercatt situat besyde the Blackfrier Kirk." A part of the south wall still remains, behind the houses on the north side of College- Street. On the spot being abandoned in 1796, the Meal Market was removed to the foot of Montrose- Street, on the east side. VEGETABLE MARKET. The old Vegetable or "Green Market" connected with the city, stood outside the East Port on the site of Charlotte- Street. It consisted of a garden whither the housewives of the city daily repaired for the purchase of their " kail," and was occupied at the rental of 365 merks Scots per annum. Hence arose the name of "Merk Daily-Street," by which designation, till recently, the place was recognised by many of the older inhabitants. Upon the building up of Charlotte- Street, the sale of vegetables was carried on in Candleriggs- Street, but an enclosed market having been erected about the com- mencement of the present century in King- Street, the latter has always been regarded as the " Green Market." FLESH MARKET. The oldest Flesh Market connected with the city, stood on the north side of the Trongate, between Hutcheson- Street and Candleriggs- Street. Ray, an old author, speaks of this market in 1661, as " a very neat square flesh market, scarce such an one to be seen in England or Scotland." < re CHAPTER III. REMARKABLE OLD HOUSES STILL EXTANT. ' How reverend is the face of this tall pile, Whose ancient pillars rear their marble head To bear aloft its arch'd and ponderous roof, By its own weight made steadfast and immoveable, Looking tranquillity!" Mourning Bride. THE CATHEDRAL. With the Cathedrals of our country are associated the names of the earliest votaries and first patrons of our national literature. In them we have evidences of the skill, the taste, and the public spirit of our ancestors, no less than of their piety ; — the ecclesiastical buildings of an early period exhibiting a splendour, size, and fit- ness of proportion unequalled by more recent structures. The magnificence of their architecture, — the number and richness of the shrines, tombs, and chapels, — the elegance of design and beauty of workmanship by which they were distinguished, carries back the mind and memory to the days when the genius of architecture was fostered m. CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 77 by the spirit of religion. Majestic when perfect, in ruin they induce the gazer to moralize with Scott: — • " When yonder broken arch was -whole, 'Twas there was dealt the weekly dole; And where yon mould'ring columns nod, The abbey sent the hymn to God. So fleets the world's uncertain span; Nor zeal for God no*r love for man, Gives mortal monuments a date Beyond the power of time and fate." Situated in a large and populous city, the Cathedral of St. Mungo has the appearance of the most sequestered solitude. High walls divide it from the buildings of the city on one side ; on the other it is bounded by a ravine, through the depth of which murmurs a wandering rivulet, adding by its rushing noise to the imposing solemnity of the scene. On the opposite side of the ravine rises a steep bank, covered, as far as the eye can reach, with newly erected sepulchral monuments, and bordered with fir trees closely planted, whose dusky shade extends itself over the cemetery with an appropriate and gloomy effect. The cemetery itself is of a striking and peculiar character ; for though in reality extensive, it is small in proportion to the number of inhabitants who are interred within it, and whose graves are almost all covered with tombstones. There is, therefore, no room for the long rank grass, which in the ordinary case, partially clothes the surface in those retreats, " where the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary are at rest." The broad flat monumental stones are placed so close to each other, that the precincts appear to be flagged with them, and 78 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. though roofed only by the heavens, resemble the floor of an old English Church, where the pavement is covered with sepulchral inscriptions. The contents of these sad records of mortality, the vain sorrows which they record, the stern lessons which they teach of the nothingness of humanity, the extent of ground which they so closely cover, and their uniform and melancholy tenor remind us of the roll of the prophet, which was " written within and without, and there were written therein lamentations, and mourning, and wo."*t The Cathedral itself corresponding in impressive majesty with these accompaniments, never fails to inspire the stranger with awe and admiration. Its lofty square tower meets the eye of the traveller in various approaches to the ancient city, and conjures up a host of names and events that have made a figure in history during the long lapse of centuries. Of the nave from whatever point contemplated, laterally or longitudinally, grandeur of design and elaborate execution are the leading charac- teristics. This is the oldest part of the edifice, and was built by Bishop Achaius in 1136. To enter into minute detail of its architectural beauties were impossible in our narrow compass. The general effect is all that we can presume to describe ; and of this, the reader will have little difficulty in forming a just estimate of the mag- nificence that reigns in this venerable temple of our * Rob Roy. f For several of the curious epitaphs to be seen in the Cathedral church-yard, vide Appendix. CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 79 ancestors. There is one feature particularly deserving of notice as a boundary line between different epochs in ecclesiastical architecture ; namely, the points where the labours of successive bishops ended and commenced. The whole fabric is externally divided on both sides into compartments, by buttresses of equal dimensions, between which are placed windows in the pointed style, all somewhat dissimilar in the ornaments. This succes- sion of windows is interrupted by the transepts directly under the great tower in the centre of the church. The north and south windows in the transepts are 40 by 22 feet, divided with mullions and tracery. Above the first range of windows the wall terminates in a battlement, within which springs the lowest roof, till it meets the second or inner wall, which rises from thence for a number of feet. This, in like manner, is divided into compartments by small square projections, between each of which are placed three narrow windows in the pointed style, directly above each of those in the first storey. It then terminates in the same manner as the lower wall, and is capped with a leaden roof. The chapter-house was in the north cross of the Cathe- dral, and had a communication with the nave by a vaulted entry. The south cross was never completed, and was till lately used as a burying-place for the clergy of the city. The architecture of it appears to have been finer than that of the rest of the building, and is supposed to be of no older date than the year 1500. Its arched roof is supported by columns adjoining to the outer walls. 80 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. There is also a row of pillars in the centre, and the capitals of the whole are highly ornamented with figures and flowers. The area of its top is formed into an orna- mented piece of garden ground. The consistorial house in which the bishops held their ecclesiastical courts, projects from the south-west corner of the Cathedral. Between this and the tower was the ancient entrance, by a large magnificent door, which is now shut up. The usual entry at present is on the south, which leads immediately into the choir. The appearance of the choir is very grand and im- pressive. Majestic columns decorated with monumental tablets of marble and other memorials of the dead, divide the space and support the roof. The vaulted cemetery is situated immediately beneath the nave. It is supported by 65 clustered pillars, exceed- ingly strong and massive ; and, by their position and the smallness of the windows, rendering the interior dark and gloomy. Such buildings as the Cathedral of Glasgow are eminently suggestive. The historian must class them as records of the onward career of national history, — the philosopher sees in them signs and tokens, not to be mistaken, of the progress of human improvement, — the antiquary lingers over the outward and tangible evi- dences of old times, old feelings, quaint customs and mode of life, as relics of the living moving throng, who, having gone before us and our train, are, in the dim vista of antiquity, invested with an interest peculiarly CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 81 their own ; — while the poet, weaving the thoughts and feelings of all the rest in one mingled sensation of the romantic and the beautiful, flings about the battered wall and mouldering ruin the spell of fancy and the glow of imagination, to light up the remnants of a bygone time, in colours that fact and common sense may criticise, but fancy and feeling gladly hail, and fondly and securely cherish. One of the many interesting customs which were wont to be observed in connection with Cathedrals, is worthy of remembrance, namely, the "distribution of alms," which usually took place at the church door, on particular festivals, when " give ale " and the " dole" drew together the neighbouring poor. The "give ale," so called, was distributed on anniversaries, often with bread and other dole to the poor, for which purpose land had been left to the church by the person whose birth day, saint's day, or burial day, was to be commemorated. Anniversaries were sometimes kept on the birth day of a donor, during his lifetime, or on the saint's day of the church where it was appointed. The doles of money and bread were distributed at some altar in the church, or at the tomb of a deceased benefactor. The " give ale ' ' being chiefly allotted to great festivals, was usually distributed in the church porch, where the people assembled, and where they sometimes remained wassailing in the church-yard till it became a scene of merriment and tumult* * "The Castles and Abbeys of England," by W. Beattie, M.D. E2 82 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. DUKE'S LODGINGS. In Drygate Street, nearly opposite to Limmerfield Lane, stood the manse belonging to the rector of Eaglesham. Its site is now occupied by an edifice, dis- tinguished by a wide arched gateway in front ; but which does not seem to have received completion according to the original design. This was an intended town resi- dence for the ducal family of Montrose. The present building is understood to have been only a wing of the purposed erection ; but, although unfinished, it occasion- ally accommodated the family, and is, to this day, popularly termed the Duke's Lodging. The first Duke of Montrose bought the ancient tenement from Mr. James Corbet, a merchant, into whose possession it had come, (after passing through several intermediate hands,) from the laird of Crawfurdland, to whom, at the Re- formation, a conveyance was made of the property by the rector of Eaglesham. RECTOR OF CAMBUSLANG'S HOUSE, AND OLD BRIDEWELL. This edifice stood a little beyond the lodging built by the Duke of Montrose, on the south side of Drygate. After the reformation it passed into the hands of the Earl of dencairn, from whom it was purchased by the city in 1635, and converted into a House of Correction, which it continued to be till 1782, when the present buildings in Duke- Street were begun to be erected. CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 83 ARCHDEACON OF GLASGOW'S MANSE. This house is situated on the southern side of the Drygate, and west of the Duke's Lodgings. At the Reformation, it was purchased by Sir Matthew Stuart of Minto, by whom, in 1605, great part of it was rebuilt. Having descended to his grandson Sir Ludovic Stuart, it was, by the latter, conveyed to Dame Isabel Douglas, Marchioness Dowager of Montrose, in the frequent occupation of whose family it continued to be till towards the middle of the last century. ANCIENT MINT. The antique building which stands immediately ad- joining to that formerly used as a House of Correction, is supposed to have been the mint of the see of Glasgow ; — in early times mints being not unfrequently appendages of episcopal seats. The date of its foundation is un- known, although commonly assigned to the reign of Robert III. some of whose coins were minted here. On one side of these coins was impressed the royal effigy, crowned, but without a sceptre ; and the motto Robertus Dei Gratia Scotormn. The other side bore the inscrip- tion, Villa de Glasgow, within, the words Dominus Pro- tector. About the year 1734, coins of this description were found by masons among the rubbish of some out- buildings belonging to the House of Correction. RECTOR OF CAMPSIE'S MANSE, OR DARNLEY'S COTTAGE. At the head of Limmerfield Lane, on the eastern side, yet stands a house formerly inhabited by the rector 84 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. of Campsie, — famed in Scottish annals from its con- nection with the history of Mary Queen of Scots, and her consort Lord Darnley. In the month of January, 1 567, the king having been seized with a severe illness at Stirling Castle, in order to escape the din and bustle of a court, retired to Glasgow, where he might at once be under the immediate guardianship of his relations, and be able to obtain that quiet and repose of which he stood so much in need. In a few days, he was followed by his wife, who, whatever might have been his faults or conduct towards her, had to appearance by no means lost all affection towards him. After a short time, being pronounced convalescent, and prevailed upon by the entreaties of the Queen, he was removed to Edinburgh, and located in a solitary mansion, known by the name of Kirk-a-field. The melancholy catastrophe which followed, is one to which the reader can be no stranger, and involves one of the most mysterious subjects in Scottish history. It is supposed that in this house, also, resided King James VI. during his sojourn in the city, in the year 1588, on occasion of his retiring from Edin- burgh to escape the effects of a mutinous spirit which had arisen among the citizens, after the murder by Lord Huntly of the Earl of Moray, a young nobleman tenderly beloved by the people, and son of the ' f good regent." The house is now occupied as a sort of tavern, designated " Darnley 's Cottage." CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 85 THE UNIVERSITY. — — " Here science rears Her proud emblazoned front on high, and here By these time-darken'd pillars, and beneath These reverend colonnades, in distant times, Did sages send those words of wisdom forth, Which circled all the echoes of the land, And yet are in our ears. " Situated in a dark and densely populated street, the University of Glasgow presents something fine and im- posing in its proud and massive front. It seems to stand forth in aged dignity, the last and only bulwark of science and literature, among a population by whom science is regarded but as a source of profit, and litera- ture despised. On passing the outer gate, the visitor enters a small quadrangle, which, though undistinguished by any remarkable architectural beauty, yet harmonises well in its air of Gothic antiquity, with the general character of the place. This leads to another of larger dimensions, of features not dissimilar ; and having crossed this, you stand in a third, designated from the large building which fronts you, the " Museum Square." A turn to the left brings the visitor to a fourth, entirely ap- propriated to the residence of the professors. There is, indeed, something fine and impressive in the sudden transition from the din and bustle of the streets which surround it, to the stillness and the calm which reigns within the time-hallowed precincts of the University. You seem at once to breathe another and a purer atmos- phere; and if you be of an ardent and enthusiastic temperament, you are apt to imagine that here you could 8b CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. cast off the coil of the world and its contemptible- reali- ties, and yield up your spirit to the lore of past ages, where nothing is visible around, to intrude the idea of the present. The University of Glasgow was founded in 1450 by Turnbull, Bishop of Glasgow, and constituted by a bull of Pope Nicolas V. The bull was dated at Rome, Jan- uary 7th, 1450; and as the reason for constituting a University in Glasgow, says, " it being ane notable place, with gude air and plenty of provisions for human life." The Pope, by his apostolical authority, ordained that the doctors, masters, readers, and students of the University of Glasgow, should enjoy all the privileges, liberties, honours, exemptions and immunities, which he had granted to those of Bononia in Italy. He likewise ap- pointed William Turnbull, Bishop of Glasgow, and his successors in the see, chancellors of the University, and to have the same authority over the doctors, masters, readers, and scholars, as the chancellors of the University of Bononia. By the care of the bishop and his chapter, a body of statutes was prepared, and the University finally established in 1451. For the first ten years of its existence, the University was situated in the Rottenrow ;* at the end of which period, a large tenement having been bequeathed to it, it was transferred thither ; which tene- ment having in the course of time also fallen into decay, the present edifice was erected. * See page 59. CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 87 What the exterior appearance of the buildings first erected was, it is now difficult to say. All the efforts of the members were unable, for more than a century, to provide even decent rooms for teaching ; so that, in the year 1563, the whole establishment is described in Queen Mary's charter, as presenting a very mean and unfinished appearance. There is no reason to believe that the buildings were ever materially improved till after the year 1630, when a subscription was obtained for this purpose, as well as for the benefit of the library. From this time to the year 1660, the moderators and masters of the University bestowed great pains in forwarding the work. Some of them contributed largely themselves; and on particular occasions they borrowed considerable sums on their own personal security, (5000 merks in 1656) that the operations might not be interrupted in consequence of the irregular payment of the workmen. The undertaking could scarcely have succeeded as it did, if it had not been for the liberal bequests of a few private individuals. By the will of Mr. Michael Wilson, who died about the year 1617, great sums were bestowed on the fabric. Mr. Alexander Boyd, Regent, left 1000 merks for the same purpose, in 1610. Mr. Thomas Hutcheson, (distinguished for his munificence, and one of the founders of Hutchesons' Hospital, Glasgow,) in 1641, left £1000 Scots, for rebuilding the south quarter of the College ; and when this sum was paid in 1655, the addition of the interest raised it to ,£1851 Scots. At the same time, 2000 merks, mortified by Robert and John 88 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. Fleming, were paid for the help of the building. In the course of that year, 10,000 merks of the money left by Mr. Zachary Boyd, were applied to the same purpose; and the whole donations obtained from this clergyman at different periods, amounted to three times the sum now mentioned. — Houses for the principal and two pro- fessors of Divinity, were built when the fabric was re- newed and enlarged, between the years 1640 and 1660. About the year 1 720, houses for the accommodation of other professors and their families, began to be built ; and to defray the expense, money was borrowed, to be repaid out of the surplus profits of the Archbishopric. In all, there are thirteen houses of this description kept in repair out of the general funds of the College. The date above the archway in the outer court is 1656, and that on the west front, facing the High- Street, is 1658. The royal arms above the great entrance with C. R. II., must have been set up after the Restoration * During the session of College, which lasts for six months, from October till the first of May, the middle court when thronged with the Togati, has a fine and imposing appearance. The colour of the gowns used by students in the Scottish Universities, it is difficult to ex- plain. The following theory is hazarded as a conjecture by the author of the " History of the University of Edin- burgh." " In the first place, the principal intention of wearing a * Report of the Commissioners on the Universities and Colleges of Scotland. CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 89 gown at all is declared in the following minute : — ' That all the students in the several Universities and Colleges within the kingdom, should be obliged to wear constantly gowns during the time of sitting of the Colleges ; and that the regents or masters be obliged to wear black gowns, and the students red gowns, that thereby vaging and vice may be discouraged. 1 Secondly, it is well known that the origin of the uniforms of the different European nations being also different, was, that the numerous armies employed during the Crusades, might be distin- guished from one another, not only in their marching to the Holy Land, but in the field of battle, when actually engaged with the infidels. In the arrangement which was made, scarlet was assigned to the British forces, which has continued to this day. The Lord Mayors and Alder- men of London and Dublin, and the Lord Provost and Bailies of Edinburgh, who are the chief civil magistrates within their several cities, wear read gowns, their liveries being the same. As the black was appropriated to per- sons holding a clerical office, so the red seems to have been the distinguishing badge of those who were employed in civil offices. The students, as long as they did not take any degree, were considered as occupying a civil station, and therefore wore red gowns ; but when they graduated, they commenced clerks, by undergoing a clerical economy, and therefore commenced with putting on a black robe. Students of divinity, upon being en- rolled in the divinity hall, threw off the red, and wore no gowns whatever. So late as the days of Charles I. uni- 90 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. formity of dress was prescribed to the principal, pro- fessors, and students of King's College, in a letter from Laud to the Bishop of Aberdeen."* The first of May is the day fixed by immemorial usage in the University, for the distribution of the prizes ; a day looked forward to with " hopes, and fears that kindle hope," by many youthful and ardent spirits. The great hall of the college on that day certainly presents a very pleasing and animated spectacle. The academic cal distinctions are bestowed with much of ceremonial pomp, in presence of a vast concourse of spectators, and it is not uninteresting to mark the flush of bashful triumph on the cheek of the victor, — the sparkling of his downcast eye, as the hall is rent with loud applause, when he advances to receive the badge of honour assigned him by the voice of his fellow-students. It is altogether a sight to stir the spirit in the youthful bosom, and stimu- late into healthy action faculties which, but for such excitement, might have continued in unbroken slumber. GRAMMAR SCHOOL. This ancient edifice is situated in the narrow street, branching off the west side of the High- Street, called by a misnomer, the " Greyfriars Wynd.f It was built in the year 1601 on the site of the old " Grammar Scule," but in the year 1782 was abandoned for an edifice in George-Street, and is now occupied as a blacksmith's * Bower's History of the University of Edinburgh, f See page 61 . CHRONICLES OP ST. MUNGO. 91 shop. This seminary is of very remote antiquity, and was organised long before the foundation of the univer- sity. From the period of the reformation in 1560, till the present day, it has always been considered of a high standing among Scottish classical seminaries. In look- ing into its history, we find that on the 28th of October, 1595, the presbytery, or the exercise, as it was then called, ordained the regents in the college to try the Irish scholars "twiching" the heads of religion. At that period the school met at five o'clock in the morning. On the 3d of January, 1598, the scholars were ordered to assemble together in the "Hie Kirk," during divine service. It appears that at this period, the master of the "Grammar Scule" was, eoe officio, a member of the Presbytery of Glasgow. The school buildings in the Grammar School Wynd having become very old and gone into decay, the exercise, which had been formerly held there, was, on the 11th of March, 1601, ordered to meet in the "Hie Kirk" during the time of "bigging the Grammar Scule." In 1615, when Mr. John Blackburn, the master of the school, was appointed minister of the Barony Church, it does not appear that there were any other authorised teachers, the drudgery of tuition being principally performed by ushers. In 1685, the magistrates desired the ministers of the city, and the regents in the college, to inspect and consider the state of the school, and to report their opinions, which they accordingly did, recommending that there should be five distinct classes. Two years after the Revolution, it 92 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. would appear that the school had been formed into several classes, for, on the 30th of July, the testimonials for the rectors and doctors of the Grammar School, were ordered to be laid before the " Committee for visiting schools and colleges." From this period till the year 1834, when it was remodelled under the name of the " High School," the ordinary curriculum seems to have been four years, the business being conducted by the same number of teachers. In 1834, however, the num- ber of classical teachers was reduced to two, and other branches of education introduced. Among the old but now exploded customs formerly in vogue in the Grammar School, none is more worthy of remembrance than that attached to the ceremony of presenting candlemas offerings to the teachers, when the boys, according to the amount of their gratuity, were greeted with the applause of their class-fellows. When a boy gave a moderate offering, the whole school shouted out, " Vivat," let him live, and gave one round of applause ; — when a larger sum was presented, the word "Floriat," let him flourish, was vociferated, and two rounds of applause given, — and when the largest sum of the occasion was bestowed, the word " Gloriat," let him be glorious, was sounded with great applause amid the thunder of three times three, and the happy donor exalted on the shoulders of his compeers. CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 9<3 THE TOWN'S HOSPITAL. This house was erected, in 1733, for the reception of the poor. It is three stories in height, near the end of the old bridge, and at the eastern extremity of the old Green, and consists of a front and wings, which project till they are upon a line with the street. Behind the hospital, and from which it is separated by a broad area, is another building, in the first storey of which, called the cells, lunatics and disorderly persons are confined. On the second is an infirm ary for the sick. M'Ure thus describes the Hospital : — "As you walk westward from the great bridge to- wards the stately harbour of the city, stands the most celebrated Hospital built by the city of Glasgow, for alimenting and educating upwards of one hundred and fifty two old and decayed men, widows, and orphans of this city. The building is of modern fashion, and exceeds any of that kind in Europe, and admired by strangers, who affirm that Sutton's Hospital, called the Charter House, at London, which indeed is a noble foundation ; but the house, neither of that nor Christ's Church, or any thing of that kind at Rome, or Venice, comes not up to the magnificence of this building, — when it is finished, resembling more like a palace than the habitation for necessitous old people and children. I confess Heriot's Hospital, at Edinburgh, is more embellished over the windows thereof (!)" 94 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. SIR GEORGE ELPHINSTON'S HOUSE AND CHAPEL IN GORBALS. Sir George Elphinston, who acquired the lands of Gorbals from Archbishop Boyd, was Provost of Glasgow in the reign of James VI, and lord justice clerk of Scot- land in that of Charles I. He built a splendid mansion on the east side of the Main- Street, (nearly opposite Malta- Street,*) which even till the present day wears the appearance of pristine grandeur. Its fine projecting turrets, and its handsome and commodious chambers, with the roofs elaborately carved, afford admirable speci- mens of the graceful styles of architecture cultivated about the end of the sixteenth and beginning of the seventeenth centuries. The chapel which he erected as an appendage to his establishment, is situated a few yards farther up the street, and constitute the north corner of Rutherglen or Paisley Loan. Over the door-way are carved the armorial bearings of the Elphinstone family, with the letters S. G. E. and D. V. B. ; the former of which constitute the initials of Sir George Elphinstone, the latter, those of his nephew and successor Douglas Viscount Belhaven. Sir George Elphinstone himself, although at one period of his life possessed of great wealth, died bankrupt, and was buried in his chapel in the year 1640. Viscount Belhaven * It is worthy of remark that this Street, originally "Malt- Street," seems to have been so named from the circumstance that, from time immemorial, that part of Gorbals was inhabited by maltmen, " who made malt and brewed ale." CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 95 purchased the barony from the creditors, and according to tradition, made several additions to the mansion, but before his death sold house and lands to the city of Glasgow, the Trades' House, and Hutchesons' Hospi- tal, jointly. The various mutations which have taken place in the quality of the inhabitants of the Lord Justice Clerk's mansion, are monitory. First, the residence of a judge of the supreme judicature of the land, and of a peer of the realm, then a prison-house for thieves, it has at length become the abode of the poor and wretched, who regard with feelings of neither awe nor admiration the defaced escutcheons which look frowning from the walls around them.* CAMPBELL OF BLYTHSWOOD'S HOUSE. Tradition assigns that fine old building situated at the south east corner of Bridgegate-Street, to have been built by Colin Campbell, Esq. of Blythswood, about the close of the seventeenth century, and to have been the residence of the Blythswood family for several genera- tions. It is now occupied by a funeral undertaker. * It may be here remarked, that Sir George Elphinstone erected for the use of his tenants a windmill, at the western extremity of his lands, which were bounded in that direction by what is still known as the " Kinninghouse Burn." This windmill was taken down in 1749, but the spot on which it stood is still populary re- cognised as the " Windmill Croft." 96 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. GRAHAM OF DOUGALSTON'S HOUSE. The mansion of this wealthy family, which, about the commencement of last century, was among the most in- fluential in Glasgow, was situated a few houses from the head of Stockwell- Street, on the west side. It is now occupied as a tavern, designated the " Tarn o' Shanter." EQUESTRIAN STATUE OF KING WILLIAM. This fine equestrian statue was presented to the city in the year 1734, by James M'Crae, Esq., who, after having filled the dignified office of governor of Madras, retired and resided in Glasgow. 97 CHAPTER IV. THE LEPROSY AND PLAGUE IN GLASGOW. " And the leper in whom the plague is, his clothes shall be rent, and his head bare, and he shall put a covering on his upper lip, and shall cry, Unclean, unclean." — Lev. xiii. 45. " I will stretch out my hand that I may smite thee and thy people with pestilence; and thou shalt be cut off from the earth."— Exod. ix. 15. The founder of the Leper Hospital in Glasgow, alluded to in a former part of the present work, was Marjory Stewart, the legitimate daughter of Robert, Duke of Albany, son of King Robert the Second. She married early in life Duncan Campbell, Lord Lochow, and became the mother of Archibald, whose son, Colin, was afterwards known to the world as the first Earl of Argyle. What led this lady first to settle in Glasgow, can now be only explained by the fact of the city being at that time, next to St. Andrews, the principal seat of ecclesi- astical learning in Scotland, and therefore a place well p 98 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. suited to her religious disposition. After her settlement in the town, she acquired that whole space of ground on which the Bridgegate is now built, in these days known by the name of Fishergate ; and not long after, she made an addition to her property, by her acquisition of that portion of land on the south bank of Clyde, stretching from the Old Bridge, on the west, to the, at that time pleasant rivulet, called the Blind Burn, on the east. This space of ground she denominated St. Ninian's Croft. . At the time of which we speak, the disease of leprosy was by no means uncommon on the continent of Europe ; and although, at the present day, it is almost completely unknown as a native endemic in any part of our quarter of the globe; yet from the 10th to the 16th century it prevailed in nearly every district of it. Laws were enacted by princes and courts to arrest its diffusion ; the pope issued bulls with regard to the ecclesiastical sepa- ration and rights of the infected ; a particular order of knighthood was instituted to watch over the sick, and leper hospitals, or lazar houses, were every where founded to receive the victims of the disease. Indeed, when we examine the old records of any of the towns of Great Britain, in almost every case we will find some enact- ment with regard to leprosy. Regarding, however, the first appearance of the disease in Great Britain and Western Europe generally, there has been much conflict of opinion. Some authors have averred, that it was introduced from the east by those CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 99 who returned from the Crusades, and that by this means it first reached Great Britain. It is quite possible that through the increased international intercourse of that period, it may have been propagated more rapidly and widely than would otherwise have occurred ; but there are ample reasons and proofs for believing that it existed on the continent of Europe, and even as far westward as England, before the Crusade fanaticism had drawn any converts from this country. The first relay of English- men engaged in the Crusades, left in 1096, and returned two years afterwards. Few subjects in pathology are more curious, and at the same time more obscure, than the changes which, in the course of ages, have taken place in the diseases incident, either to the human race at large, or to par- ticular divisions and communities of it. A great pro- portion of the maladies to which mankind are liable have, it is true, remained entirely unaltered in their character and consequences, from the earliest periods of medical history down to the present day ; — as, for ex- ample, gout and epilepsy, which show the same symp- toms and course now as the writings of Hippocrates describe them to have done upwards of 2000 years ago. But still we have strong grounds for believing, that in regard to our own individual species alone, the diseases to which mankind are subject have already undergone, in some respects, marked changes within the historic era of medicine. Since the first medical observations that are now extant on disease were made, and recorded 100 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. in Greece, various new species of human maladies have, there can be little doubt, made their original appearance, as, for example, small pox, measles, and hooping-cough. , Again, some diseases which prevailed formerly, seem to have now entirely disappeared from among the human race, such as the lycanthropia of the sacred writings, and of various old medical authors. Other maladies, as that most anomalous affection, the English sweating sickness of the fifteenth century, have only once, and that for a very short period, been permitted to commit their ravages upon mankind. And lastly, we have still another and more extensive class, including maladies that have changed their geographical stations to such an extent, as to have made inroads upon whole districts and regions of the world, where they were formerly un- known, leaving now untouched the localities which, in older times, suffered most severely from their visitations. To this class belongs the European leprosy, or tubercu- lar elephantiasis of the middle ages.* The nature of this disease, which has been well depicted in Holy writ, was, perhaps, such as we can but very inadequately con- ceive. Comparatively simple in its origin, in its early * The present writer would here refer the curious reader to a series of papers entitled, "Antiquarian Notices of Leprosy and Leper Hospitals in Scotland and England," a lucubration pub- lished in 1842 in the Edin. Med. and Surg. Journal, by the pre- sent learned Professor of Midwifery in the University of Edin- burgh, in which will be found an admirable compendium of all the knowledge we possess of this " omnium malorum foedissimus," as it formerly existed in this country. CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 101 stages it was far from auguring to the patient that horrible disfiguration which he was doomed to undergo. A num- ber of small dull crimson spots making their appearance on different parts of the body were its most menacing heralds, which, however, gradually rising above the surface of the skin, and assuming the process of ulcera- tion, in the course of time presented to the eye of an onlooker the most loathsome spectacle. Many years generally elapsed before death came to the relief of the wretched sufferer, during which period his general health was but little affected. The joints were the principal parts attacked, which, as the disease gradually increased, "horribile dictu" often caused the limbs to drop off one by one. The ill-fated patient felt no pain during all its various stages, but retaining his senses to the last, was himself a witness to the most awful mutilations of his corporeal nature. To enter, however, upon an extensive inquiry into all the various features of the disease of leprosy — its rava- ges in different localities of Great Britain, and its causes, would expand the subject beyond prescribed iimits. The object in the present instance is much more humble, being only to give some account of the prevalence of the malady in Glasgow — the Hospital which benevolence founded for the reception of its unfortunate victims — and the conduct which was observed by the citizens towards these wretched beings. At or about what time the malady in question first made its appearance in Glasgow, no records now inform 102 CHRONICLES OP ST. MUNGO. us; but from the fact of the Leper Hospital having been founded in the year 1350, in the reign of David II., it would appear, that at least previous to that time its ravages had not been confined to a very limited range. The benevolent foundress of the institution had seen with an eye at once of wisdom and commiseration the benefits which the public, and the affected themselves, would derive from such an institution, and, accordingly, since her whole by-past life had been spent in healing the sick and comforting the broken-hearted, she crowned her benevolent actions by building an Hospital on St. Ninian's croft, " for the use and behoof" of individuals infected with leprosy, which she ordained in all time coming to be called St. Ninian's Hospital. The exact site of the Hospital and its adjuncts, at the present day, is understood to have been near the brink of the river Clyde, on a space of ground extending from the foot of Muirhead- Street, by the bottom of St. Ninian- Street, to the foot of Hospital-Street, the two latter of which are so named with reference to the ancient existence of the institution: — Hospital- Street, from the building having stood in that locality — St. Ninian- Street, from that having been the title of its tutelary saint. Lady Lochow, in order to the support of this Leper Hospital, obliged all builders of houses on her grounds of Bridgegate and St. Ninian's Croft, to pay a feu duty, to be devoted to that purpose. The great-grandfather of the garrulous historian of the city, M'Ure, according to the latter's own account, was the last preceptor of CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO- 103 this Hospital, employed by the family of Argyle for the uplifting the feu duties of the Bridgegate and St. Ninian's Croft, for the use and behoof of the poor per- sons residing therein afflicted with leprosy. A statue of the foundress stood anciently in front of the building. When the magistrates and council of the city, however, became proprietors of the Barony of Gorbals, they feued the ground on which the hospital and its adjuncts were situated to several individuals, one of whom, probably some pious covenanter, devoutly detesting any relic of popery, defaced the effigy, and made a lintel of the stone. The magistrates of the city seem to have exercised the privilege both of searching for lepers among the inhabitants, and of consigning them to this Hospital. From a work entitled "Burgh Records of Glasgow," (being a reprint of these documents from 1573 to 1581,) presented in 1832 by Dr. Smith to the Maitland Club, it appears, that between these years the magistrates ordained four persons, named as lepers, "to be viseit, and gif they be found so, to be secludit of the town to the Hospital at the Brigend." A similar edict was issued in regard to two other individuals, in 1575 ; and in 1581, eight more seem to have been dealt with in the same manner. The bishops of Glasgow appear also to have had a right to present patients to the Hospital. In 1404, Andrew Muirhead, who then held the bishop- rick, availed himself of the privilege, by presenting one patient. 