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 THE INCORPORATED TRADES OF EDINBURGH.
 
 f^cn 1 Nov 19-^5 
 
 ^ 
 
 OLD EDINBrRGH GUILDS. 
 
 CORDLNERS A.^D TMLORS. 
 
 EXCLLSIVENESS BROKER' DOWN. 
 
 Kcw intcrwt U being taken in Edinburgh's 
 •ncieat iruilcU in oon^'equence of the publication in 
 our colarana the other day of correspondence 
 between the Incorporation of Goldsmiths and the 
 Edinburgh »n<1 Fast of Scotland A£K>ciation of 
 Goldimit r<. and Watchmakers. In their 
 
 namM i.- the Incorporations are a link 
 
 . cal E(i;aburgh and the regulation* with 
 e ftArly rrafumen hedfjed and protected 
 t'li'-r;**-' ■ . ing. Today the Tailors, 
 
 iho for. r*. thi» Hammermen, tho 
 
 ■^ ' - ^ - •her in their old 
 
 v>tery so far as 
 
 .'1 have greatly 
 
 u^;;^foa: Utic cannot gue«8 at 
 
 lk« amo .t they are regarded 
 
 r- -• • . .^.:., ,wi>j.Mi revenue is devoted 
 
 for niemberB or benefits for 
 
 . or both. 
 
 A (;URES ENTRY FEK. 
 
 la th< .< Tailors and the Cordiners tiie 
 
 old Azclusituneks of the Incorporation was broken 
 
 down in the Law Courts. They in their time 
 
 adopted a similar attitude to that of the Gold- 
 
 •m!t.)«>. who maintain that applicants for admission 
 
 be apprenticed to a member of the 
 
 ation. and should have served an 
 
 'rh.i) Hi . or.iir.ir to the Incorporation's 
 
 rs ago the position of the 
 
 ■r* wa*" oontf?ted by ex- 
 
 »••• ' ' ' M that his 
 
 Uifl 
 
 had gone 
 
 lit- appiied lor niember- 
 
 i;c*M to pay tho regulation 
 
 ' fn the Incorporation 
 
 would co.it. By a 
 
 »-i« of ilioir own, tho 
 
 Mr .Allan decided 
 
 !.d the ca-so went to 
 
 ! ■-»! Ordinary and 
 
 U of the Incor- 
 
 — Thoro waa 
 
 i<d to tho 
 
 ' t against 
 
 ... .on of Mr 
 
 lip to cligiblci 
 
 •lipr." who bad 
 
 ■ri tv 
 
 the 
 
 . The 
 
 i.iu, li^ili a widow*' •ii(i Ml old ags 
 
 ctr 
 
 
 ^ V TO ONE. 
 
 '° "" the Iticorporation'4 
 
 old barn, r to ti.nj «*» ior(«d down at a later 
 
 dal«^ The Incorporation had a/njullr dvriudled 
 
 ' • ■ .' of 
 
 ■ (I0V» 
 
 ^ .-ave 
 
 liK-urporation had 
 
 lie that landmark in 
 
 »W»T 
 
 tiM 
 
 \9Ho^\4h.(^ 
 
 POINTS OF VIEW. 
 
 LETTERS FROM READERS. 
 
 Ancient Edinburgh Guilds. * 
 
 Edinburgh, November 18, 1926. 
 
 SiK,— The slight interest shown by the readers of 
 your paper regarding the old Edinburgh Guilds 
 shows that the present generation knows litrle 
 about these institutions, which were in older times 
 the very life of the various craft.s of the city. 
 
 To be a member of th<i Incorporation which 
 governed his own particular trade was the ambi- 
 tion of every apprentice who ''ndentured himself to 
 •>. master craftsman, who would not accept a boy 
 
 unless lie was fired with the desire to prove himself 
 worthy. 
 
 With the growth of the city and population 
 these various irades became loo extensive to take 
 only indentured apprentices, and more freedom was 
 riecessary for business in all of them. Con- 
 sequently the membership of the Guilds became re- 
 .<<trictcd owing to the fact that members, more often 
 than not, chose only their own friends or relatives 
 for indentured apprenticeship, thus guaranteeing 
 the emoluments and benefits being retained in the 
 hands of a small and select band of men, many of 
 whom had retired from their legitimate trade and 
 were simply pensioners on tho funds of their Guild, 
 and not in a position to train an apprentice if one 
 offered himself. One particular Incorporation 
 hOmo years ago had to o]jen its doors and admit 
 new members, who were tested and proved to bo 
 tradesmen, and able to pay the la*ge entrance fees, 
 a bar to many a worthy and efficient workman. 
 
 The correspondence between the Edinburgh and 
 East of Scotland Goldsmiths and the Incorporation 
 of Edinburgh Goldsmiths suggests that this parti- 
 cular Guild has outgrown its ancient usefulness, as 
 scarcely a member is in active occupation as a 
 master craftsman and fit to train an apprentice. 
 The few members who are lef' vote themselves to 
 tho various offices in the Guild year after year in 
 a ludicrous circle. No doubt the members will 
 naturally decrease until tho last one will combine 
 in himself all the ofiices and pensions as well. This i 
 ancient Incorporation has had tho duty of testing i 
 and hall-marking the gold and silver plate nianu- j 
 factured in Edinburgh for centuries, and it is not ' 
 my intention to dispute their qualifications for this 
 duty at present, but as a goldsmith I have the 
 right to call attention to ihe utter lack of interest 
 this Guild takes in the craft as a whole, or, indeed, 
 in any of the various interests of the city. There 
 are art schools and practical classes in connection 
 with the goldsmiths and .«ilversniith.s and watch- ^ 
 makers, which languish for lack of v 
 funds, and are carried on with diffi- 
 culty by the Edinburgh and East of 
 Scotland Gold-Smiths with help of the Education 
 Authority. This is where the Incorporation of 
 Gold.smiths should come in and make some useful 
 contribution with their funds to help on a craft 
 which has given famous men to this city. — I am, 
 
 AuniFABRORUM. 
 
 iltod on liiLi.iji.i of tho ncotv^urj 
 
 rads 
 
 Olli,
 
 3AY, OCTOBER 28, 192 
 EDINBURGH GOLDSMITHS. 
 
 AN ANCIENT GUILD. 
 
 "MYfeTERY" OF ADMISSION 
 CONDITIONS. 
 
 Incorporation declined to give^an^'personafassuT 
 ance tn a maiter of this kind. 
 