104 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. Lepers were compelled by other reasons than mere custom or common law, to retire from society. They were of necessity driven to seek the asylum of the lazar hospitals, in consequence of the statutes, both of the general country and of local communities, prohibiting every citizen from retaining a person labouring under leprosy in his house, and preventing the infected from entering within the gates of the city. The old Scottish " Burrow-Lawes " have stringent clauses upon this head, for they hold that "na man should presume, or be so bauld, as to harberie or ludge ane lipperman within the burgh under ane full amercia- ment." And further, " Lippermen sail not enter within the towne, bot in passing throw it, and sail not gang fra dure to dure, but sail sit at the ports of the burgh, and sail seek almes fra them that passes in and comes furth." The dress of the inmates of St. Ninian's Hospital was similar to that of the lazars of any other institution. They wore a tunic or gown of russet, with a hood, and sleeves closed to the tips of the fingers, but not laced, with knots or thread after the secular fashion. Thus apparelled, the wretched leper trudged along, rattling his clappers, as if to proclaim — " Unclean, unclean! " The principal subsistence of the lepers seems to have been derived from casual alms. Each of the doomed inmates of the hospitals was, like the leper-struck heroine of the old Scottish poet, Henry son, by • • • • " cauld and hunger sair, Compellit to be ane rank beggair." CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 105 The inmates of the Brigend. hospital were allowed a certain sum per week, and for the remainder of their subsistence they were, according to the Brigend rules of the institution, obliged to have recourse to begging. Notwithstanding the " Burrow-Law " just cited, the lepers seem to have been allowed the liberty of entry into some towns, provided they used their clappers, to advertise the passing inhabitants of their presence, and thus allowed them to shun the supposed danger of their contact. The magistrates of Glasgow made the carry- ing of clappers one of the conditions on which they admitted the occasional entrance of the inmates of the Brigend hospital into the city, one of their edicts for October, 1610, running thus : — " It is statut and ordanit that the lipper of the hospital sail gang (walk) only on the calsie (street) syde near the gutter, and sail haif clapperis and ane claith upoun their mouth and face, and sail stand afar of quhill they resaif almous, or answer under the payne of banischeing them from the toun and hospital." The malady, it would appear, was not confined entirely to one class of people, but sometimes attacked the high- est as well as the lowest. Nay, royalty itself was not exempt from its ravages, as in the well-authenticated case of our own king, Robert Bruce, who, after labour- ing under the disease from an early period of his life, fell a victim to its power, in the fifty-sixth year of his age. . It seems, however, to have had its largest share of victims in the lower classes of society, — amongst the p2 106 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. "villeyns," or bondsmen of these times, and the poorer peasantry and burgesses, who, when shut up in the hospitals, were obliged either to depend upon the funds of these institutions, or to beg for their support. The exact trade and calling of the individuals admitted into the different Leper Hospitals of the country can only be very imperfectly gathered from one or two casual records ; but while this is a subject of regret with regard to these institutions in general, it does not apply so par- ticularly to the Leper Hospital of Glasgow. Amongst those citizens who were at different times, in the latter part of the 16th century, ordered by the magistrates to be visited, under the suspicion of labour- ing under leprosy, most are recorded by their mere Christian name and surname; but two or three are entered in the burgh records in such terms as to show their occupation and probable rank, as, Robert , flesher, in 1573; "Mr. James , fiesher;" " Patrick Bogle, maltman;" and "Andrew Lawson, merchand," in 1581. One of these individuals is reported by the water baillies as confined in the Glasgow Leper Hospital, at the Brigend, in 1589, along with five other lepers. The whole list is interesting : viz., " Andro Lawson, merchand; Stevin Gilmor, cordiner; Robert Bogill, sone to Patrick Bogill; Patrick Birstall, tailzeour ; Johne Thomsoun, sone to John Thomsoune, tailzeour; Daniel Cunninghame, tinclar." Few facts in the history of tubercular leprosy seem, to be more universally admitted by all writers on the CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 107 disease, both ancient and modern, than the transmission of the predisposition to it from father to offspring. Amid the scattered fragments relative to the former history of leprosy in our own city, it can scarcely be expected that we should have many individual data bearing directly upon the transmission of the disease from father to son. Yet we have one instance of it in the cases just cited, where, in 1581, "Patrick Bogle," is ordered to be in- spected for leprosy, and fifteen years after, " Robert Bogill, sone to Patrick Bogle," is reported as an inmate of the leper house belonging to the city. It is not to be supposed that St. Ninian's Leper Hos- pital, or, indeed, any of the other hospitals which then existed for the reception of leprous patients, were intended as places where a cure of the disease was to be attempted. They were charitable and hygienic rather than medical institutions. At that time, and up to the present day, tubercular leprosy was regarded as a disease which sets at defiance all the powers of, the medical art Its exciting causes no one has ever been able satisfactorily to demonstrate ; consequently, reme- dies have been applied without knowledge. The fre- quency of the disease in former times has been confi- dently ascribed by different authors to peculiarities in the diet, dress, personal and domestic habits of their forefathers. When butchers slew cattle on the streets, and the proprietors or tenants of houses had dungsteads at their very thresholds, the prevalence of disease, to be sure, is not to be wondered at But at the same time it 108 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. would be no easy matter to point out the exact differ- ences in those physical conditions of the inhabitants of this country, in former and modern times, which may have led to the prevalence of the disease amongst our ancestors, and to its disappearance amongst us. If poverty in diet, or personal wants, and filth, and wretch- edness, in their deepest degrees, could generate the malady, there are certainly still numerous localities in Glasgow and other cities, where, unfortunately, all those elements of disease are, in our own day, in full and active operation, without any such specific result following. Most modern pathologists seem inclined to call in question the contagious nature of tubercular leprosy, as it at present exists in different parts of the globe. But a very few physicians of latter times have admitted the contagious character of the disease, and that not from personal observation. The evidence bearing against the doctrine of this mode of its diffusion is principally of a simply negative kind. In some of the districts in which the malady is endemic, the sick are seen to maintain a free intercourse with the healthy, without the disease being frequently or at all communicated to the latter ; the nurses of the lazar hospitals are alleged to remain uninfected ; lepers often continue in the midst of their families without spreading the scourge to any of the other members; and occasionally a husband and wife have been seen living in wedlock for years, one of them deeply affected by the disease, and the other remaining erfectly sound. CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 109 Individuals stricken with leprosy were sometimes looked upon by the superstitious spirit of the age as persons directly smitten by the hand of God ; and we find in history traces of rich and noble, and even of royal devotees, endeavouring to expiate their sins, and pro- pitiate the good will of Heaven, by occasionally devoting themselves, and that with perfect impunity, to such duties to the sick as offered the most certain means of calling down the disease upon their own bodies, provided it had been at all so contagious as was generally supposed. But from this it is not to be imagined that the victims of the malady were looked upon by the general com- munity with feelings of devotion and pious commisera- tion. On the contrary, the subjects of this " most vile of all diseases," were, as a body, regarded, alike by the church and by the people, as objects of disgust. The canons of the church of Scotland, as drawn up in the thirteenth century, deal with the unfortunate lepers more humanely than most other ecclesiastical judica- tories ; for after recommending them to be admonished to respect the churches of their districts, it is added, that if they cannot be induced to do so, let no coercion be employed, seing that affliction should not be accumu- lated upon the afflicted, but rather their miseries com- miserated. But the contempt displayed towards them seems to have been almost proverbial, so late as the age of Elizabeth. Thus Shakspeare makes Margaret of Anjou exclaim to the afflicted and suspicious Henry VI., after the murder of his uncle, the Duke of Gloucester, — 110 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. " Why do9t thou turn away and hide thy face ? I am no loathsome leper, look on me." According to the tenor of various old civil codes and local enactments, when a person became affected with leprosy, he was looked upon as legally and politically dead, and lost the privileges belonging to his right of citizen- ship. By the laws of England, lepers were classed with idiots, madmen, outlaws, &c, as incapable of being heirs. But it was not by the eye of the law alone that the affected was looked upon as defunct, for the church also took the same view, and performed the solemn ceremo- nials of the burial of the dead over him, on the day on which he was separated from his fellow creatures, and confined to a lazar house. The various forms and cere- monies which were gone through on this occasion are described by French .authors ; but it is highly probable that the same observances were common in our own country, and, therefore, adhered to in the Leper Hos- pital of the Brigend : — A priest, robed with surplice and stole, went with the cross to the house of the doomed leper. The minister of the church began the necessary ceremonies, by ex- horting him to suffer, with a patient and penitent spirit, the incurable plague with which God had stricken him. He then sprinkled the unfortunate leper with holy water, and afterwards conducted him to the church, the usual burial services being sung during their march thither. In the church, the ordinary habiliments of the leper were removed; he was clothed in a funeral pall. CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. Ill and, while placed before the altar, between two trestles, the libera was sung, and the mass for the dead cele- brated over him. After this service he was again sprinkled with holy water, and led from the church to the house or hospital destined for his future abode. A pair of clappers, a ban-el, a stick, cowl, and dress, &c, were given him. Before leaving the leper, the priest solemnly interdicted him from appearing in public with- out his leper's garb, — from entering inns, churches, mills, and bakehouses, — from touching children, or giving them ought he had touched, — from washing his hands, or any thing pertaining to him, in the common fountains and streams, — from touching in the markets the goods he wished to buy with any thing except his stick, — from eating and drinking with any others than lepers, — and he specially forbade him from walking in narrow paths, or from answering those who spoke to him in roads and streets, unless in a whisper, that they might not be annoyed with his pestilent breath, and with the infectious odour that exhaled from his body, — and last of all, before taking his departure, and leaving the leper for ever to the seclusion of the lazar house, the official of the church terminated the ceremony of his separation from his living fellow-creatures, by throwing upon the body of the poor outcast a shovelful of earth, in imitation of the closure of the grave. According to the then customary usage, Leper Hospi- tals were always provided with a cemetery for the recep- tion of the bodies of those who had died of the malady. 112 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. The present writer has conversed with an old lady, whose mother remembered, on foundations being dug for the erection of several houses in Muirhead- Street, of bones and parts of coffins being thrown up. That these were the remains of those unfortunates, who in life had been separated from their fellow-beings, and whose bones in death were not permitted a resting-place by the sides of their ancestors, we can have no reason to doubt. The feelings naturally excited by the contemplation of such a spot, are in a great measure dispelled by the bustle which, at the present day, surrounds it on all sides, so strikingly contrasted with the silence which must at one time have enshrouded it. What a change has taken place! The common on which the leper was once doomed to live and die, and whose sod, when all his calamities were over, covered his body from human sight, is now occupied by power-loom factories ! THE PLAGUE. It appears from the bishop's chartulary, that during the years 1350, 1380, and 1381, the pest or plague raged in Glasgow with great severity. The precise features of this disease, in its various stages, we are unable at the present day satisfactorily to determine, although a similar malady under the same designation still exists in different quarters of the globe. In former times the terms pest, pestilence, and plague, were employed in Great Britain, as were the corres- ponding terms in other languages, to denote simply a CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNG-O. 113 disease, attacking a great number of persons simul- taneously and in succession, and destroying a large pro- portion of those whom it attacked— in short, a widely diffused and malignant epidemic. At the present day, these terms are restricted to signify a particular form of disease, of frequent occurrence in the countries border- ing on the eastern extremity of the Mediterranean, the Levant and Archipelago, but occasionally appearing also in countries more or less remote from these regions. The malady exhibits not in every individual case, but in a large proportion of those affected in the progress of its epidemic prevalence, two classes of symptoms, the constitutional and the local. Under the constitutional symptoms may be comprehended those indicatory of fever of a malignant character, with various concomi- tant phenomena that are in wont to attend fevers of this nature, in different regions of the globe; the local consist chiefly of glandular swellings or buboes, as they are termed, and of malignant or gangrenous boils or carbuncles. To enter, however, upon a lengthened inquiry into the exciting cause of this dreadful malady, would be here somewhat out of place, and it may be perhaps, therefore, only sufficient to mention that physicians are at variance on this subject : one class supposing that insects, inhaled into the lungs by respiration, so mix with the blood and fluids as to have a pestilential effect on the intestines ; another party being of opinion, that a damp, hot, and stagnated atmosphere, and the exhalations arising from 114 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. the putrefaction of animal substances, especially locusts, are the principal elements accessory to its production. To account, however, according to these opinions for the appearance of the " pest" in our own country, would be somewhat difficult; yet, without endeavouring to reconcile apparently inconsistent circumstances, certain it is, that, in the years above mentioned, the dreadful malady ravaged Glasgow with the most exterminating fury. According to tradition, the whole population of the city was almost swept away, and the holy fathers of the church were even not exempted. The high and the low were alike smitten by the terrible pestilence, which was looked upon by all as a direct visitation of the ven- geance of the Almighty. The streets were silent, and the scene around was indescribably awful. The sick and the dead lay in every house, aud the aims of all were apparently involuntary and purposeless. The state of moral lassitude which prevailed can scarcely be con- ceived. The city was ruined and deserted, and such was the extent of the calamity, that the scarcely ever extinguishable feeling of hope had now almost abandoned the terrified inhabitants ; — happiness lay cold and dead at every threshold; — dust lay dry over all, and there seemed to be no sign of vegetation, or promise of change. After the desolating scourge had spent its fury in the annihilation of nearly two-thirds of the inhabitants, its violence seemed at length to be exhausted. Such may be regarded as a feeble picture of the effects of that awful epidemic malady, which ravaged our city CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 115 and the whole of Britain, about the middle and the close of the fourteenth century. Simultaneously also with its appearance in our own city and country, the plague visited the greater part of Europe, and in every locality its ravages were fearfully apparent. Whole towns were depopulated ; — estates were left without claimants or occupiers ; — priests, physicians, grave-diggers, could not be found in adequate numbers, and the consecrated earth of the churchyards no longer sufficed for the reception of its destined tenants. In every place it was viewed as an unequivocal sign of the wrath of God, who, it was inferred, in his righteous wrath, intended nothing else than the extirpation of the whole sinful race of man. In the year 1649 the " pest" again paid a visit to Glasgow. Its effects at this period were greatly aggra- vated by the miseries incident to a civil war, and a grievous famine. 116 CHAPTER V. THE PRETENDER IN GLASGOW. * His amber-coloured locks in ringlets run With graceful negligence, and shone against the sun; His nose was aquiline, his eyes were blue. Ruddy his lips, and fresh and fair his hue: ****** His awful presence did the crowd surprise, Nor durst the rash spectator meet his eyes- Eyes that confessed him born for kingly sway, So fierce, they flashed intolerable day." Palamon an» Arcite. The recollection of that warlike pageant which passed through our country in 1745, still excites many feelings of a powerfully agitating nature in the bosoms of Scots- men. Although the last remnants of the Jacobite party have now altogether disappeared from amongst us, — those votaries of a perished scheme, whose presence during the last half century might be likened to the last stars lingering on the gray selvage of morn, — there is yet a romantic grandeur associated with the Pretender and his fortune, imperishably connected with our part of the island. CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 117 The principal facts connected with the Rebellion are well known to readers of Scottish history, and it would therefore be here somewhat out of place, to enter into a detail of all the various proceedings of a prince, who, guided only by his youthful ardour, could venture to throw himself upon the affections of those whom he considered his father's natural subjects, and peril his whole cause on the results of a civil war. The attempt was bold in the extreme, and involved a thousand chances of destruction to himself and those who should follow him. It was a game, in which, to use his own. emphatic language, the stakes were " either a crown or a coffin." Yet it seemed to be, in some measure, coun- tenanced by the circumstances of the country. Great Britain was then involved beyond its depth, in one of those destructive and expensive wars, which have so seldom ceased ever since it adopted a foreign race of sovereigns ; the army had been almost cut to pieces in a recent defeat ; the navy of England, generally so terrible, was engaged in distant expeditions ; and the people were grumbling violently at the motives of the war, its pro- gress, and the expense which it cost them.* Charles Edward Lewis Cassimir, the hero of "45," was born in the year 1720, and was the son of James, better known under his incognito title of the Chevalier St. George, who had headed the Rebellion of 1715. He was thus the grandson of James the Second, whose * Chambers' History of the Rebellion. 118 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. abdication of the throne was followed by the revolution of 1688. His mother was the grand-daughter of John Sobieski, the famous king of Poland. While to the weakness and the natural imbecility of character of the Chevalier, the failure of the attempt of 1715 is mainly attributable, the blood of Sobieski seems to have cor- rected that quality in his son, whose daring and talent, displayed thirty years subsequently, did every thing but retrieve the fortune of his family. We do not, however, follow Charles from the first erection of his standard in the Highlands to his invasion of England, but join him when " the games are done," and he retreating, enters an unwelcome visitor the city of G-lasgow. More, perhaps, than any other town in the country, had Glasgow reason to expect severe treatment at the hands of the insurgents. At that time newly sprung into importance, it had never required, nor received the means of defence, but was lying with its wide-spread modern streets and well stored warehouses, fully exposed to the license of the invaders. It had distinguished itself ever since the expulsion of the House of Stuart, by its sincere and invariable attachment to the new govern- ment. And since the Highlanders entered England, had, with gratuitous loyalty, raised no fewer than twelve hundred men for the suppression of the insurrection. This loyalty of the inhabitants of Glasgow, however, is not to be regarded in the present instance as a passion, but rather as a sentiment ; deeply cherished and power- CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 119 fully influential, because it had descended to them from their immediate forefathers, whose characters they revered and whose actions they were proud to imitate: their love of liberty was a sacred principle, generated by the spirit of their rational institutions, moderated by a certain sober and philosophical cast of character, and associated with the name and interests of that family from the accession of which to the throne of Britain, they might date any prosperity they enjoyed. Eeligion we must regard as the great artificer of their political opinions. Detesting the intolerable tyranny that would have forced upon them a religion which they abhorred for its affinity in form, and, in a great measure, in character, to the spiritual despotism under which the country had so long groaned, and which had cost them many sacrifices, they took up arms against a family which had sought to govern either by dispensing with, or in direct opposi- tion to, the laws. On many subsequent occasions they had shown an extreme jealousy of measures, which they believed favourable to the growth of popery, prelacy, and arbitrary power, and had gone all constitutional lengths in opposition to what they conceived subversive of, or injurious to, that form of ecclesiastical polity, which had been founded by the exertions and hallowed and endeared by the blood of their martyred forefathers ; and which by its severe simplicity, and the utter absence of all pageantry and holy paraphernalia, was so congenial to the spirit which the Reformation had engendered in Scot- land. Presbyterianism has, on every occasion of *actual 120 CHRONICLES OP ST. MUNGfl trial and need, proved itself an insurmountable and invincible bulwark to the throne, and has stood at equal distances from the wild and incalculating ebullitions of a generous and disinterested, but dangerous and destruc- tive loyalty, which could only display itself by insurrec- tion against the state, and the mad projects of visionary reformers and factious agitators. Thus it was, that in the " forty-five," the inhabitants of Glasgow to a man remained firm in their fidelity to the House of Hanover ; and in spite of ancient recollections, and the powerful appeal made to their national feelings and individual sympathies, persevered in unshaken and unquestioned attachment to a family, which had been raised to the throne by a powerful and mighty people, resolved to emancipate themselves from tyranny and oppression, yet warmed with the strongest attachment to a limited mon- archy. Obnoxious by its principles, therefore, and afford- ing such prospects of easy and ample plunder, Glasgow was eagerly approached by the predatory bands of the Chevalier, who viewed it with feelings somewhat akin to the wolf in the fable. The first body of his forces entered Glasgow on Christmas day 1745, and on the following morning he himself came up with the remainder. The necessities of the army are described as having been at this time greater than at any other period of the campaign. It was now two months since they had left the land of tartan ; their clothes were of course in a most dilapidated condition. The length and precipita- CHRONICLES OF ST. MUXGO. 121 tion of their late march had destroyed their brogues ; and many of them were not only bare-footed, but bare- legged. Their hair hung wildly over their eyes ; their beards were grown to a fearful length ; and the exposed parts of their limbs were, in the language of Dougal Graham the poetical historian of the Rebellion, and one of our own citizens, tanned quite red with the weather. Altogether, they had a way-worn savage appearance, and looked rather like a band of outlandish vagrants, than a body of efficient soldiery. The pressure of want compelled them to take every practicable measure for supplying themselves ; and, in passing towards Glasgow, they had regularly stripped such natives as they met of their shoes and other articles of dress. After their arrival in the city, a joiner, in going home from work, was required by a Highlander to throw off and deliver up his shoes. The young man, having a pair of silver buckles at his insteps, showed great reluctance to comply, when the Highlander stooped down and attempted to take them by force. As he was thus employed, the joiner, in a transport of rage, struck him a blow on the back of the head with a hammer which he held in his hand, and killed him on the spot. Previously to this period, immediately after the battle of Preston, the prince, in order to meet the exigencies of his army, had sent an order to the magistrates of Glas- gow, demanding the sum of fifteen thousand pounds sterling, together with the arrears of their taxes, and all their arms. The demand, however, not being imme- 122 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. diately complied with by the authorities, in the expecta- tion of the speedy arrival of government forces, Charles despatched a Mr. Hay, writer to the signet, with a party of horse, to the city, in order to compel the exaction, with instructions at the same time to threaten the town with military execution, and to hang the chief magis- trate, in case of non-compliance. Inability having been pled, after considerable altercation, the messenger accepted a composition of five thousand pounds in money, and goods to the amount of the tenth of that sum. Immediately upon his arrival in the city, Charles took measures for the complete refitting of his army, by ordering the magistrates to provide 12,000 shirts, 6000 cloth coats, 6000 pair of shoes, 6000 pair of stockings, 6000 waistcoats, and 6000 bonnets. He is also said to have sent for the Provost (Buchanan), and sternly de- manded the names of such as had subscribed for raising troops against him, threatening to hang the worthy magistrate in case of refusal. The provost is said to have answered, that he would name no person but him- self, and that he was not afraid to die in such a cause. He was forced to pay a fine of £500. Charles took up his residence at what was then con- sidered the best house in the city, (described in a former part- of the present work,) belonging to a wealthy merchant of the name of GUassford, which stood at the western extremity of the Trongate, at the foot of the modern Glassford- Street, and was afterwards taken I CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 123 down for the extension of the former. At his arrival, he is said to have caused his men to enter this house by the front gate, go out by the back door, and then, making a circuit through some by-lanes, re-appear in front of the mansion, as if they had been newly arrived. But this ruse, practised in order to magnify the appearance of his army, was detected by the citizens, whose acute eyes recognised the botanical badges of the various clans as they successively re-appeared. The real number of the army, when it reached Glasgow, were only about 3600 foot and 500 horse. Of the latter, which were all much jaded, sixty were employed in carrying the sick; whilst about six hundred of the infantry neither had arms, nor seemed to be able to use them. During his residence in Mr. Glassford's house, Charles ate twice a-day, in public, though without ceremony, accompanied by a few of his officers, and waited upon by a small number of devoted Jacobite ladies, to whom he gave several entertainments, for the purpose of reward- ing and securing their affections. His conduct in this respect seems to have been dictated from prudent motives, for it is well known that in every place where he visited, the ladies exercised a prodigious influence over his fortunes. They were the most numerous and staunchest of his adherents : they were almost universally in love with him, and did not even scruple, on all fit occasions, to avow their Jacobitism, by wearing white breastknots and ribands. In his general conversation with them he showed all the advantages of high breed- 124 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. ing, besides that of a certain degree of talent for witty and poignant remark, which tended, in no slight measure, to enhance him in the favour of the fair. In all his proceedings towards them he was ruled by a due regard to impartiality. The dress which he wore in their pre- sence, while in our city, was sometimes " a habit of fine silk tartan, (with crimson velvet breeches,) sometimes an English court coat, with the blue ribbon, star, and other ensigns of the order of the garter." At the present day, even with all the common-place ideas of a work-a-day world, it is sometimes difficult to withstand a powerful appeal to patriotic feelings ; yet it seems that our ancestors experienced no bewildering or ecstatic emotion, when a prince, possessing every exter- nal mark of regal descent, — a Stuart, too, and one in all respects worthy of his noble race, — appeared before them as an appellant for assistance. " Nothing could a charm impart," to make the Whigs of Glasgow regard the youthful chevalier with either respect or affection. Previously hostile to his cause, they were now incensed in the highest degree against him, by his severe exactions on the public purse, and by the private depredations of his men. To such a height did this feeling arise, that an insane zealot snapped a pistol at him as he was riding along the Saltmarket. He is said to have admired the regularity and beauty of the streets of Glasgow, but to have remarked with bitterness, that nowhere had he found so few friends. During the whole ten days he spent in the city, he procured no CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 125 more than sixty recruits — a poor compensation for the numerous desertions which now began to take place, in consequence of the near approach of his men to their own country. From the moment of the Pretender's arrival in our city, it was a useless attempt to attend even to the com- mon routine of every-day occupation. Shops and counting- houses were shut, and while His Royal Highness was holding his levees in Mr. Glassford's abode, the loyal subjects of government were holding consultations in their own dwellings as to the audacity and effrontery of the invaders. After having nearly succeeded in refitting his army, he held a grand review upon the Green. " We marched out," says one of his adherents, (John Daniel, a native of Lancashire, who has left a manuscript journal of the campaign,) " with drums beating, colours flying, bag- pipes playing, and all the marks of a triumphant army, to the appointed ground, attended by multitudes of people, who had come from all parts to see us, and especially the ladies, who, though formerly much against us, were now charmed by the sight of the Prince into the most enthusiastic loyalty. I am somewhat at a loss," continues this devout cavalier, " to give a descrip- tion of the Prince, as he appeared at the review. No object could be more charming, no personage more captivating, no deportment more agreeable, than his at that time was; for, being well mounted and princely attired, having all the best endowments of both body 126 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. and mind, he appeared to bear a sway, above any com- parison, with the heroes of the last age ; and the majesty and grandeur he displayed were truly noble and divine." A thorn-tree, known by the name of " Prince Charlie's tree," is still pointed out as that under which Charles took his stand on this occasion. It is situated on the northern boundary of the Flesher's haugh, and now presents a somewhat blasted appearance. It may be worth while to contrast, with the above flattering portraiture, the description which has been given of Charles by a sober citizen in relation to the same occurrence. " I managed," says this person, quoting his memory after an interval of seventy years, " to get so near him, as he passed homeward to his lodgings, that I could have touched him with my hand ; and the impression which he made upon my mind shall never fade as long as I live. He had a princely aspect, and its interest was much heightened by the dejection which appeared in his pale fair countenance and down- cast eye. He evidently wanted confidence in his cause, and seemed to have a melancholy foreboding of that disaster, which soon after ruined the hopes of his family for ever." During his stay in Glasgow Charles printed a Ga- zette for the benefit of his soldiers, showing the state of his army, and detailing his intended operations. When he left the town he carried with him a printing press, a fount of letters, a large quantity of printing paper, and three workmen. The contributions which he had levied CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 127 on the authorities since his arrival not being able to be paid previous to his march, he took with him two gentle- men, (whose names, however, are now unknown,) as hostages till the amount should be defrayed ; at the same time he obliged all the inhabitants, under pain of military execution, to deliver up all the arms, powder, and ball, they might have in their possession. He also sent out parties to the districts within a few miles of the city, and exacted large contributions in corn, hay, straw, &c, and seized a great number of horses. Having recruited the spirits of his men, and improved their appointments by ten days' residence in Glasgow, the Prince departed on the 3d of January, and sent forward his troops in two detachments, one to Kilsyth, and the other to Cumbernauld. By this time, the English army arriving in Edinburgh, strengthened that city beyond all danger; consequently, had it been Charles' intention again to take possession of the capital, he now abandoned it for the purpose of raising the siege of the fortress of Stirling. Encountering on the 13th of the same month the Royal forces at Falkirk, he gained the last victory he was destined to achieve. The disgraces which had hitherto befallen the government generals, Cope and Hawley, had at length so aroused the court of St. James, that the command of the army, as a last resort, was intrusted to the king's son, William, Duke of Cumberland. This general accordingly made preparations to oppose the Prince with an immense force. The troops of the latter having by this time 128 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. become much diminished, and few or no accessions to his standard taking place, he conceived it the most prudent mode of procedure to withdraw to the Highlands. The tone of reception accorded to the Royalist commander, by the folks of Glasgow, on his arrival in Scotland, may be best expressed by the following congratulatory lines, addressed to " His Royal Highness, the Duke of Cum- berland : ' ' — " These Toils, sweet Prince, tho' painful now they be, Repose to Millions bring who pray for thee ; Freed from Oppression and from lawless power, Cheer'd with thy Presence in a lucky hour : The sun dispels the fogs, brings on the Day; Thy name has frighted tyranny away,— O that thy country's care would but allow Thy presence oft'ner with us, as is now! The savage Brood would soon converted be,— Sweetness of manners, and civility, And all the social virtues learn from thee; With pride they'd follow such a leader far, Forget their chiefs, and take thy name in war." Courant, March, 1746. The 16th of April, 1746, is memorable as the day on which the eternal interests of Britain were decided, on the field of Culloden. Never, perhaps, was there a battle commenced with so high a prospect depending upon its issue ; and never, probably, did agony take so deep a hold on the mind of a general, as when Charles, confounded, bewildered, and in tears, was compelled to leave the field, on which was strewn the bodies of the many brave men who had fallen in his defence. The news of this last and final struggle, which effectually secured the house of Hanover on the throne, spread CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 129 like wild-fire through the country, and formed the signal of a day of universal rejoicing among our citizens. The following is the account of the proceedings, which appeared in the " Courant," on the 28th of April : — " On Monday last, we had the greatest rejoicings that has been known these thirty years past, for the signal and glorious victory gained by His Majesty's forces, com- manded by our brave and victorious prince, William, Duke of Cumberland, over the Rebels, on the 16th instant. At ten o'clock in the morning, the music bells were play'd, and other bells set a ringing. By noon, a very great number of Bonfires were lighted at the Cross, before the College Gate, and in every street. At six in the evening, all the bells were rung, at which time the Magistrates, accompanied with several persons of distinction, the Masters of the University, and principal inhabitants of this Loyal city, went to the top of the stairs leading to the Town's Great Hall, where they drank, (under a discharge of small arms, by a large detachment of the Town's Regiment, which was in His Majesty's service in the action near Falkirk,) the Healths of His Majesty, their Royal Highnesses, the Prince and Princess of Wales, the Duke of Cumberland, all the Branches of the Royal Family, and success to His Majesty's army. Thereafter they repaired to the Town Hall, where the above Healths were repeated, with the addition of many other Loyal Healths. At night, all the Windows fronting the streets, besides many looking backwards into closses, were finely illumi- g2 130 p CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. nated; — several windows were prettily decorated with emblematical Figures and proper devices; and on one Window were the following verses : — • Great Cumberland .' the Rebels dread thy Name: Go, mount the chariot of Immortal Fame; The vengeance of thy Rod, with general Joy, Shall scourge Rebellion, and the Daring Roy; Thy sounding arms his Gallic Patron bears, And speeds his flight, nor overtakes his fears, Till hard despair wring from the Tyrant's soul The iron tears, which he cannot controul. William, a generous soul, who scorns his ease, Tempting the winter and the faithless seas, And pays an annual tribute with his life, To guard poor Scotland from a Popish knife. When we saw Tyranny and Rome Portending blood and might to come, Cumberland diffused a vital ray, And gave the Dying Nation Day.' " Several companies of Volunteers paraded through the streets, surrounding the Bonfires, drinking all the Royal Healths, &c, at each of which they gave a volley of small arms. A very melancholy accident happened to one of these Companies, by one of their Firelocks bursting, by which the Person that fired the Piece was miserably hurt in the Hand, and one Alexander Marshall, (a journeyman Dyer,) who stood next to him, was killed by a Piece of the Stock, which pierced into his Brains." Addresses were also drawn up by the University and Town Council, to congratulate the Duke of Cumberland on his achievement; and altogether we can scarcely conceive a greater amount of adulation than was paid to his Royal Highness. Yet, notwithstanding all the eulogy which was bestowed upon him, he cannot be CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 131 altogether freed from the charge of having committed the most shocking cruelties during his campaign in Scot- land. He has been characterised by his friend, Earl Waldgrave, as "one whose judgment would have been equal to his parts, had it not been too much guided by his passions, which were often violent and ungovernable." The cruelties, however, which distinguished his Scottish campaign rather argued the cool malignant fiend than the violent man of anger. His courage was that of the bull-dog ; but he had not the generosity of that animal, to turn away from his victim when it could no longer oppose him. After fairly overthrowing his antagonist, his savage disposition demanded that he should throttle, and gore, and excruciate it, as a revenge for the trouble it had put him in the combat. He had that persever- ing and insatiable appetite for prey, that, not contented -with sucking the blood and devouring the flesh of his victims, he could enjoy himself in mumbling their bones ; and when even these were exhausted of sap and taste, he would gnash on for sport, and was only to be finally withdrawn from the horrid feast when putridity had rendered it disgusting to his senses.* His name is deservedly held in execration by the people of Scotland. It seems to have been one of the most amiable features in the character of the unfortunate Prince, that there were few of those with whom he came closely in contact who did not become highly fascinated by his bearing * Chambers' History of the Rebellion. 132 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. towards them. The enthusiastic and devoted attach- ment with which he succeeded in inspiring them, was such as no subsequent events could ever dissipate or im- pair. Even half a century after they had seen him, when years might be supposed to do away with their early feelings, it was impossible to find a surviving fellow- adventurer, and they were then many, who could speak of him without tears and sighs of affectionate regret. Within the last few years a venerable matron, by name Mrs. Carmichael, died in Glasgow, at the advanced age of 108. This centenary had a distinct recollection of Prince Charles' short residence in the city, and of many circumstances connected with it. She had been a servant in the house where the Prince took up his quarters, and, according to her own account, had had the honour of "baking cakes for Charlie." She was accustomed to speak of him with the most enthusiastic fondness ; and it is to be regretted, that many anecdotes which she used to relate regarding that " eventful period," are now irrecoverably lost, on account of no devout anti- quarian being to be found to record her reminiscences. 133 CHAPTER VI. LITERARY ANTIQUITIES OP GLASGOW. How shall I speak thee, or thy power address, Thou God of our idolatry, the Press?" Cowper. The art of printing was introduced into Glasgow by George Anderson, in 1638, the same year in which the memorable General Assembly met there, and one of the first works printed by him was, " The Protestation of the Generall Assemblie of the Church, and of the noble- men, barons, gentlemen, borrowes, ministers, and com- mons; subscribers of the Covenant, lately renewed, made in the High Kirk, and at the Mercate Crosse of Glasgow; the 28 and 29 of November, 1638." Ander- son appears to have come to Glasgow in consequence of an invitation from the magistrates, — they agreeing that, besides an annual salary, he should receive a compensa- tion for the expense of removing from Edinburgh. The following is the first notice of him in the records of the 134 CHRONICLES OP ST. MUNGO. town council :—" 4th January, 1640. The said day ordaines the thesaurer to pay to George Anderson, prin- ter, ane hundredth pundis, in satisfaction to him, of the superplus he debursit in transporting of his gear to the burghe, by the ten dollaris he gave him of befoir to that effect : and also in satisfaction to him of his haill by- gane fealtis fra Whitsunday in anno 1638 to Martimes last." Anderson was succeeded by his son Andrew, who appears to have printed in Edinburgh in 1654-55. He commenced printing in Glasgow some time after- wards, and continued there till about 1661, when he returned to Edinburgh. Having obtained the appoint- ment of printer to that city and university, he, in 1670, began printing an edition of the New Testament, in black letter ; but it was so disgracefully inaccurate, that the privy council, on the 9th of February, 1671, ordained him " to receive from the stationers all the copies re- maining unsold," and prohibited him, under a penalty, from re-issuing it until it should be revised, and a new title page prefixed to it. Notwithstanding this transac- tion, which one would have supposed would have ruined his character as a printer, Anderson was, within three months of that date, appointed His Majesty's sole prin- ter for Scotland. Anderson was succeeded in Glasgow by Robert San- ders, who styled himself printer to the city, and who was for many years the only printer in the west of Scot- land. But his unworthy predecessor, the royal typo- grapher, being determined to enjoy his monopoly to its CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 135 fullest extent, proceeded to Glasgow, and by threats, or fair promises, prevailed upon Sanders' workmen to desert him "in the midst of ane impression (of the New Testament,) to his heavy loss and prejudice." This oppressive action brought the matter before the Privy Council, which decided in December, 1671, that Sanders should be allowed to finish his book, and that every prin- ter in Scotland had an equal right with His Majesty's to print the New Testament and Psalm Book, in the letter commonly called English Roman. In 1680, the heir of Anderson complained to the council that Sanders had vended bibles printed and imported from Holland, and that he had reprinted several works on divinity contrary to privilege. This charge having been proven against him by his own confession, he was ordained to deliver up the books so printed to the pursuer, but no other penalty was inflicted. He ultimately purchased a share of the business and having brought workmen and materials from Holland, printed several works in a creditable style. Sanders died, according to Watson, about 1696, leav- ing his printing establishment to his son Robert Sanders, of Auldhouse. A few of the works first printed by him were tolerably executed, but his latter productions are extremely paltry and inaccurate. Printing was now, and for some years afterwards, in the lowest state in Scotland. The exorbitancy of the royal grant to Ander- son had produced the worst effects. No person appears to have been employed for the sole purpose of correcting 136 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. the press, and the low wages given to pressmen, with the badness of the machines themselves, also tended to retard improvement. To these may be added the follow- ing: — " There are two things," says Wodrow the church historian, " hinder us in Scotland from printing — pride and poverty. Pride — in that we will print nothing that is common, whereas abroad, the plainest and most com- mon things are printed and reprinted every year ; but we will not appear unless we have something new and surprising to the world. And poverty, — we want money to print, and the people want money to buy books, and there is no sale for them when printed." Several attempts, previous to the year 1713, were made to estab- lish a printing house in connection with the University, which, however, proved unsuccessful ; but in that year, a paper entitled, " Proposals for erecting a bookseller's shop and a printing press within the University of Glas- gow, " appears to have been presented to the faculty, in which it is mentioned, that they were " obliged to go to Edinburgh in order to get one sheet right printed." During the same year, Thomas Harvie, a student of divinity, engaged to furnish, " with all convenient des- patch, one or more printing presses, and at farthest four years from the date hereof, to furnish founts and other materials for printing Greek, Latin, and Hebrew, at least so many of the last kind of characters as are need- ful to print a grammar," under condition that he should be immediately declared University printer and book- seller for forty years, with " all the privileges and immu- CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 137 nities which the University hath, or shall have hereafter, to bestow on their printer and bookseller." Although these terms were not ultimately accepted, they seem at least to have been under frequent consideration, and the sketch of a contract with Harvie is preserved among the University papers. Two years afterwards, " Donald Govane, younger, merchant in Glasgow, and printer," was appointed to the same office for seven years. His name, however, appears at very few books. In 1718, the art of type-making was introduced by "James Duncan, letter founder in Glasgow." The types used by him are evidently of his own making, — rudely cut, and badly proportioned. He deserves credit, however, for the attempt, and his letters are little inferior to those used by the other Scottish printers of that period. He continued to print for many years. The precise date at which Robert Urie commenced printing is not known. Robert Urie and Company were printers in- the Gallowgate in 1740, and during the following year executed several works for Robert Foulis. But instead of pursuing the present subject, by a mere dry and uninteresting detail of facts, we shall here, by way of episode, enter into a short sketch of the old newspapers of the city, forming, as they do, no unim- portant feature in the " literary antiquities of Glasgow." OLD NEWSPAPERS OF GLASGOW. The Newspaper Press may be justly characterised as the greatest engine of public improvement that has ¥ 138 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. existed within the history of our race. By means of it, the most important changes are brought about in the political relations of society. The British nation are present in the senate, in the forum, and in the Campus Martius. They listen to every proposal, weigh every argument, reject a magistrate, or pass a law. The plebiscitum does not operate so instantaneously as in ancient Rome, but it is much more sound; and when once recognised, it becomes irreversible. The senatus-consultum is not, indeed, checked by tribunes; but it is generally influ- enced by the popular feeling excited through the press. The rapidity, fulness, and accuracy with which reports of all proceedings, transactions, debates, trials, and occurrences are printed and circulated, are striking features in the intellectual march of mankind. In this respect, the superiority of the Newspaper Press of the present day over that of past times, is so great, that the whole machinery seems an original invention, rather than the result of gradual improvements through suc- cessive ages. Previous to the reign of George III. newspapers were the reverse of respectable, but in his reign the discussions of newspapers first began to acquire elegance, judgment, and force. The celebrated letters of Junius, for example, form a high model in this respect. Yet, it was not till the nineteenth century, that newspapers acquired that authentic and dignified char- acter which they now possess. To Venice belongs the distinction of publishing, in 1536, the first newspaper, or gazetta, so called from the CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 139 name of the coin paid for it. The earliest English newspaper appeared under the title of the " English Mercurie," in the reign of Elizabeth, during the alarm created by the appearance of the Spanish Armada. Scotland is indebted for her first publication of this kind, to the victorious arms of Cromwell. It was pub- lished at Leith in 1653, for the benefit of the English soldiers, being a reprint of a London paper, under the name of Mercurius Politicus, but was next year trans- ferred to Edinburgh, when its title was changed to that of Mercurius Publicus. The earliest Scottish newspaper, of native manufacture, appeared in 1662, and was called Mercurius Caledonius. The first newspaper published in Glasgow appeared on the 14th of November 1715, and was entitled " The Glasgow Courant, containing the occurrences both at Home and Abroad : Glasgow, Printed for R. T., and are to be sold at the Printing House in .the Colledge, and at the Post Office, Price Three half-pence. — N.B. Regular Customers to be charged only one Penny." The second number of this paper contains a letter from Aird, the then late Lord Provost, and Colonel of the Glasgow Volunteers, dated " Stirling Bridge, 13th Nov., at 9 at night, 1715," addressed to his successor in office. It details the movements of the rebels in that quarter, and states that they * expect another hit at them if they stand." It soon, however, changed its name, as the fourth number was published under the title of the " West 140 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. Country Intelligence." The following is a copy of the prospectus: — " This Paper is to be printed three times every week for the Use of the Countrey round ; any Gentleman or Minister, or any other who wants them, may have them at the Universitie's Printing House, or at the Post Office. It's hoped this Paper will give satisfaction to the Readers, and that they will encourage it by sending Subscriptions for one Year, half Year, or Quarterly, to the above directed Places, where they shall be served at a most easie Rate. " Advertisements are to be taken in at either the Printing House in the Colledge, or Post Office. " The Gentlemen in the Towns of Aberdeen, St. Andrews, Inverness, Brechen, Dundee, St. Johnstoun, Stirling, Dumbarton, Inverary, Dumfries, Lanerk, Hamiltoun, Irvine, Air, Kilmarnock, and Stanraer, are desired to send by Post any News they have, and especially Sea- Port Towns, to advise what ships come in or sail off from those Parts." It is not known how long this paper was continued. A file of it is preserved in the University Library, extending to the first of May 1716, being, in all, sixty- seven numbers. It was printed on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, in a small quarto form, (each paper containing twelve pages,) and was made up of extracts from foreign journals, from the London newspapers, private letters, and occasional poetry, with very little local intelligence. CHKOXICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 141 ** The Glasgow Journal" (a weekly paper) was begun, under the editorship of Andrew Stalker, on the 20th of July 1741, and was printed by Robert Urie & Co., for Andrew Stalker and Alexander Carlile, booksellers. Mr. Duncan, of this city, in his valuable work, entitled " Notices and Documents of the Literary History of Glasgow," presented in 1831 to the Maitland Club, in reference to this paper, observes : — " With what degree of talent it was conducted for the first few years, it would be difficult to ascertain, no copy of it, during that period, being known to remain." The present writer, however, by way of correcting this slight error, begs leave to mention that he has now before him a volume containing a copy of the " Glasgow Journal," from the second number to the fifty-second, inclusive. The merits of its editorship are not surpassing; but in this respect it resembles most of the provincial journals of that time. All the numbers, extending from 1745 to 1749, have been recovered, — a period, one would suppose, sufficiently interesting. The conductor, however, appears to have consulted his own personal security too much, to permit him to give a firm and candid detail of the events which were then taking place. He has omitted several of the most important facts in the history of the Rebellion ; and at length, when the danger approached his own door, was constrained to give vent to his terror in a letter which he inserted in the Journal. He had offended his readers by his omissions, and resolved to retire, for a time, from his public duties, till the storm should blow 142 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. over. The following is the advertisement by which he apprised the readers of his prudent determination : — " Oct. 14 (1745). To the Encouragers of the Glasgow Journal. — Gentlemen, — I have carried on this Paper since the beginning, and have to the utmost of my power endeavoured to give an impartial account of facts as they happened ; but finding that, considering the situa- tion of affairs, I cannot with safety publish to please the generality of my readers, I have, therefore, given over being concerned in the writing or publishing this paper till such time as the peace of this country be restored, and have committed the care of it to an unexceptionable hand ; and as you have favoured me with your counten- ance and encouragement, I hope you'll continue to do so to him ; and am thankfully and respectfully, Gentlemen, your most humble servant, " Andrew Stalker." It would appear that the meaning of this advertise- ment had been somewhat misunderstood; to rectify which mistake, Stalker published another letter in the next paper : — " Oct. 21. To the Encouragers of the Glasgow Journal. — A wrong sense being put upon my last adver- tisement, as if I intended to drop this Paper, I hereby inform my Readers, that I continue to have the same share in it as formerly, tho' for some time, I am not to write it, nor collect the News from other Papers, Mr. Urie having undertaken that part, who I'm convinced will give satisfaction; and I hope that such as have CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 143 hitherto been my Friends and Encouragers will con- tinue to be so. " Andrew Stalker." Whether he resumed his editorship in quieter times, is now unknown : his name still continued as the pub- lisher of the paper, although, immediately after the last letter appeared, Urie's name as printer was suppressed. Yet whatever may have been the defects in the editorial department of this paper, it was printed in a style creditable in the highest degree to the town, and infinitely better than the newspapers published forty years afterwards. Whether or not the retirement of the editor of the Journal was the cause of a new paper being started, we are not aware ; but a publication, under the old title of the Courant, was begun on the 14th of October 1745, " printed for Matthew Simson, and sold by John Gilmour at his shop opposite to Gibson's Land, Saltmercat." A copy of this paper, from the 1st to the 115th number, is now before us. Among many other curious things, it contains complete lists of the names of the rebels who were executed in the different towns of the country, with tolerably full reports of the trials of the rebel lords. To a newspaper reader of the present day, the adver- tisements to be found in these antique prints are some- what amusing. While in our own times it would be considered a nmtter of indelicacy, if not of absolute supererogation, to enlarge on the virtues, the beauty, or the dower, of a bride in the common notifications of marriages, it was the custom, a century ago, to apprise 144 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. the world of all the most prominent qualities of a lady who had just entered into wedlock. Thus we find such notices as the following : — " Last week Mr. Graham younger of Dougalston was married to Miss Campbell, of Skirving, a beautiful and virtuous young lady." (Glasgow Courant of February 9, 1747.) " On Monday last, Dr. Robert Hamilton, Professor of Anatomy and Botany in the University of Glasgow, was married to Miss Mally Baird, a beautiful young lady with a handsome fortune." (May 4, 1747.) " On Monday last, Mr. James Johnstone, merchant in this place, was married to Miss Peggy Newall, a young lady of great merit, and a fortune of £4000." (August 3, 1747.) Another advertisement which sounds a little strangely to a modern ear is the following : — " James Hodge, who lives in the first close above the Cross, on the west side of the street, Glasgow, continues to sell burying Crapes ready made ; and his wife's niece, who lives with him, dresses dead Corpses at as cheap a rate as was formerly done by her aunt, having been educated by her, and perfected at Edinburgh, from whence she is lately arrived, and has all the newest and best fashions." The following is a most earnest and convincing appeal from an unfortunate barber, who grievously complains of the conduct of various individuals in the non-payment of their accounts for shaving and wig-dressing: — CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 145 "February 16, 1747. " TO THE CITIZENS OF GLASGOW. " Gentlemen, — I take the liberty of addressing you in this Manner ; And if you'll allow yourselves to think but a little, I make no doubt but you will be disposed to ease me of these Hardships I complain of. Before I com- menced Master, I took particular care to be capable of my Business. I had as much Money to begin the World as not to be obliged to buy my Goods at a Dis- advantage ; and I fortunately got a Sett of good Cus- tomers ; I have lived industriously and frugally ; and my Prices were Neighbour-like. But notwithstanding all this, at the End of some Years I found my affairs going backwards ; and I having met with considerable Losses, I began to examine from whence this Misfortune might arise ; I plainly discovered it to be the Effects of being under-paid in these Articles of Shaving and Dressing; and after an exact Calculation, I find my yearly Income for these Articles not sufficient to defray my necessary Expences in that Branch of Business : To remedy which I humbly propose, that every Gentleman that is waited on at his own House, would pay yearly at so low a Rate as a Halfpenny for every Wig dressing, and a penny for each Shave, which is really little more than Porters' wages, and yet it is considerably more than I am generally paid. I know well no Gentleman will allow me to be a Loser to his knowledge ; but this is undoubtedly my Case, and likewise those of my Brethren who keep good materials for your service. I H 146 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. expect you will consider my reasonable and modest Request." It would seem that in those warlike times we possessed a resident drum maker in our city, who, if we may judge from the tone of the following notification, must have had some goodly exercise for his handicraft : — " William Murdoch, wright in Gorbels of Glasgow, at the sign of the Brum and Little Wheel, makes Drums (conform'd to the method of Herbert Heggins, Drum Maker to his Majesty's Office of Ordinance,) either big or small, coarse or fine, for sea or land, at very reasonable rates, and as good as any in Scotland." As a specimen of Glasgow newspaper poetry of that time, the following will serve : — ELEGIAC VERSES ON THE YOUNG CHEVALIER'S ATTEMPTING TO MAKE HIS ESCAPE. Shall Charles fall, and shall no Grub-street lay, In doleful doggrel, mourn his sad mishap? Nothing, alas! can his great loss repay, Unless he gain a mitre or a cap. He came to seek a Coffin or a Crown; — Oh! fatal chance, to be in both mistaken! No sword would kill, no whelming wave would drown ; And he, against his will, has saved his bacon! How will thy sire, for courage great renown 'd, Lament thy flight, and shun the fond embrace; While Scotia's hills with William's name resound, — A name foredoomed to give thy house disgrace. What grief will reign at Rome, among the herd Of Monks and Priests, of Jesuits, Prelates, Nuns? CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 147 Whose unavailing prayers, to saints preferred, Could not protect thy men from her'tick guns. What power could frustrate holy Father's aid? Could 'gainst his potent blessings countervail? Some star its baleful influence sure must shed, To cause Infallibility to fail. Resign, without regret, the martial field To Cumberland, — the pride of Brunswick's race; Where he commands, the target is no shield, Seek then to fill a more becoming place. No more let diadems thy fancy fire: No more let hereticks thy hopes defeat: But to some cloister'd convent safe retire, And shine, an Abbot, every way complete. Courant, June 16th, 1746. The above verses, although, perhaps, not couched in that "tenderly sentimental" strain which distinguishes similar effusions of our own times, still, in other points of view, eclipse the most ambitious efforts of our modern newspaper poetasters. As before remarked, the stirring times of the Rebel- lion prevented our Glasgow newspapers from pleasing all parties, especially those favourable to the cause of the Pretender, Prince Charles Edward; consequently, through fear of the ruling powers, we find nothing in these prints but the most excessive adulation of the Royalist commander, the Duke of Cumberland, and the utmost contempt for the rebels. With respect to politics, they cannot be said to have 148 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. advocated any set of opinions. We are unable to dis- cover what were the real sentiments of their conductors on the subjects of legislation or government. They are characterised by little unity of design, and appear to have been simply mediums of intelligence, without any attempt to guide or form the public mind on matters of general interest. To return, however, from this episode : — Urie, previously mentioned, continued to print very extensively in Glasgow till his death, which was occa- sioned by a paralytic stroke, on the 9th of February, 1771; and although he was guilty of several piracies, — a practice in which he was probably encouraged by a decision of the Court of Session in favour of his friend Stalker, in 1748, — yet he is undoubtedly entitled to* the credit of restoring the respectability of the Glasgow press. Amongst the finest specimens of his work, are his editions of the Greek New Testament, and the Spectator. Robert Foulis, to whom we have already alluded, was the eldest son of Robert Faulls, (the original name of the family) maltman in Glasgow, and of Marion Patter- son. He was born in Glasgow on the 20th of April, 1707, and his brother Andrew aoout five years afterwards. During their earlier years, they were educated under the care of their mother, who appears to have been a woman of plain good sense, and to have possessed a degree of knowledge considerably beyond her rank. She instilled into their youthful minds principles which remained with CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 149 them ever afterwards, and led them uniformly to speak of her with the greatest respect. Robert was sent, probably at an early period, as an apprentice to a barber ; and, like his great countryman, Allan Ramsay, he even seems to have practised the art for some time on his own account, It was while in this humble situation that the celebrated Dr. Francis Hut- cheson, at that time Professor of Moral Philosophy in the University, discovered in him that talent which was afterwards cultivated with so much success ; he inflamed his desire for knowledge, suggested to him the idea of becoming a bookseller and a printer; and although Foulis did not receive a complete university education as a preparatory step to this employment, he continued to attend for several years the lectures of his generous patron. Andrew, who seems to have been originally intended for the church, received a more regular educa- tion, and for some years taught the Greek, Latin, and French languages, and all the departments of philosophy then studied at the University. So ardently did the brothers pursue their private studies, that their lamp was seldom extinguished before midnight. The state of the University, in the earlier part of the eighteenth century, was sufficiently deplorable. When Episcopacy was restored by Charles II., it had been deprived of a considerable part of its revenues, — those derived from the rentals of church lands. The greater number of the professors had also embarked in the unfor- tunate Darien expedition ; and the turbulence of the 150 CHRONICLES OF ST. MTJNGO. students, with the disturbed state of the country, added to their grievances. About the period at which the Foulises were students, it began to recover from the effects of these " troubles." The professorships of humanity and ecclesiastical history were revived, and those of oriental languages, civil law, medicine, and botany, were founded. A visitation took place in 1727, and the commissioners drew up a statute and act regu- lating the University, the most important part of which seems to have been that the professors of philosophy who had hitherto carried their students through the three courses of logic, ethics, and natural philosophy, should in future confine themselves to one of these subjects. The time was now come when it should be no longer deemed beneath the dignity of a learned university to permit English to be spoken within its walls. Dr. Hut- cheson had introduced the practice of lecturing in English, and by this means not only obscurity of lan- guage was avoided, but the ancient and tiresome method of dictating rendered unnecessary. His colleagues slowly followed his example. Of the occupation of the Foulises for several succeed- ing years, little or nothing is known. In 1738 they went to England, visiting on their route the university of Ox- ford ; from thence they repaired to the continent, and, after an absence of some months, returned to Glasgow in November of the same year. They again went abroad in 1739, and resided several months in France. In these tours they had opportunities of meeting with persons of CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 151 considerable literary and scientific attainments; through the Chevalier Ramsay, (a foreigner of distinction,) they had access to the best public libraries, and by these means they acquired an extent of information which their private studies could never have given them. During the same period they applied themselves to the study of the Greek and Roman Classics, and as copies of these were then scarce in Britain, they collected a considerable number, and on their return sold them in London at such prices as amply rewarded their industry. Having thus acquired a pretty accurate knowledge of books, Robert began business at Glasgow, as a bookseller, in 1741, and in the following year the first production of his press appeared. While abroad, he had compared the letters used by the different printers, and having at length fixed upon those of Robert Stephens, one of the three cele- brated type-founders of that name, as the most elegant, he employed Messrs. Wilson & Bain of this city to execute fonts upon these models. He also attended a printing house in Glasgow for a short time, and thus acquired a knowledge of the minute parts of the art. From the foregoing observations it will be seen that Robert Foulis began his career as a printer under very advantageous circumstances. He was assisted in the correction of his press by George Ross, then professor of Humanity in the University, " an elegant Latin scholar, and a^modest and most amiable man," and afterwards professor of Greek. Dr. Alexander Wilson, too, had just then improved the method of casting types, and 152 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. established a manufactory at the village of Camlachie, in the immediate neighbourhood of Glasgow. With this excellent man, the two Foulises ever afterwards con- tinued on terms of intimacy. To these advantages must be added the appointment of the elder brother as printer to the University shortly afterwards. The following is an extract from the records : — " Slst March, 1743. — Robert Foulis having this day given in a petition to the University, representing that he had provided himself with fine types, both Greek and Latin, and desiring he may be made University Printer, the Meeting having seen specimens of his printing, and found it such as he deserves very well to be encouraged in, did chuse the said Robert Foulis into the office of Uni- versity Printer, and grant to him all the privileges belonging thereto, upon this condition, viz., that he shall not use the designation of University Printer without allowance, in any books excepting those of antient authors. " Jon. Ore, Rector. " Rob. Simson, CI. Univ." The University did not require, as in former times, that a copy of each book printed at their press should be given gratis to the library. From the records it appears that Foulis presented a catalogue of the works he had for sale, and that a committee was then appointed to examine and report " what books in that catalogue they thought should be purchased for the public library." CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 153 The first books published by Robert Foulis were princi- pally on religious subjects. In 1742, he published a pamphlet relative to the State of Religion in New Eng- land, and Whitefield's Plan for establishing an Orphan House in Georgia. This subject, which occupied at that time much of the public attention, led him into a contro- versy with Whitefield, the result of which, however, has not been ascertained. Next year produced " Demetrius Phalereus de Elocutione," which Dr. Harwood, the celebrated classical critic, has pronounced " a good edition," and which was apparently the first Greek book printed in Glasgow, though George Anderson's printing house had been nearly a century before supplied with Greek and Hebrew types. In 1744 appeared the cele- brated edition of Horace, the proof sheets of which, it is well known, were hung up in the college, and a reward offered to any one who should discover any inaccuracy. It was printed under the care of Professor George Ross, already mentioned, — " a man ever to be remembered with respect and regret." According to Dibdin, however, its claims to " immaculateness " rest upon no foundation, there being at least six typographical errors. Three editions of the same author were printed at subsequent periods, none of which are of any comparative value. By the year 1746, Foulis had printed eighteen different classics, nesides Dr. Hutcheson's class books in English and Latin ; and Homer, with the Philippics of Demos- thenes were advertised as in the press. The Homer appeared in the following year, both in a quarto and H 2 154 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. octavo form ; — the first of these is a very beautiful book, and more correct than the other, which was printed after Dr. Clark's edition. It was probably about this period, — for the exact date cannot be ascertained, — that the first society for the dis- cussion of literary and philosophical subjects was insti- tuted in Glasgow. Of this society Robert Foulis was ' an original member. It met every Friday evening, at half-past five o'clock, from the first Friday of November to the second Friday of May ; and if, during the period, any member was absent for four successive nights, with- out a valid excuse in writing, his name was struck off the list. Each member, in the order of seniority, read an essay on a subject connected with science, literature, or the arts. At the meetings of this society, Dr. Hut- cheson is supposed to have explained and illustrated the works of Arrian, Antoninus, and the other Greek philo- sophers. Adam Smith read those essays on Taste, Composition, and the History of Philosophy which he had previously delivered while a lecturer on rhetoric in Edinburgh. Several of those read by Dr. Reid were afterwards published. Professor Arthur descanted on the principle of Criticism, and the Pleasures of Imagina- tion ; and a few of those papers were published after his death in his " Discourses on Theological and Literary subjects." Dr. Black communicated his discoveries in Chemistry, particularly on the subject of latent heat : and Dr. Moor illustrated Grecian literature, and the influence of the Fine Arts upon society. CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 155 The discourses read before the society by the elder Foulis were generally on the fine arts, although some- times on philosophical, or even theological subjects ; and it is mentioned by Professor Richardson, that in an Essay on Crimes and Punishments, he seems to have anticipated the sentiments of the celebrated Beccaria on these subjects. When he delivered his opinions in the literary society, his manner was more reserved than upon other occa- sions. Never forgetting the humble station from which he had risen, he had nevertheless a consciousness of moving precisely in his proper sphere, and of having deserved that distinction which he had attained. It appears that an edition of Plato had been projected by the Foulises as early as 1746, and that proposals and specimens of it were printed about 1749 ; soon after a large edition of Cicero's works was completed. In July, 1751, Foulis went abroad; carrying with him letters of recommendation from his brother-in-law, Dr. Moor, to the Abbe Salier and the learned M. Capperonier, both of the Royal Library of Paris. He first spent some time in Holland, in the expectation of receiving assist- ance from Heinsterheuse and Alberti, and before return- ing to his native country had seen the best manuscripts, and had given orders for collections from those in the Vatican and National Libraries. After his return, it would seem that the project was still under consider- ation, and that Dr. Moor, who, from the multiplicity of his engagements had formerly declined taking charge of 156 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. it, now undertook the editorship. The design, however, was eventually abandoned in 1759. According to the plan proposed by Foulis, the plays of Shakspere were printed for several successive years in a separate form. " King Lear" was published in 1753, —"Richard III." in 1758,— " Coriolanus" in 1760; but it was not till six years after that they appeared complete. The small paper was in eight, and " a few copies on the finest foolscap, in sixteen volumes, octavo." The celebrated poems of Hamilton of Bangour, issued from the press of Eobert and Andrew Foulis in 1749, without the name of the author, and avowedly without his knowledge or consent. A second edition appeared afterwards with the author's name, dedicated " to the memory of Mr. William Crawfurd, merchant in Glasgow, the friend of Mr. Hamilton." The Select Society of Edinburgh had, in the year 1755, determined to give premiums for improvements in the arts, sciences, manufactures, and agriculture. " The art of Printing," says the Society, " in this country requires no encouragement; yet, as to pass it by unnoticed were slighting the merit of those by whose means alone it has attained that eminence; it was resolved, that the best printed and most correct book, which shall be produced within a limited time, be dis- tinguished by an honorary reward." They accordingly offered a silver medal, with " a proper device and inscrip- tion," for the finest and most correct book "of at least ten sheets." In April of the following year, the reward CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 157 was adjudged to Robert and Andrew Foulis for their folio edition of the Hymns of Callimachus. Next year they obtained the Society's medal for their third edition of Horace as a Latin, — and their folio edition of Homer's Iliad as a Greek book. The last of these works is known as one of the finest classics ever produced at any press. By the preface, it appears to have been printed at the expense of the professors in the University. It was intended as a trial, and in case of succeeding, it was proposed to print all the Greek and Roman classics " with the same elegance and accuracy." The text was taken from Dr. Clarke's quarto edition, published in 1729, and was collated with that of Henry Stephens, which they imitated in the forms of the letters. They do not appear, however, to have followed Clarke in the accentuation, and the words are all printed at full length, in both which particulars their edition has been con- sidered preferable. After having been six times revised, it was printed off in two folio volumes; the small paper at the price of a guinea, and the large at a guinea and a half, in sheets. In 1758 the medal was again obtained for Foulis' edition of the Odyssey. The competing parties were not limited either to the form or number of sheets, the only conditions being, there should be, at least, two hundred and fifty copies printed for sale, and that the printer's name should be affixed to them. In the fol- lowing year the Glasgow edition of the minor works of Homer was declared the best specimen produced 158 CHKONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. During all this period, the only successful rivals of the Foulises were Hamilton, Balfour, and Mills, of Edin- burgh, who, in 1758, gained a prize for their edition of Terence, got up under the care of that well-known anti- quarian, Mr. Alexander Smellie, at that time conductor of their press. It was about this period (1757 or 1758) that Robert Foulis became acquainted with the late Mr. Richardson, afterwards professor of Humanity in the University of Glasgow. With this elegant scholar he had much inter- course, and it is to a paper Richardson left behind him, that the modern world is indebted for any knowledge relating to the personal history of the Foulises. The book-shop of the printers to the University, was then, and for many years afterwards, within the pre- cincts of the college; and was at this time a place of particular resort with students who had any pretensions to literature. It was in this " sedes musarum scientiae- ijue" that Foulis and Richardson first met. It will undoubtedly appear to the reader, a singular feature in Foulis' character, that he should choose to associate, even with the youngest students, and to become a member of their literary clubs; but this may be easily accounted for. Besides the gratification he had in displaying his sentiments upon literary and philosophical subjects, he believed that the knowledge he imparted, and the example he exhibited, might be useful to his juvenile auditors. Nothing could be more amusing or more interesting, according to Professor CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 159 Richardson, than the literary discussions of the elder Foulis. In these, as he had a good deal of natural, though turbid eloquence, he sometimes indulged at considerable length. The fashion of the times did not impose upon him a scrupulous attention to a restrained or castigated manner; while his countenance, which indicated at once intellect and sensibility, and his frame, which was not of eminent stature, were often impressed with the vehemence of his oratory. To attempt any account of the Foulises during the following ten years, would, in fact, be merely giving a dry detail of works printed at their press. Towards the end of 1767, the celebrated Dr. Beattie, professor of Moral Philosophy in Marischal College, Aberdeen, who appears by this time to have got acquainted with them, informs us that at Robert Foulis' request, he had applied for and obtained from Gray the poet, permission to have an edition of his poems printed at Glasgow. Gray had before given Dodsley, the well- known London publisher, a similar permission; and as the metropolitan bookseller had already gone to press, it was necessary that our Scottish printers should use all diligence. The Glasgow edition accordingly appeared about the middle of the same year, in quarto, — " one of the most elegant pieces of printing," says the author of the Minstrel, " that the Glasgow press, or any other press, has ever produced. It does honour to every person concerned in it, — to Mr. Foulis the printer, and even to me the publisher, as well as to the author." 