 This reply drew from the secretary of the 
 Association the statement that he Nvas driven to the 
 conclusion that there was not among the members 
 ot the Incorporation any one member who was 
 in a position to give an apprentice a proper train- 
 ing in the trade. " If I am wrong," he added, 
 
 1 have no doubt you will correct me, and go 
 the length of expressing at least your opinion tha/ 
 there is among the members of your IncorporA- 
 tion at least one person who could give a suita/^«o 
 apprentice a good training, qualifying hii/^j 
 all respects fo- carrying on business as a ^''+ 
 
 smith in future years." 'V^ 
 
 "We have nothing further to add," A,ni^ 
 the Incorporation, and the Association's ne/k%nv 
 closed the corresoondence. \?oA: .y 
 
 
 «!?/!IIIui 
 
 noq 
 
 •SufiiaMp B^p'-a^pjTfCai. jb-nt)isrAcaa'^-^TOp?^toaoui 
 JO SuisiBj oq; jo uoi-jsonb oq) i^j^ ijj'Bop 'DOf^iiui 
 -UI03 SuisnoH oapunQ jo JOuaAuoQ 'pio^j uijop jj^ 
 pii'B 'uotssas uooujOitj'B oq:) ^b ji^qo oqi paidnooo 
 'quopisajd aq-j 'ouiiui-Tajuncj '[■b.uo\j ^fsoAOJ^j 
 
 •sasaoH ssvqo-OMraHOAV omoNivNi^i 
 
 •uojif'Bjapisuoo joj ea^^tunmoQ o.vi'^ 
 -nooxjj oqi o^ pojjopi sba\. jb'J'cbu; oqi'ijo^'Buimf^^ 
 •Rpu:>sip uBqjn oq^ o^ papao^B aq ppoqs sai:}inoBi 
 oiuBS oq^ !jBq> po^saSSns spa\. qi puB 'sasnoq "jo Sui 
 -uot-^ipuoDoa oq; joj sbdj^b [Banj aq^ o% usaiS oq oi 
 pasodojd oja.iA. s^jubjS ^^qi uoissnosip oq^ j6 osjno.o 
 yqi ui qno pa^tiiod sbav qj -[[ig 'jduistioH [■Bjnw 
 pqi JO suoisiAOjJ' oq^ o| uoaiS b^Ai uoi'j'B.iapisuoQ 
 
 '8361 Jaqo-joQ q^x o; dn q^l^ojj jo p-iBog oq^' Ka 
 paAoaudB saiuaqos iuisnoq [j-b jo padsaa ui panui^ 
 -uoa aq pjnoTis Apisqns ^uasojd oqf ye\\^ 'OAi^aoaxji 
 oq; JO uois;.3ap jjiib MaiA aq'j pauijggB A'ysnoui 
 -fU'Bun Sui^aaui aq» puB ' '.fpisqns oq; jo AvaiAaj 
 oq; JO uoi;sanb oq| uo o.jmd jjoo-j. uoissnDsiQ 
 
 oq A[qBqoja pjnoAi uojsiAjadns puB daaijdn jo 
 
 ;soa oq; puB ©iiu •e sb jb/AOj oja.w. paSj^qo syB^uaa 
 
 oq; ;Bq; suosuaj oq; aoj 'pauaaouoo ejB sosnoq 
 
 aouujBap uin[s sb jbj os- Ema;i asaq; jo qoadsaa 
 
 u; saouBMoiiB jo oSB;ua6jad ja;Baja b o; pani; 
 
 -ua ajOAv. sa;;iJoq;nY [^ooq ;Bq; jBaddB pynoAx ;t 
 
 •if^IBjauaS Sui>iBadg -paujaouoa oaaAv ^aq; sb jbi 
 
 OS apBui uaaq pBq saouBAvojiB o; sb oinj on puB 
 
 'paianooo A\oa aja.w. sasnoq oauBjBajo mnjs oq; jo 
 
 ^ ;vuBiu SB 'aiuaqos 6X61 oq; q;iAv uoi;oautioa ui saouB 
 
 I -Avotp JO uoisiAOJ oq; jo uoi;sanb'oq; iiBq; ■;uoSjn 
 
 joxoiu K\Y?.^i SBAv ;j -sauiaqos .^odBjBap uinis japua
 
 The Incorporated Trades 
 of Edinburgh 
 
 WITH 
 
 AN INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER 
 
 ON 
 
 The "^se and T^rogress of Municipal 
 Government in Scotland 
 
 BY 
 
 JAMES COLSTON 
 
 AUTHOR OF "the GUILDRY OF EDINBURGH — IS IT AN INCORPORATION?" "THE 
 
 EDINBURGH AND DISTRICT WATER SUPPLY — A HISTORICAL SKETCH ; " 
 
 "history of THE SCOTT MONUMENT;" ETC., ETC. 
 
 <3[Btrittturg;i) 
 
 PRINTED BY COLSTON & COMPANY 
 
 AND SOLD BY 
 
 RICHARD CAMERON, WILLIAM BROWN, ANDREW ELLIOT 
 
 AND ALL BOOKSELLERS 
 
 MDCCCXCL
 
 IMPRESSION:— 
 
 T H K K E H U N D K E D COPIES. 
 
 This Copy is No.-I. i^O-
 
 Ehdn 
 
 TO THE 
 
 Right Hon. ARCHIBALD-PHILIP PRIMROSE, 
 
 LL.D., F.R.S., 
 
 EARL OF ROSEBERY, 
 
 Lord -Lieutenant of the Counties of Mid-Lothian and Linlithgow, 
 
 ^ b i 6 ID 1 u nt c 
 
 IS 
 
 BY PERMISSION MOST RESPECTFULLY 
 
 JBetiicatcti. 
 
 545180
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 EVERAL years ago, I was requested by various leading 
 Members of the Convenery, to write a History of the 
 Incorporated Trades of Edinburgh. I then told these 
 gentlemen that my spare time was fully occupied ; but that, when 
 opportunity permitted, I would have pleasure in gathering up, 
 so far as I was able, everything I could find interesting regard- 
 ing these ancient Trades or Arts Combinations in the city. 
 This 1 have made it my endeavour to do in the volume now 
 submitted. 
 
 It cannot fail to be matter of great regret that the Minute- 
 Books of most of these Incorporations have been either lost or 
 destroyed. This fact will at once account for the comparative 
 paucity of information observable in the notices of several 
 of the Incorporations in comparison with others. An attempt 
 has been made in the work to bring together all the various 
 charters granted by the Town Council from time to time 
 to these bodies ; and a study of these is of itself interesting, 
 as partly serving to illustrate the state of burgensic life, and of
 
 viii PREFACE. 
 
 society generally, in the several periods to which they relate. This, 
 however, would have been done in a much more interesting way, 
 had many valuable relics of our civic history, which were contained 
 in the ^linute-Books, been still in preservation. 
 
 It may be worthy of note, that the Minutes of the Gild 
 were originally written in mediaeval Latin ; and that important 
 deeds of the Gild, as well as of the Town Council, were com- 
 posed and extended in the same language. As an illustration of 
 this, it may be observed, that a Deed of Appointment of a Town 
 Clerk is extended in the Town's Minutes in Latin. Latin was at 
 that time the lanfruao;e of the Church and the learned ; and was 
 more likely to be read and understood by the Members of other 
 nationalities, than would have been the case had the Scottish or 
 English languaGje been made use of in these records or deeds. 
 
 Reference also may be made to the apparently quaint mode 
 of spelling to be found in those charters, and the notable want 
 of uniformity in the orthography of the period. The same 
 words are sometimes spelt in a variety of ways in the same 
 charters. This anomaly is not to be wondered at. Proficiency 
 in spelling is regulated chiefly by what may be called the "Memory 
 of the Eye." ^lere scholarship, however exact, will not avail much 
 in the art of spelling. It is further to be borne. in mind that many 
 of tlie charters were composed and written at a time when there 
 was little or n(j opportunity for reading on the part of the general 
 I)ublic. They liad, indeed, nothing to read except the mottoes or
 
 PREFACE. ix 
 
 short passages of Scripture which occasionally were placed as daily 
 monitors over the doorways or on the fronts of some of the build- 
 ings of the period. Although the art of printing was introduced 
 into England by Caxton in 1474, it was not until 1507 that 
 the first printing press was established in Edinburgh, by Walter 
 Chepman and Andro Myllar, who obtained from King James IV. 
 a royal privilege for their work. Books, therefore, must have 
 been rare for a long period after this. And it is chiefly by 
 our daily practice of reading, that we are enabled to become 
 familiar with the usual form in which words are presented to 
 the eye, either in writing or in print. 
 