100 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. Contrary to the expectations, probably, of every one except Foulis himself, his edition was rapidly sold off, although Dodsley had before glutted the London market with two impressions, one of fifteen hundred and the other of seven hundred and fifty copies, " both, indeed, far inferior to that of Glasgow, but sold at half the price." Foulis found himself a considerable gainer, and was, to use Gray's expression, " magnificent in his gratitude." He offered his author a present of his Homer in four volumes folio, or the Greek Historians in twenty-nine volumes duodecimo, the first of which seems to have been accepted. A folio edition of Milton's Poems (which appeared in 1770,) seems next to have been proposed by our printers. This splendid work was published by subscription, and for some hints respecting it, they were again indebted to the friendship of Beattie. The following letter relat- ing to it, is one of the very few of Foulis' papers which have escaped destruction: — " Aberdeen, 20th June, 1770. " Dear Sir, — I received your letter of the 10th of May, and about a fortnight after, the books came to hand. The Milton is wonderfully fine. It is indeed the most magnificent Book I have ever seen, and seems to be perfectly correct. I am very happy to see that the hints I proposed relating to Apostrophes have obtained your approbation. The omission of those unnecessary characters has a very good effect upon the eye, and will, I am convinced, give general satisfaction. I hope you CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 161 will soon set about Virgil in the same form. My former hints have been so well received, that I may probably hazard a few on this subject also. I would not wish to see either the Culex or the Civis in this projected edition, being thoroughly convinced that they are not by Virgil, but by some other much later hand. They are, besides, altogether unworthy of the Mantuan bard. I could offer many arguments in proof of this opinion, but I flatter myself they will not be necessary. The Bucolics, Georgics, and iEneid are, in my judgment, the whole of Virgil's works now extant. I have two curious, and, I believe, rare editions of this author : the first by Daniel Heinsius, printed by Elzevir in the the year 1636, and the other by his son Nicholus Heinsius, printed by Elzevir in 1676. The latter is by much the better, and is generally acknowledged to be the very best edition of Virgil. If you cannot find it elsewhere, my copy is at your service. There are some various readings from the Medicean and other manuscripts which are of conse- quence, and therefore ought not to be omitted in a correct edition of Virgil. In regard to these I have some written notes by me, which might probably be of some use. If you think so, I shall very readily communicate them. By the Bearer, Professor Traill, I have sent payment of your account, viz., two guineas for Homer, — four and sixpence for Epictetus, Anacreon, and Cebes, — a guinea for Milton, — two pounds thirteen shillings for the Greek Historians, — and thirteen shillings for my copy of Milton on small paper, which you forgot to put 162 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. into the account, — in all £6 13s. 6d. I am much obliged to you for the concern you show about my Essay, and am very curious to know your opinion of it, and shall be very happy if it obtains your approbation* The great- est merit of it is that it is written with a good design. It will offend many, but may, I hope, be of use to some ; nay, if I am not misinformed, it has been so already. It was not without long consideration that I ventured it abroad in its present form. There is a boldness in many of the reflections which, after much thinking, I thought it best not to alter, though I hear it has given much offence to many of the Literati of your country. I have hardly time to add that I truly am, Dear Sir, your most obedient humble Servant, " J. Beattie." The edition of Virgil here mentioned never appeared. The attention of the two Foulises, which had hitherto boen directed most assiduously to their bookselling and printing business, was now distracted by an Academy which they had established in the city for the encourage- ment of the Fine Arts, an account of which disastrous speculation will be found in the next chapter. Their prosperity, therefore, may from this period be considered on the decline. They continued, however, to print for two years longer, till the death of Andrew, which took place on the 18th of September, 1775. He had accompanied a stranger to the high ground adjoin- * Dr. Beattie here alludes to his celebrated " Essay on Truth." CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 163 ing the ancient residence of the family of Montrose, for the purpose of having a complete view of the city. He was here attacked by an apoplectic fit, and died almost immediately. Robert was sent for, and had the body conveyed to his house, though from the suddenness of the event he could hardly be persuaded that his brother was dead. He hung over the body when it was stretched out, and called upon him again and again, but Andrew could make no reply. " The two Foulises," says Dr. Wodrow, "in spite of their poverty and birth, were par nobile fratrum. They seem to have been made for one another. Though similar in their good dispositions, they were totally opposite in their different turns of mind. Neither of them when separated from the other could have done much for himself or the world ;. but, like the members of the human body, they were admirably fitted by an all- directing providence, by their conjunction and union, to do much in their station for the honour of their country and the general improvement of society." Andrew had, during their long and celebrated career, laboured with the most slavish industry. After the commencement of the Academy, the superintendence of the printing, book- selling, and bookbinding departments of the business devolved upon him. Besides these occupations, the brothers had every evening in winter an auction of books, when on many occasions the character of Robert Foulis appeared in rather an amusing point of view. Andrew generally officiated as auctioneer, but if pre- 164 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. vented from attending, his brother took his place. On these occasions, when a book was presented to him for sale, he not only announced the title, but frequently con- tinued an extemporaneous harangue upon its contents. His candour, however, prevented him from uniformly praising the book. When the " History of Tom Jones" was one night handed to him, " How," said he with considerable warmth, " was this book presented? It is improper for the perusal of young persons ;" and having said this, he returned it to the clerk. On another occa- sion, having observed a student whose appearance did not indicate a superabundance of the good things of this world, offer several times for a copy of Antoninus, he asked whether he was anxious to have it. Being answered in the affirmative, he presented it to him. But such opportunities of displaying his generosity were not often afforded him; for his brother, aware of his propensities, hastened to disengage himself, and exerting, partly in jest and partly in earnest, an author- ity which on other occasions he rarely claimed, he would say, " Robin, that place and that business are not for you." And thus was he dismissed from his employment. Little of the story of Robert Foulis remains now to be told. His business as a bookseller and printer, from the reasons above cited, fell into the background. Having gone on a business excursion to London in 1776, and on his return, having halted in Edinburgh; — just as he was preparing to leave the latter place for his native city, he suddenly expired, on the 2d of June. CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 165 The reader need not be informed that the affairs of the firm of Robert and Andrew Foulis were left in a state of insolvency. It must be matter of deep regret that the zeal with which they prosecuted whatever might promote the literature and arts of their country, should have been so indifferently rewarded. Persons of less enterprise have risen to affluence from the decided superiority of their printing, but Robert Foulis' s family was left in a state of almost complete destitution. Their affairs were finally wound up in 1781, by Robert Chapman, printer, and James Duncan, bookseller in Glasgow. Their debts amounted to upwards of six thousand five hundred pounds, and nearly the whole of their stock was purchased by Mr. John Spottiswoode, of Edinburgh. Robert Foulis was twice married. From his second marriage with a daughter of Mr. Boutcher, seedsman in Edinburgh, was descended the late Andrew Foulis, who died at Edinburgh in great poverty, in 1829. He had, besides, by his first marriage with Elizabeth Moore, sister of the celebrated Grecian, five daughters, all of whom are now dead. While the reader, from the foregoing remarks, will be able to form some idea of the degree of illustration, which the extraordinary and self-devoted exertions of two remarkable sons of genius served to throw around the city of St. Mungo, at a period when Scottish litera- ture was but in its infancy, and that ardent and now wide-spread love for classic erudition was only beginning to take root in our country, and of which they may be lbb CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. • regarded as the fosterfathers, — still in a work professing to commemorate the memorabilia of Glasgow, it would be rather a desideratum to pass over unnoticed Dougal Graham, the rhyming chronicler of the rebellion of " 45," and a citizen of no small scribbling notoriety during the time of which we speak. Unfortunately, no works we have met with give any account of his parentage or early life. It has been said, that he was personally engaged in the insurrection of which he writes, but without sufficient authority. He had, to use his own words, " been an eye-witness to most of the movements of the armies, from the rebels' first crossing the ford of Frew, to their final defeat at Culloden;" but it would seem from this expression, as well as from the recollec- tions of some of his acquaintances, that it was only in the capacity of a follower, who supplied the troops with small wares. But Dougal's aspiring mind aimed at a higher and nobler employment, — the cultivation of the muse; and no sooner was the rebellion terminated by the battle of Culloden, than he determined to write a history of it " in vulgar rhyme." Accordingly, the Glasgow Courant of September 29, 1746, contains the following advertisement: " That there is to be sold by James Duncan, Printer in Glasgow, in the Salt-Mercat, the second shop below Gibson's Wynd, a book entitled, A full, particular, and true account of the late rebellion in the years 1745 and 1746, beginning with the Pre- tender's embarking for Scotland, and then an account of every battle, siege, and skirmish, that has happened CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 167 in either Scotland or England: to which is added, several addresses and epistles to the pope, pagans, poets, and pretender; all in metre, price fourpence. But any booksellers or packmen may have them easier from the said James Duncan, or the author, D. Graham. The like," the advertisement concludes "has not been done in Scotland since the days of Sir David Lindsay!" This edition is now to be procured nee prece nee pecunia; the eighth edition, however, contains a preface by the author, in which he thus states his reasons for under- taking so arduous a task. " First, then, I have an itch for scribbling, and having wrote the following for my pleasure, I had an ambition to have this child of mine placed out in the world; expecting, if it should thrive and do well, it might bring credit or comfort to the parent. For it is my firm opinion, that parental affec- tion is as strong towards children of the brain as those produced by natural generation." — " I have wrote it in vulgar rhyme, being what not only pleased my own fancy, but what I have found acceptable to the most part of my countrymen, especially to those of common education like myself. If I have done well, it is what I should like, and if I have failed, it is what mankind are liable to. Therefore let cavillers rather write a better one, than pester themselves and the public with their criti- cisms of my faults." Dougal's history has been on some occasions spoken of with contempt, — but, as it appears to us, rather undeservedly. The poetry is, of course, in some cases a little grotesque, but the matter of the work 168 CHRONICLES OF ST. MTJNGO. is in many instances valuable. It contains, — and in this consists the chief value of all such productions, — many minute facts which a work of more pretension would not admit. But the best proof of its popularity is, that it has run through many editions: the eighth, which is now scarce, was printed at Glasgow in 1808, with a " True Portraiture" of the author. Beneath it are the lines: " From brain and pen, O virtue! drop; Vice! fly as Charlie and John Cope:" As the book became known, Dougal issued editions " greatly enlarged and improved." That of 1774, while it contains many additions, is said to want mucb of the curious matter in the editio princeps. In 1752, Graham styles himself " merchant in Glas- gow," but it would appear that his wealth had not increased with his fame : " I have run my money to en' And have nouther paper nor pen To writ thir lines." Afterwards he became a printer; and it has been affirmed, that, like Buchan, the chronicler of Peterhead, he used to compose and set up his works without ever committing them to writing* The exact date at which he became bellman is not known, but it must have been after 1770. At this time, the situation was one of some * M'Urie's History of Glasgow, new edition, p. 315. CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 169 dignity and importance: the posting of handbills and the publishing of advertisements were not quite so common; and whether a child had "wandered," — "salmon, herring, cod, or ling" had arrived at the Broomielaw, — or the grocers had received a new supply of " cheap butter, barley, cheese, and veal," the matter could only be proclaimed by the mouth of the public crier. After several years of, it may be supposed, extensive usefulness in this capacity, Dougal was gathered to his fathers on the 20th of July, 1779. An elegy upon the death of that "witty poet and bellman," written with some spirit, and in the same verse as Ferguson's elegy upon Gregory, and that of Burns upon " Tam Samson," was published soon after. "We may be allowed to sum up his character in the words of its author : ' It is well known unto his praise, He well deserv'd the poet's bays; So sweet were his harmonious lays: Loud sounding fame Alone can tell, how all his days He bore that name. Of witty jokes he had such store, Johnson could not have pleased more, Or with loud laughter made you roar, As he could do: He had still something ne'er before Expos'd to view." Besides his history, Dougal wrote many other poems and songs, some of which, though little known, are highly graphic. They would form a pretty large volume, 170 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. but it is hardly probable that in this fastidious age any attempt will be made to collect them. Mention has been already made, in a previous part of the present work, of M'Ure's History of Glasgow, which, belonging as it does to the period under our notice, deserves a place among our "Literary Antiquities." Its more accurate title is, " A view of the City of Glas- gow, or, an account of its Origin, Rise, and Progress, with a more particular Description thereof than has hitherto been known." It was published in the year 1736, and was printed by James Duncan, in the Salt- market, " Printer to the City." The author was "John M'Ure, alias Campbell, Clerk to the registration of Seisins and other Evidents, for the District of Glasgow." Without any pretensions to literary merit, and although sometimes a little too garrulous and irrelevant in its details, it nevertheless conveys to the reader a tolerably distinct idea of the then appearance of the city, and is worthy our most sincere respect, as being the medium through which we derive most of our knowledge regard- ing the more ancient history of the city. According to the author, it was "collected from many antient Records, Charters, and other antient Vouchers, and from the best historians and private manuscripts." It contains four engravings on lead, which, as specimens of Glasgow engraving at that time, are by no means destitute of merit. They consist of a " Vera effigies Joannis M'lverus alias Campbellus, aetat. suae 79;" — the Arms of the City; — North-east and South-east Prospects of the City, CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 171 the former seeming to be taken from the Merchants' Park, the latter from about the eastern boundary of Hutchesontown. The delineator was one R. Harvie, while the name of the engraver seems to have been an individual of the name of S. Taylor, neither of whom, in the exercise of their calling, appear to have had any notion of perspective. The various steeples of the towm which were at that time seven in number, are all repre- sented as being of equal heights. It is worthy of ob- servation, as appears from the south-west view, that at that time not a single house existed on the modern Hutchesontown. A new edition of this curious work was published in Glasgow in 1831, containing a con- siderable amount of additional information respecting the ancient history of the city. Without extending our remarks on this subject to an undue length, we will here venture to bring them to a close. After the death of the Messrs. Foulis, nothing of particular moment in the literary history of Glasgow presents itself to our notice. Newspapers, as we have already remarked, did not acquire a character for elegance, force, and judgment in the discussion of public questions, until the reign of George the Third. We allude especially to those of the metropolis ; for, with very few exceptions, the provincial journals continued in a very backward state until the commencement of the present century. Those, at least, published in our own city up to that period, must be regarded as very lame productions, both as respects 172 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. typography and literary merit — a circumstance which appears somewhat remarkable, when we consider that during the greater part of the eighteenth century, Glasgow, chiefly through the merit of the celebrated brothers already mentioned, had attained the highest reputation for beautiful and accurate printing, while its literary character was supported by an Adam Smith, a Reid, a Richardson, and a Millar. 173 CHAPTER VII. ANCIENT ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS IN GLASGOW. " Homines ad Deos nulla re propius accedunt, quam salutem homini- bus dando."— Cicero. " Vix ea nostra voco."— Ovid. The History of the Fine Arts in Scotland does not seem to have attracted much notice till of late years, when the study of every thing connected with the history, literature, and antiquity of the country has become fashionable. A paper, containing some curious facts on this subject, appeared in an old Scottish periodical, entitled " The Bee," and is believed to have been written by Sir G. Chalmers. In 1799, when the late Mr. Pin- kerton published his " Scottish Gallery," he prefixed an " Introduction on the Rise and Progress of Painting in Scotland," in which he has collected many interesting notices of the Scottish artists. The only painter referred to by him of whom much is known, is George Jameson, 174 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. the pupil of Rubens, and fellow-student of Vandyke, who attracted the notice of Charles I. while in Scotland in 1633, and to whom that monarch sat for his portrait. The names of the other Scotch artists, — the elder and younger Scougal, Paton, Aikman, Alexander, and Medina, are now little known except to collectors. No traces have been discovered of the practice of the fine arts in Glasgow, previous to the commencement of the academy to which allusion has been made in the pre- ceding chapter, beyond the visits of some itinerant " Dick Tinto," and the portraits of a few of the benefactors to the city which adorn the interior of some of our public buildings. One earlier notice, however, connected with this subject, appears in the very curious collection of extracts from the Burgh Records, which were reprinted in the Glasgow Courier in the year 1829, by the late William Motherwell, Esq., editor of that newspaper; — and it deserves notice, as showing the remuneration which labour of this kind received two hundred years ago: — "12 June, 1641. The said day ordainis the threasaurer to have ane warrand to pay to James Colquhoun fyve dollars for drawing of the portraict of the toun to be sent to Holland." It has been suggested that this "portraict" was probably intended for Bleau's Atlas, which was preparing for publication at Amsterdam about this time, although it did not ap- pear till 1654. It will be readily believed that Foulis' motives for establishing the academy, must have had their rise CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 175 purely in his own ardent attachment to the fine arts. The field which Scotland then afforded for such an undertaking was extremely limited, and the country was at that time only recovering from the effects of a recent rebellion. But Foulis probably felt confident that, were such an institution once established, its ultimate success might be considered as almost certain, — and that those who should acquire a taste for the arts might " inspire the same love and relish for the beautiful in those that are near them, and they in others." The very fact that there was then no other academy for the arts in Scot- land, seems to have operated powerfully in inducing him to commence the undertaking. The field was entirely unoccupied, and those who were willing to encourage the rising institutions of their country, could not plead the number or variety of those which required their patronage, as an excuse for withholding their assistance from it. He had, besides, hopes of meeting even with royal patronage — hopes, however, which were soon after blasted by the untimely death of the Prince of Wales. Two plans seem to have been proposed for the support of the academy. The first was, to submit the scheme to some person of rank; but this idea was, after mature consideration, abandoned. The second, to use Foulis' own words, was " to communicate it to some merchants of spirit, and to represent it to them as a finer kind of manufacture, that would take a longer time to come to a bearing and produce profit, but that in the end would make all amends for the delay, by affording more ample 17 '■> CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. profits, because the manufactures were not produced from dear materials, and the productions were considered not so much according to the quantity of labour they contained, as according to the degree of genius and art well conducted." This plan seems to have been adopted, but nothing farther is known of the academy till 1759, when the following " Proposal for encouraging by Sub- scription an Academy for Painting and Sculpture," was inserted in the Scots Magazine. It appears to have been issued the year before. " Proposal. — The productions of Mr. Foulis' Academy being exposed to view at Edinburgh in the shop of Mr. Robert Fleming, and at Glasgow in the gallery ap- pointed for them in the College ; It is proposed, that such gentlemen as are willing to promote this design, shall advance certain sums annually, for any number of years they shall think proper ; during which time they are to chuse, among the Prints, Designs, Paintings, Models, or Casts, which are the production of this Aca- demy, such lots as may amount to the value of the sums they have advanced. The Subscribers shall have a receipt for the sums respectively paid by them, signed either by Mr. Foulis at Glasgow, or Mr. Fleming, his Trustee, at Edinburgh — Gentlemen may withdraw their subscriptions when they please." It appears from a letter prefixed to this proposal, that Foulis had already experienced much difficulty in the selection of proper teachers, and that he had to contend with the predilections of the nation for the works of CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 177 foreign artists ; so much so, that although the produc- tions of the academy had now become numerous, he found it no easy matter to dispose of them to any ad- vantage. He had now several students, some of whom had made considerable progress. While employed at Glasgow, they seem to have received such wages as they might have got had they followed a mechanical employ- ment ; and if they exhibited sufficient marks of genius, they were sent abroad to study at the expense of the academy. The first of those who went abroad in this manner, was a young man of the name of Maxwell, who died soon after his arrival at Rome. The second was William Cochrane, who, after having given sufficient proofs of his genius at Glasgow, was sent to the continent, where he remained for five years, principally at Rome, and under the celebrated Gavin Hamilton, a native of the town of Lanark. " I am greatly obliged to you," says Robert Foulis in a letter to a Mr. Yorke, a gentleman who had treated Cochrane with great courtesy, — " I am greatly obliged to you for the kind manner in which you received Willy Cochrane, for the recommendation you honoured him with, and above all for your procuring for him a safe passage in a man-of-war, where he met with the greatest civilitie and kindness on your account, and arrived at Naples free of all expense. I am per- suaded, at his return, he will be a history painter, of a rank to do honour to his benefactors and his country. The Academy is now coming into a state of tolerable maturity. We have modelling, engraving, original his- i2^ 178 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. tory-painting and portrait-painting, — all in a reputable degree of perfection. In the morning our more advanced students sketch historical subjects from Plutarch's Lives, and other ancient books. The day is employed in paint- ing and engraving, and by the younger scholars in drawing. In the evening they draw three designs a week after a model, and other three, after casts of plas- ter from the Antique." Cochrane ultimately returned to Glasgow, where he practised as a portrait painter for many years. Attach- ment to an aged mother, induced him to remain there, and consequently he never rose to that eminence which he might otherwise have attained. He died in October, 1785, at the early age of forty-seven ; and, by the per- mission of the magistrates, a marble tablet was erected to his memory in the choir of the cathedral. The last person sent abroad by the academy was Archibald Maclauchlane, who was subsequently married to a daughter of Robert Foulis. One of the best copies by Maclauchlane, while at Rome, was from Raphael's celebrated picture of the School of Athens. " This work," says the late Lord Buchan, in a notice of the Glasgow Academy, "fell into the hands of a dealer, where it was much injured, and afterwards through neglect almost quite destroyed." Of the transactions at the academy we have but little information. The following extracts from letters, written at different periods, contain almost all that is known. The first was written in 1753 or 1754: — CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 179 " The Magazines of Vertu have not yet escaped the dangers of the seas, but those that have arrived answer the expectations of the public, so as to excite an universal curiosity. The Saint Cecilian supports his character as an original of Raphael, and the Carrying to the Tomb, an original by the same master, is one of the noblest pieces of painting I ever saw. The Duke of Hamilton having generously offered us the liberty of copying or engraving any of his pictures, the painter is still there. He finished first a copy of the Supper of Emmaiis, by Titian, and his copy is esteemed a faithful and beautiful representation of the original. The next picture he attempted was the most celebrated picture in Scotland, — Daniel in the Den of Lions, — the size of life, an original picture by Rubens, for which it is said the family received a thousand guineas .* This picture, by reason of its great dimensions, cou'd not be copy'd with- out making a thoro' trial of the abilities of the copyist, which obliged him to copy at a great distance from the original, and this is so well approved that I have not heard one that has seen it, that has not declared great satisfaction. It was finished a few days ago, and * The following entry relative to the purchase of this copy is found in a Diary kept by the Messrs. Foulis: — " Glascuae, October, 1767: — Jacobus Coutts, Esq., Mebr. Parliamenti pro urbe Edin- burgo, ac eminens Banker Londini, visitabat Academiam hie, ac emit a Rob. et And. Foulis, picturas supra valorem £100 Sterl., inter quas emit picturam Danielis in specu Leonum, magna? formae pret. 50 Guineas." 180 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. placed up in the Duke's gallery on his birth-day. I have been assured by several that were present, that it gave universal satisfaction to a great company of nobility and gentry who were present. He has now begun to copy a picture of a treaty between England and Germany, or Flanders, in Queen Elizabeth's time. This picture is not only valuable as a piece of painting, but as a piece of history, and for the portraits of so many celebrated persons, all whose names are on the picture. It belonged to the Earl of Sunderland, and was made a present of by him to the then Earl of Hamilton. The story is, that my Lord Sunderland gave him the choice of all his pictures ; not expecting that he would have chosen that one, he offered him his choice of any other two to part with it. The next we propose to copy in Hamilton is a portrait of the Earl of Danby, by Vandyke ; but before that is done, I am determined to have him return to Glasgow, to work after nature and Raphael, and in the beginning of winter to expose all that is hitherto done to public view, in order to excite emulation, and to have some little prizes for drawing. We have one scholar already, from whom we expect reputation and good service. Our engraver is employ 'd in doing a full- length portrait of the Duke of Argyle : as it is large, — all done with the graver, — and a great deal of work in several parts of it, I don't expect to see it published before winter. If its appearance on paper be suitable to its appearance on copper, it will be a masterpiece." CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 181 An imperfect letter, addressed to a nobleman, in Feb- ruary, 1764, gives the following account of the labours of the students: — " We have lately cast off a few setts of the principal prints we have engraved : They wou'd make a volume between 60 and 70 sheets of royal paper, the full breadth of the sheet. Charles Cordiner has made three draw- ings, — two after the ruins of the castle of Bothwell, and one after the Castle of Crookston, with the Ewe Tree, which I have caused to be neatly etched, and put his name to them as y e drawer. He is now able to make a good copy of any picture, and I propose to try him soon at portraits. We are succeeding pretty well in that branch. The portraits of my Lord and Lady Grlen- cairn, the two young ladies, Lady Dorothy Primrose, and others which we have done, among which are several full-lengths, have been generally commended." Nothing is known of the progress of the academicians at a later date, except what Foulis himself has said in the preface to the catalogue of pictures, in 1776. " The Essays in Landscape that were done by Robert Paul, a little before his death, have that simplicity which promises superior excellence. His view of the west street, called the Trongate of Glasgow, is the most capital, as it is the last of his works, and was finished after his death by William Buchanan. " There are a considerable number of the prints in Raphael's bible done by the late William Buchanan, which shows his ability as a drawer and engraver. His "182 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. Paul preaching at Athens, and the other Cartoons he engraved, and last of all, Raphael's Transfiguration, which he had nearly finished when he died, done from the picture reversed in a mirror, are convincing proofs of his merit. " Nor can I neglect on this occasion to do justice to James Mitchell, who, although the nearness of his sight disqualified him for a common profession, yet in a few weeks made a surprising progress, and his engravings, after he attained experience, have been favourably received by the public. Several of his performances in Raphael's bible are much superior, both in conception and execution, to Chaperon. His print of Daniel in the Den of Lions, after Rubens' picture in his Grace the Duke of Hamilton's collection, has been well received. He engraved, also, four of the Cartoons, Mount Par- nassus, and the School of Athens, and has laboured with success both after Raphael and Corregio." " The Essays in original history-painting that have been finished are not numerous; but there are some which were done at Rome by Messieurs Cochrane and M'Lauchlane, that do them honour, although their manners are so different that their works cannot be compared with propriety. There are some drawings and pictures by David Allan, before he went abroad, that are done with invention and spirit, and are surpris- ing at so early a period." The last letter on this subject which we shall insert, was written by Robert Foulis, to Lord Mountstuart, in CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 183 1776, on the occasion of his arrival in London to dis- pose of his collection : — "Robert Foulis, Printer to the University of Glas- gow, presents his humble respects to Lord Mountstuart, to acquaint his Lordship, that he presumes to give him this trouble, encouraged by Colonel Edmonstone, by Mr. Thomas Kennedy, his nephew, and by Mr. Camp- bell of Shawfield. The circumstance of the death of his brother and other friends, and his own advancement to the extremity of life having made it proper that he should put an end to his labours in the service of the Fine Arts, and dispose of his collections : in that view he has brought to London his Prints, Drawings, and Pictures. Three nights' sale of the Prints are in a catalogue that comes along with this : the whole would have been continued, but Mr. Sandford's engagements permitted no more, and he was of opinion that it was too many for the interest of the proprietor, as it was so late in the year. His collection, which will likewise be dis- posed of, of Drawings, is very numerous, and contains capital designs of the leading masters and their dis- ciples of every school. He printed a catalogue of his Pictures before he left Glasgow, containing descriptions and critical remarks, which were made when in view of the Pictureg, one of which he has sent by the bearer, which he hopes Lord Mountstuart will be so good as to accept. He will find the collection made in system, and as the collector believed the Roman school enjoyed more advantages than any other, and Raphael the greatest 184 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. master and most amiable genius that ever any of the schools possessed, so he accordingly directed his ambition to acquire as many pictures and drawings of Raphael as he could possibly discover by the most diligent search. What success he had has appeared to those who have been able and willing to examine the pictures; the whole makes a progress of Raphael from his early times to his last period, and on that account are curious, as they show his gradual progress and changes of manner ; but there are five or six so capital, that I have never heard of any collection on sale that contained so many. Neither his pictures in the Vatican, nor those procured by princes, nor those fixed in public places, have ever entered into commerce, which renders it difficult to pro- cure capital pictures of this master. Yet in this collec- tion will be found, upon a strict examination, an original of the carrying of our Saviour to the Tomb, more per- fect than the Borghese; an original of the Saint Cecilia on a different ground from the Bologna, the one being a landscape with a blue sky, and the other completely dark, without landscape, and the figures much improved, particularly in expression. Also, a picture of Theagenes and Chariclea in the Temple of Diana, of wonderful grace, and of which I have never heard of any repeti- tion : the Resurrection of our Saviour, of which the first essay, which is not so compleat in grouping or expression, has been engraved. But there is one picture more, the Transfiguration, not so large as the Roman picture, but in many other respects better ; your Lordship will find CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 185 the differences in the catalogue, and the grounds of its priority, which has been proved to the satisfaction of painters, and many excellent judges, and is still sub- mitted to the reviews of all who choose to examine. I foresee, from the present unfavourable circumstances, that these pictures will be transported to some foreign country, whereas, were they joyned to the Cartoons, they would be found to have merit equal to theirs, and to be preferable as finished pictures before patterns for tapestry. Forgive this trouble from one who has been long honoured with the patronage of Lord Bute, although distance and other circumstances have made him in a manner forgot." Before the pictures could be prepared for exhibition, the season was too far advanced. " All the people of rank," says Foulis, in a letter to his son, " or at least the generality, are out of town, and the exhibition is dwin- deled even to less than what it was." Notwithstanding considerable other discouragements, and contrary to the advice of Christie, the auctioneer, the pictures were sold off, and, as might have been expected, at a grievous disadvantage. Whether Foulis had over-estimated the value of his pictures, or depended too much on the friendship and patronage of those on whom he thought he had some claim, are questions it would be now difficult to answer. Professor Richardson, however, has stated from authority, that a picture— sold for .£25 — after- wards brought .£500. Two of the paintings belonging 186 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO to the academy were purchased by the university, and are now in their possession. One of them was considered by so good a judge as the late Sir Henry Raeburn to have been the production, if not of Raphael himself at an early period, at least of one of his scholars. The remainder of the pictures are to be found scattered over the various collections throughout the country. The catalogue of the whole is still extant. Harassed by disappointment, the spirit of Foulis was now jaded and broken. Although many friends gathered around him in the metropolis, to cheer him anti solace him in his day of misfortune, his natural buoyancy of temper had now fled for ever. It is worthy of mention, that our celebrated countryman Dr. Hunter, then in the zenith of his reputation as a physician, was among the foremost to do him honour. When that individual left his native country for the British metropolis, a poor and friendless adventurer, Foulis had given him a letter of introduction to an eminent teacher of anatomy in London, also a Scotsman — the celebrated Dr. Douglas, — who, having engaged the youth as his assistant, laid the foundation of his future fame. Of the many noble- men and gentlemen of distinction who paid Foulis the most marked attention while in London, one on a certain occasion having held out a hope that he should be introduced to the sovereign, " I will never be in the presence of any king on earth," replied the old man; — " I will soon be in the presence of the King of kings." CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 187 Nor was his assertion unprophetic, for having taken leave of London, he expired (as already mentioned,) at Edinburgh, on the way back to his native city. Although the academy has always and deservedly been considered a failure, it was the means of raising David Allan, the Scottish Hogarth, and James Tassie, probably the first modelist of his time, from obscurity. In regard to the last of these, it deserves particularly to be noticed, that his first relish for the Fine Arts arose from visiting the academy on a Glasgow Fair Day, when the pictures were exposed gratis to public view. It may be here mentioned, that in the prosecution of their speculation, the Messrs. Foulis were ably assisted by three highly respectable merchants of the city — Mr. Campbell, Mr. Glassford, and Mr. Ingram — who were also participators in the ultimate loss. To one living at the present day, who takes the trouble to look back to the history of art in Great Britain, and to the various attempts made by enlightened individuals to encourage its cultivation, the scheme of Foulis must appear in a very favourable light. At the commence- ment of last century, and up to the period when the Glasgow Academy was founded, the public taste, in all departments of the Fine Arts, was at the lowest ebb. Since that time, however, a new direction has been given to the public mind, and the taste of the people in general has made an advance which may almost be regarded as incredible. It is, perhaps, not too much to say, that the example which was set by the Glasgow 188 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. Academy was of a highly beneficial tendency in diffus- ing this refinement throughout the kingdom. No person can see in a stronger light than the Foulises did, the immense importance of giving to artists an opportunity of making their works known to the public ; and be more thoroughly aware that all plans for the improvement of art must be entirely nugatory, unless means be afforded them of disposing of their productions. Their scheme to promote this effect was faulty in this respect, that while it no doubt answered the purpose of bringing the productions of the academicians promi- nently before public notice, it at the same time in- volved such an extent of pecuniary outlay, as altogether to preclude the possibility of its long existence. The country was at that time poor, and even with all the great increase which has since taken place in its resour- ces, such an attempt, if again set on foot by private individuals, would be found to be wholly impracticable. But however much the Academy may have failed in the hands of the Foulises, their laudable example ought to incite the enlightened among modern citizens of Glasgow, in some measure to follow in their footsteps in the prosecution of a scheme similar to that which they had so much at heart ; and in doing so, they must bear in mind, that the foundation of excellence in every branch of art must be laid in the taste of those by whom its productions are to be judged; and that unless the expectations of the public are formed upon a very high standard, the efforts of artists are not likely to realize CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 189 them. From the number of paintings, both ancient and modern, which are now purchased in this country, it is evident that an ample disposition exists to encour- age works of art ; bu± it is by no means equally clear that the public, generally, are aware of the qualities in which its excellence consists, or that their taste is raised to that high standard which can alone lead to its ultimate perfection. It can never be too often repeated, that it is by the constant and habitual study of the great works of art that the public taste is matured, and that any other means of developing this quality, either in an individual or in society, are utterly chimerical. It is as impossible to suppose that a people, however well informed they may be in other respects, can at once, and without any previous study, be awakened to a sense of the beauties of art, as to suppose that a nation of savages could at once be made* sensible of the excellence of Pope or Milton; and experience demonstrates, that a nation, the most intelligent in other respects, may, from never having had an opportunity of studying the great models of antiquity, be as utterly incapable of appreciating the merits of sculpture or painting, as the most ignorant peasants would be of understanding the theorems of Newton or Laplace. 190 CHAPTER VIII. MEMORABLE RIOTS IN GLASGOW. " I'll read you matter deep and dangerous." SUAKSPEARE. " Crudelis ubique Luctus ubique pavor, et plurima mortis imago." Virg. JEn. ii. 368 Nothing now-a-days seems so uncivilized-like as riots ; yet in most cases such, when they do occur, are absolutely necessary in order to produce certain good results which otherwise could not be attained ; — and in the main, may be regarded as the natural effects of improved intelligence among a people. The Refor- mation was one of the first-fruits of increasing know- ledge in Europe. The new opinions made their way into all its most civilized countries; and neither per- secution nor the hostile sword, were ever able to arrest their progress, far less to extirpate them. The refor- mation in religion paved the, way for the progress of civil freedom; the political institutions of the age did not escape that spirit o*f free inquiry, which had exposed CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 191 the corruptions of religion. Hence arose another source of disturbance ; and in some countries, the con- flict of the new opinions occasioned a long era of political convulsions. It was natural that power should be found arrayed against the progress of these opinions, and that great opposition should be made to them. But they always triumphed. Every fresh conflict of the people with their rulers gave them new privileges, till at length in this country they got all they asked, and civil freedom became the creed both of the king and people. All history shows that power has never yet been able to arrest the progress of human reason. We have often seen force employed to reduce mankind from the power of reason and to bring them under the influence of old prejudices which they had resolved to cast off, but in no case have they succeeded. We cannot make mankind retrograde ; and in an enlightened age this experiment is even more hopeless than ever. Proud man " dressed in a little brief authority," always resorts to force as the favourite expedient; — he will not yield, — he will not accommodate. The struggle thus commences of power against opinion ; a long era of oppression takes place, in which enthusiastic suffering keeps pace with the violence of persecution ; and as the light of knowledge spreads, power at last falls in the struggle, the unpitied victim of its own folly and blindness. Such is man with respect to man, and such is the rationale of all riots, — greater or lesser. Without a manifestation to some degree of that peculiar state of 192 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. temper, which, when aroused, forces the human mind to extremity, no great good has ever been achieved. Moral- ists may talk, — and talk truly — of intellectual energy as the only weapon fitted to overpower error, but unless such energy be associated with somewhat of physical determination, it will be aimless. The citizens of Glasgow, from the earliest times, have been famed for their opposition to what they conceived to be injustice; — and in their assertion of what they regarded as their rights, they have always been the last to flinch from duty. The streets of St. Mungo have often witnessed the contentions of opposing factions " met in deadly feud." No question of moment ever agitated the councils of the country, but was made in our city a subject of especial discussion; and ere the final seal of ratification could be set to any political enactment, the men of Glasgow felt themselves bound to have a " riot" on the subject. Such was the rule in olden times, and such even in the nineteenth century abundantly obtains, for probably in no city of the empire, at the present day, are there to be found so many rabid party politicians, ready at any moment, manfully to dispute with each other at arm's length, the rectitude or injustice of an " Act of Parliament." In taking a review of the various riots of importance which have ever taken place in Glasgow, we cannot but remark that but in very few instances have the questions from which they arose, been of so trivial an interest as not to warrant some demonstration of popular feeling. CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 193 Seldom, indeed, have the riots of Glasgow been any- other than a struggling for civil and political rights against despotism and superstition. Our forefathers were emphatically the champions of a national cause ; and though they had not always the most refined notions of rational liberty, they nevertheless made a firm and consistent stand in its defence. Their efforts have left a noble monument to their posterity, of what unshrink- ing fortitude may accomplish. When we reflect on the many invaluable privileges which have been gained to us by indomitable perseverance, let us not forget the men by whom they were secured. Barbarous nations admire the heroic deeds of their forefathers, though they inherit no other benefit than the glory of their achieve- ments. And are not these entitled to our gratitude, to whose patriotic zeal we are indebted for so many bless- ings, civil and religious? If it is reckoned ungenerous and unmanly to tread with insult on a fallen adversary, what are we to think of those who wantonly revile the virtues of their ancestors, or load with reproaches the memory of their Benefactors? While several of the rencontres detailed in the follow- ing pages, are not to be regarded, as strictly speaking, " riots," or the ebullition of feeling on the part of the pqpulace, but rather as national conflicts in which the contending parties were the partizans of two opposing factions in the state, still as they belong more properly to this, than to any other part of the present work, they are here assigned a place. K 194 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. The first bloody engagement of which we have in history any account as having taken place in Glasgow, A BATTLE BETWEEN THE TROOPS OF SIR WM. WALLACE AND THOSE OF THE ENGLISH GENERAL, EaRL PERCY. In the year 1300, Edward I. of England, of his own authority, took upon him to appoint Anthony Beik, a priest under his immediate influence, to the See of Glas- gow. Earl Percy, about the same time, had usurped the military government of the Western District of Scotland, and taken possession of the Episcopal Palace. Sir Wm. Wallace, a patriotic Scottish chief, on receiving intelli- gence of these bold invasions, formed the determination of ridding both the city of Glasgow and Scotland, of the English usurpers. Having committed the town and fortress of Ayr, where he was then residing, to the care of the inhabitants, and being joined by his uncle, Adam Wallace of Bichardtown, and by the Laird of Auchinleck, and others, they formed a squadron of three hundred cavalry, and marching from Ayr during the night, arrived in the morning at the Bridge of Glasgow, which at that time was constructed of timber. After crossing the river, they drew up their little army on the ground now the site of the Bridgegate-street, and form- ing themselves into two divisions, one under the com- mand of Wallace, and the other under Auchinleck, the word was given, " Bear up the Bishop's tail." Expect- ing that Percy would dispute their approach to the CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 195 Bishop's Palace, Auchinleck's division, consisting of 140 men, took a circuitous route eastward, by the ground now occupied by the Calton, Barracks, and Drygate, with the design of attacking Percy in the rear, while Sir William marched directly up the High-Street, to meet the English forces, which consisted of 1000 men arrayed in armour. The engagement took place near where the College now stands, between the English and the division under Wallace. While the action was still doubtful, Auchinleck, by a forced march, suddenly made his appearance in the rear of the English, and, taking them by surprise, succeeded in dividing their column, which Wallace no sooner perceived than he rushed for- ward to the spot where Percy was, and with one stroke of his broad sword cleft his head in two. The rout of the English now became general, nor did Bishop Beik deem it safe to remain behind. Notwithstanding this victory, which had been obtained by stratagem, sur- prise, and valour, Wallace did not judge it expedient to take up his quarters in Glasgow, as neither the old Druidical Grove connected with the church of the Black- Friars, nor the forest beyond the Molendinar Burn, would have afforded a safe retreat, in case of necessity. Sir William and his brave comrades therefore set out for Bothwell, where they gave battle to a party of Northumbrians, at that time esteemed the best soldiers in England, and gained a second victory, although exhausted with fatigue and much inferior in number. 196 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO ANTE-REFORMATION TUMULT— EXECUTION OF TWO EARLY REFORMERS. The first preachers against popery in Scotland, appeared during the reign of James V., and were more eminent for zeal and piety than for learning. Their acquaintance with the principles of the reformation was partial, and at second hand ; some of them had been educated in England ; all of them had borrowed their notions from the books published there ; and in the first dawn of the light they did not venture many steps before their leaders. On the first appearance of these heralds of the truth, Cardinal Beaton, — the first church- man of the land, — held also the reins of civil government in his hands. Possessed thus of supreme power in the state, and endowed by nature with an ambitious and dominant spirit, he resorted to every means to crush the doctrines which menaced so fatal a subversion of his authority. His numerous acts of cruelty are well known to readers of Scottish history. In the year 1527, during the incumbency of Arch- bishop Dunbar, so widely had the obnoxious views spread in the diocese of Glasgow, that it was deemed necessary to make an example of their chief promoters in the western part of the country. The persons pitched upon for this purpose, were Jerome Russell, a grey-friar, and John Kennedy, from the county of Ayr, a young man scarcely exceeding eighteen years of age. The arch- bishop, who was a man naturally of a humane disposition, and therefore incapable of the condemnation of the CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 197 accused, was superseded in this office by three individuals deputed from Edinburgh, of the names of John Lowden, Andrew Oliphant, and friar Maltman, each most bigotedly attached to the bloody tenets of their faith. When brought before their judges, Kennedy betrayed some weakness, and would gladly have saved his life by denying the points laid to his charge ; but encouraged by Russell, he fell upon his knees, and said, " Wonder- ful, O God, is thy love and mercy towards me a miser- able wretch ! for even now, when I would have denied thee, and thy Son the Lord Jesus Christ, my only Saviour, and so have thrown myself into everlasting condemnation, thou, by thine own hand, hast pulled me back from the bottom of hell, and given me to feel most heavenly comfort, which hath removed the ungodly fear that before oppressed my mind ; now I defy death ; do what you please, I praise God I am ready." Friar Russell reasoned long and learnedly against his accusers : but being answered by Maltman and Oliphant only with railing and abuse, he cried out, " This is your hour and power of darkness ; now you sit as judges, and we stand wrongfully condemned; but the day cometh which will show our innocency, and you shall see your own blindness to your everlasting confusion ; go on and fulfil the measure of your iniquity." At which words the Bishop being greatly moved, and perhaps dreading the fate of friar Campbel, insisted that these executions hurt the cause of the church, and that it would be better to save the lives of the men, and take some other course 198 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. with them ; but those who were sent from Edinburgh to assist him, told him expressly, that if he followed any milder course, than that which had been taken in the metropolis, they could not esteem him the church's friend; upon which he consented to their condemnation, and they were delivered over to the secular power to be executed. All the time the fire was being prepared, Russell comforted his companion, saying, "Fear not, brother, for he is more mighty that is in us, than he who is in the world; the pain which we shall suffer is short and light, but our joy and consolation shall never have an end; death cannot destroy us, for it is destroyed already by him for whose sake we suffer ; therefore let us strive to enter by the same straight way, which our Saviour hath taken before us." On being brought to the place of execution, which was at the east end of the cathedral, they spoke little; but commending their souls to God after they were tied to the stake, endured the fire patiently, without any expressions of fear or amazement. These were the only two individuals who suffered in the diocese of Glasgow ; their execution, though it intimidated the people for some time, yet in spite of the fear of such dreadful punishments, and in contempt of the acts of parliament passed against heretics in the year 1540, the reformed doctrines gained many proselytes every day, till at last, in bishop Beaton's time, they proceeded to open acts of violence, and, with a zeal peculiar to the Scottish nation, overturned in a very few years that form CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 199 of church government, and that system of church policy and opinion, which had cost the labour of many ages to build up. BATTLE OF THE BUTTS. On the death of James V., which happened in the year 1544, Mary Stuart, his daughter, an infant of only eight days old, succeeded to the throne. Cardinal Beaton was, in the mean time, appointed Regent; but he had not long held the reigns of government, till he was compelled to resign in favour of James Hamilton, Earl of Arran, afterwards Duke of Chatel- herault, &c, the second person in the kingdom, and the nearest heir to the throne after Mary. The cere- mony of crowning the Queen having been performed in Stirling Castle, she was carried to Dumbarton, where she embarked for France, in July, 1548, on pretence of a visit to her maternal uncles, the Princes of Lorraine. As the new Regent was by no means popular, the Queen Dowager joined Beaton to oppose him, and craved aid from France. They also invited Matthew Stuart, Earl of Lennox, who was then in France, to come over and assist them to reduce the power of the Regent ; but no sooner did the Earl of Arran leam that Lennox had accepted the invitation, than he entered into an accommodation with the Dowager and Beaton, by which the latter had the chief sway in the govern- ment. The situation of affairs being thus changed, Lennox 200 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. soon found that the Cardinal no longer valued his ser- vices ; he therefore determined to take the earliest oppor- tunity to check the growing ambition of this haughty- prelate. The king of France, ignorant of what had taken place, sent a supply of 30,000 crowns to Lennox, then in the Castle of Dumbarton, to aid the Queen Dowager's party. Under existing circumstances, he did not hesitate to appropriate the money to a very different purpose; which so exasperated the Cardinal, that he persuaded the Regent to levy an army and march to Glasgow, with the design of surprising him, and seizing the money. Lennox, however, being apprized of their intention, quickly raised an army of 10,000 men, and marching from Glasgow to Leith, offered battle to the Cardinal; but the intriguing priest not being pre- pared to oppose so formidable a force, artfully succeeded in obtaining a kind of truce. Lennox perceiving that the parley was meant to ensnare him, returned to Glas- gow, and having garrisoned the Bishop's Castle, pro- ceeded to Dumbarton. The Regent, in the mean time, having mustered a numerous army in Stirling, took the route to Glasgow, and on his arrival, stormed the Castle with brass guns * On the tenth day of the seige, a truce was proposed, and the garrison agreed to surrender, on condition of receiving quarter and indemnity ; but no sooner had they opened the gates, and delivered up their arms, than they were all massacred, two persons * Buchanan's Hist, of Scot. CHKONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 201 only escaping. Under these circumstances, Lennox could no longer contend with his adversaries : with the assistance of the Earl of Glencairn, however, he de- termined to strike one desperate blow. Having mus- tered all their vassals and adherents, they intended to have marched to Clydesdale, and laid waste the property of the Hamiltons. This scheme coming opportunely to the knowledge of the Regent, he determined to pre- vent the enterprise by taking possession of Glasgow. Glencairn, however, was beforehand with him, for, on the approach of the Regent, he drew out his forces, amounting to about 800 men, composed of his vassals and the citizens of Glasgow, to a place called the Butts, where the "weapon shaw" was performed previous to the Union, — now the site of the Barracks. With this small party he courageously attacked the Regent, beat the first rank back upon the second, and took the brass ordnance they had brought against him. In the heat of the battle, while victory was doubtful, Robert Boyd, of the Kilmarnock family, arrived with a small party of horse, and having valiantly thrust himself into the midst of the combat, decided the fate of the day ; but Glen- cairn's men, apprehending that a great additional force had arrived, fled with precipitation. In this engagement there were about 300 slain on both sides. The Regent immediately entered the city, and, being exasperated against the citizens, gave it up to his soldiers to plunder, which they did so completely, that, having carried away 202 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. or destroyed every thing moveable, they pulled down the very doors and windows of the houses. REFORMATION RIOTS. The emancipation of Scotland from a state of civil, as well as of religious bondage, the most galling and oppressive, perhaps, that ever perverted the judgments or insulted the feelings of a people' naturally high-spirited and independent, — that arduous and protracted struggle, during which the most powerful energies of our moral nature were called into action, — that steady and prin- cipled resistance to inveterate and legal oppression, by which so much national heroism and fortitude were evolved and exercised, is a subject of no ordinary degree of interest. And never was there a time when the workings of that memorable epoch could be more profit- ably studied than the present, — when the rulers of this world, combining together in council, and setting their faces against the influx of public opinion, — when hostile swords, so to speak, have just been unscabbarded and flourished in the midst of a kingdom, struggling for its natural and well-earned rights and privileges, — when the slogan cry of " No innovation" has been raised in opposition to reformation and freedom, — in such a crisis it is at once a manly and a christian part to stand by the wayside, and over the march of infatuated hosts to read the admonitory page of history, — to point to that inevit- able hour, when all previous effort, and obstinacy, and CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 208 infatuation, shall only serve to accelerate the approach and increase the violence of the recoil. But this anti- reformation spirit has unhappily long pervaded our native land. There are amongst us, we regret to say, Scotsmen, from whose hearts the revolution of a few years has effaced every grateful impression, — men who, with more than Verona infatuation, have ventured to impeach the saviours of their country, — the martyrs in the cause of all that is dear or valuable to civilized or rational natures, — of motives the most iniquitous, and of conduct the most base and degrading. The individual who pauses seriously over the history of the Romish church, as it was by law established in Scotland, previous to the period of the Reformation, — who examines her tenets, and explores her sanctuaries, and brings under review the characters and interests of her teachers, — who traces the invariable connection betwixt Papal bigotry and regal despotism, — betwixt that tyranny which enslaves and enfeebles the mind, and that by which the body is held in subjection, — that individual, after having weighed the extent of moral and political evil, arising from a religion and a govern- ment of which ignorance, superstition, passive obedience, and non-resistance, constituted the foundation, will be able to estimate the debt of gratitude which is due to the reformers. We have premised these few remarks for the sake of representing the conduct of those engaged in the work of the memorable decade from 1560, in its true and 204 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. proper light ; but whilst we thus enter our defence in their favour generally, we cannot justify their mad and insane conduct, in demolishing all the most splendid and stately edifices of the country. No task appeared to the multitude more praise-worthy than the overturning of those seats of superstition ; they ran with emulation to perform it, and happy was the man whose hand was more adventurous and successful in executing a work deemed so pious. Nor did their leaders labour to restrain this impetuous spirit of refor- mation. Irregular and violent as its sallies were, they tended greatly to that end which they had in view ; for, by demolishing the monasteries throughout the king- dom, and setting at liberty their wretched inhabitants, they hoped to render it impossible ever to re-edify the one, or to re-assemble the other. The simple fact of a building being a relic of popery, was an emphatic warrant for its demolition. The fol- lowing is the copy of the order issued by government, at the memorable epoch, for the destruction of our vener- able minster: — " To our traist friendis, Traist friendis, after maist hearty commendacion, we pray you fail not to pass incontinent to the kirk, (of Glasgow, or elsewhere, as it might be) and tak down the hail images thereof, and bring furth to the kirk- zyard, and burn them openly. And sicklyke cast down the altaris, and purge the kirk of all kynd of monuments CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 205 of idolatrye. And this ze fail not to do, as ze will do us singular emplesure ; and so commitis you to protection of God. (Signed) Ar. Argyle. James Stewart. Ruthven. From Edinburgh the, XII. of Aug. 1560. Fail not, but ze tak guid heyd that neither the dasks, windows, nor duris, be ony ways hurt or broken, uther glassin wark, or iron wark." The orders thus given were strictly obeyed, and too strictly; for, not content with demolishing chantries, altars, and other appendages to the Cathedral, which, from their connection with the Roman Catholic forms of worship, it might, with more colour of justice, have been said were monuments of idolatry, the persons employed in the work of destruction swept away also every sepulchral monument then in the church, except one, that of the Stuarts of Minto, which still remains. Nor was the defacing of the Cathedral the only work of destruction enacted in the city. The other buildings throughout the town, which could even in the most remote degree be regarded as remnants of- popery, shared more or less in the general devastation. The clergy, accustomed to lives of luxury and indolence, were forcibly ejected from their abodes, to seek shelter where they could find it. It must, indeed, have been 206 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. rather a melancholy spectacle to have seen the poor monks and friars compelled to embrace a means of sub- sistence so forcibly contrasting with that of which they had just been so ignominiously deprived. But amidst these irregular proceedings, a circum- stance, which does honour to the conduct and humanity of the leaders of the Reformation, deserves notice. They so far restrained the rage of their followers, and were able so to temper their heat and zeal, that few of the Roman Catholics were exposed to any personal insult, and not a single man suffered death * It appears from the records of the town-council, 19th January, 1573, that, notwithstanding the care of the citizens to prevent the Cathedral from being utterly destroyed, great part of the lead, slates, and other mate- rials of the church, had been, through the disorders of the times, dilapidated.! * Robertson. f It may perhaps be proper here to mention, that besides the writs and archives carried away, as stated in an earlier part of this work, by the Archbishop on his departure from this country, all the principal relics of the cathedral being also carried away by that dignitary, escaped the fury of the populace. A list of these, translated from the original in the chartulary of the University, is here appended:— The image of Christ in gold, and those of the twelve apostles in silver, with the whole vestments belonging to the church. A silver cross, gilt in the upper part, and adorned with precious stones in the lower part, with a small portion of the cross of our Saviour! Another silver cross, adorned with precious stones, with several other portions of the cross of Christ! CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 207 But it was not long before a yet more serious calamity than the destruction of the mere appendages to the Cathedral appeared at hand. In 1579, an act having been passed by the estates, at the desire of the assembly, for demolishing the churches left up to that time unde- stroyed, the effects of it, Spotiswood informs us, were, that " forthwith ensued a pitiful devastation of churches and church buildings throughout all parts of the realm ; for every one made bold to put to their hands, the meaner A silver casket, gilt, containing the hair of the blessed virgin! A square silver coffer, containing several of the scourges of St. Kentigern, and St. Thomas of Canterbury, and a portion of the hair garment worn by the former saint! Another silver casket, gilt, containing part of the skin of Bar- tholomew, the apostle!! A silver casket containing a bone of St. Ninian! A silver casket, containing part of the girdle of the Virgin Mary! ! A crystal case, containing a bone of some saint and of St. Magdalene ! ! A small phial of crystal, containing the milk of the blessed Virgin, and a part of the manger of Christ!!! A small phial of a saffron colour, containing the fluid which formerly flowed from the tomb of St. Mungo! A phial, containing several of the bones of St. Eugene, and of St. Blaze! A phial, containing a part of the tomb of St. Catherine the virgin! A small hide, with a portion of the cloak of St. Martin! A precious hide, with portions of the bodies of St. Kentigern, and St, Thomas of Canterbury! ! 4 Some other hides, with bones of saints and other relics! A wooden chest containing many small relics. Two linen bags, with the bones of St. Kentigern, St. Thanew, and other deceased saints! ! 208 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. sort imitating the example of the greater, and those who were in authority ; no difference was made, but all the churches either defaced or pulled to the ground; the holy vessels, and whatsoever else men could make gain of, as timber, lead, and bells, were put to sale ; the very sepul- chres of the dead were not spared ; the registers of the church, and bibliothecs cast into the fire ; in a word, all was ruined ; and what had escaped in the time of the first tumult, did now undergo the common calamity; and the preachers animated the people to follow these bar- barous proceedings, by crying out, that the places where idols had been worshipped, ought, by the law of G-od, to be destroyed, and that the sparing of them was the reserving of things execrable. " The execution of this act for the west, was commit- ted to the Earls of Arran, Argyle, and Glencairn ; and they, at the intercession of the inhabitants of Glasgow, had spared the Cathedral ; but in this year Mr. Melvil, principal of the College, having for a great while soli- cited the magistrates to have it pulled down, and build three churches with the materials, they at last granted him liberty to do so ; but when he, by beat of drum, was assembling the workmen for that purpose, the crafts (who justly looked upon the Cathedral as one of the greatest ornaments of their town) ran immediately to arms, and informed Mr. Melvil, that if any person presumed to pull down a single stone of the church, he should that moment be buried under it ; and so much were they incensed at this attempt to destroy this ancient building, that if the CHRONICLES OP ST. MUNGO. 209 magistrates had not come and appeased them, they would have put to death Melvil with all his adherents. A com- plaint was hereupon made by the ministers, and the leaders of the insurrection were summoned to appear before the council at Edinburgh ; where the king, at that time not thirteen years of age, approved of what the crafts had done, and commanded the ministers to pro- ceed no farther in that affair ; saying, that too many churches had already been destroyed, and that he would not tolerate any more abuses of that kind." According not only to the Archbishop whose words we have quoted, but to unvarying tradition, it was to the pressing instance of Melvil and certain other minis- ters of the city, that Captain Crawford of Jordanhill, then Provost of Glasgow, and his colleagues in the magistracy, yielded, when they gave their reluctant assent to the demolition of the sacred pile. The chief argument made use of by the over and ill judgingly zealous clergymen in question, appears to have been, that the church was a monument of idolatry, and the only unruined cathedral in the kingdom. Another story of the way in which our minster was preserved from the destruction threatened by a furious and fanatical mob, is not unfrequently related: — "I," said the wily chief magistrate of the day, to his towns- men, eager to begin the work of desecration and demoli- tion, " I am for pu'ing doon the auld kirk, but no till we hae first built a new ane." The worthy Provost was doubtless well aware, that, as over-excitement is followed 210 CHRONICLES OF ST. MTJNGO. by a proportionate degree of languor, could he but then avert the storm, there would be little danger of its again reaching a similar pitch of vehemence. TUMULT AT THE MARRIAGE OF QUEEN MARY. In the year 1563, on the marriage of Mary Queen of Scots with Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, an insurrec- tion, headed by Hamilton, Argyle, and some other chiefs, broke out in the west part of the country. The king quickly collecting an army of four thousand men, entered Glasgow, and drove forth from the city all the insurgents, who had taken possession of it. Although a considerable number of the citizens had joined either standards, it is gratifying to think that little bloodshed was the result of the collision of the parties. BATTLE OF LANGSIDE. In the year 1568, we find the citizens of Glasgow arrayed under the banners of the Regent Moray, at the field of Langside, against the adherents of Mary Queen of Scots. That unhappy princess, whose misfortunes were only equalled by the fortitude with which she endured them, having escaped from her confinement in the castle of Lochleven, fled to Hamilton. There she was quickly joined by a great number of her friends, to the amount of six thousand, zealous to support t*Te cause of their sovereign, as well as to humble, if possible, the overgrown power of Moray. The Regent at this time was at Glasgow, holding a CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 211 court of justice ; but no sooner did he hear of the situa- tion of the queen, than he quickly drew his forces around him; while, in the mean time, he amused her by pre- tending to hearken to some overtures that had been made him for an accommodation. These, however, he broke off as soon as he found himself in a situation to take the field. Accordingly, upon learning that Mary was determined in a few days to leave Hamilton and pass to Dumbarton, where it had been agreed by her followers to place her for security, he resolved to intercept her flight and give her battle. With this view, he drew up his army to the amount of four thousand men, many of whom were citi- zens of Glasgow, upon the burgh muir, to the east of the town, a road which the Queen's army must have neces- sarily passed, had they gone by the north side of the Clyde. The Queen, however, took a different route, by passing westward on the south of the river. This, the Regent observing, he ordered his cavalry to ford the Clyde, and his infantry to pass the bridge of Glasgow, in order to take possession of the hill of Langside, a little south of the town, before the Queen's army could arrive. This situation he had the good luck to seize, and posting his troops in a small village, and among some gardens and enclosures adjacent, he waited the approach of the Queen's army, whose superiority in cavalry could be of no benefit to them on such broken ground. The Hamiltons who composed the vanguard of the Queen's forces, ran so 212 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. eagerly to the attack, that they put themselves out of breath, and left the main battle far behind. The en- counter of the spearmen was fierce and desperate, but as the forces of the Hamiltons were exposed on the one flank to a continued fire from a body of musqueteers, attacked on the other by the Regent's best troops, and not supported by the Queen's army, they were soon obliged to give ground, and the rout immediately became universal. Three hundred fell on the field, and nearly four hundred were taken prisoners by the Regent, who marched back to Glasgow, where he returned public thanks to God for this great, and on his side almost bloodless victory ; and, in testimony of the regard which he had for the services of the incorporation of bakers there, he bestowed upon them the lands of Partick, where their mills are now built. During this engagement, Mary stood on a hill in the immediate vicinity. When she saw that fortune had declared against her, she immediately took to flight, accompanied by a few attendants, and never closed her eyes till she arrived at the abbey of Drundrenan, in Galloway, sixty Scottish miles from the place of battle. Her subsequent melancholy fate is known to every reader. SIEGE OF THE CASTLE OF GLASGOW. The Castle of Glasgow, in the year 1570, was again besieged by the Hamiltons and the other adherents to the Queen's interest, and enemies to the Earl of Lennox, who had returned from England after the murder of CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 213 the Earl of Moray, in whose place he was appointed Regent. Aware that it was garrisoned but by a few soldiers, that the governor was absent, and that it was unprovided with necessaries, they intended to sur- prise it by their sudden approach ; for they came into the town in such haste, (says Buchanan,) that they shut out a good part of the garrison soldiers from entering ; but being disappointed of their hopes, they began to batter and storm it with the utmost violence. They were, however, so warmly received by the besieged for several days, though only twenty-four in number, that they were obliged to retire with considerable loss. About two days after, Sir William Drury arrived in Glasgow with an English army, from whence he pro- ceeded to Hamilton the castle of which place he besieged, and having taken it, demolished it in return for the oppressions of its proprietors. REFRACTORY CONDUCT OF THE CITIZENS. In the year 1648, after the unfortunate Charles I., who, upon his quarrel with Parliament, had taken refuge among his native countrymen, was delivered up by the latter to the English government, the Scots, partly from remorse at their conduct, and partly through indignation at the disrespectful manner in which he was treated by the Parliamentary army, prepared for an invasion of England. In these preparations, however, they were disturbed by discontents and animosities amongst themselves. Forces were ordered to be levied 214 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. throughout the country, and each district was required to furnish a certain quota. The clergy, however, who had all along betrayed an aversion to the king, strained every nerve to oppose the muster ; and so far successful were they in their endeavours, that, excited by their discourses, several burghs became refractory, and refused to comply with the proposition. Amongst these con- tumacious districts was the city of Glasgow, whose inhabitants had already felt too keenly the attempts of the king, at the establishment of episcopacy, to be lured by the bait now offered them to swallow. They steadily refused, and the tumult and indignation of the citizens was- so great as to proceed almost to outrage against such of their number as were favourable to the scheme. To answer for their refractory conduct, the magistrates and council were summoned before Parlia- ment, and imprisoned several days. They were stripped of their civic functions by an Act of Parliament, dated 11th June, 1648, and a commission was sent to the old council, authorising them to proceed to the election of new magistrates. The officials thus elected, however, did not long enjoy their situations ; for, by an Act of the committee of estates, the old magistrates were replaced, as having been unjustly ejected. RELIGIOUS TUMULTS. Our attention, in taking a retrospect of the different riots which took place in Glasgow during the long period which intervened between the death of the Protector CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 215 Cromwell, and the revolution of 1688, is principally arrested by the fact, that with scarcely a single excep- tion, their exciting cause was a noble adherance to the dictates of religious principle. Not long after the accession of Charles II. to the throne, in 1660, strenuous endeavours were made by that monarch to establish, against the wishes of the majority of the people, the episcopal form of church government. Resistance to the obnoxious scheme was the prelude of the most extensive sacrifices of life and property, and, in particular, the citizens of Glasgow, who were principally presbyterians, were persecuted with the most unrelenting fury. In casting a retrospective glance at this memorable era, so fraught with incessant struggles in the noble cause of civil and religious liberty, we are naturally led to the inquiry, why the labours of the early Scottish reformers were so little appreciated, and why, among the higher ranks of our countrymen, the episcopal has always been preferred to the simple and unadorned presbyterian form of worship. In making this inquiry, we will be able, in some measure, to divine the cause of the unrelenting persecution by government of our cove- nanting ancestors, — that persecution which caused so much bloodshed in our land, and which was in no locality so forcibly attested by a " cloud of witnesses " as in our own city. The union of the sister kingdoms under one form of government, and the consequent approximation of senti- 216 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. ments and manners, must be regarded as having had a powerful effect in lowering the general respect for the reformers of Scotland. While every measure under Henry VIII., the avowed father of the episcopal church, was effected by the intervention and agency of govern- ment, — while the king suggested, and the parliament most obsequiously seconded every anti-papistical enact- ment, — while the whole resources of the secular clergy were confiscated without a struggle, and almost without a murmur, — the Reformation in Scotland was effected in direct opposition to, and under the most severe per- secution from the constituted authorities of the land. In the latter case, turbulence, civil broils, and bloodshed, marked the progress, and indicated the triumphs of the reformed religion ; whilst in the former, the silent and disregarded remonstrances of a few pensioned monks were the only indications of a change of faith. It is not extraordinary, therefore, that many, among the higher ranks in particular, who have long admired and imitated the manners and sentiments of our southern neighbours, reflecting on the dreadful convulsions with which presbyterianism was introduced into Scotland, combined with its present austere and unassuming appearance, should be disposed to prefer the placid looks and more courtly deportment of the sister church. Episcopacy is the religion of the court, — it is the religion of the Queen, — and from the showy nature of its ceremonies and observances, as well as from its dig- nities and political influence, it has long been esteemed CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 217 the religion of a gentleman. So long as this continues to be the light in which it is regarded, we shall look in vain for an unprejudiced estimate of the principles, motives, and conduct of the Scottish reformers. Another cause of that discredit into which the char- acters of our reformers have lately fallen, may be traced to those numerous and popular secessions which have been made from the presbyterian church. By far the greater proportion of our Scottish seceders profess to believe the doctrines, and to follow the steps of Calvin and Knox, while they are disposed to represent the established church by terms expressive of apostacy and dereliction of principle. Without investigating very minutely the truth or falsehood of these assertions, some have been led to join in the secession, while by far the greater number, to whom the conduct of those seceders appeared preposterous, have associated with the doc- trines of the original reformers all that gloomy asperity, puritanical cant, and uncharitable invective, which have been, (not altogether, perhaps, without foundation,) ascribed to their secession followers in modem times. Thus have names, which were once mentioned with veneration, love, and gratitude; and doctrines, which, the more thoroughly they are understood, will the more devoutly be adopted and practised, from being identified with other names and other doctrines, very dissimilar, been degraded in the imaginations of those who are ever disposed to form conclusions on appearances alone. 218 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. The Scottish reformers have been branded as enthu- siasts, austere in their doctrines and manners, neglect- ful of the common civilities, and incapable of exercising the charities of social life. The character of Knox has been particularized as brutally insolent, and rudely dis- loyal. The tears which he is said to have drawn from the bright eyes of the Scottish queen have, in this age of chivalrous sentiment, produced a whole host of Quixotic defenders, backed by all the influence of the drawing-room. Many who are duly qualified for appre- ciating, as well as practising those useful and becoming civilities, upon which admission into polished society at present depends, are yet altogether incapable of esti- mating correctly " the form and pressure " of the age in which our reformers lived. Many who would deem it not only brutal but treasonable, to insult the majesty of royalty with a look of dissent, forget that in former times prince and peasant, layman and priest, chieftain and reformer, frequently associated together with a natural and unconstrained familiarity. Many, too, who prize and defend the privileges we at present enjoy, do not truly estimate that intrepid and inflexible boldness of spirit without which no reformation ever was, or can be effected, in opposition to established and constituted authority. Had our reformers been less zealous, or less obstinate in the support of their opinions, — had they, according to the wish of their more polished posterity, blended the mildness of the dove with the cunning of the serpent, the passiveness of the lamb with the strength of CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 219 the lion, — had they, in other words, allowed themselves to be gained over by a few courtly and insidious speeches and promises, or been deterred by the most dreadful denunciations of vengeance and destruction, from that determined attitude which they so nobly presented, — had they, like some modern politicians, varied and fluctuated as party or interest inclined, making ship- wreck of all that is manly in character, in order to please, to flatter, to accomplish, — had the Reformer Knox, or any of his fellow-labourers in the cause of eternal truth acted in this manner, those who now pollute his memory by their recollections, might, at this very hour, have been deprived even of the power of complaint, and subjected to all the miseries of religious and civil despotism. It is unnecessary that we should here pause to dis- prove assertions which have been made by various . his- torians, derogatory to the character of our reformers ; nor shall we attempt to contend that fanaticism and superstition are not blemishes which adhere, in a greater or less degree, to all religions whatever, and are not, in fact, in perfect combination and alliance with each other. To a certain degree our covenanting ancestors were imbued with the fanatical character ; but we repeat, that to these fanatics, Scotsmen of the present day owe all their civil and religious liberty. It ought to have been mentioned above, that upon the entrance of Cromwell into Glasgow in 1650, a tumult took place, which, although resulting very harmlessly, 220 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. yet threatened rather dangerous consequences. A plot had been laid against the life of the usurper by the presbyterians, who, notwithstanding all the attachment of Charles I. to episcopacy, still retained some affection for his memory, and hatred towards the individual who had brought him to the scaffold the year preceding. As Cromwell, with his army, was most likely to enter the city by the head of the High-Street, the vault of the Bishop's Castle was filled with gunpowder, which was intended to be ignited at his approach. The intention of the "religionists" having become known to some of Cromwell's adherents in the city, word was privately conveyed to him to beware. The hint was taken, and turning to the right, the invaders entered the city by the Cowcaddens and Cowloan. A day or two previous, the Marquis of Argyle, who was in the possession of the town, with the greater portion of the clergy, fled in dismay, and those presbyterian citizens who remained behind were in the utmost state of terror and confusion. Cromwell, however, was too good a tactician to attempt violent proceedings. He therefore sent for Mr. Patrick Gillespie, the minister of the Outer High Church, then the governing ecclesiastic of the town, and having enter- tained him hospitably, and given him a long prayer, converted him to the opinion, that "of a verity he (Cromwell) was one of the elect." A few days after, Cromwell went in state to the Cathedral. It so happened that on this occasion the celebrated Zachary Boyd, minister of the Barony parish, was the preacher ; CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 221 and having taken advantage of the presence of the "evil one" to tell him of his misdeeds, the general's sec- retary, boiling with indignation, begged leave of his master * to pistol the scoundrel." " No, no," responded Cromwell, "we will manage him in another way." He accordingly invited Zachary to dinner, and converted him by a prayer of three hours' duration. It is almost unnecessary that we should follow minutely in detail the various religious tumults which took place in Glasgow during the dark period of per- secution in Scotland — common as they were to every locality in the west part of the country; we shall therefore content ourselves with briefly enumerating the more important. In the year 1666, numbers of the presbyterian citizens were hanged in the streets, while others, under threats of a similar doom, were prohibited from attend- ing the presbyterian preachers. In 1674, the community of the city was fined in ,£100 sterling, for allowing a presbyterian minister to preach within its limits ; and in the same year guards were placed at the city gates on Sundays to prevent the inhabitants from attending field preachings in the country. These measures, which were used against the cove- nanters, however severe, were not found to answer the intended purpose ; and others, more rigorous if possible, were thought necessary. In the year 1667, however, a bond was made out by order of government, which the inhabitants of Glasgow and the western shires were 222 CHRONICLES OF ST. MTJNGO. ordered to subscribe. As this deed contained a com- plete renunciation of presbytery, and an abhorrence of all their former proceedings, it was easy to foresee that few would relish it. To enforce the subscription, an army of highlanders, to the amount of eight thousand, were assembled at Stirling, from whence they issued out against the west. On the 26th of January, 1678, they arrived at Glasgow, where they exercised for the space of five days the most wanton acts of cruelty and oppression upon such as would not willingly comply with the bond. They made a prey of whatever came within their reach, and if they suspected any concealment, compelled by torture the unfortunate objects of their suspicion to discover their hidden wealth. Such acts of violence excited a general indignation through the kingdom ; the highlanders were recalled, and the west was at once stripped of her effects, and liberated from her oppressors. The presbyterians could not but be exasperated in the greatest degree at this manifold oppression, and mis- led by the zeal of their leaders, they proceeded to such -lengths in revenging themselves as cannot be justified, even though we consider the acts of cruelty that had been used against them. On the anniversary of the Restoration, about eighty covenanters having assembled at Rutherglen, after extinguishing the bonfires that had been lighted for solemnization of the birth- day, published a declaration and testimony expressive of their motives, and burned ' CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 228 at the cross the several acts of parliament and the privy-council that had passed against them. Notice of these proceedings having come to Edin- burgh, Lord Dundee was despatched with a party to quell the insurgents, and at the same time with orders to give them battle, in