 In the " Introductory Chapter," an attempt has been made to 
 give a brief account of the Rise and Progress of Municipal Govern- 
 ment, chiefly with the view of showing the laudable desire which 
 existed among the Crafts Incorporations, to take their own fair share 
 in the civic management and control. Although they did not find 
 much encouragement from either the Crown and Parliament on the 
 one hand, or the Merchant Class on the other, they were always 
 successful in re-assertino; from time to time their rio^ht to be 
 represented in the Common Council of the Burgh. They believed 
 in popular election ; and the list they sent up to the Town Council 
 as recommended by them was always prepared on this principle. 
 It was otherwise with the Merchant Burgesses. They had no 
 voice in the choice of Town Councillors. The Merchant Councillors 
 
 were appointed on the principle of self-election, 
 
 b
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 In the volume there appears a list of the various Conveners 
 of Trades from tlie institution of the office down to the present 
 time, as well as a Historic Account of the Trades Maiden Hospital, 
 instituted chiefly by the Crafts Incorporations; while in the Ap- 
 pendix will ]je found a notice of the two Incorporations which are 
 not represented in the Convenery, as well as a List of the Minor 
 Arts or Crafts. 
 
 It was deemed expedient to reproduce the "History of the 
 Blue Blanket, by Alexander Pennecuik." That work is now be- 
 coming very scarce ; but it has always been looked upon by the 
 Craftsmen with considerable favour. Little is known regarding its 
 author, except what is told on the title page, that he was a 
 burgess and gild brother of the Town. In 1720, he published a 
 small volume of Poetry called "Streams from Helicon," and in 1726, 
 he produced another entitled " Flowers from Parnassus." He seems to 
 have been an ingenious writer, with small pecuniary resources ; and 
 common report gives it forth that he led a somewhat " dissipated 
 and irregular" life. Claudero (Wilson) the Town's Rhymer, in his 
 Poem, " Farewell to the Muses and Auld Reikie," with a consider- 
 able amount of fellow-feeling thus describes Pennecuik's end : — 
 
 To shew the fate of Pennecuik, 
 "Who starving died in turnpike neuk ; 
 Though sweet he sang with wit and sense 
 He like poor Claud was short of pence. 
 
 ITow very similar was the fate of poor Desagulier, the engineer
 
 PREFACE. xi 
 
 who brought a supply of " sweet water " from the country into 
 Edinburgh. He died at the Bedford Coffee House, Covent Garden, 
 London, and was buried in the adjacent ground belonging to the 
 Savoy. 
 
 Can Britain still permit the weeping muse to tell 
 How poor neglected Desagulier fell, 
 How he who taught two gracious Kings to view, 
 All Boyle ennobled, and all Bacon knew, 
 Died in a cell, without a friend to save, 
 Without a guinea, and without a grave. 
 
 Although Pennecuik wrote in a highly stilted style, and 
 although many may be apt to discredit his account of the " Blue 
 Blanket," and rather concur with Maitland as to its origin, I 
 frankly confess that, whatever were the sources of the author's 
 information otherwise, I have found his knowledge of his subject 
 generally accurate. 
 
 The Right Hon. the Earl of Kosebery has kindly agreed to 
 allow this volume to be dedicated to him. I consider it my duty 
 here to record my obligations to His Lordship, whose ancestors in 
 the Imperial Parliament always supported the Trades Incorporations 
 in their demand for free and popular election in our Municipal 
 Institutions. 
 
 I have to thank the editor of the Scotsman newspaper for his 
 insertion in that most influential journal of the Papers regarding 
 most of the Incorporations. By means of this, I have been enabled 
 to correct some errors into which I fell, from not having had at the
 
 xil PREFACE. 
 
 time sufficient iuformation, or from the sources of my information 
 being at fault. 
 
 I acknowledge my indebtedness to the various Deacons and 
 Clerks of the Incorporations for their kindness in furnishing me with 
 such information as was available for my purpose. The Works on 
 which I had to depend chiefly were " Maitland's History of Edin- 
 burgh," 1753; " Eeport by the Royal Commissioners on Municipal 
 Institutions," presented to both Houses of Parliament in 1835 ; and 
 the volumes of Records of the City of Edinburgh, published by the 
 Scottish Burgh Records Society, 18G9-82. 
 
 Attached to each of the Chapters on the several Incorporations 
 will be found the Seal or Coat of Arms of the various bodies. 
 
 Mr T. Lauder Sawers, artist, kindly contributes the engraving 
 of the Blue Blanket, and of the buildings of the Trades Maiden 
 Hospital, past and present. 
 
 23 Regent Terrace, 
 Edinuuhgh, October 12, 1891.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Dedication, .......... 
 
 Preface, ........... 
 
 List of Illustrations, ......... 
 
 Introductory Chapter : — 
 
 Concerning Municipal Government in Scotland, and the Incorporated 
 Trades, .......... 
 
 The Incoporated Trades of the City of Edinburgh : — 
 The Incorporation of Chirurgeons (and Barbouris), 
 The Incorporation of Hammermen, 
 The Incorporation of Goldsmythis, 
 The Incorporation of Baxters, 
 The Incorporation of Fleschouris, . 
 The Incorporation of Mary's Chapel, 
 The Incorporation of Skinners and Furriers, 
 The Incorporation of Cordwainers (Cordiners), 
 The Incorporation of Talzouris, 
 The Incorporation of Wobstaris, . 
 The Incorporation of Waekaris, 
 The Incorporation of Bonnet-makers, 
 
 List of all the Deacon-Conveners, 
 
 From the First Institution of that Office in 1578 to the present day, 
 
 Office-Bearers and Deacons of the Incorporated Trades, 
 
 PAGE 
 V 
 
 vii 
 xiv 
 
 1 
 11 
 
 27 
 43 
 51 
 
 65 
 76 
 93 
 106 
 119 
 129 
 137 
 
 145 
 150
 
 Xiv CONTENTS. 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Otukr Incorporated Crafts not represented in the Convenery : — page 
 
 1, TheCandlemakers, ....•••• 1^3 
 
 2. The Barbers, . . • • • • .158 
 The Inferior Trades or Crafts, ....... 162 
 
 The Trades Maiden Hospital : — 
 
 Historical Sketch, . . . . . • . .164 
 
 List of the Governors, . . . . . . ... 1 74 
 
 Historical Account of the Blue Blanket ; or, Crafts men's Banner : — 
 
 Containing the Fundamental Principles of the Good Town, with the Powers 
 and Prerogatives of the Crafts of Edinburgh, etc. By Alexander 
 Pennecuik, Burgess and Guild Brother of Edinburgh, . . . 177 
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 TiiK Blue Blanket, ....... facing title. 
 
 Trades Maiden Hospital (Original Building), . . facing page 164 
 
 Do. do. (Present Building), . . » » 174 
 
 TiiK Coats of Arms of the Various Corporations will be found at the 
 
 end of the RF.8PECTIVE NOTICES OF THESE.
 
 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 
 
 The Rise and Progress of Municipal InstihUions 
 
 in Scotland,
 
 INTRODUCTORY CIIAPTEB. 
 
 CONCERNING MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT IN SCOTLAND, 
 AND THE INCORPORATED TRADES. 
 