case any resistance should be offered. He accordingly fell in with the presbyterians assembled near Loudon-hill, and having to no purpose desired them to disperse and deliver up the ringleaders, he began an attack. From the superiority of the numbers of the covenanters, Dundee and his party were defeated with a considerable loss; they imme- diately retreated to Glasgow, where, as they expected to be assaulted by the country people, the streets were barricaded, and other measures taken for their better defence. These expectations were not ill grounded ; the cove- nanters, flushed with their success, after a night's stay at Hamilton, marched to Glasgow. When near the city, they divided their force into two battalions, the one marching into the town by the Gallowgate-street, and the other by the College Vennal. Immediately there- after an engagement took place, which was supported for a considerable time with great bravery on both sides. At last the covenanters were obliged to retreat, from the superior skill of the soldiery, as well as from the fire kept up against them from the windows and closes adjacent to the street. They accordingly left the city in good order, after having eight men killed in the 224 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. engagement, and several wounded. It has been stated, but on questionable authority, that "so inhuman was Dundee on this occasion, that he gave orders that the dead bodies of these unfortunate people should not be buried, but left upon the streets to be devoured by the dogs. Some women having attempted to carry them to the grave, were attacked and maltreated by the soldiers, who compelled them to set down the coffins in the alms- house, where they continued till the forces of Dundee left Glasgow, and thereafter were interred." To this, in a few days, succeeded the Battle of Bothwell Bridge, where the covenanters again received a signal defeat from the royal forces, after which large numbers of their adherents were sentenced to banishment. Notwithstanding, however, the many cruelties to which they were subjected, the zeal of the covenanters was only the more inflamed by opposition, and their attach- ment to the presbyterian form of church goverment con- firmed. Their condition, upon the accession of James II. to the throne, was in no ways improved. The same intolerance on the part of government was continued, and, if possible, their severe protestant principles more menacingly attacked by the known partiality of the sovereign to Catholicism. But the time was near at hand when their grievances were to be redressed, and an end put to that reign of tyranny and oppression which had so long prevailed in the country. To that period did the lovers of peace look forward, while they hailed the dawn of its approach, upon the flight of the CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 22^ unfortunate James. That event had no sooner taken place, than the city of Glasgow, to testify their regard to the protestant persuasion, levied and armed five hundred men, whom they sent to Edinburgh, com- manded by the Earl of Argyle and Lord Newbattle, to assist in guarding the convention of estates, convened for making a tender of the crown to William and Mary. This memorable assembly sympathising with the gen- eral voice of the people of Scotland, which had ever been averse to episcopacy, having constituted themselves into a parliament, abolished that form of church government, and in its stead established presbytery, for which her sons had so firmly contended during the two preceding reigns. In consequence of this act, John Paterson, who then held possession of the See of Glasgow, resigned his charge, and retired to Edinburgh, where, in ten years afterwards, he died at the age of seventy-six. It must be borne in mind by the reader, that although the presbyterian form of church government was estab- lished by law, and a General Assembly instituted and convened in 1560, from that period to the revolution the following alternations took place : — from the era of the Reformation till 1572, presbyterianism was the religion of the state, while from the latter period to the year 1592, a system, partaking to a considerable degree of the complexion of episcopacy, prevailed ; which, again, at the latter period, gave place to presbyterianism; — this form exercised its functions in connection with the state till 1610, when it was superseded by the episcopacy 226 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. of the English church, which, again, was in its turn dethroned by the memorable General Assembly con- vened at Glasgow in the year 1638 ;— in 1662, shortly after the period of the restoration of Charles II., epis- copacy was forced upon the people of Scotland by that monarch, and maintained by himself and successor till the abdication of the latter. The revolution of 1688 has always been regarded as the most memorable example recorded in our history, of the attachment of all ranks of our people to the monar- chical form of government. The bonds of society had at that eventful period been completely dissolved. A rightful sovereign actuated by his just and natural fears had abdicated the throne, and, of course, put an end for the time, to all regular government. The sovereign power had been thrown into the democratic branch of the constitution, and a door thereby opened for all those theoretical absurdities, and practical atrocities, which half a century ago, were so deplorably and awfully ex- emplified in France. But the experience so dearly pur- chased in the time of Charles I. and the long paliament, were not lost either on the nation or its representatives. The government was speedily re-organized, and a sure foundation laid for that subsequent moral, political, and intellectual greatness, to which this country has latterly been raised. Before the act of William, which settled the religious liberties of the people, had been finally passed, the hatred of the presbyterians of Glasgow towards the episcopal CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 227 clergy, had risen to overflowing, and was ready when the slightest occasion offered, to wreak itself out on the op- pressors. On various occasions therefore, immediately after the accession of the new monarch, and while as yet the city was under episcopal domination, the covenanters took the liberty of committing such sundry acts of offence, as hindering the ringing of the bells on Sunday, stopping episcopalians on their road to church, pursuing clergy- men of the "black persuasion" through the streets with cudgel in hand, and forcing them for safety to take refuge within doors. These, and divers other little skirmishes, were of daily occurrence, till at length a more serious collision of both parties took place : — Among other acts of the people, who almost to a man were presbyterians, was the thrusting, before the act of toleration had been finally passed, the episcopal clergy from their pulpits. The then provost of the city, an episcopalian, by name Walter Gibson, wishing if possible to make the seat of government believe, that he at least had some authority in quelling the spirits of the rebel- lious citizens, attempted in this state of affairs to conclude a bargain with the presbyterians, that till matters should be completely arranged, the keys of all the churches of the city should be delivered into the hands of two neutral persons. Too wary, however, were the persecuted to enter into such a capitulation, and they positively and heroi- cally refused. Matters at length proceeded so far, that on the fourteenth day of February, 1689, Bailie Gibson, 228 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUXGO. a brother of the Provost, also an adherent of episcopacy, having hired a party of reckless ruffians, proceeded with a minister to the High Church to make a forcible ingress. On their arrival on the spot, however, they found the door guarded by a party of forty women. Admittance was peremptorily demanded, and as resolutely denied. A rencontre was the consequence, which, after a stout resistance on the part of the "weaker vessels," ended as might be expected, in their complete discomfiture; — thirty-two of them being wounded in a most barbarous manner. But such a victory was not to be so easily gained. The yells, the cries, and the terrible ejaculations, for which even in those days the women of Glasgow were distinguished, aroused the mountain-men who were within hearing. " To arms, to arms! " was the general shout, and scarcely had an hour elapsed before the whole body of the covenanters were on the scene of action. Now were to be witnessed in all their glory, these devo- tees dealing out their vengeance. Sticks, stones, and every thing within reach, were to be seen flying in every direction; — all this, too, within the precincts of the churchyard. The affray having been ended, it was found that even with all the assistance which had flocked to their standard, the women had the worst of it. As a relic of curiosity, the names of the principal parties in this rencontre may here be mentioned: — Among the males were, John Gibson, a bailie of the city, John Bell, Commissary Robertson, George Robertson and his two sons, John Robertson, John Watt, Inglis, Patrick CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 229 Bell, James Marshall, John Coats, John Filshill, John Paterson, Horn, John Aitkin, Alexander Aitken, James Lee's two sons, James Robertson. The names of the women were, Mrs. Maxwell, Mary Fleckfield, Marion Ewin, Agnes Rodger, Agnes Allan, Elizabeth Linning, Janet Loudon, Margaret Dalgliesh, Bessie Jackson, Janet Castellan, Janet Fleeming, Janet Robertson, Margaret Inglis, Marion Finlaw, Janet Kid, Janet Brand, Christian Lang, Janet Wood, Mrs. Hill, Janet Howie, Margaret Lin, Catherine Lin, Isabel Paterson, Janet Young, Margaret Anderson, Margaret Corse, Bessie Fleming, Grissel Brown, Bessie Marshall, Janet Shearer, Margaret Steven. Of these zealous defenders of the faith, scarcely any ever completely recovered from their wounds ; while all bore the marks till their dying day, and some had their death hastened by the injuries which they received. UNION RIOTS. The consolidation of Scotland and England by the Act of Union — a measure which the Stuarts, prior to the Revolution, and in the very zenith of their power, could never effect — was safely and happily accomplished ; and while it paved the way to future greatness, by a combination of strength and power, and by laying a foundation for the gradual extinction of those national jealousies and feuds, which, for so many centuries, had inflicted innumerable evils upon both countries, it tended to freshen and invigorate the attachment of the Scottish 230 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. nation to the new order of things, and to predispose them to accede, as they afterwards did very cordially, to the great measure of the settlement of the protestant succession in the House of Hanover. Accordingly, for upwards of a century, these feelings and principles have been daily gaining ground and force ; and hence it may now be safely asserted, that no family was ever so firmly seated on a throne as the House of Brunswick on that of these kingdoms. Ruling by the combined titles of perfect legitimacy and popular choice, their government, amidst all the convulsive commotions and difficulties with which it has at different times had to struggle, — amidst the dismemberment of one portion of the empire, and the rebellion of another, has not merely surmounted every obstacle and quashed all opposition, but has been the means of raising the united kingdom to a pitch of greatness and renown unequalled in ancient story, and destined, we believe, to excite the wonder and amazement of future ages. Time has removed every rival claimant out of the way, and the Jacobites, once so formidable by their zeal and union, exist only in those immortal effusions of the muse, in which the fruitless struggles of a brave and generous, though misguided people, still live, and will continue to live and to delight those who, had they been alive, would have arrayed themselves on the opposite side. But although Queen Anne's Act of 1706 was, generally speaking, safely accomplished by the almost unanimous voice of the people in both nations, still the hereditary CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 231 feelings of bitter enmity towards each other were on the occasion renewed to some degree in Scotland, and no- where did it proceed to a greater pitch than in Glasgow. But it may be remarked, that tumultuous conduct was only evinced on the part of the Jacobite citizens — those lingering enthusiasts in the cause of the expatriated family — and that with one or two exceptions in the higher classes, well known to Scottish readers, the act of consolidation was hailed as the greatest boon which could be conferred on both nations. The following graphic account of the riots in our city on this memorable occasion, is from the pen of Daniel Defoe, the celebrated author of Robinson Crusoe, at that time editor of the Caledonian Mercury newspaper, in Edinburgh: — " On Thursday the day of the fast appointed by the commissioners of the assembly was kept in Glasgow, Mr. Clark, minister of the Tron Kirk, preached from the words in Ezra viii. 21. ' And I proclaimed a fast at the river of Ahava, that we might afflict ourselves before our God, to seek of Him a right way for us and for our little ones, and for all our substance.' " In the conclusion of his sermon, after telling his hearers the sad condition they were brought to, and how forward Glasgow used to be in the honest cause, he added to this purpose, — " ' Addresses would not do, and prayers would not do, there must be other methods ; it is true prayer was a duty, but we must not rest there,' and closed it with 232 . CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. these words, ' wherefore up, and be valiant for the city of our God.' " The sermon ended about eleven o'clock, and the people were so inflamed before, that, by one of the clock, the mob were gotten together, their drum was beat in the back streets, and all the confusions we are now to speak of followed. " The next day, the deacons of the trades, which is the same as in London, the masters of the companies, fol- lowed with a middling number of tradesmen, came to the council house, and leaving the people below, the deacons of trades and some few went up to the provost, and de- manded of him very rudely, if he would address. The provost, though surprised with their manner, composed himself, and, according to his known calmness and steadi- ness of temper, told them, that he was not satisfied to address ; and an eminent inhabitant of the town, viz., the laird of Blackhouse, used a great many arguments with them, civilly to persuade them to be easy and satisfied, and not to promote any disorders in the city. "While they were thus discoursing iu the Town-house, the number of the people increased without, and began to be tumultuous ; but as soon as the deacons came out, and reported to them in short, that the provost had refused to address, the people fell a shouting, and raging, and throwing stones, and raised a very great uproar. And here the deacons deservedly obtain the title of the raisers of this rabble ; for, had they related the calmness, the reasonings, and the manner with which the provost CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 233 very discreetly answered them, the people might very easily have been quietly dismissed ; but now it was too late, the answer as it was given to them, was only in gross, that the provost was resolute, and would not ad- dress. Enraged thus, they flung stones at the windows, and, as much as they could, insulted the provost ; but he found means to withdraw, so that they could not hurt him for that time. In this rage they went directly to the provost's house, got into it, took away all his arms, which were about twenty-five muskets, &c. Some few things were stolen in the throng, but that was not much : from thence they went to the laird of Blackhouse's dwelling, broke his windows, and showed their teeth, and thus the first tumult ended. " The provost retired for a while out of town, and the laird of Blackhouse also, not knowing what the issue of these things might be. " I pay no compliment at all here, but a debt to truth, in noting, that the provost of Glasgow for that time, John Aird, esquire, was an honest, sober, discreet gentle- man, one that had always been exceedingly beloved, even by the common people, particularly for his care of, and charity to the poor of the town ; and, at another time, would have been the last man in the town they would have insulted. I mention this to obviate the sup- position, that the rabble took this occasion to insult him, upon former resentments, as has been usual in like cases. " The provost being withdrawn, and the address they 234 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. designed thus baulked, they set it on foot without him, and indeed they effectually answered the magistrates' desire, who resolved, if there was an address, it should be a mere mob address. " Many a mean step they took to get hands, by threat- ening, affrighting, hurrying people into it, taking youths and mere children's hands to it. Every man that re- fused to sign it, was threatened to be rabbled, and have his house plundered, which made a great many timorous people sign it, that did not approve of it. This being the method, it may easily be imagined, the address was not many days a finishing ; and such as it was, they sent it away by four of the townsmen, whereof the first two were the deacon of the taylors and the deacon of the shoemakers ; the other two that went with it were gentle- men, too well known to be suspected of desiring any such kind of tumultuous proceedings, but complied with their desire, in order to prevent worse consequences. " If the multitude of addresses, which have been boasted of, as a declaration of the aversion of the people to the union, may be guessed at by this, those gentlemen, who bring this as an argument, have small reason to boast, and need not be very forward, to have the parti- culars examined into. " The address having thus been signed and sent away, the people begun to be quiet again, and the tumults seemed to have an end; the provost, who had fled to Edinburgh, came home again, and every one went quietly about their business, till, a little while after, a new occa- CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 235 sion set all in a flame again, worse than it was before, and made it appear, who was at the bottom of it all. " And here the warm gentleman, who, from the pulpit put the match to this gunpowder, may see who laid the train. The trifle of addressing was the least thing they sought for, though that served a purpose also ; and these good people, who were drawn in to begin it, saw no far- ther ; but now it appeared to be all Jacobite and papist at the bottom ; that blood and confusion was the thing they drove at, and king James, prelacy, tyranny, popery, and all the mischiefs this nation has to fear from them, lay hid in the design, as will presently appear, and the poor thoughtless multitude were only hurried into it by a conjunction of mistakes. " The second rabble had a beginning as small as the first, though not so soon laid, because the first had only the address in view, and was managed by a few, that the the contrivers of those disorders had imposed upon, and deluded ; but this part was under the more immediate conduct of the very party themselves, and was introduced as follows : — " One of the magistrates (Bailie Hamilton) of the city, had committed a fellow* to the tolbooth, who had, it seems, been taken offering to sale, a musquet, or some other things, which, it was made appear, belonged to the * The fellow's name was Parker, a loose, vagabond, profligate fellow, of a very ill character, a spinner of tobacco by employment, but a very scandalous person. 236 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. provost of the city, and which was taken ont of his house in the time of the rabble above mentioned. " This fellow lay in the tolbooth for some time ; but it was observed, that, in an evening, there would be several of the common people at the window, talking to him through the grates of the prison. The provost appre- hending that the imprisonment of this fellow might be a pretence for a new disturbance, resolved to discharge him; but, that it might not seem to be done for fear, took a bond of him to appear again, when called for, and, among the rest of the people who came to talk with him at the grate, was one Finlay, a loose sort of a fellow, who had formerly been a serjeant in Dumbarton's regi- ment in Flanders, and who openly professed himself a jacobite, — a fellow that followed no employ, but his mother kept a little change-house at the remotest part of the town on the Edinburgh side. " The fellow had given his comrades an account, that the magistrates had taken a bond of him ; and the next morning this Finlay, and a rabble with him, comes up to the clerk's chamber, another office in the tolbooth where the magistrates meet, and there they demand this bond of the clerk, it being put into his hands. The magistrates willing to take away all occasions of tumult, and to leave them no excuse, ordered the bond to be delivered up, for the gentlemen rabble had now a full command of the town. But to let it be seen that these were but seeking occasions, notwithstanding the provost CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 237 had told them they should have the bond delivered up, and they had now no reason but to be satisfied, the clerk having orders to deliver it, they continued together, re- solving to insult the provost at his coming out. The provost not imagining any danger, having granted their request, comes innocently out of the tolbooth, and went toward his own house ; the rabble immediately gathered about him, thrusting and abusing him, and not with villainous language only, but with stones and dirt, and such like thrown at him. He would have made to his own house, but the multitude increasing, and growing furious, he took sanctuary in a house, and running up a staircase, lost the rabble for some time, they pursuing him into a wrong house ; however, they searched every apartment to the top of the stair, and came into the very room where he was ; but the same hand that smote the men of Sodom with blindness, when they would have rabbled the angels, protected him from this many- headed monster, and so blinded them that they could not find him. It is the opinion of many of the soberest and most judicious of the citizens, that, if they had found him, their fury was at that time so past all government, that they would have murdered him, and that in a manner barbarous enough ; and if they had, as we say of a bull dog, once but tasted blood, who knows where they would have ended? The provost was hid in a bed, which folded up against the wall, and which they never thought of taking down ; having escaped this imminent danger, he 238 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. was conveyed out of town the next day by his friends, and went for the second time to Edinburgh. " The rabble were now fully masters of the town, they ranged the streets, and did what they pleased ; no magis- trate durst show his face to them, they challenged people as they walk'd the streets with this question, ' Are you for the union?' and no man durst own it, but at their extremest hazard. " The next thing they did, was to search for arms in all the houses of those that had appeared for the union ; and first they went to the dean of guild, and, upon his refusing to give them his arms, they took them away by force ; they stopt here a little, but having given out that they would search the houses of all that were for the union, the magistrates assembled, and considering, that if the citizens were disarmed, and the rabble possest of their weapons, they might, in the next place, possess their houses, wives and wealth, at their command ; and that it was better to defend themselves now, than be murdered and plundered in cold blood. They resolved therefore to raise some strength, to oppose this violence, and accordingly ordered the town guards to be doubled that night, and removed the place of arms from the usual guard house to the tolbooth ; — and that this guard should be of select persons, such as they knew. " Accordingly orders were sent to all the captains of the city militia, that each of them should bring twelve men with them, such as they could depend upon, would CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 239 stand by them, to secure the peace of the city ; and this Was besides the ordinary guard. This was done readily, and with great secrecy and celerity ; the captains of the militia being faithful honest gentlemen, brought their men without any noise, beat of drum, or the like, and leaving the ordinary guard at the usual place, and were that night increased to a whole company, and this select guard was placed in the council chamber. " The rabble, who had resolved to be as good as their words, were now gotten together; and whether they thought the magistrates were not in the council chamber, and so they resolved to begin with them; or whether they had intelligence that they were upon their guard is not certain ; but about nine o'clock at night they gathered about the tolbooth, and seeing a sentinel placed at the top of the stair, Finlay, of whom before, is ordered to go up and see what they were a-doing, as he called it. When he came to the top of the stair, the sentinel chal- lenged him and thrust him back ; but he comes on again and thrusts in with the sentinel, and gets by him. At this juncture one of the citizens, who was privately appointed to meet as above, was just coming up ; and having passed as privately as he could through the mob, who were at the stair foot to the number of about one hundred, being a select party only, for the rest were not then got together, was going up the stairs; this gentleman seeing a fellow assault the sentinel, boldly stept up to him and knocked him down on the stair head with the butt end of his musket, and immediately calls 240 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. the guard. The guard immediately took to their arms, and headed by one lieutenant Lindsay, an old soldier of king William's, but now a burgess and inhabitant of the city, they came down and drew up at the foot of the stair. Some pieces were fired in the street, but whether at the guard or no, was not known ; the multitude was great by this time, and being late at night, it could not well be discerned ; but as they had all the reason in the world to expect it, they fell resolutely to work with them, and sallying upon the rabble, they immediately fled and dis- pers'd. " Having thus broke the first body of them, it was observ'd that they only fled from the immediate shock, but stood in throngs under the piazzas, and in the heads of closses, to see what the guard would do; and that with one hallow they could all be together again in a moment, whereupon a party was ordered down every street to clear the piazzas and closses, and see the rabble effectually dispers'd, which they did, but were all the way assaulted from the houses, and out of the closses, with curses and stones ; the former did not much hurt, except to the givers, but the latter wounded several of the inhabitants, and some were very much hurt. Had they been able to have renew 'd this guard, the public peace had been maintain 'd, and the whole design of this rabble disappointed ; but it is to be noted, these gentle- men were all citizens, heads of families, and of the principal inhabitants ; the commonality was universally debauch'd, and not to be trusted, and the gentlemen CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 241 could not do duty every night, neither had all that were zealous enough against the tumults either bodies to bear the fatigue of soldiers, or hearts to adventure ; and those that were forwardest could not be always in arms ; — this first piece of work was on Saturday night, the next night they relieved the guard by the like select number, and all was quiet; for, while these men appeared, the rabble durst not stir. " On Monday, the magistrates summoned the town council, and, sending for the deacons of the tradesmen, the thing proposed was, what course should be taken to secure the peace of the city, and keep the magistrates and inhabitants from plunder and insult. " The deacons of trades, subtilly, and as appeared, designedly, at least such of them as were in the design, proposed, that- this select guard should be omitted, and pretended to promise, that, if any tumult happened, they would come to the town guard with their men to defend the city ; which, whoever observes how well they performed, will think it no breach of charity, to say they never designed it, — however, for this week, there was no more tumult, but the mob reigned masters, and Finlay, who now had made himself one of their leaders, set up a guard at the upper end of the town near the Cathedral, as it were in opposition to the town guard. " This whole week was spent in amusements, and raising reports of the rising of the people at Stirling, at Hamilton, and in Angus ; and that a great army of them M 242 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. was to rendezvous at Hamilton, from whence they were to march to Edinburgh, to raise the parliament. Finlay gives out, that he will march with all the men of Glas- gow to meet their brethren at Hamilton on the same design; — by whose assistance all this was done, the government was too merciful to make a narrow enquiry, and so I must leave it as they did in the dark ; — having brought the folly and madness of the poor people to such a height, Finlay actually gets together about 45 men, for that was the most of the great army he raised ; and on the Friday following, this contemptible wretch having made himself their general, marches out of the city with them for Hamilton ; they were armed with muskets and swords, such as they had taken out of the magistrates' houses; and (wherever he procured it, for every one knows he had it not of his own,) he distributed to every man a dollar ; — and thus in arms against their native country, and the protestant religion, these poor deluded people marched away, under the command of an abject scoundrel wretch, that openly professed himself a Jacobite, and that, with his good will, would have seen all the Presbyterians in Scotland ruined. But to such a pass were things now come, and who can account for some critical junctures, in which men may be brought to ruin themselves with their own hands, and never suffer them- selves to listen to the cautions of their friends. " The town, though rid of Finlay and his vanguard, enjoyed not the more peace, or were in less danger, for CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 243 the mob that remained kept up their guard, threatened yet worse things than had been done, and were after- ward as good as their words to a title. " The government, it may be supposed, were constantly acquainted with those things, and their forbearance had not a little heartened up the party that pushed these mischiefs on ; however, being loth to come to extremities, they tryed gentler methods first, and the lord high com- missioner having laid it before the parliament, they immediately passed an act discharging the mustering of troops in the country during this session, and a procla- mation was published against tumults, and both these were sent to Glasgow to be published. It should be noted here, that, by the act of security, any of the nobility, gentry, or towns, might meet in arms, muster and exercise their fencible men, and the like, upon any occasion of which they were judges ; which was done in order to make the militia of Scotland more serviceable, or as some think in terrorem to serve a cause ; but be that as it will, it may remain' undetermined ; but, at this juncture, the parliament foresaw, it might be a handle for the drawing together any number of men at such a time as this, and might be dangerous to the peace, wherefore they caused an act to be brought in to repeal that part of the act of security, for so long only as the present parliament was sitting. When this act of par- liament and proclamation came to town, which was on the Monday after Fmlay's march, the magistrates assembled about ten in the morning, and caused the 244 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. messenger that brought it to read it at the cross ; accord- ingly the messenger goes up to the usual place, and read first the act of parliament, the magistrates were below, and the officers attending as usual, and a vast multitude of people were got together to hear what it was; before the officer had done, the people began to make a noise, and throw stones at him; but however, the man went on, and read out the act, and began the proclamation against tumults ; but he had hardly read the title of the proclamation, when the stones came so thick, there was no standing it, and the poor fellow not a litttle bruised was driven off the stair. " Upon this the magistrates ordered one of the town officers to go up and read, which he did as far as he could, but was in like manner driven off by the fury of the stoning ; in the interim of this, the magistrates had sent for the town guard to protect the second officer in reading ; the officer of the guard seeing the other officer abused thus before their faces, commands his men to fall upon the rabble with the clubs of their muskets, which they did, and knocked down some of them; but the tradesmen that were upon the guard, in the very action deserted, and refused to obey the command of their officers, which so encouraged the rabble, that they came on again with shouts and huzzas, and with volleys of stones they fell upon the few of the guard that were faithful, and drove them off from the street. The officer that commanded them retreated them into the guard house, but this was not a place to be defended against CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 245 such a multitude, so in short they broke in upon them and disarmed them, and well it was they came off with- out blood, for some of them were very much bruised with stones. " The rabble now flushed with victory, were in a ter- rible fury, and this was the most outrageous part of the whole transaction ; having disarmed the guard, the next thing was to storm the tolbooth ; immediately they get ladders to the windows, and breaking in, they seize upon two hundred and fifty halberts which are the town's arms ; with these upon their shoulders in rank and file they roved about the streets, and made their rendezvous at the old castle where their guard was kept ; here they gave out, that, in the afternoon they would come down and plun- der the merchants' houses, nay, and threatened their lives too, which put the whole city in an unspeakable con- sternation. Nor were they wanting in some part of their threatened execution, for about three in the after- noon they detached a party of about twenty men armed, some with muskets, some with halberts, these, with a drum before them, came to the cross, and from thence took their march down the high streets, breaking open the doors and houses of whoever they pleased, pretending to search for arms, but stole and plundered whatever came in their way, and thus they continued till ten o'clock at night. They got not above thirty muskets, with some pistols and swords, but the terror of the in- habitants is not to be expressed, who were obliged to bear this violence without complaint ; this small party was 246 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. followed by a vast throng of boys and idle fellows like themselves, which increased the fright of the citizens. " Having thus ranged the city at pleasure till about ten o'clock at night, they marched away with the spoil of their masters up to their main guard, from thence they beat their tatoo round the town like a garrison ; and indeed they were no less, for they had the city in their full possession, and every body's life and goods at their mercy. Their rudeness in this pretended search for arms is not to be described, and had they met with any opposition, no doubt it would have been worse ; they came into the rooms where persons that lay sick were just dying, and put all things into inexpressible confusion ; they came into chambers where women were lying in, and barbarously made them rise, pretending to search under their beds for arms ; in short, except that there was no blood shed, they acted the exact part of an en- raged ungoverned multitude. " But, to return to their army of forty-five, which was all this while on its march, and were advanced as far as Kilsyth, on their way to Edinburgh. " The government who had an exact account of all these things, and who had tryed all the gentle methods of proclamations, acts of parliament, &c, finding to what height things were brought, and that nothing but force could remedy them, prepared to be beforehand with these forward gentlemen ; and having an account both of their march and number, the lord commissioner ordered a detachment of dragoons, joined with some horse grena- CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 247 diers of the guard, under the command of Colonel Campbell, uncle to the Duke of Argyll, to march with all expedition for Glasgow. Finlay, in the mean time being at Kilsyth, has notice of the march of these dra- goons, within a few hours after his arrival there ; and hearing no news of the great parties of five and six thousand which he had persuaded his men would meet him there ; and being alarmed at the news of the dra- goons, he sends back Campbell, another of the ringleaders of his rabble, to bring up the second body wliich was to be ready to follow, and which were reported to be four hundred, but they thanked him and stayed at home ; and with the rest he marched to Hamilton, where he arrived on Sunday about noon, the third day after his march from Glasgow. Here he quartered his army that night, and finding, as before, none of the friends that were to assemble from all parts, nor no news of them, he bestowed a volley of curses upon them, and marches directly back to Glasgow, where he arvived, to the no small mortification of his fellows, on Wednesday, the next day but one after the plundering I have related before ; they had halted at Rutherglen, a burgh about two miles from Glasgow, where, as I suppose, they called a council of war among themselves ; but being all voters, they agreed upon nothing, but to march home, which accordingly they did; and in order of battle entered the city, and marched directly up to their main guard aforesaid ; here they made, says my author, their rendezvous, having not thought fit to keep the field any 248 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. longer. And now they began to think a little, for I can- not allow myself to say they had done it before ; their danger began now to show itself, and to stare in their faces a little ; they began to consider what they had been doing with others, and what was now like to be doing with them ; they had no more protection from the act about mustering, and the proclamation began to work with them ; and now they did the only rational act of their whole management, and which indeed saved all their lives. " On Thursday morning, having maturely weighed their affairs, they resolved to separate and lay down their arms, which accordingly they did very quietly and calmly, and carried their arms, not to the magistrates, where they had them, but to the deacons of their trades, who they knew were their friends. How it came to pass, that providence, whom they had so far provoked, inspired them with this prudence, so seasonably for their own safety, none, but that infinite goodness, that punishes less than crimes deserve, can say. It is most certain, they had no particular intelligence of the march of the Queen's troops, for the city itself new nothing of them more than in general ; but it was not full two hours after they had separated, delivered their arms, and all was quiet, but the dragoons entered the town, not a magistrate, nor an inhabitant knew of them, till they saw them upon the street, to their no small satisfaction. The whole party was about two hundred and twenty men; they had marched with great secrecy all night, and suffered CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 249 nobody to pass by them, to carry notice before of their coming; when they came near the city, Colonel Camp- bell detached an advanced party of twenty-five dragoons, under the command of Lieutenant Pollock who knew the town, and knew where Finlay lived, the whole body following at a small distance. The lieutenant entering the town, stopt, and alighted just at Finlay' s door, and rushing immediately in with two or three dragoons, they find Finlay and one Montgomery, another of the knot, but famous for nothing that I ever heard of, but his being taken with him, sitting by the fire ; they seized them immediately, and by this time the whole body was entered . the city, marched down to the cross, and drew up there on the street, where they sat still upon their horses, it raining very hard all the time, which was about three hours. The mob of the city were in no small consterna- tion, as may well be supposed, at this appearance ; and several, whose guilt gave them ground to think of the gallows, made the best of their way out of the town. There was no appearance of any rescue, and the dragoons com- manded the people off of the street, and to keep their houses ; two fellows had the boldness to beat a drum in two several parts of the city, but the gentlemen they called for had more wit than to come, and the drummers, with very much difficulty narrowly escaped being killed. The dragoons having secured their prisoners, and mounted them on horseback, with their legs tied under the horses bellies ; never so much as alighted or baited their horses, but marched away the same afternoon to m2 250 < HKOMCLES OF ST. MUNGO. Kilsyth. As they were going away, they had some stones thrown at them from the tops of houses, and some that were straggling behind had like to have been knocked off of their horses, but six or seven dragoons coming back, they were fetched off without hurt. No sooner were they gone out of the town, but the drums beat again in all the streets, and the rabble got together with all the rage and venom imaginable, and coming to the magistrates, they told them in so many words, that they should send some of their number to Edinburgh imme- diately, for that if they had not their two men delivered to them, they would pull their houses down about their ears. Some have blamed the magistrates for sending to Edinburgh; but if such would consider circumstances, how the dragoons were gone, they had an enraged mob to deal with, and no strength to defend themselves, it connot but be thought the gentlemen were in the right to comply with the juncture of the time, and gratify lather than exasperate them, when they were absolutely in their power. The magistrates, however, according to the command of their masters the mob, (for such at this time they were,) sent away two of the bailies of the town, and some of the deacons of trades went with them, but they soon came back again, as wise as they went, having received a severe check from the council by the mouth of the lord chancellor ; and it was once within a little of their being committed to prison with the other. " Thus ended this petty war, being the only violence one meet with in the whole transaction. I had not been CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 251 so large in the relation of so trifling an affair, but that it serves to clear up several other cases to the world, which otherwise there are several mistakes about. " And principally indeed for the sake of the city of Glasgow, a city which in all ages since the reformation, and in the very reformation itself, has been particularly famous for honesty, zeal, and bravery in a constant oppo- sition to the enemies either of the religion or liberties of their country, — a city eminent for the true and sincere profession of the reformed religion, and forward upon all occasions to spend their blood and treasure in defence of it ; and as nothing can be more untrue than to suggest this tumult was the act and deed of the city of Glasgow ; so to clear her of that scandal, I thought myself obliged to do her justice, by setting the case in its true light ; nothing clears up the innocence of a person or party like bare matter of fact, and therefore I have impartially related this story just as I received it upon the spot from several of the principal inhabitants of the city, whose integrity in the relation I have no reason to question. " Nothing is more certain, than that the tumult at Glasgow had its rise and beginning among the Jacobite party ; in all the rabble and riots, they were secured as they past the streets, they were caressed by the mob, they huzzaed them to the work, their houses were never searched for arms, nor the least insult offered to their persons ; the very leaders of the rabble were of their party, and indeed their friends mixt themselves with the rabbles on all occasions, to prompt them to insult the 252 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. citizens. The rabblers themselves on the other hand were a sort of people ignorantly inflamed by this party, and unhappily set on fire by an accident which had its beginning rather in an ignorance of the plot of that party, than design to serve them in it. " But for the city of Glasgow it is clear, not a citizen of any note, not a magistrate, not a merchant, not any thing that can be called denominating to a place, but what abhorred it, and as far as they durst opposed it ; and I think 'tis hard they should first fall under the misfortune, and then under the scandal of it too ; and for that reason I have been thus particular in the story. " Again, here may be seen a small sketch of the peti- tioners and addressers against the union, and of their original, who they are that were moved, and who moved them ; not a papist, not a Jacobite, not a prelatist in Scotland but what declared themselves against the union; and those honest men that unhappily approve them in that, may see what blessed company they were yoked with, which is a hint I cannot avoid leaving upon record for their instruction. I should have told you that the Sunday after being the 15th of December, the dragoons returned to Glasgow, and instead of returning the two prisoners they had taken, carried away three more, and had directions for others, but it seems they were fled. They went to Hamilton also, and seized two gentlemen and a lady, who belonged to the Duchess , and who, they said, Finlay accused, but both these, and all the rest, were, after the union was finished, discharged with- CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 253 out punishment ; the merciful government of her majesty rather delighting to pity, than to punish the follies of the poor deluded people; showing them the difference be- tween the legally established power, which they blindly opposed, and the past implacable and merciless tyranny, which they as blindly espoused. " And thus happily ended the tumult at Glasgow, which put the honest people of both nations in no small apprehension; and which, if the party had obtained their design, in getting the poor people into arms in other places, might have been fatal enough." TUMULT OF 1715. The civil commotions which agitated Scotland in 1715, to a very slight degree affected our city. A tumult, however, may be said to have taken place from the simultaneous rise of all classes of the citizens to oppose the "Popish Pretender," and assert the right of the House of Hanover to the throne. In a few days no less than six hundred men were raised, armed, and sent to Stirling, under the Duke of Argyle. They also pro- vided for the security of the city by drawing round it a ditch, twelve feet wide and six deep. The excitement which prevailed in Glasgow till the rebellion was quashed was considerable, and the slightest manifesta- tion on the part of the Jacobite citizens to take part with the rebels, would have been the signal for the most extensive ebullitions of feeling on the side of the loyalists. 254 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. SHAWFIELD'S MOB. Daniel Campbell, of Shawfield, Esq., the Member of Parliament for the eity, having voted for the extension of the malt tax to Scotland, a number of his constituents took offence. On the 23d June, 1725, the day on which the tax was to take effect, crowds of disorderly persons formed in the streets, and began to obstruct the excise- men in the exercise of their duty, which they easily accomplished, there being no military in the town. On the 24th current the crowd increased, without committing any acts of violence. At seven o'clock, P. m., two com- panies of Lord Delorain's regiment of foot, commanded by Captain Bushel, came to town, on which the magis- trates ordered the town officers to open and clear out the guard-house for their reception. This order, how- could not be carried into effect, as the officers were attacked by a crowd of the town's people, who turned them out of the guard-house, locked the doors, and carried off the keys. The Provost was of a lenient dis- position, and being apprehensive that if the military were ordered to act against the citizens, by forcing their way into the guard-house, the consequences might be disagreeable, he, therefore, directed the soldiers to be quartered on the inhabitants for the night. When this was accomplished, his Lordship and the other magis- trates, accompanied by Mr. Campbell of Blytheswood, repaired to the town hall, where they remained till nine o'clock, p.m.; and there being then no appearance of tumult, they all went to a tavern to spend the evening. CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 255 About half-past ten o'clock, information was received that a mob had collected, and were demolishing Shawfield's house : upon which the whole party immediately repaired to the spot, where they found a number of people, with axes and hammers, demolishing the house. On the expostulation of the magistrates, the mob desisted, and retired a short way, when they were met by a number of others, who, with a shout, cried, " Down with Shaw- field's house! — No malt tax!" The expression was hardly uttered, when the whole mob hurried to the house, and it was not long before it was completely gutted. About twelve o'clock, p. m., while the magistrates were deliberating on what was to be done, Captain Bushel despatched a sergeant to know if he would beat to arms and parade his men. The Provost returned for answer, that as the men must be fatigued with the march, he did not think it necessary to disturb them; and as the beating to arms might alarm the citizens, and lead to fatal consequences, he declined the offer. On the next morning, the Provost sent workmen to shut up the passages to Mr. Campbell's house; and about eleven o'clock, a. m., the soldiers were put in pos- session of the guard-house. At three o'clock, p. m., when the magistrates and others were walking in front of the town hall, a considerable mob passed them, on their way. to Shawfield's house, armed with bludgeons and other weapons, preceded by a man, in the dress of an old woman, beating a drum. This party being dis- persed, others collected in front of the guard-house, 256 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. which, at that time, was at the south-west corner of the Candlerigg- Street. The mob had not long assembled, when they began to throw stones at the sentinels, on which Captain Bushel ordered out his men, and formed a hollow square, by which they faced the four streets which centre at the guard-house. This movement was promptly followed on the part of the crowd, by a shower of stones at the soldiers; on which Captain Bushel swore, if they did not immediately desist, he would cause his men to fire on them, which he accordingly did, and two men were killed on the spot. While this tragedy was performing, the Provost and a number of the inhabi- tants were in the town house, from whom a gentleman was despatched to inform Captain Bushel, that he ought not to fire without the authority of the civil power. Bushel returned for answer, that he and his men could not quietly stand and be knocked down with stones. By the time that this answer was conveyed to the Provost, a great number of the inhabitants had got admission to him, and, threatening to avenge the blood of their fellow-citizens, ran up stairs to the town house magazine, broke open the doors, carried out the arms, and rung the fire-bell to alarm the whole city. The Provost fearing that the military would be cut to pieces, sent a message, desiring the Captain and his men to leave the town, which they accordingly did. During their retreat, the citizens came up with them in great force, and began to act on the offensive, on which Captain Bushel halted his men, and caused them to CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 257 fire, which killed and wounded several persons ; so that during this unfortunate affair, there were nine killed, and seventeen wounded. The military soon after this reached Dumbarton Castle, without farther molestation. On this matter being represented to the Secretary of State, General Wade, on the 9th of July, 1725, was despatched to Glasgow with an armed force, consisting of Lord Delorain's regiment of foot, six troops of the royal Scotch dragoons, one of the Earl of Stair's dragoons, and an independent company of highlanders, under the command of Captain Duncan Campbell of Locheil, with a piece of artillery, ammunition, &c. The General was accompanied by Duncan Forbes, Esq., Lord Advocate. When the military had taken posses- sion of the town, his lordship began to take a precog- nition of the affair, when nineteen persons were remanded to prison. On the same day Captain Bushel and his two companies retured from Dumbarton. On the 16th of July, Captain Bushel drew up his two companies in front of the Tolbooth, when the nine- teen persons alluded to were brought out, having their hands bound with ropes, and delivered to his charge to be conveyed to Edinburgh. While this was going on, Charles Miller, Esq., the Lord Provost, John Stirling, James Johnson, and James Mitchell, bailies, John Stark, Dean of Guild, and John Armour, Deacon Con- vener, were all apprehended by constables, and incarcer- ated in the Tolbooth of Glasgow, in virtue of six several warrants, issued by His Majesty's Advocate, wherein it 258 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. was alleged, that the magistrates had favoured and encouraged the mob, whereby Mr. Campbell's house was rifled, and part of His Majesty's forces assaulted, and that they were guilty of partiality and mal-adminis- tration in the discharge of their duties respecting the said riots. The Advocate having refused to accept of bail, the Magistrates, Dean of Guild, and Convener, were brought out of the Tolbooth of Glasgow on Satur- day, the 17th of July, and being placed under a guard of the royal Scotch dragoons, were conducted prisoners to Edinburgh, by the way to Falkirk, where they rested next day. On Monday, about noon, Captain Bushel arrived at the suburbs of Edinburgh with his prisoners, and having halted till the magistrates came up, the prisoners of both divisions were committed to the castle, and, about five o'clock in the afternoon, they were brought out of the castle, when they were received by another party of the royal Scotch dragoons, some of Lord Stair's dragoons, and two companies of high- landers, by all of whom they were conducted in great triumph to the Tolbooth of Edinburgh, amidst a great concourse of spectators. The prisoners were joined, a few miles out of the metropolis, by above fifty Glasgow merchants, who followed condoling their magistrates on this extraordinary occasion. The conduct of the Lord Advocate in this affair was considered harsh, if not illegal, by incarcerating the whole body of the magis- trates in their own burgh, and thereafter refusing them bail. CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 259 On the 20th July, application for bail was made to the Lords of Justiciary, when they unanimously ordered the magistrates to be liberated that night at six o'clock. On Wednesday, the 21st, two of the magistrates left Edinburgh, and arrived in Glasgow that evening. When they were about six miles from home, they were met by upwards of two hundred of the inhabitants on horseback, who conducted them into the city, where they were received by their fellow-citizens with open arms, bells ringing, and every demonstration of joy. Of the nineteen persons who were sent to Edinburgh, some of them were whipped through the streets of Glasgow, some were banished, and others liberated. Captain Bushel was tried for the murder of nine of the inhabi- tants, convicted, and condemned; but, according to Smollet, he was not only pardoned, but promoted in the service. Mr. Campbell having applied to Parliament for indemnification for his loss, the community was sub- jected to pay him .£6400, sterling, which, with other damages and expenses occasioned by this riot, amounted in whole to about .£9000. The house in question was the same which afterwards belonged to John Glassford, and was sold, in 1792, by his son, Henry Glassford, Esq., M.P., to William Horn, for the purpose of opening Glassford-Street. The house had a very imposing effect, — it was inclosed from the street with a parapet wall, interspersed with pillars, which supported effigies of human figures. 260 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. TUMULT OF 1745. The proceedings of Prince Charles in Glasgow in this memorable year have been detailed in another place. One circumstance, however, there omitted, here falls to be recorded: — The contempt with which the citizens regarded the highlanders was so effectual in exciting their choler, that they were just on the point of burning and sacking the town, when the ferocious pro- posal was successfully resisted by Cameron of Lochiel, who threatened the withdrawal of his clan if such was persevered in. The tumultuous conduct of the " moun- taineers " on this occasion can scarcely be described. POPISH RIOTS. In the year 1779, a numerous body of the citizens of Glasgow, as zealous to defend their religious as civil rights, were cast into a ferment, by a bill being brought into parliament for the repeal of the penal statutes against the Roman catholics. Throughout the town, eighty-five different societies, consisting of upwards of twelve thousand persons, were formed with a view of opposing the bill by petition : these again corresponded with others in the country, whose business was to form new associations, and thus in a short time, the greater part of Scotland inveighed against the measure, which was at the time prudently abandoned by government. The minds of the lower class on this occasion were so inflamed against the catholics, who were represented as conspiring against their liberties, that outrages against CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. ' 261 the property and effects of persons of that persuasion, were the unavoidable consequence. A mob having collected in the streets one Sunday forenoon in January, during the time of divine service, they proceeded to a popish chapel in the High- Street, and after forcing their way into the house, they dis- missed the congregation, by pelting them with stones, while they destroyed a number of pictures representing the different saints, hung around the altar. The magis- trates having arrived after service with a party, the rabble dispersed, and no further outrage took place at that time. On the evening of the 10th of February, however, the populace again assembled around the shop of a potter in King-Street, of the Roman catholic persuasion, which they effectually gutted, but on the arrival of the ma- gistrates with a party of the military, the mob seem- ingly dispersed. They, however, went immediately to his dwelling house, at the east end of the town, which, being set on fire, was, with the furniture, entirely con- sumed, before any means could be used to extinguish it; notice being given to the magistrates, upon their arrival the mob was entirely quelled. So faithful were the instigators of this riot to each other, that notwith- standing the magistrates next day, by proclamation, offered a reward of one hundred guineas for the appre- hension of any one of the ringleaders, they all resisted the temptation, and none were ever secured. Bagnal, the proprietor of the shop and dwelling house, thereafter 262 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. commenced an action for damages against the city, and recovered to the amount of his loss. CAMBRIC TAX RIOT. The above was not, however, the only bill brought into parliament, in the year 1779, which excited discontent in Glasgow. Another, though of a more local nature, was moved, for taking off the duties formerly imposed upon French cambrics : as the manufacture of cambric was now carried on to a considerable extent in this city, such a bill, which threatened the starvation of many families, could not fail of meeting with a powerful oppo- sition. When the news first arrived at Glasgow, that such a bill was introduced, a mob of weavers belonging to the city and adjacent villages having assembled, they paraded through the streets with an effigy on horseback of the minister who brought in the bill, holding in one hand a piece of French cambric, and in the other the bill for importing that commodity. Having finished their procession, the effigy was conducted to the common place of execution, where it wats first hung, and after- wards blown to pieces by the firing of some combustible matter lodged in its inside. The mob thereafter retired peaceably to their homes. The measure, however, did not pass the house. The minister, before it had gone through the customary stages, being convinced of the impropriety of the measure, consented to withdraw it, upon substituting another tax, of a less hurtful ten- dency. CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. * 263 WEAVERS' MOB. The peace of the city was disturbed in the year 1787 by a tumultuous mob, raised with the view of increasing the wages of the journeymen weavers. A spirit of dis- content had, for a considerable time, prevailed amongst that body, though no serious consequences were for some time apprehended, as their employers had made every concession consistent with their interest. The operatives, however, being still unsatisfied, combinations were formed amongst them, and threatening letters sent to several of the manufacturers, and at last acts of violence adopted. Webs were cut from the looms of such as agreed to work at the former rate, warehouses were rifled, and bonfires kindled with their contents. Insults such as these to the public peace proceeded a considerable length, when measures were taken to suppress them. Accordingly, on 3d September, the magistrates having received information that a mob was assembled in the Calton, proceeded, attended by the police, to that quarter, in order to disperse them, and secure the ringleaders. They were no sooner, however, arrived, than they were attacked by the populace, and forced to retreat into the city, pursued by the mob. An additional force having been obtained by the arrival of a detachment of the 39th regiment, under the command of lieutenant-colonel Kellet, the magistrates again pro- ceeded to the execution of their duty. They accordingly fell in with the mob near the Parkhouse, on the east side of the city, betwixt which place and the Drygate 264 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. a very serious conflict ensued. No sooner were the magistrates and military arrived, than the populace attacked them furiously with stones, brick-bats, and other missiles, whereby their lives were endangered, and their persons much hurt. In self-defence they were at last under the disagreeable necessity to read the riot act, and order the military to fire, when three persons were killed, and several wounded. However disagree- able the adoption of such a measure must have been, yet it had the desired effect. The mob immediately dispersed, and the magistrates and military returned to the cross. An alarm was raised in the afternoon, that the populace were again in force in their former situa- tion, upon which a party immediately went in quest of them, but upon their arrival the rioters instantly took to flight. On the following day they assembled in the Calton, to the amount of several thousands ; there, as formerly, they again wreaked their vengeance upon their peaceable brethren, by cutting their webs from their looms and burning them, while they walked through the streets. Intelligence of this new outbreak having been conveyed to the sheriff, he immediately, with a party of soldiers, proceeded to the spot. The mob, however, aware of the fatal effects of opposition on the preceding day, no sooner got a glimpse of the military, than they quickly retired and separated. 265 MILITARY RIOT. f. About the middle of December, 1794, the peace of the city was threatened by a riot, originating under rather peculiar circumstances. In the beginning of that month, a deserter, through the negligence of the sentinel, having escaped from the guard-house, a court martial adjudged him to the punishment usual in such cases. His fellow soldiers were, however, determined to hinder the sentence from being put into execution, _and for several days, from this resolution, the punish- ment did not take place. As this combination was contrary to all order, and as it might have been pro- ductive of the worst effects, the troops in the neighbour- hood were called into the city to assist in quelling the insurgents ; but before their arrival, however, the ring- leaders surrendered themselves to the Earl of Breadal- bane, colonel of the regiment,* who immediately des- patched them to Edinburgh under a strong guard. The honourable major Leslie and an officer of the Breadal- bane regiment having accompanied the party a short way on their march, were, upon their return to town, attacked by a mob, who after upbraiding them for send- ing off the mutineers to be punished, assaulted them with stones and other missile weapons, whereby the honourable major Leslie was wounded, and himself and the other officer obliged to take shelter in a neigh- bouring house. Luckily, however, the lord provost and magistrates, attended by the police and a party of the military, now arrived, and, by a praiseworthy mode of N 266 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. procedure, obliged the populace to disperse without bloodshed. Parties of dragoons having come to town in the evening, no further disturbance took place, and tranquillity was again restored. The ringleaders of this mutiny, after their arrival at Edinburgh, were tried by a general court martial, and four of them sentenced to be shot. One only, however, suffered the extreme penalty of the law. MEAL MOBS. The city suffered much, in 1779 and 1800, from a scarcity of provisions produced by the failure of the har- vest. A subscription, begun and promoted by the magis- trates, was liberally filled up by the benevolent, who sympathized much with the public calamity. So great, indeed, was the distress, that in both these years the poorer inhabitants collected together in the Meal Market at the foot of Montrose-Street, and tumultuously pro- ceeded to their own relief. Oatmeal sold for some time at 3s. 6d. and 3s. 9d. per peck. RESURRECTION RIOT. The University was greatly endangered in 1803, by the malignant passions of a mob, excited, no doubt, by the practices of some ill-designing men. Suspicions having arisen that a body had been taken from its grave for anatomical purposes, and these being speedily dis- seminated, a tumultuous assemblage of people collected before the College, where, soon proceeding to acts of CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 267 violence and outrage, they broke all the windows in its front. This occurred on a Sunday evening; and a repetition of the same on Monday was only prevented by the appearance of a troop of dragoons from Hamilton, which soon dispersed the rioters, without any accident, and re-established order and tranquillity. POLITICAL TUMULTS OF 1819. Although in every respect as prone to engage in political bickerings as the citizens of any other town, and at the same time a3 enthusiastic, the opinions and sentiments of the inhabitants of Glasgow are more steady and enduring. No demagogues have ever been able to sow the seeds of treason among them, or inocu- late them with their pestilent seditious virus. Cautious, inquisitive, and thoughtful, new opinions, especially on matters connected with religion and politics, are heard by them with excessive incredulity, or subjected to an ordeal that sooner or later brings to light their true value. The temperament of our citizens is too cool to be excited and inflamed by the flashy and furious tirades of the common traders in disaffection, and quack mem- bers of the constitution ; while the knowledge so exten- sively diffused amongst them, joined to their natural acuteness, very speedily enables them to detect and turn into ridicule the shallow and miserable sophistry that mislead the ignorant, the credulous, or the unwary. Such rank and pestilent weeds cannot, indeed, thrive in any district of our rocky and barren country ; and 268 CHRONICLES OF ST. MTJNGO. sooner shall the heath desert our native hills, and the vineyards of France, and the orange groves of Italy, be transferred to the "land of deep glens and mountains wild," than Scotsmen prove false to the religion, honour and loyalty, which have descended to them as their proudest and holiest inheritance from their revered and illustrious forefathers, the founders of those institu- tions to which they are indebted for their intellectual and moral greatness. The above remarks are suggested by the political agitations of the year 1819. Nowhere in the three king- doms were there so many and frequent efforts made by a certain class, to excite the people to proceed to vigorous measures in behalf of what they were pleased to style " liberty," and in no place were they more unsuccessful. It is impossible to look back upon the insane efforts of a few hot-headed zealots, as displayed in this year in our city, without a smile. Assembling night after night, and week after week, for the discussion of their grievances, they so far abandoned all proper rules of sense and decorum, as to be guilty of such breaches of the law, as compelled not a few to abandon their coun- try, and brought others to an ignominious death. The largest gathering of "radicals" witnessed in the city took place at Clayknowes, an eminence at the back of the Calton, where hustings were erected, and the most zealous of the mob arrayed in "caps of liberty!" Various other meetings were held in other districts in the vicinity of the town, but it is only justice to remark CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 269 that they were attended by no respectable party. One projected attempt of the Glasgow radicals is here worthy of record : — On the 4th of April, a great gathering was to be held at Cathkin hills, a few miles south-east of the city, whence the "bold marauders" were to sally forth upon the devoted city, destroy the gas works, and with patriotism outvying that of Russia itself, fire its time- honoured temples, and save it from the political tyrants. As was to be expected, the affair ended in smoke, which having been dispelled, the incendiaries were despatched to another region of the world. No specimen of the animal "radical" is now extant, unless it be what zoologists designate "the chartist," which, however, must properly be regarded as a spurious species of the former genus. TUMULT AT THE ABANDONMENT OF THE BILL OF PAINS AND PENALTIES AGAINST QUEEN CAROLINE. On the 23d of April, 1821, when the news reached the city of the abandonment of the " Bill of Pains and Penalties" against the consort of George TV. those favourable to the cause of her majesty illuminated the windows of their houses, and exhibited other demonstra- tions of joy. The illumination, however, not being completely general, a mob was collected in the city, and proceeded to the demolition of the windows of such houses as argued in their owners a disaffection towards the Queen. Having armed themselves with bludgeons and stobs, they repaired to the Gorbals side of the river, 270 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. and having broken open the premises of a ropework, abstracted therefrom several tar-barrels, broke down fences, and committed many other acts of mischief. Bonfires were kindled in various parts of the town, and "wo" to such who attempted to disturb the proceedings of the "disloyalists." The confusion and tumult having at length become so great, the assistance of the military from the cavalry barracks was rendered necessary ; — and what renders this occasion so memorable, is, that the soldiers having attempted to disperse the people who had congregated in large numbers about the foot of Salt- market, numbers rushed for escape on the wooden bridge, and being followed by the military, the bridge broke down, precipitating pedestrian and equestrian into the river. Fortunately the water was low, and no lives were lost. Many, however, were so severely injured, that they never recovered from the effects of the disaster. HARVEY'S DYKE RIOT. On Saturday night, the 21st July, 1823, a violent proceeding on the part of the populace took place in the neighbourhood of the city, which, but for the forbear- ance of the military, might have had a fatal termination. Mr. Harvey, an extensive distiller in Glasgow, having resolved to prevent people passing through his lands of West-thorn, on the banks of the river, erected a wall of massy stones, batted with iron, at the end of which a ckevaux-de-frise was run into the river. To defeat that gentleman's object, an immense crowd assembled, and CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 271 with pjfekaxes and gunpowder succeeded in levelling the whole, amidst discharges of guns and pistols. The. Sheriff and a detachment of the Enniskillen dragoons promptly attended, against whom several shots were fired, which the soldiers alleged contained ball, but which was denied by the people, who asserted that the fire-arms were never loaded with ball, but merely used in the way of amusement. A very great proportion of the crowd, finding themselves closed in on all hands by the judicious disposition of the military, took to the river, and fortunately none of them were drowned. The dragoons, although convinced that they had been fired upon, acted with the greatest forbearance, and only one man was in any way injured by them. Forty-three prisoners were brought into town, charged with being concerned in this affair, but after judicial examination on Monday, they were all dismissed except one, who was sentenced to a short term of imprisonment. MILL WORKERS' RIOT. On Monday, 9th September, 1823, the proprietors of power-loom factories in the city having engaged a num- ber of new tenters and dressers to supply the place of a* large body who had struck work for an increase of wages, — during the breakfast hour, a crowd • of several thousands assembled in Hutchesontown, and the confi- dence of the evil-disposed increasing with the number of spectators, from hissing and hooting, they began to throw stones, and several of the new workers were 272 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. roughly handled. The G-orbals police proceeded in- stantly to the spot, but the crowd was so large, they did not effect its dispersion. Shortly afterwards, the Sheriff with a strong body of officers appeared, and some persons manifesting every disposition to proceed to extremities, a strong detachment of the Enniskillen dragoons was procured from the cavalry barracks. A party of dragoons was kept in readiness during the day, and although the streets were thronged, all was quiet till about seven o'clock, when the mills stopped work. As the new hands made their appearance, they were forthwith assailed with the usual symptoms of disapprobation, but they were pro- tected from personal injury by the soldiers and a guard that had been previously marshalled for the purpose, and the greater part were escorted. Observing the streets so thronged, the new hands in one of the factories, along with one of the patrole, remained some time after the machi- nery was stopped, with the view of going home unper- ceived. It was so far fortunate they did so, for the belligerents repaired to this factory, and demolished be- tween twenty and thirty panes of glass. While the work of destruction was going forward, the new hands sallied -out in a body, and being mostly provided with pistols, for their own protection, fired several of them among the mob. Not expecting such a reception, the terrified delinquents fled in all directions, and the streets soon afterwards be- came quiet as usual. No further opposition was offered at any of the mills. Since the above tumult, no disturbance worthy of record has disturbed the domains of the venerated saint. 273 CHAPTER IX. MEMORABLE FIRES AND FLOODS. *« The city sadd'ning in a cloud, Seems swath'd already in her shroud, Till struggling forth all fiercely came, Thro* crackling domes, the prison'd flame." Anon. " Wide o'er the brim with many a torrent swell'd, And the mixt ruin of its banks o'erspread, At last the rouaed-up river pours along: Resistless, roaring, dreadful, down it comes From the rude mountain and the mossy wild, Tumbling through rocks abrupt, and sounding far. ****** Herds, flocks, and harvests, cottages, and swains, Roll mingled down." Seasons. The various "Fires and Floods" which have taken place at different periods within the City, form no very unimportant eras in its history. FIRES. The first great conflagration which we find recorded in the annals of the city, took place on the 17th day of n2 274 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. July, 1652, and threatened the town with universal ruin. It broke out in a narrow alley upon the east side of the High- Street, and within a short space, burnt up six alleys of houses, with several very considerable build- ings. While the inhabitants of the neighbourhood were assembled for the removal of the goods, and hindering as much as possible the spreading of the flame, the wind blowing from the north-east, carried such sparks of the fire in the opposite direction, as kindled some houses on the west side of the Saltmarket, insomuch, that both sides of that street were totally consumed, and in it the most extensive edifices of the town. From the Salt- market, the fire was carried by contiguous buildings to the Trongate, Gallowgate, and Bridgegate streets, where a great many houses, with the furniture of the inhabitants, fell a sacrifice to its fury. This calamity continued near eighteen hours, before the great violence of the fire began to abate. In this space of time, many were reduced to poverty, and the dwellings of nearly one thousand families utterly consumed. The greater part of these unfortunate sufferers were obliged to betake themselves to the shelter of huts erected in the fields, till more comfortable accommodation could be got ready. By Saturday evening, numbers had returned to the city, and it was hoped that the calamity was completely over. Unluckily, however, this was not the case, for betwixt the hours of seven and eight on Sunday morning, the fire broke out afresh on the north side of the Trongate, and continued burning violently * CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 2J5 till near twelve at noon. This new accident not only destroyed a great number of dwelling houses, and occa- sioned the pulling down of many more, but it so terrified the whole of the inhabitants, that they carried from their houses what moveables they had, and betook themselves for several nights to the open fields, where they con- tinued till all danger of re-ignition had been removed. This event, by which one third part of the city was destroyed, is attested in a letter from Colonels Overton and Blackmore to Oliver Cromwell, wherein they reckon the damage at no less than one hundred thousand pounds sterling. Cromwell, upon the receipt of this letter, and of a representation by the magistrates, generously set on foot a subscription for their relief. To this cause, how serious soever at the time, the city was partly indebted for that regularity and elegance which has since distinguished it. 1677. — The next great conflagration in the city took place on the third day of November. Early on the morning of that day, the inhabitants were aroused from their repose by loud cries of fire. The whole population was soon on the spot, and found good occasion for their nocturnal alarm. A malicious boy, the apprentice to a blacksmith, being menaced and beaten by his master, was determined on revenge, and, accordingly, at one in the morning, set his work-shop on fire, which stood at the head of the Saltmarket, at the back of the street tenement on the west side. No sooner did the torch 276 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. take effect, than the whole blazed up like fury ; and in less than two hours, all the tenements situated at the back, immediately contiguous, were consumed. It then broke out in the front houses on both the west and east sides, and burned down to the middle of the street. Eoofs and beams were to be seen or heard falling in all directions ; and wo to those who were within reach of the devouring elements. Round the north-west corner of the Saltmarket, the conflagration extended to the Tron Church, razing every object before it to the ground, while several large tenements at the head of the Gallowgate shared the same fate. So great indeed was the heat, that the clock in the tolbooth or cross steeple was destroyed. The doors of the prison were broken open by the populace, and those in confinement, who principally consisted of covenanters, were set free, among whom was the laird of Carsland, a well known religionist of the time. Furniture and goods of all kinds were pitched over every window, and no attempts were made to stop the ravages of the flames till ten o'clock in the forenoon. Nor even then were endeavours immediately effectual ; and it burned with almost un- abated fury fill two o'clock, when it quietly expired. During the conflagration the wind had shifted several times. The bitter cries of the poor struck piteously upon every ear, — and it was indeed lamentable to wit- ness their confusion.* * The following extract from the Acts of the Scottish Parliament m 1G98 appears to relate to the above conflagration: — CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 277 From the Glasgow Journal. 1748. — " Betwixt one and two o'clock on "Wednesday morning, July 25th, 1748, a fire broke out in the house of John King, vintner in the Saltmercat, which burned some tiipp before it was discovered, and with such violence, that Mr. King's house was mostly consumed, and one of the garrets brought down ; the flames and smoke soon filled the staircase, so that several people in the upper stairs had no way of escaping but by ladders from the street ; by the assistance of the water engines it was prevented from spreading farther. Before any help came, Mr. King, and a gentleman who lodged in the house that night, were both burnt to death ; the ser- vants, and a young boy, (a son of Mr. King's,) made their escape. The particulars of this tragical affair, and " 1698. Anent the petition given in by John Gilhagie, merchant in Glasgow, showing that where in the late conflagration and burning in Glasgow, in which both sides of the Saltmercat was in a flame upon an instant and totally burnt; the petitioner had then by the burning of his houses there, his planishing in them, and his two well furnist buiths, and merchant ware in them, twenty thousand merks of loss; as also in the same year, by trade in severall voyages and concerns in ships to Archangell, Canaries, and Madairies, (which was the first undertakings to those planta- tions from Glasgow,) and by one ship of his at the same time comeing from France with wynes here, being cast away at the bay ofYochill, on the west side of Ireland; he had five hundred pound sterling of loss, and since that time he has had of coall works, near Glasgow, these some years by past, above 20,000 merks of loss; by all which, and the rigidity of severalls of his creditors by captions, &c. he is depryved of all means of industry for subsist- ence of himself and his familie, who are in very sad circumstances at present, notorious "Robert Owen," the successor of Mr. Dale in the Lanark Mills, who, in the course of thirty years, has contrived to dissipate a princely fortune in his visionary schemes of infidelity. CAPTAIN ARCHIBALD PATOUN, Was a son of Dr. David Patoun, a physician in Glasgow, who left to his son the tenement in which he lived for many years preceding his decease, called " Patoun's Land, opposite the Old Exchange at the Cross. The broad pavement, or " planestones," as it is called, in front of the house, formed the daily parade ground of the veteran. The Captain held a commission in a regiment that had been raised in Scotland for the Dutch service ; and after he had left the tented field, lived with two maiden sisters, and Nelly, the servant, who had, from long and faithful servitude, become an indispensable in the family. He was considered a very skilful fencer, and excelled in small sword exercise, an accomplishment he was rather proud of, and often CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 407 handled his rattan as if it had been the lethal instru- ment which he used to wield against the foe. The wags of the day got up a caricature of the Captain parrying the horned thrusts of a belligerent bull in the Glasgow Green. The Captain fell in that warfare from which there is no discharge on the 30th July, 1807, at the age of 68, and was interred in the sepulchre of his father in the Cathedral, or High Church burying grounds. He forms the subject of Lockhart's celebrated serio-comic ballad, entitled, " Lament for Captain Paton," and beginning, — " Touch once more a sober measure, And let punch and tears be shed, For a prince of good old fellows, That, alack a-day ! is dead ; For a prince of worthy fellows, And a pretty man also, That has left the Saltmarket In sorrow, grief, and wo. Oh ! we ne'er shall see the like of Captain Paton no mo! " BOB DRAGON. This was an individual who enjoyed the notoriety of being considered the ugliest man in the city, about the commencement of the present century. His proper name was Robert Dreghorn, and he was a gentleman of considerable property. His body was of a tall, gaunt, and lean nature, surmounted by a head of enormous dimensions, which were admirably suited by a face of the strangest and most unearthly aspect. His nose was aquiline, and turned considerably to one side of the face ; from which distinctive feature, added to a considerable 408 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. obliquity of the organs of vision, the reader may form some conception of his peculiarity of countenance. Distinction in any thing at all times gives its pos- sessor considerable potency, and unquestionably Bob was not an exception to the general rule ; for while he was the " bugbear " of all the little urchins of the town, he was no less the " unrelenting ghost ' ' of the young women. Indeed, while his accidental appearance was at any time sufficient to frighten from their play the parvi pueri, his very face, " discernible from afar," had many chances of forcing the "blooming maidens" to a vow in favour of single blessedness. Matrons, too, used him as an instrument of power, and no more effectual "lullaby" could be pronounced over their children than the name of " Bob Dragon." Yet Bob was a harmless sort of individual, and, with the exception of an extraordinary prepossession in favour of the "fair sex," had no very remarkable mental peculiarity. He is not, therefore, to be considered as a rnysogynist, but a mysogamist. He died in 1806, by his own hand, at a property which he possessed in Stirlingshire. His town's house, which stood on the site of the present Water Port Buildings, at the foot of Stockwell- Street, was taken down for the erection of that tenement. It was long regarded as haunted, and was therefore never tenanted. CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 409 BELL GEORDIE. This was the common designation of the Bellman of our city, during the closing twenty years of the last and earlier years of the present centuries. He is described as having been a large stout man, with a head like a bull's, and a huge carbuncled nose. He was a wit of the first water, and indulged in many a joke at the expense of his masters the "bailies." To have heard Geordie exhibiting in his official capacity would have impressed the most lukewarm listener with the impor- tance of his announcements. Nothing, indeed, could equal in effect the monotonous and stentorian tones in which he was accustomed to give public intimation of the arrival of a cargo of fresh herrings at the Broomie- law. His versatile genius procured him the office of factotum to the " Provost," and on field days, when arrayed in all their gorgeous panoply, the civic corpora- tion went forth to stuff " the conveyances of their blood With wine and feeding," Geordie was an indispensable requisite. BLIND ANGUS. To have "heard the chimes at midnight," was the social boast of one of Shakspeare's happy heroes, when recalling to the memory of his boon companions the hours of conviviality which they had spent together. We, too, have listened to " Tweedside," "Nancy's to the Greenwood gane," "The Banks of Ayr," and 410 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. "Boslin Castle," as their notes peeled forth in the soli- tude of "night's deep noon," as we have paced home- wards that weary way which often lies betwixt the scene of festivity and the place of repose. But our home- ward progress from festal merriment has been lightened by other sounds and sights of captivating interest. Never did we turn our homeward step past the statue of the saviour of our constitution — if it was not later than twelve o'clock — but we have heard, coming along the silent streets, near or remote, the lonely music of blind Angus's whistle! Minstrel of midnight! melancholy man! what brooding inspiration seats itself upon thy darkened vision, bidding thee, with stealthy, but yet un- deviating pace, wander along the streets, which, but for that, would echo only the half-hour grunt of the watch- man, or the fitful voice of evil doers? In summer or winter, moonshine or mirk, calm or storm, heat or cold, still, constant as night itself, was whistling Angus to be found perambulating the streets, and whiffling out, so lowly, yet so distinctly, the wild and straggling notes of a music which he composed as he paced along, yet which had, even in its irregularity, so much of character as to speak of pibrochs, laments, or love-lays, from the hills of which his spirit seemed still a denizen. We talk of nearly twenty years ago, and let us picture him forth. Just at the foot of Nelson- Street, and immediately beneath the light from the Police lamp, you may perceive, for it is half-past eleven — the point of a stick projecting slowly, as if, like the Irishman's fowl- CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 411 ing-piece, it were made to turn round comers. It was Angus's; and in a minute and a half you see him- self follow up the discovery its tip has just been making, namely, that the path is " all before him where to choose." Hear the indescribable churm aud chirrup of his ever- lasting whistle ; and now, behold the man! Beneath the true Skye or Moidart bonnet of the aboriginal shape you will see a set of features that indicate uncommon placidity, with no little shrewdness. The eye-balls are deep sunk and lustreless ; but is there one can tell how they became so? For our part, we never had the heart to fathom the mystery which, in our apprehension, has ever clung around this Homer of the nineteenth century. You will remark, that Angus is substantially and com- fortably attired in the blue plaiding which, more than holiday tartan, is the material of Highland costume, let the Celtic Society do what they will. Yet Angus is a mendicant, — we cannot bring ourselves to say a beggar, for though he will intermit his whistle if you put a penny in his palm, there lives not the man who ever was asked for alms by this iEolian wanderer. He feels that the appeal of his plaintive breath is all that is required, and is conscious that if he has received from the midnight passengers sums that have enabled him to hoard up a little reserve to meet asthma or other calamities, he has furnished them with an equivalent in recalling to the Highlander the music and the associations dependent upon it — of his native glens and mountains ; to the civic Lowlander, the recollection of nights when he before 412 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. has heard him in his lonely rounds, which, with light hearts and heads, loaded stomachs, and fascinating com- panions, can never return ; and to the student of charac- ter, and the hermit of society, a picture unique if not hold, curious if not unparalleled. It is now a dozen years since Angus went to his last account. There was something in the simplicity of his char- acter and demeanour which protected him from insult. Those who gave him nothing at least passed him by with commiseration. Even the drunken cotton- spinner or bedaised carter, the lushy butcher and rolled up baker, seemed to regard him as decidedly not a belli- gerent, but entitled to all the privileges of a neutral, and having a right to pilot his way through the streets, how- ever they might deem their breadth insufficient for others besides themselves, and think that they alone should "keep the cantle o' the causey" when half-seas over. — " Eh! — ho! aye, de-dee vil tak' me, Geordie, if there 's no Angus, wh-whi-wifflin' awa' as weel as if his breath wou'd ne'er gang dune! Ha'e ye sic a thing as a penny left to gi'e the body? 