 IEFORE the establishment of a firm and vigorous Government in 
 Scotland, the inhabitants of populous places, villages, or hamlets 
 were usually under the protection of some royal or baronial 
 castle. The country was a feudal kingdom, split up into many small 
 principalities, almost independent, and held together by a feeble and nearly 
 imperceptible bond of union. The Monarch was not only stripped of a great 
 part of his authority, but his revenues must have suffered considerably by the 
 grasping nature of the nobles. The want of great cities contributed largely to 
 increase the power of the baronial sway and weaken the Throne. The division 
 of the country into clans conduced to a similar end. The general bulk of the 
 people, in those times, might be said to be in a state of absolute villanage or 
 serfdom, having no property of their own, and they were entirely dependent 
 upon the will and caprice of the Lord of the Soil. Even the greatest amount of 
 industry on their part, and the comparatively little traffic in the way of -business 
 which they were able to conduct, by barter or otherwise, was frequently sub- 
 jected to heavy burdens, either on the part of the Crown on the one hand, or 
 the overlord on the other. This state of matters, however, was not destined
 
 Xviii INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 
 
 to endure. In fact, the very rigorous nature of the exactions which were 
 imposed tended ultimately to work out the cure. The Crown, as well as 
 many of those local magnates, began, even from a purely selfish point of 
 view, to take a greater interest in the growing prosperity of their vassals ; 
 and, strange to say, the school of political economy which seemed to pre- 
 vail — the rectifier of all their wrongs — was what may be termed the exercise 
 of Exclusive Privilege. 
 
 The late Professor Cosmo Innes, in a preface which he wrote for one 
 of the volumes of the Scottish Burgh Records Society, entitled, — " Ancient 
 Laws and Customs of the Burghs of Scotland," p. xxxii., thus writes: — 
 " With the twelfth century rose the general desire, through France and over 
 Europe, to shake off the oppression of the feudal lords, and to restore or 
 establish some municipal rights and freedom in towns, — a share at least in 
 the choice of their own magistrates, and in administering their property and 
 afiairs. The people of the cities entered vehemently into the struggle for 
 independence; swore mutual support and alliance; and within each town 
 established for their common affairs, guilds, communes, conjurations, which 
 drew upon them the censure of the early monkish writers, who were mostly 
 good Tories, — communis, novum ac pessimum nomen, says Abbot Guibert 
 de Nogent, writing in the twelfth century." 
 
 In Scotland, in the formation of these associations, or gilds, for protecting 
 trade, the towns belonging to the Crown seem to have taken the foremost part. 
 These associations of traders were eventually recognised by, and received the 
 direct sanction of, the Crown, who fostered them by granting them protection 
 from outside injury and oppression. They were recognised as alone having the 
 right to trade within a certain territorial area, subject to such regulations, 
 and the imposition of such tolls, duties, maills, or customs, as might be 
 mutually agreed upon.
 
 MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT IN SCOTLAND. xix 
 
 These associations of traders were, therefore, a privileged class of dealers 
 within the area of their respective communities, and became known under 
 the name of hanses and gilds. They were, no doubt, somewhat analogous 
 to the hanses and gilds which existed in those days in most of the con- 
 tinental countries of Europe. They were the first beginning or develop- 
 ment of that important system of municipal control and power, in the larger 
 and more comprehensive organisation, which the Gilds or Gildry of large 
 cities and towns so long exercised for the good of the people of Scotland. 
 Indeed they may be said to have been the first development of what is now 
 known as " the Third Estate of the Realm." 
 
 To what period, in the history of Scotland, the first erection of Royal 
 Burghs can be traced, it is impossible now to prove. Their institution has 
 not in general been dated prior to the beginning of the twelfth century. 
 The generally accepted idea is that David I., who reigned between 1123 and 
 1153, was their chief promoter, if not their first originator. It is rio-ht, 
 however, to state that, down to the present time, there has not been produced 
 any direct charter of erection granted by that Monarch in favour of any royal 
 burgh ; nevertheless, there are to be found frequent references to particular 
 burghs in the chartularies of religious houses granted by him. His great 
 weakness seemed to consist in a desire to endow Religious Houses, which led 
 to the observation that he was " a sair Saunct for a crown." 
 
 Maitland, in his History of Edinburgh (p. 7), says that King David styles 
 Edinburgh meo burgo. He also adds, " David made laws at his town of New- 
 castle-upon-Tyne, and his charters are still extant in several Scottish burghs. 
 In all probability he erected Edinburgh into a Royal Burgh." Of such erec- 
 tion, however, he adduces no direct evidence. He merely asserts the fact un- 
 supported by any proof. On the other hand, if the ancient capitulary, styled 
 Leges et Consuetudines Burgorwni Scotice, or any considerable portion of it be,
 
 XX INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 
 
 as has been supposed, the work of King David I., then there must have existed, 
 even prior to his reign, and contrary to the generally accepted opinion, Royal 
 Buro-hs. somewhat similar in constitution and privileges to those which were 
 afterwards established. 
 
 Referring to these grants to religious houses, and the allusion to Royal 
 Burghs in the charters, the following examples may be cited, viz. :— 
 
 To the Abbot and Friars of Dunfermline, David I. granted " unum plen- 
 ariuin tnftum in burgo meo de Hadingtun — libere et quiete ab omni con- 
 suetudine et servicio sicut predictus Abbas tenet aliquod toftum melius et 
 liberius per burga mea." To the same monastery he gave, by an instrument 
 addressed " Prepositis de Perth," — " unum toftum in meo burgo de Perth 
 quietum de omnibus rebus ; " and by another document, — " unam mansuram 
 in burgo meo de Dunfermelin liberam et quietam, et aliam, in burgo meo 
 in Strivelin, et aliam in burgo meo de Perth, et aliam in burgo meo de 
 Edenesburgli." And to the priory of Urquhart, a cell of Dunfermline, — 
 '■ viginti solidos singulis annis ad vestimenta eorum de firma burgi mei et 
 aquarum de Elgin." 
 
 Again, wlien David I. founded the Abbey of Holyrood, he granted by 
 charter in favour of its Canons, " the power to erect the burgh of Canongate 
 between the Cliurch and the Toune." It is the oldest existing charter in 
 the Edinburgh repositories, in favour of the Abbot and Convent of Holy Rood, 
 and runs thus : — Quadragiuta solidos de meo burgo de Edwynesburgh singulis 
 annis et redditum centum solidorum singulis annis ad indumenta canonicorum 
 de cano meo du Perth, et hoc de primis navibus que ncgociationis causa 
 vcniuut ad Pertli ; et si forte non venerint, concedo prefate ecclesie de meo 
 recUlitu de Edwyneshurg quadraginta solidos," etc., " Et unum toftum in 
 burgo meo de Edwi/ncsburg libcrum et quietum ab omni consuetudine et 
 exactione." "Concedo etiam eis herbergare quoddam burgum inter eandem
 
 MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT IN SCOTLAND. xxi 
 
 ecclesiam et nieum hurgum ; et concedo ut burgenses eorum habeant com- 
 munem (libertatem) vendendi et emendi res suas venales in foi^o meo libere 
 et absque calumnia et consuetudine, sicut mei iwoprii bitrgenses," etc. 
 
 It will be apparent that the language of this charter seems not quite 
 clear. By several writers it has been supposed to indicate the existence of 
 Edinburgh at that time as a burgh in demesne rather than as a royal burgh. 
 The distinction, it must be confessed, is not very easily traced. It appears 
 evident, however, that although not incorporated, the burgesses of the King 
 had at least certain privileges of traffic and merchandise within the burgh, 
 and that certain tolls and customs were exacted — besides maills for their 
 several tofts or possessions holden off the Crown. The erection of the 
 burgh of Canongate was one of regality. It was thus one of the earliest 
 examples of these local authorities which were afterwards so well known in 
 Scotland. 
 
 The difference between a Royal and other Burghs in Scotland seemed 
 to consist in the former possessing or occupying property, for the good 
 of the community, and which property belonged to the Crown. The late 
 Lord Karnes thus describes a Royal Burgh in Scotland : — 
 
 " By a Royal Borough is in Scotland understoood, an incorporation 
 that hold their lands off the Crown, and are governed by magistrates of 
 their own naming. The administration of the annual revenues of a Royal 
 Borough termed the cortwion good, is trusted to the Magistrates, but not 
 without control. It was originally subjected to the review of the Great 
 Chamberlain, and accordingly the chapter 39, sec. 45 of Iter Camerarii contains 
 the following articles, recommended to the Chamberlain to enquire into — 
 'Giff there be an good assedation and uptaking of the common good of 
 the burgh, and giff faithful compt. be made thereof to the community of 
 the burgh; and giff no compt. is made, he whom and in quhaes hands it
 
 XX ii INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 
 
 is come, and how it passes by the community.' In pursuance of these 
 instructions, the Chamberlain's precepts for holding the Ayr or circuit is 
 directed to the provost and bailies, enjoining them to ' call all those who 
 have received any of the town's revenues, or used any office within the 
 burgh since the last Chamberlain-ayr, to answer such things as shall be 
 laid to their charge.' And in the third chapter, which contains the forms 
 of the Chamberlain-ayr, the tirst thing to be done, after fencing the Court, 
 is to call the bailies and Serjeants to be challenged and accused from the 
 time of the last Ayr." 
 
 It will be observed that the references which have been made to various 
 chartularies, during the reign of David I., would not serve to prove the 
 absolute existence of Royal Burghs, but rather that of burghs which belonged 
 in property to the Crown. The inhabitants of such, or at least many of 
 them, may have been in the enjoyment of certain privileges and immunities 
 consisting in exemption from restrictions which tended to fetter trade and 
 commerce ; but there is no proof existing of their erection at that time into 
 a general gild, or municipal community, or corporation, which would fulfil the 
 description of Lord Kames — wherein property was held by the municipal 
 authority for the good of the community, under a permanent feudal tenure 
 or title, in return to the Crown for certain fixed rents or maills, and the 
 performance of certain services to the State in the preservation of the public 
 peace in the various burghs. 
 
 William the Lion, the second in succession to David I., is said to have given 
 to Edinburgh the dignity of a Royal Burgli, to have assembled within it the 
 Estates of tlie realm, and to have converted it into a place of mintage for 
 the King's currency; while Alexander III. constituted Edinburgh as the 
 depository of the insignia oi royalty and the records of the Kingdom. 
 
 William the Lion in 1107 built a castle on the river Ayr, and encouraged
 
 MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT IN SCOTLAND. XXIU 
 
 the settlement of a town or burgh, where probably a village or hamlet had 
 previously existed. In the language of the Chronicle of Melrose, the fact 
 is thus stated: — "Anno 1197 — Factum est novum oppidum inter Don et Ar." 
 In the charter of the King which he granted about ten years thereafter, he 
 declares that at his new castle upon Ayr, he had made a burgh (burguin fecisse) 
 and that he had granted to Jtis burgesses resident therein (burgensihus meis 
 in eo manentibus) all the liberties and free customs throughout the kingdom 
 enjoyed by his other burghs and resident burgesses, together with a weekly 
 market ; and to the burgesses who shall come and inhabit his said burgh, 
 and shall there settle and remain, he grants an exemption from all tolls and 
 customs on their own proper goods {dominicis catallis suis), the exaction of 
 which he strictly prohibits. To the burgh, or general community thereof, includ- 
 ing the resident burgesses, he gives an adjacent territory, under certain condi- 
 tions, and for a rent payable to the Crown by each burgess ; and certain stations 
 are specified for the collection of tolls and customs by the burgh officers. 
 
 In this charter, there are no words of incorporation. It would, therefore 
 appear that the mere denomination of burgum in a royal grant was held 
 to imply a duty upon the community to set about, of itself, the creation of a 
 corporate existence, or representative body, for the purpose of looking after the 
 property so freely granted to them by the King. The erection of such corporate 
 bodies was, therefore, the natural result of the growth of circumstances and 
 situation ; rather than the obeying an edict of the Throne. In fact, the 
 original rents exigible by the Crown, were collected by the ballivi, who were 
 first appointed to discharge this duty by the Lord High Chamberlain, the chief 
 officer of the Crown. 
 
 So far as can be traced, the Gild was the first constituted authority in 
 Scotland. The Town of Berwick upon Tweed was in the days of David I. 
 regarded as part of his dominion. Subsequently, it seemed to be an indepen-
 
 xxiv INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 
 
 dent place of residence, being connected with neither England nor Scotland. 
 In many Acts of the British Parliament this independence was rigidly main- 
 tained. Laws were enacted for the benefit of England, Scotland, and our good 
 Town of Berwick. The town of Berwick was the frequent resort in former 
 times of outlaws — fugitives from justice in England or Scotland. The town 
 by somewhat recent legislation, though situate north of the Tweed, forms part 
 of the English territory. 
 
 The object of the General Gild of Berwick was, as stated in its constitution, 
 to suppress all the smaller gilds or associations which existed at the time, so 
 that by good fellowship, and a brotherly feeling one towards another, the 
 interests of all might be protected, no one being allowed to aggrandise, or deprive 
 his neighbour of his due. The three prevailing sentiments in the establishment 
 of the Gild were Peace, Goodwill, and Fair-play. It was essentially the first 
 attempt to form a system of burgh police, and the Statutes of the Gild of 
 Berwick, or the Leges quatuor Burgorum (whichever is the older of the two) 
 were the first known codification of Municipal law in Scotland. There is no 
 doubt that burgh government by the Gild preceded that of Town Councils in 
 Scotland. In fact, it would appear from the earliest records we possess of Town 
 Councils, that the representatives to the corporate body were elected at a Meet- 
 ing of the Gildry of the Town. The former was therefore a further develop- 
 ment of municipal rule and control. 
 
 This may be readily taken for granted from the fact that the Leges 
 Burrjorum do not contain any reference to a body called a town or burgh 
 council; while on the other hand the StahUa Gildce clearly lay down that 
 there shall be, besides the Alderman (Provost) and four bailies, twenty-four 
 " probi homines de melioribus et discretioribus et fide dignioribus ejusdom 
 burgi ad hoc electi ; " und on this body is conferred the power of declaring 
 who shouM be the Magistrates, in the event of there being any controversy
 
 MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT IN SCOTLAND. XXV 
 
 as to their election by the community. The original idea of municipal repre- 
 sentation and control in Scotland was conceived, and for a considerable time 
 conducted, on a most popular basis. Indeed it remained so, until the statute 
 of King James III. in 1469 (Act. Pari. Scot. c. 5), when the system of the 
 Council electing their successors began, and which proved to be for nearly four 
 centuries so great a scandal in regard to our Municipal Institutions. After 
 this Act became law, the Town Council dominated the Gildry ; the latter 
 becoming practically effete as an independent Civic body. 
 