'Od m-man (d n the gutter!) I min' o' him whiffling the night ye were married, an' that's no yestreen. Here, Angus, gi'e us ' Todlin' but and toddlin' b-be-ben.' " One might listen to an oration like this addressed to Angus long before he could hear it himself; but as for the concluding request, he could only give one of his quiet smiles in reply to it, for regular tune or repetition of pre- cisely what he had before whistled was out of the question CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 413 with Angus. It was from inspiration, not from memory, that he whistled, and in this he was honourably distin- guished from the herd of ballad-singers and street fiddlers. An historical investigation into his musings would be a contribution to the science of mind ; a series of his remin- iscenses, a collection of street anecdotes and convivial sketches of unrivalled interest. Has he not whistled when Prince's- Street was the centre of good eating and drinking, and perambulated when Jamie Hamilton of Garthamlock limped his laughing way through streets made vocal by his tipsy cheers? Ah! could he tell the fortunes and the fate of the hun- dreds who have listened to his breathing lays, what a picture of mutation he could furnish.* * " Ant,"-Original Volume. 414 CHAPTER XV. OUR ANCESTORS. 1 I'll view the manners of the town, Peruse the traders, gaze upon the buildings. And wander up and down to view the city." Comedy of Errors. The past years of the nineteenth century have wit- nessed greater mutations in the aspect of social manners than any equal period in the history of our country. The world has become more worldly. There is more of dissipation, and less of enjoyment. Pleasure has ex- panded into a broader and a shallower stream, and has forsaken many of those deep and quiet channels, where it formerly flowed so sweetly through the bosom of domestic life. Society has acquired a more enlightened and elegant tone, but it has lost many of its strong local CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 415 peculiarities, — its home-bred feelings, — its honest fireside delights. The traditionary customs of golden-hearted antiquity, have also altogether passed away. They com- ported with the shadowy hall, the great oaken gallery, and the tapestried parlour ; but are unfitted to the light showy saloons and gay drawing-rooms of modern times. Glasgow society, till the period when commerce brought wealth to the city, had no distinctive features. The same abject ignorance and superstition which character- ised small districts, were not inseparate from large towns; and so late as the 12th of March, 1698, the magistrates of our city granted an allowance to the jailor for keeping warlocks and witches imprisoned in the tolbooth, by order of the lords commissioners of justiciary. The Union, in 1707, opened to Scotland the trade to the English colonies ; but, betwixt want of capital, and the national jealousy of the English, the merchants of Scotland were as yet excluded, in a great measure, from the exercise of the privileges which that memorable treaty conferred on them. Glasgow lay upon the wrong side of the island for participating in the east country or continental trade, by which the trifling commerce as yet produced in Scotland chiefly supported itself. Yet, though she then gave small promise of the commercial eminence to which she has now attained, Glasgow, as the principal central town of the western district of Scotland, was a place of considerable rank and importance. The broad and brimming Clyde, which flows so near its walls, gave the means of an inland navigation of some import- 416 CHRONICLES OF ST. MITNGO. ance. Not only the fertile plains in its immediate neighbourhood, but the districts of Ayr and Dumfries regarded Glasgow as their capital, to which they trans- mitted their produce, and received in return such neces- saries and luxuries as their consumption required. The dusky mountains of the Western Highlands often sent forth wilder tribes to frequent the marts of St. Mungo's favourite city. Hordes of wild, shaggy, dwarf- ish cattle and ponies, conducted by Highlanders, as wild, as shaggy, and sometimes as dwarfish as the animals they had in charge, often traversed the streets of Glas- gow. Strangers gazed with surprise on the antique and fantastic dress, and listened to the unknown and dissonant sounds of their language, while the mountaineers, armed even while engaged in this peaceful occupation with musket and pistol, sword, dagger, and target, stared with astonishment on the articles of luxury of which they knew not the use, and with avidity which seemed some- what alarming upon the articles which they knew and valued. Tt is always with unwillingness that the High- lander quits his deserts, and at this early period it was like tearing a pine from its rock to plant him elsewhere. Yet even then the mountain glens were over-peopled, until thinned occasionally by famine or by the sword, and many of their inhabitants strayed down to Glasgow, — there formed settlements, — there sought and found em- ployment, though different, indeed, from those of their native hills. This supply of a hardy and useful popula- tion was of consequence to the prosperity of the place. CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 417 furnished the means of carrying on the few manufactures which the town already boasted, and laid the foundation of its future prosperity.* In taking a view of the old domestic manners of our ancestors, we find that, in 1740, the dwelling-houses of the higher classes of citizens contained only one public room, a dining room, and even that was only used when they had company ; the family, at other times, eating in a bed-room. Entertainments were few and simple ; and the dinner hour was one o'clock. The husband went to his business after dinner, and the wife gave tea at four o'clock to her female friends. Shopkeepers locked their shops during the breakfast and dinner hours. At this period the people were in general religious, and particularly strict in the observance of the Sabbath, some of them, indeed, to an extent that was considered by others extravagant and fanatical. There were families who did not sweep or dust their houses, did not make their beds, nor allow any food to be dressed, on Sundays. The magistrates employed what they called compurgators, (better known, however, to the common people by the name of "Bum baillies,") to perambulate the streets during divine service, and sieze all persons whom they found strolling about. These functionaries continued in existence till near the close of last century ; and many are the stories told of the skirmishes between them and sacrilegious culprits. To see an individual walking Rob Roy. T2 418 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. slowly along the street without a Bible or Psalm-book in his hand was sufficient to excite the suspicion of one of these officials ; and if upon a little watching by follow- ing him from street to street, it was discovered that he he had no particular errand abroad, the " Bum baillie" thought himself highly justified in conveying him to the "guard-house." We must not suppose, however, that the exercise of his authority was on all occasions sub- mitted to with christian meekness, for if we are to believe th^p testimony of eye-witnesses, the nasal organs of the * Bum bailliehood" were not always in the high- est state of preservation after a little practice in the "craft!" Nor has change been less at work in the external aspect of things. An old street directory of any of our large cities may be said to be as productive of interest- ing recollections as the tomb-stones in a church-yard. We learn from it who were the notables of their day, where they lived, and what were the professions in vogue in days gone by. We also get at some curious facts in family history; who were the fathers and grand- fathers of the present race, and whether the existing members of a family have risen above, or are depressed beneath the circumstances of their predecessors. The principal matter of interest, however, is the great change which has taken place in the character of localities. Streets which had been fashionable half a century ago are so no longer. Houses which had been inhabited by men of high professional standing are now, alas! the CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 419 dwellings of the humblest class of citizens ; the change affording a fine lesson as to the transitory glory of all earthly things. In looking over two such records of the olden time, we are shown, as it were, in their every-day busi- ness aspect, a race of Glasgow citizens who have almost all passed to their long account, namely, the Glasgow Directories for 1783 and for 1790, the former printed and published by John Tait, and the latter entitled, "Jones' Directory," and printed by Joseph Galbraith. The directory of 1783 appears to have been the first ever published in Glasgow, and it is " dedicated with the greatest submission to the magis- trates and town council." The book begins by enumer- ating the public bodies, or important professional char- acters in the city : first, the magistrates and council ; second, the "reverend ministers of the gospel," of whom there appear to be only eighteen, both established and dissenting, in the whole city ; third, the professors in the university ; fourth, the faculty of procurators ; fifth, the officers of excise ; sixth, the physicians, of whom there are sixteen ; seventh, the midwives, of whom there are ten ; and lastly, the messengers at arms, of whom there are eleven. Having made these honoured distinctions, the compiler then sets out by giving merchants, manu- facturers, grocers, vintners, lint -hecklers, "hocksters," &c, in cumulo, but at the same in something like alpha- betical order. At this time the great bulk of the busi- ness community seems to have been gathered in High- 420 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. Street, Salmarket, Trongate, Gallowgate, Candleriggs, Bridgegate, and the Wynds. Queen- Street, which must have been in the course of formation, is occa- sionally mentioned, but it was then much better known by its olden name of the " Cow-loan." For instance, we find "John Marshall, sheriff- substitute," residing in the Saltmarket; "John Wilson, one of the city clerks," resides in Gallowgate ; there are no fewer than four members of the legal profession to be found in the Laigh Kirk Close: others are located in the New Wynd, Moodie's Wynd, &c. ; and one of them "hangs out" at the Saracen's Head Inn — then, we believe, the prin- cipal hostelry in the city. We find that the town's hos- pital and infirmary are placed in Clyde-Street, where the former is situated up till this time ; but now even its days are numbered. Compared, however, with the splendid temple which benevolence has reared adjoining the cathedral, for the cure and alleviation of disease, we cannot well divine what must have been the infirmary of 1783 in Clyde- Street. " Jones' Directory" for 1790-91, brings the business history of the city, so to speak, a little further down, and the numbers are now appended to the houses, which are not given in the former publication. Truly, this little book, read at this distance of time, proves as convincingly as the longest homily, that the days of frail man are as the grass ; for out of the long lists of the University and city clergy, there are now only two in the land of the living, and even these have ceased to be, so far as regards CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 421 their public labours. John Campbell, jun. Esq. the Lord Provost of the city, has his " lodgings " in Jamaica- Street; the well known and highly respected (late) Kirkman Finlay is found at " James Finlay's, Bell's Wynd." David Dale, merchant, has "lodgings" in Charlotte- Street ; and David Dale, junior, manufacturer, has " lodgings at the head of the Green." This, it must be remembered, was nearly a generation before Monteith Row was called into existence. Then we have Andrew Foulis, the celebrated printer, who has his office in Shuttle- Street, and his lodging in the College. And there is Captain Archibald Paton, whose name has been wedded to heroic verse by Lockhart, and who has a " lodging facing the Exchange." We notice the name of one gentleman still alive, who is known to all over the west of Scotland for deeds of manufacturing enter- prise and munificence, who has been a member of Par- liament, and is the owner of a princely estate in the upper ward ; who has been the architect of his own for- tune, which enables him to " close a youth of labour by an age of ease;" and yet, in these early times, he ap- pears to have lodgings in the modest suburb of Anders- ton * t * There are also designations here which now-a-days would look very queer in a directory, such as, ° Miss Dunlop keeps a mangle, Copland's Close, High-Street," and "Miss Aird, dealer in dead crapes." The coaching advertisements are not the least curious things in the little book. It appears that two or three of the prin- t Glasgow Herald Newspaper. 422 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUXGO. So thoroughly indeed have the manners of the inhabi- tants of Glasgow changed in the course of a century, that a totally different race seems to have sprung up. Whoever now repairs to that place where merchants most do congregate — the Exchange — will behold a system of things as widely different from the days of the olden time as night differs from the glare of noon. No longer will be seen the trader in tobacco and rum, strid- ing up and down with the pace of dignity, clad in a doublet of crimson, his sword by his side, like an officer of state. Yet such was the every day-dress of the Walkinshaws, the Crosses, and the Glassfords, in the halcyon days of West Indian traffic ; and even down to near the commencement of the present century the cos- tume of our merchants and manufacturers would appear cipal inns despatched coaches to Edinburgh daily; but we select the announcement from the Black Bull, which says, " A coach to Edinburgh at 10 o'clock, to the White Hart Inn, Grassmarket, for 8s. per seat. A neat diligence, containing three passengers, to Mr. Cameron's hotel, 2 Prince's-Street, at 12 noon; if taken in whole, at any hour the company pleases, 10s. 6d. per seat." Here is another: "The Glasgow and Edinburgh Mercury 'setts' out from A. M'Gregor's, Candleriggs, at 11 o'clock every day. If taken by any party in whole, will 'sett' out two hours sooner or later." Here we have some Greenock " Flys," the fare of which is 5s. 6d. per seat, which " sett " out on stated days, but, like the others, will move at any hour the company thinks fit, if taken in full. What would these venerable Jehus say to see the Greenock railway on a Saturday afternoon and Monday morning, in sea- bathing time, when thousands are whirled along on the wings of the wind? or what would they have said to have witnessed the business done by the Edinburgh and Glasgow railway on the week of the Queen's visit? CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 423 to the generation now growing up as smacking as much of presumption as to them appeared that of their pre- decessors. Up to that period any one of the more wealthy portion of our citizens might he seen careering the Trongate dressed in a suit of sables, wearing knee and shoe buckles of Bristol stones. And should he be a " bailie," he would have considered himself entitled to walk the streets with an air of magisterial authority, with one hand buried in the folds of a black satin waist- coat, over which hung a massive gold chain indicative of his rank, and the other flourishing a large bamboo cane with somewhat of the grace of a drum-major. His hair also highly powdered, and gathered behind into a pig- tail, would be surmounted by a large three cornered cocked hat, not unlike those worn on field-days by Scottish doctors of divinity. At our social parties, the celebrated * Glasgow Punch" is now almost altogether forgotten. Yet for a century it reigned in undoubted supremacy among the good things of every hospitable board. It was first introduced into our dejeunes when the great trade in Jamaica rum commenced, and so thoroughly imbued with a belief of its benefits did our ancestors become, that he whose dinner courses were not followed in regular succession by the introduction of the punch bowl, was a fellow " with- out a heart." To a native of Glasgow, indeed, till of late years, there was even in the sight of a punch bowl something of exhilaration and excitement. It brought with it no mournful associations. It was linked to a 424 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. thousand bright and pleasing remembrances of youthful and joyous revelry, and of the graver intoxications of maturer years. Within its beautiful and hallowed sphere were buried no " thoughts that do lie too deep for tears." In its very name there was delightful music, and it came o'er his ear " Like the sweet south, That breathes upon a bank of violets, Stealing and giving odours." * Yes ! even the expectation of a glass of punch was suf- ficient to suffuse on the cheek a mollified aspect ; and to dispel all heaviness from the heart! West-Port well ! with how many a gallon of thy contents, commingled with the genuine "Jamaica," hast thou moistened the "thrapples" of our fathers ! In taking a view of the amusements to which our ■ grave ancestors" addicted themselves, we find that of these they were very barren. Their genius seems from time immemorial to have been opposed to theatrical representations, and with the exception of an occasional pastime at football on the " green," in summer, no parti- cular pursuit formed the relaxation of their leisure during the long winter evenings.t * Cyril Thornton, t Previously to the Reformation, and for some time afterwards, pantomimic representations of the history of our Saviour, his miracles and passion, were exhibited in this city. It does not appear, however, that any theatrical representation was allowed from the Reformation in 1560 till 1750. At the latter period Mr. Burrell's dancing hall in the High-Street was used for that pur- CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. 425 With the increase of wealth, during the last eighty years, exotic luxuries and fashions have taken root in the soil. In the year 1752* the city boasted but one private carriage ; now, gay equipages, with servants in gawdy liveries, are to be met with in every street. Formerly a few clumsy and quaker-like buggies, drawn by horses better fitted for the plough than the shafts, might be seen lumbering along, conveying a physician on his rounds, or an elderly gentleman and his wife to their cottage in the suburbs ; now vehicles of the smartest and most fashion- able description, whether designated in the nomencla- ture of the day as Dennet, Stanhope, Whiskey, Tilbury, or Drosky, glitter past with almost meteor-like velocity, in all the great avenues of the city. The ideas of pose, being four years after the theatre in the Canongate was opened, which was the first regular theatre in Scotland after the Reformation. In 1752, a booth or temporary theatre was fitted up adjoining the wall of the archbishop's palace, in which Digges, Love, Stampier, and Mrs Ward performed. Messrs. Jackson, Love, and Beate, comedians, built a regular theatre in the Grahamston suburb, which was opened in the spring of 1764 by Mrs. Belamy, and other respectable performers. On the first night of performance, the machinery and scenery were set on fire by some disorderly persons. When the stage was refitted, the theatre was occasionally kept open, but with very indifferent suc- cess; and at one o'clock on the morning of the 16th April it was burned to the ground. There was no theatre in Glasgow from this period till January 1785, when the Dunlop-Street theatre, erected by Mr. Jackson, was opened by Mrs. Siddons, Mrs. Jordan, and other eminent performers. * Mr. Allan Dreghorn, timber-merchant and builder, was the first person who started a private carriage in Glasgow. It was made by his own workmen. 426 CHRONICLES OF ST. MUNGO. the present generation evidently differ widely from those of their fathers, and least of all do they seem disposed to imitate them in those habits of parsimony and frugal- ity, in which, perhaps, the chief source of their increas- ing prosperity was to be sought. The gayer and more wealthy part of the population have deserted their for- mer small and smokey residences for the more elegant and commodious mansions of the new town of the west. Nothing, in short, can be more striking than the almost total revolution which a few years have effected in the tastes and habits of the community. The spirit of improvement has been evidently abroad. There is less of that narrowness of mind which formerly characterized all their dealings. Their wants and ideas have evidently been enlarged ; and of the truth of the axiom, that wealth and civilization are indissolubly connected, Glasgow might be cited as a striking and irrefragable instance. APPENDIX. LIST OF THE BISHOPS OP THE SEE OP GLASGOW, BEFORE THE REFORMATION, WITH THE DATES OF THEIR CONSECRATION, AND OFFICES HELD PREVIOUSLY. About 560. — St Mungo. — 600.-Baldred. 2115. — John Achaius, (chaplain to David I.) This bishop founded the cathedral. 1147. — Herbert, abbot of Kelso, and chancellor of the kingdom. 1164. — Ingelram Newbigging, rector of Peebles, and, arch- deacon of the church of Glasgow. 1174. — Joceline, abbot of Melrose. This bishop rebuilt the cathedral, or rather made an addition to the church that was begun by John Achaius, and dedicated it the 9th of July, 1197. 1199. — Hugo de Roxburgh, rector of Tullibody in Clackmannan, and clerk to Nicolaus the chancellor of Scotland. 1200. — William Malvoisin, (supposed to have been a French- man,) archdeacon of St. Andrews, and one of the Cleriei Regis, and chancellor of the kingdom. 1202. — Florentius, a son of the earl of Holland, lord chancellor of the kingdom. 1208. — Walter, chaplain to King William the Lion. 1233. — William de Bondington, (of an ancient family in the shire of Berwick,) rector of Edlestone, a prebend of Glasgow, one of the Cleriei Cancellarii, and afterwards archdeacon of St. Andrew's. 1260. — John de Cheynam, an Englishman, archdeacon of Bath, and chaplain to pope Alexander the fourth. 1268. — Nicolaus de Moffet, archdeacon of Teviotdale. 1270. — William Wiseheart, archdeacon of St. Andrew's, and lord high chancellor. 1272.— Robert Wiseheart, archdeacon of St. Andrew's in Lothian, and nephew or cousin to the preceding. 1317. — Stephen de Dundemore, chancellor of the church of Glasgow. 1319.— John Wiseheart, archdeacon of Glasgow. 1325. — John Lindsay. 1335— William Rae. This bishop built the "Old Bridge," in 1350. 1368. — Walter Wardlaw, (of the family of Toriein Fife,) a canon of Aberdeen in 1362, archdeacon of Lothian, and secretary to king David the Second. 428 APPENDIX. 1387. — Matthew Glendoning, (son of Glendoning of that ilk in Eskdale,) one of the canons of Glasgow. 1408. — William Lauder, (son of Sir Allan Lauder of Hatton, in the shire of Mid-Lothian,) archdeacon of Lothian. 1426. — John Cameron, (of the family of Lochiel,) official of Lothian in the year 1422; afterwards confessor and secretary to the Earl of Douglas, who presented him to the rectory of Cambus- lang; provost of Lincluden, and secretary to the king in 1424; keeper of the great seal in 1425. 1446, — James Bruce, (son of Sir Robert Bruce of Clackmannan,) rector of Kilmenie in Fife, bishop of Dunkeld, and lord chancellor of Scotland. 1447. — William Turnbull, (a son of the family of Bedrule in the shire of Roxburgh,) a prebend of Glasgow. This bishop obtained from king James the Second, a charter, erecting the town, and the patrimony of the bishops, into a regality, in 1450; he also procured a bull, from pope Nicolaus the Fifth, for erecting an University within the city of Glasgow. 1455. — Andrew Muirhead, (a son of the family of Lachop in the shire of Lanark,) rector of Cadzow, (now Hamilton.) 1474. — John Laing, (of the family of Redhouse in the shire of Edinburgh,) rector of Tannadice in the shire of Angus, and vicar of Linlithgow. 1483. — George Carmichael, (a son of the family of Carmichael in the county of Lanark,) rector of Carnwath. 1484.— Robert Blacader, (the son of Sir Patrick Blacader of Tullicallan,) first a prebendary of Glasgow, and rector of Cardross; afterwards bishop of Aberdeen. 1508. — James Beaton, (son of John Beaton of Balfour in Fife,) first provost of the collegiate church of Bothwell, then prior of Whitehorn, abbot of Dunfermline in 1504, and treasurer of the kingdom in 1505. 1534. — Gavin Dunbar, (of the family of Mochrum, and nephew to Gavin Dunbar, bishop of Aberdeen,) tutor to James V. 1551. — James Beaton, son of Beaton of Balsarg, nephew to Beaton, archbishop of St. Andrew's,) chantor of the church of Glasgow. BISHOPS OF GLASGOW AFTER THE REFORMATION. In the year 1560, the Reformation wa3 established, and super- intendents took the place of Bishops. In 1570, however, a form, modelled somewhat after the fashion of the English church, was established. 1570.— James Boyd of Trochrig.— This individual continued to act as bishop till 1578, in which year the General Assembly annulled the legality of the Episcopal functions. In the space of three years, however, Episcopacy was again restored. 1581.— Robert Montgomery, minister at Stirling. 1585. — William Erskine, a layman, commendator of Paisley. 1587. — Walter , a layman, commendator of Blantyre. — This individual only enjoyed his dignity for about a year/when 429 the temporalities were restored to archbishop Beaton, the incum- bent at the Reformation, who for the period of twenty years had been living in France. Beaton continued in receipt of the revenue till 1603. 1603.— John Spottiswoode, (parson of Calder,) the celebrated historian. — On the 6th of June, 1610, an assembly of the church was held at Glasgow, when Episcopacy was made to assume a more primitive feature than it had done since the Reformation. During Spottiswoode 's incumbency, a new leaden roof was begun to be put on the cathedral. 1615.— James Law, bishop of Orkney.— During this episcopate, John Ogilvie, a Jesuit missionary of Rome was hanged at Glasgow for the alleged crime of fomenting the ancient prejudices of the people. 1633.— Patrick Lindsay, bishop of Ross.— In this year, Glasgow was recognised by parliament as a free Royal Burgh. In 1638 was held at Glasgow a memorable General Assembly, the mem- bers of which, after his majesty's commissioner had in the king's name dissolved it, continued to sit in defiance of royal authority, and set aside Episcopacy, — deposed and excommunicated the Bishops, — and finished by preparing for an appeal to the sword. Presbyterianism was the established religion till 1661, when it was again superseded by Episcopacy. 1661. — Andrew Fairfoul, minister of Dunse. 1664.— Alexander Burnet, bishop of Aberdeen.— During this prelate's incumbency, persecution was at its acme. He resigned in 1671. 1671.— Robert Leighton, bishop of Dunblane.— This prelate re- signed in 1676, when archbishop Burnet was again restored. 1676.— Archbishop Burnet. 1679.— Arthur Ross, bishop of Argyle. 1684.— Alexander Cairncross, bishop of Brechin. He was re- moved in 1687 by king James II. 1687.— John Paterson, bishop of Edinburgh. The year 1688 saw the monarch dethroned and exiled, and the year 1689 witnessed the establishment of a Presbyterian form of church government, since which period Prelacy, in connection with the state, " has had no abiding place in our city." Inscription upon Dr. Low's monument within the High Church- yard of Glasgow. 1612 M. P. L. IOHN LOW. IAMES LOW, Doctor Peeter Low. Stay passenger and viow this stone, For under it lyis such a one, Who cuired many whill he lieved, So gracious he no man griev'ed, 430 APPENDIX. Yea when his physick's force oft fail'ed, His plesant purpose then prevail'd; For of his God he got the grace, To live in mirth and die in peace, Heaven lies his soul, — his corps this stone, Sigh passenger and soe be gone. Ah me! I gravel am and dust, And to the grave dishend I must, O painted peice of liveing clay, Man be not proud of thy short day.* Inscription upon Dr. Main's monument. 1645. Hie jacet Robertus cognomento magnus multis Nominibus, revera magnus philosophus, orator, poeta, medicus, Omnigena virtute ac eruditione clarus, Medicinse in Academia Glasguensi professor. Obiit nonis Februarii millesimo sexcentesimo quadragesimo Sexto. Anno setatis suse sexies septimo climacterico. Inscription upon Mr. Thomas Hutchison's monument. Conditur hie D. Thomas Hutchisonus, Quem semper Innocentia sero opulentia beavit, Cujus brevem possessionem amplis In egonis largitionibus compensavit Humana cuncta ficta, falsa, tabula, Et vanitatem vanitas. Obiit Kal. Sept. anno 1641. iEtatis suse 52. Inscription formerly above the large gate and entry into the High Church in gold letters. DEDICATA FVIT H^C ECCLESIA GLASGUENSIS ANNO DOMINI MILLESIMO CENTAGESIMO NONAGESIMO SEPTIMO PRIDIE CALENDAS JVNII, Inscription upon the wall of the Outer-Church entry on two large dials, above Bailie Colquhoun's grave-stone, and the grave- stone of James Colquhoun's elder and younger of Langloan, his representors, upon one of the dials, Umbra labitur et nos umbra, upon the other, Ex hoc momento pendet JEternitus. Below engraven thus, Our life's a flying shadow, God's the pole, The index pointing at it is our soul, * Dr. Low was the founder of the Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons. APPENDIX. 431 Death's our horizon when our sun doth set, Which will through Christ a resurrection get. There is a monument of brass, of old pertaining to the eques- trian family of Minto, within the choir of the High Church, en- graven thus: — HEIR AR BVRIET S a WALTIR S B THOMAS S B IOHNE S R ROBERT S R IOHNE AND S B MATHIEV BY LINEAL DESCENT TO VTHERIS BARONS AND KNICHIS OF THE HOVS OF MINTO W T THAIR VYFFIS BAIRNIS AND BRETHEREIN, EXTRACTS FROM THE ANCIENT RECORDS OF THE BURGH OF GLASGOW. 1573.— James Anderson millare hes three scabbit horss; John Gamyll hesane; Thomas Scott hes ane; and Thomas Will hes ane scabbit horss; Quhilkis persones ar ordanit to be warnit to the nixt Court, to heir thame decernit to be handillit, coforme to the auld Status made anent scab and fairsy, and to be sichtit be Archd. Mr. and Thomas Waterston. 1573. — Marioun Gardiner, dochter to Steyne Gardiner. Jonet Grhame, Jonet Steward. Robert , fleschor. Quhilkis persounes ar dilatit as Lepir, and ordanit to be viseit, and gif thai be fund sua, to be secludit of the town, to the hos- pital at the brigend. The quhilk daye Margaret Andro, spouse to John Anderson cordiner, is fund in the wrang and amerchiament of court, for trublance done be her to Jonet Tailzoure, dochtir to James Tail- zoure, in stryking of her, and rugging furth of her hair, upone the hie gait of Glasgw, upon Sondaye, the viij of Januare instant, within the tyme callit of auld the proclamation of Zule girtht, and now of abstinece, and dwme gevin thereupone and therefor, is decernit to mak the said Jonet ane amends, be the sicht of twa neichtbors; and William Anderson, maltman is becum cautioner for making of the said amends. 1574. — The quhilk daye Bartilmo Lawtetht is fund in the wrang and amerchiament of court, for trublas maid be him to ane pure wyf callit , for stryking of hir to the effusion of hir blude, and is ordanit to paye to hir iiijs. for amends, and dwme gevin there- upone. October, 1574. — Item, it is statute and ordanit, that all the in- habitants of the town obey the sercharis [for the pest] in execution of thair office, and in cais thai be disobedient to thame, thair diso- bedience to be punisht as thai had disobeyit the prouest or baillies. 432 APPENDIX. 29$ July, 1580.— The quhilk daye, Jonet Speir is fund in the wrang, for striking of Margaret Herveys barne and hir mither, with hir feit and hands: And James Hervy, Christine Riche, Marion Cuthbert, Margaret Hervey, and Margaret Wilson, are all fund in the wrang, for stryking of the said Jonet Speir, casting stanes at hir, and taking ane pot fre hir; and dwme gevin there- upone. 13th September, 1580.— The quilk day Margaret Nasmyth, being accusit for steling of beir and comes, confessit the samyn, and wes decernit, of her awin confession, to be banist and absent hir, furth of the burgh and barony of Glasgw; and gif ever scho wer fund therinto, to be drownit bot assyse; and to dept to the effect within xxiiii hours nixtocum.* DISCOVERIES OF COINS. In the month of January, 1795, as some workmen were levelling the ground in the south end of Taylor-Street, where an old ruin- ous house formerly stood, they dug up an earthen pot containing nearly a Scotch pint, full of gold coins of different sizes. The eagerness of the by-standers, however, prevented their number from being exactly determined, though it is supposed they did not amount to fewer than eight or nine hundred, — the greatest part being Scotch, and the remainder English and foreign coins. Of the Scotch coins were those of James III. and IV., known by the name of the Unicorn and its half; the legend Jacobus Dei Gratia Hex Scoto, and on the reverse, Surgat Deus et Dissipent. Ini- mici Ej.; also, the Ryder of James IV. with his title, and on the reverse, Saluum Fa,c. Populum. Tuum. Dne. — Coins of James V., the legend, Jacobus 5, Dei Gra. Rex Scotorum, and on the reverse, Crucis Arma Sequamur. — Also of Queen Mary, the legend, Maria Dei Gratia Regina Scotorum, and on the reverse, Crucis Arma Se- quamur, and on some, Diligite Justiciam, 1553. These were the only varieties which appeared of the Scottish Coins. The English coins consisted mostly of the pieces called Angels, of Henry VI., the coinage of his 49th year; the legend, on the reverse, Per Cruc. Tua. Salve nor Xre. Red.; one of Henry VIII., the legend, Rutilans Rosa Sine Spina, and on the reverse, Dei Gra. Rex Angl. et Fra. Amongst those of foreign origin were distinguished some of the French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Imperial, and Popish coins. As none of these pieces are later than the days of Mary, Queen of Scotland, it is npt improbable that they had been deposited during the troubles in her reign. In the year 1836, while the Cathedral was undergoing repair, a considerable number of coins were discovered by workmen, — belonging more particularly to the early Scottish reigns. * "Burgh Records of Glasgow," collated by John Smith, Esq., LL.D., and presented to the Maitland Club. APPENDIX. 433 A LIST OF THE LORD PROVOSTS OF GLASGOW, AND PRINCIPAL BUILDINGS, &C. FOUNDED OR COMPLETED WHEN THEY WERE IN OFFICE. 1268, 1424, 1452, 1472, 1480, 1513, 1528, 1538, 1541, 1543, 1545, 1553, 1560, 1566, 1569, 1574, 1577, 1578, 1580, 1583, 1584, 1586, 1600, 1607, 1609, 1613, 1614, 1617, 1619, 1621, 1623, 1625, 1627, 1629, 1633, 1634, 1636, 1637, 1638, 1639, 1640, 1642, 1643, Richard de Dunidovis. Cathedral Building. Alexander Palmes. William Gley. Steeple founded. Un ivorsity founded. John Stewart of Minto. Sir T. Stewart of do. Sir John Stewart of do. Sir Robert Stewart of do. Ar. Dunbar of Baldoon. Lord Belhaven. John Stewart of Minto. A. Hamilton of Middop. A. Hamilton of Cochney. Robert Lindsay of Dunrod. Laigh Kirk built. Sir John Stewart of Minto. Lord Boyd. T. Crawford of Jordanhill. Earl Lennox. Sir M. Stewart of Minto. Earl of Montrose. Lord Kilsyth. Sir M. Stewart of Minto. Sir George Elphinston of Blythswood. Sir J. Houston of Houston. James Inglis. James Stewart. James Hamilton. James Stewart. James Inglis. James Hamilton. Gabriel Cunningham. James Inglis. James Hamilton. Gabriel Cunningham. William Stewart. Patrick Bell. Prison and Town-House. Colin Campbell. James Stewart. Laigh Kirk steeple built. Patrick Bell. Gabriel Cunningham. James Stewart. William Stewart. James Bell. 1645, George Porterfield. 1647, James Stewart. 1648, George Porterfield. 1650, John Graham. 1652, George Porterfield. 1654, Daniel Wallace. 1656, John Anderson. 1658, John Bell. Merchants' Hall. 1660, Colin Campbell. 1662, John Bell. 1664, William Anderson. 1 667, John Anderson. 1668, William Anderson. 1669, James Campbell. 1670, William Anderson. 1674, John Bell. 1676, James Campbell. 1678, John Bell. 1680, Sir John Bell. 1682, John Barns. 1684, John Johnston. 1686, John Barns. Wynd Church. 1688, Walter Gibson. 1689, John Anderson. 1691, James Peadie. 1693, William Napier. 1695, John Anderson. 1697, James Peadie. 1699, John Anderson. College Church. 1701, Hugh Montgomerie. 1703, John Anderson. 1705, John Aird. 1707, Robert Rodger. 1709, John Aird. 1711, Robert Rodger. 1713, John Aird. 1715, John Bowman. 1717, John Aird. 1719, John Bowman. 1721, John Aird. North- West Church. 1723, Charles Millar. 1725, John Stark. 1727, James Peadie. 1728, John Stirling. 1730, Peter Murdoch. 434 APPENDIX. 1732, Hugh Rodger. Town's Hospital. 1734, Andrew Ramsay. King William's statue. 1736, John Coulter. 1738, Andrew Alton. St. Andrew' 's Church. j 1740, Andrew Buchanan. 1742, Lawrence Dinwiddie. 1744, Andrew Cochran. 1746, John Murdoch. 1748, Andrew Cochran. 1750, John Murdoch. 1752, John Brown. 1754, George Murdoch. 1756, Robert Christie. St. Andrew's Church finished, 1758, John Murdoch. 1760, Andrew Cochran. 1762, Archibald Ingram. 1 764, John Bowman^ 1766, George Murdoch. 1 768, James Buchanan. 1770, Colin Dunlop. Jamaica-Street Bridge. 1772, Arthur Connel. 1774, James Buchanan. Ruiherglen Bridge. 1776, Robert Donald. 1778, William French. St. Enoch's Church. 1780, Hugh Wylie. 1782, Patrick Colquhoun. Tontine Coffee-Room and Buildings begun. — In- stituted tlie Chamber of Commerce. 1784, John Coates Campbell. 1786, John Riddel. -Si?. George's and St. An- drew's Squares begun. 1788, John Campbell, jun. Grammar School. 1790, James M'Dowall. Physicians' Hall, and Trades' Hall founded. — Infirmary. 1792, Gilbert Hamilton. Laigh Church. 1 794, John Dunlop. 1794, Assembly and Concert- Rooms. — Barracks. 1796, James M'Dowall. 1798, Laurence Craigie. Barony Church. — Police. 1800, John Hamilton. Hutcheson's Hospital. 1802, Laurence Craigie. Queen-Street Theatre. 1804, John Hamilton. Hunterian Museum. — Nelson's Monument. 1806, James Mackenzie. Ardrossan Canal.— St. George's Church. — Glasgow and Cranston- Hill Water- Works. 1808, James Black. Broomielaw Quay en- larged. — Glasgow Ob- servatory. — Gorbal's Church. — Lunatic Asy- lum. — New Jail and Public Offices. 1810, John Hamilton. Toward Light-House. 1812, Kirkman Finlay. 1814, Joshua Hey wood. 1816, Henry Monteith. 1820, John Thomas Alston. 1822, James Smith. St. David's Church. 1824, Mungo N. Campbell. 1826, William Hamilton. 1828, Robert Dalglish. Hutcheson's Bridge. 1830, James Ewing. Royal Exchange. 1832, Robert Graham. 1834, William Mills. Sir Waller Scott's Monu- ment. — Jamaica-Street Bridge rebuilt. 1837, Henry Dunlop. Custom-House. 1840, Sir James Campbell. City Hall.— Corn Ex- change. — British Li- nen Company's Bank. — County Buildings. BELL ANl> BAIN, PRINTERS, GLASGOW. ERRATA. Page 72, line 8,— for William Barclay, Esq. read James Bar- clay, Esq. Page 231, line 14,— for Caledonian Mercury, read Evening Courant. Page 266, line 10 -for 1779, read 1799. Page 287, line 8 from bottom,— /or quack-members, read quack- menders. J >?) en O > 3 m cd DO CD D rv> CD GO oo : II n 3 r^x & , » 2D v,^ J& »>^ 33P 9 mm J v xtf^rM ■U L ; W0M \WAmttm^WA£mZ f^»J^S mm^m