 But as was the case in the various Continental Towns, the Gild in Edin- 
 burgh, though no doubt consisting originally of the Merchant class, had in 
 course of time introduced into its numbers members of the Craftsmen class, 
 provided they possessed the full right of citizenship by holding estates of 
 a certain recognised value within the liberties of the Town. In all probability 
 the line of demarcation, which was latterly drawn between Merchants and 
 Craftsmen was (as Wilda, one of the most accomplished writers on Gilds says) 
 one of municipal and business development. It soon became apparent in the 
 contest for municipal control, and in regulating the affairs of the Town, that 
 the Merchant class and the various Arts or Trades became as distinct from each 
 other as was the Collegia Sodalitia which represented the Patricians, and the 
 Collegiwm Opificuni which embraced the Plebian union, in the days of ancient 
 Rome. They not only difiered in opinion, but frequently came into hostile 
 collision with each other. The kingdom of Scotland was not alone in the 
 development of these civic turmoils. They were also found in England and 
 all over the Continent of Europe. 
 
 Emancipation from the baronial control having been attained, the ancient 
 and honourable spirit of Freedom seemed quickly to disappear. The municipal 
 rulers soon became proud, avaricious, and overbearing. The exclusion of the 
 Craftsmen from the brethren of the Gild was one of the first steps in this 
 
 d
 
 XX vi INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 
 
 direction. This led to a system of oppression on the part of the latter towards 
 the fonner, the Gild being the local governing power. They began to regard 
 the Craftsmen in the same light as the oi toXXoI of ancient Athens; and the 
 Craftsmen had no Solon to act as " mediator and archon."* As might be expected 
 when merchants began to amass wealth, they became more exclusive in their 
 association, an early development of what is now known as caste. Professor Lujo 
 Brentano, of Bavaria, a well-known writer on the subject of Gilds, referring 
 to this question, states that " an ordinance was repeated in Danish, German, 
 and Belgian Gild statutes, that no one ' with dirty hands,' or with ' blue 
 nails,' or ' who hawked his wares on the streets,' should become a member of 
 the Gild, and that Craftsmen, before being admitted, must have foresworn 
 their trade for a year and a day." Eventually, however, as a rule, the Crafts- 
 men were excluded from the Gild, and this led to frequent civic disputes and 
 turmoils in these countries. Indeed, in the German and Belgian towns, the 
 oppression of the Gild was regarded as more general and severe than in the 
 various towns of Great Britain and Denmark. There was in the latter a 
 stronger executive power in existence, which had a beneficial effect on the 
 community. In the former the towns soon became something like independent 
 constitutions, governed by an exclusive aristocracy. This Patriciate it was 
 the object of the Craftsmen to overturn, and great was the party spirit, and 
 numerous were the conflicts which took place during the thirteenth and four- 
 teenth centuries. 
 
 For instance, at Magdeburg, in the year 1301, ten aldermen of the Crafts- 
 Gilds were burnt alive in the market-place; while in Cologne, on 21st 
 November 1371, thirty-three weavers were executed; and, on the following 
 day, a search was made among the houses, monasteries, and churches: all 
 
 • Tufc— Arwtotle'8 Constitution of Athens, by Thomas J. Dymes, B.A., London. Seeley & Co. Page 9.
 
 MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT IN SCOTLAND. XXVll 
 
 that were found were murdered. The exiled found a refuge at Aix-la- 
 Chapelle, where they afterwards greatly flourished in trade. Bruges, Brussels, 
 Frankfort-on-Main, Strasburg, Halle, and other towns witnessed similar civic 
 broils. Towards the close of the fourteenth century, however, the Trade- 
 Gilds prevailed. They were ultimately successful in obtaining a share in the 
 civic administration. 
 
 It will thus be seen that the origin of Trade or Craft-Gilds was occa- 
 sioned by the necessities of the period. Combination was the only means by 
 which they could successfully resist the oppression of the Mercantile Gild. 
 Foremost among the Trade-Gilds were the weavers, who were a kind of 
 middle-class between Patrician and Plebeian. It is interesting to observe in 
 this relation, that in the Royal Charter granted by King Alexander 11. to the 
 burgesses of Aberdeen to have their Gilda Mercatoria, the dyers (fullers or 
 litsters) and the weavers are specially excepted, ut habeant gildaifn suarti 
 merchatricem, excei^tis fullonihus et tellariis. The weavers and waulkers 
 were also specially excepted in King James VI.'s charter to Perth, which 
 was rescinded in 1770. 
 
 The Craft-Gilds on the Continent, at an early date after their institution, 
 began to see that it was indispensable to have a responsible elected chief. 
 This official they called " the Warden," whose duty was to regulate the trade 
 and manage the Gild. He had the right to examine all manufactures, and to 
 search for all unlawful tools and products. No member of the Gild was 
 allowed to use tools " unless the same was testified to be good and honest." 
 To insure good workmanship the use of the midnight oil had to be condemned, 
 because the Gild statutes provided that " no one shall work longer than from 
 the beginning of the day until curfew, nor at night by candlelight." While 
 the ostensible objects of these Craft-Gilds was self-defence and mutual help, 
 yet, in general, they resembled all the other Gilds in their attention to religious
 
 Xxviii INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 
 
 offices and ordinances. They also tried to maintain a high standard of good 
 and substantial workmanship, — a merit much to be desiderated in many of the 
 products of modern times. 
 
 In England, also, the Craftsmen were eventually successful in obtaining 
 an enormous share in town government. During the time of Edward II., no 
 person could be admitted to the freedom of the city of London unless he was 
 " a member of one of the trades or mysteries." Again, during the reign of his 
 successor, an enactment was passed by the Avhole assembled commonalty of tlie 
 city, by which the right to elect the Members of Parliament, as well as all the 
 other city dignitaries and officials, was transferred from the ward representa- 
 tives to the trading companies. The number of these companies who took 
 part in the elections of the following year was increased from thirty-two to 
 forty-eight. The burghers, however, ultimately obtained the supremacy by 
 getting enrolled in the Craft-Gilds, from which no doubt sprang up what is 
 known in later days as " the Twelve great Livery Companies " of the city of 
 London. 
 
 While Trade-Gilds or Craft-Gilds became prevalent in the Towns of 
 England, as they were also on the Continent, there seems no evidence whatever 
 of their existence in Scotland. Indeed there is no trace of the original 
 development of the Gild — the social and religious one — which existed in other 
 countries. The Gild seems in Scotland to have been confined solely to the 
 Merchant or Burgensic class. Nevertheless, there were early appearances of 
 organisations among the Crafts for mutual help and defence. In the days of 
 James I. (1424) a Statute was passed empowering handicraftsmen, in their 
 different branches, to elect a preses, who was called a " Deakon or Kirkmaister," 
 which would serve to prove that they were somewhat numerous at the time. 
 The words of the Act are as follow : — " That in every towne of the realme, of ilk 
 sindry Craft usyt tliarin, thar be chosyn a wise man of thar Craft be the layff
 
 MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT IN SCOTLAND. Xxix 
 
 of the Craft, and be the counsel of the officiaris of the towne, the quhilk sail 
 be haldyn Dekyn or Maister-man owre the layff, for the tyme till hym assignyt, 
 till assay and govern all werkis that beis made be the werkmen of his Craft, sua 
 that the Kingis lieges be nocht defraudyt and scathyt in tyme to cum, as thai 
 have bene in tyme bygane through untrew men of craftis." 
 
 The original constitution of these Trade- Societies, or as they became after- 
 wards better known by Trade Incorporations, seems to have flowed out of a 
 desire for union, self-protection, and self-government among the members. 
 They also, in pre-reformation times, had religious duties strictly to fulfil. The 
 members were bound to pay, in addition to other benefactions, the " ouklie 
 penny" (weekly payment) for the maintenance of the altar, and sustenance 
 of the priest attached thereto. Each of these art or trade organisations had a 
 patron saint to whom they dedicated an Altar in St Giles' Church. Their 
 charter of incorporation consisted in a " Seal of Cause " (sifjillum ad causas), 
 granted by the Lord Provost, Magistrates and Town Council on the requisition 
 of the body ; and in the earlier charters there were strict rules laid down for 
 the observance by the Members of their religious duties. It is a singular fact 
 that although the Craftsmen, in civic turmoil, never failed to give a most 
 hearty allegiance to the Crown, they did not receive much support or counten- 
 ance from the legislature. In many of the earliest charters to Royal Burghs, 
 there is an express provision in favour of the Gilda Mercatoria, and for the 
 protection of their privileges the interpositions of Parliament were frequent. 
 In the Golden Charter to Edinburgh (James VI.) there is the following clause : — 
 "We are forever to have, enjoy, and possess, in the aforesaid town and Hberties, 
 a Mercantile Gild, with its courts, councils, members, jurisdictions, liberties, 
 and privileges belonging to the same, and in all things as freely as is granted 
 by us and our predecessors to the aforesaid town, or to any other royal free 
 burgh within our Kingdom." Nevertheless, it has not been found that the
 
 XXX INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 
 
 original incorporation of the Crafts or Trades in Scotland can be directly traced 
 either to the Crown or to the authority of Parliament. In charters of a com- 
 paratively later date, there may be traced a power to the Superior or to Municipal 
 Authorities authorising thera to erect subordinate corporations ; but, as a rule, 
 the power seems to have been chiefly assumed by the Town Councils themselves, 
 as a matter of internal regulation, and to promote a policy of civic harmony and 
 peace. At wliat time any of the Companies or Crafts first obtained the 
 patronage of the Civic Magistrates, it is impossible now to determine. The 
 muniments of Edinburgh are far from being complete. The earliest trace of 
 the Town Council, which was chiefly composed of the Merchant Class, receiving 
 into their civic counsels the trades, was in 1469, when it was enacted that two 
 of the Craftsmen should have a voice in the " chusing " of the Magistrates ; and 
 in 1475 they began to grant Charters of Incorporation. The Wrights, Masons, 
 and Weavers received a Charter during that year, the Hammermen in 1483, the 
 Butchers in 1488, and the Cordiners in 1489. These Seals of Cause practically 
 re-enact the regulations which the self-constituted bodies had previously passed 
 among themselves for their own government ; and some of them bear unmis- 
 takable evidence that some of these organisations had a previous existence for 
 a long period of years. 
 
 It has already been shown that the first recognition by the Crown of the 
 Trades or Crafts was in 1425, James I., c. 39, wherein handicraftsmen in their 
 various arts in every town in Scotland, were empowered to elect one of the 
 members to preside over the others, to be designated " Deakon or Maister-man 
 over the laife for the time," so that his Majesty's lieges should not be defrauded 
 in any way in time to come, as they had been in by-past times through 
 unfremcn who were not connected with any of the arts or crafts. On the 
 following year, the Statute c. 27 provides that "Deakons of ilk Craft be 
 elected " ; while c. SO of the same year ordains that the ofiice of Deakon being
 
 MUNICIPAL GOVEENMENT IN SCOTLAND. xxxi 
 
 of general prejudice to the Kingdom, the same should be rescinded, all licence 
 to elect Deakons recalled, and the former Meetings of the various Arts with 
 their Deakons, be condemned as " Assemblies of Conspirators." 
 
 The power of electing a Preses was, however, restored to the Goldsmiths' 
 Craft by James II. in 1457, c. 83. They were required to appoint a Deacon to 
 inspect their work, so that it be of good workmanship and the metal of 
 standard fineness; and by a statute of James III., 1488, c. 96, the office of 
 Deacon once more became general among the trades. 
 
 A few years later the Statute (James III., Parlt. 2, c. 12) first makes a 
 distinction between Merchants and Craftsmen, wherein tradesmen using mer- 
 chandise are required to renounce their Craft, and it is further ordained (1487) 
 that this Act be put into execution by " escheit " of the merchandise to be 
 accounted for to His Majesty's Exchequer. 
 
 That Statute contains the following : — 
 
 Becaus it is cleirly understandiii to the Kingis Hienes and his Thre Estates, that the 
 using of deyknnis of men of craft in bnrrowis is lycht dangerous, and, as thay use the samin, 
 may be the cans of greit troubill in burrowis, and convocatioun and rysing of the Kingis 
 liegis, be statutes making contrair the commoun proffet, and for their singular proffet and 
 avale, quhilk [de] servis greit punytioun ; And als belangand masonis and uther men of 
 craft, that convenis togidder and makis reule of thair craft, sic as masonis, and wriclitis, and 
 utheris, that thay sail have thair feis als weill on the haly dais as for wark dais, or els they 
 sail nocht laubour nor wirk ; And als, quhat personis of thame that wald begin ane uther 
 mannis werk, and he at his plesour will leif tae said werk, and than nan of the said craft dar 
 nocht compleit nor fulfill the samin wark : It is heirfoir avisit, statute and ordanit, that all 
 sic dekynnis sail ceiss for ane yeir, and have na uther power, bot allanerly to examyne the 
 fyuace of the stuffe and werk that beis wrocht with the remanent of his craft : And als 
 belangand masonis, wrichtis, and uther men of craft, that statu tis that they sail have fee 
 alswele for the haly day as for the werk day, that all tlie makaris and usaris of the said 
 statutes sail be indietit as commoun oppressouris of the Kingis liegis be thir statutis,
 
 xxxii INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 
 
 aud that the clerk of the Justiciary sail tak dittay thairupouu, and thai to be puuist as 
 oppressouris ; aud iu likewise of the uiakavis of the statutis, that quhair ony begyunis 
 ane niauuis werk, aue uther sail uocht end it, that all the makaris and usaris thairof sal 
 be punyst as oppressouris of the Kingis liegis, and dittay to be taken thairupon as is abone 
 written. 
 
 Troublous times were again in store for the Trades. In 1493, the office 
 of Deacon was again considered by Statute of James IV., c. 43, as highly 
 dangerous, and the cause of great trouble in burghs ; and it was ordained 
 " that all Deakons shall cease for a year at least [especially masons and wrights] 
 except to examine works." By a subsequent statute, passed during the regency 
 of Mary of Guise in 1555, the office of Deacon was condemned and abolished, 
 as being the frequent cause of civic commotion, by the unlawful combination 
 among the members of the various Arts, and betwixt burgh and burgh, — such 
 as Wits deserving of severe punishment. 
 
 The Trades or Crafts of Edinburgh were no exception to the general 
 rule. As frequent disputations occurred between the Merchant Gild and 
 the Crafts in other towns, there was a similar state of matters from time 
 to time found in Edinburgh. Notably was this the case in the year 
 1543. The Town Council of the day was self-elected, and consisted almost 
 exclusively of the Merchant Class. They for some time had taken it upon 
 themselves, without consulting the Arts, to elect whom they pleased as 
 Magistrates. On the 12th of August of that year, the Town Council had 
 passed a law infringing on the rights of the Craftsmen. The Deacons of 
 Trades were greatly incensed ; and, in the Council Chamber they drew their 
 swords to manifest that they considered themselves greatly injured, and 
 that they were deteraiined to have redress. The poor Deacons were soon 
 overcome. They wore seized by an armed force, and placed in prison. When 
 the general body of Craftsmen heard this, they assembled as one united
 
 MUNICIPAL OOVERNMENT IN SCOTLAND. XXxiii 
 
 band, and determined to rescue their Deacons from the hands of the authori- 
 ties. When matters began to wear so serious an aspect, the Regent Arran 
 interposed, and was the means of effecting a reconciliation between the 
 contending parties, and the release of the Deacons. 
 
 The eifect of this action against the Craftsmen did not die away. It 
 was rather the means of making them more persistent as to their rio-hts, 
 and more hostile to the constitution of the civic administration. Fresh dis- 
 turbances arose, the result of which was, that a statute was passed in 1555, to 
 which more direct reference shall be afterwards made, and which law was 
 applicable not only to the Town of Edinburgh, but also to all the other 
 Burghs in Scotland. 
 
 The step taken at this time seems to have soon become a subject of 
 regret, because, during the following year, viz., 16th April 1556, by the 
 advice of the Queen Regent, Her Majesty (Mary Queen of Scots) granted 
 the following Charter in favour of all the Craftsmen of the Burghs of 
 Scotland, amply restoring to them their former rights and privileges, which 
 was issued and published by a royal proclamation to the following effect: — 
 " Restoris and repones them to use and have Deacons of all Craftis, 
 togidder with all and sundry privileges, faculties, freedoms, consuetudes 
 and uses, granted to them be our maist noble progenitors, and alsua the 
 use and possession of the saidis liberties, bruikit and joisit by them in 
 tymes bygane, notwithstanding the said Act of Parliament, etc., ratifying 
 and approving all their former privileges given in tyme bygane," etc. 
 
 A communication received from Mary of Lorraine * by the Town Council 
 
 The minutes of the Town Council in this matter are so complete, that they are printed at length. 
 They are as follows : — 
 
 20 Septemhcr 1!)59.— .... In presens foirsaid, Robert Fynder dekin of the wrychtis, Thomas 
 Jaksoue of the masonis, Robert Meid of the wobstaris, Johne Auldinstoun of the bakstaris, Peter
 
 XXxiv INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 
 
 of Edinburgh in regard to the Burgh elections of 1559 refers to the above 
 Statute of Queen Mary's. Nevertheless, the Trades having gained their former 
 position, it was not long until civic broils again broke out. Eventually both 
 parties agreed to refer their differences to King James VI. By the decreet- 
 arbitral pronounced by the King it is provided that "nather the Merchants 
 amonsf themselves, nor the Crafts, and their Deacons and Visitors, should hold 
 particular or general ' Conventions,' except and always that the Dean of Gild 
 
 Tumett of the skynneris, Hew Canney of the furrouris, liichart Henrisone of the fleschouris, James Stirk 
 of the walkerLs James Lausouii for Johue Welche dekin of the bonat makeris, James Cranstouu of 
 the hammennen, Alexander Sauchie of the talyouris, Robert Huntrodis of the cordineris, and Patrik 
 Lyndsay of the barbouris presentit the Quenis grace writing efter following, and alledgit that be vertew 
 th:iirof, and of the gift of the restitutioun of thair craf tis to thair priuelegis vnder the Quenis grace greitt 
 seill producit with the said writting, thai audit to voit particularlie in electioun of the said counsaill, and 
 thairfoir protestit that naue wer chosin without thair votis tane thairintill, at the leist that thai wer 
 nocht hald to obey the statutis and ordenances to be sett furthe be thame, of the (^nhilk writing the tenour 
 followis : — 
 
 Oure Soueranis Lord and Lady, vnderstanding that the craftismen of burrowis within thair realme of 
 Scotland ar reponit to all priuilegeis frcdomes and jurisdictioun vsit and occupyit be thame within 
 burgh in thair maist noble progenitouris dayis, and in speciall to the chesing of thair dekynnis yeirlie at 
 the tyrnes limite thairto for conseruatioun of guid ordour amang thameselfis, quhilkis dekynnis aucht and 
 suld haue priuilege als weill in voting, i:)articularlie in electing and chesing of all lytis quhilkis ar to be 
 cboein to bruke ofiBces within burgh at the feist of Michaelraes, sic as provest bailies counsale dene of gild 
 thesaurer seriandis and all kynd of officeris within the samin, as in voting chesing and electing vpone 
 the principall officeriis foirsaid ; and albeit the saidis dekynnis of Edinburgh, sen thair restitutioun to the 
 saidiH liberteis be the space of thre yeiris syne or thairby, hes yeirlie the tyme of the electing of the new 
 coun><ale offerit thame in reddines to vote in electing thairof, newartheles the provest baillies and coun- 
 sale of the said burgh refusit to ressawe thair wote thairunto nochtwithstanding the liberteis grantit to 
 thame thairvpone, in hie contemptioun of thair auctoritie and cxpres aganis justice ; chargeing heirfoir the 
 saidiK jirovest baillies and counsale foirsaid, now present and to cum, to suffir the saidis dekynnis and 
 euirilkane of thame particularlie be thameseies to woit in electing and chesing of the counsale lytis 
 and all vther officeris abone specifiit in all tymes cuming, conforme to the priuilegeis grantit to thame
 
 MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT IN SCOTLAND. XXXV 
 
 may assemble his brethers and counsel in their Gild Courts, conform to the 
 antient laws of the Gildry and privileges thairof." Further, " It is agried and 
 concludit that nather the Merchants among themselves, nather the Crafts and 
 their Deacons or Visitors sail have or make any particular or general ' Con- 
 ventions,' as deakens with deakens, deakens with their crafts, or crafts among 
 themselves, far less to make privat laws or statutes, poind or distrenzie 
 
 thairvpoun, quhilkis i^riuilegeis be thir presentis we ratifie apprewis and amplefiis in all poyntis, and 
 speciallie in the chesing of the counsall and lytis foirsaid, vnder the pane of dissobedience of our auctorite 
 and all charge and punisment that may follow thairvpone. Subscriuit be our said Soueranis darrest 
 moder, at Halyruidhous the [hlanJc] day of September 1559. Sic subscrihUur ; Marie R. The 
 saidis dekynnis being removit and incallit agane, and the saidis bailies and counsale with thair asses- 
 souris foirsaidis being ryple awysit vpone the said writting and priuelegis mentionat therein, findis that 
 the saidis dekynnis suld haue na wote in the electioun of the new counsall in respect of the said writting 
 as the samin is consavit, becaus it is relative to the said gift quhilk contenis allanerlie the restitutioun 
 and repositioun of the saidis dekynnis to thair priuilegis fredomis and liberteis quhairof thai wer denudit 
 by the act of parliament maid in the moneth of [June] the yeir of God j" v" 1 and [v] yeirs, and that thai 
 wer in vse of befoir the making of the said act, and that it is of veritie that the dekynnis of craftis hes 
 hade in na tymes bypast vote in electioun of the new counsale nor electioun of lytis but onlie in electioun 
 of officeris ; and thairvpone maister James Lyndesay theasurer askit instrumentis. 
 
 The baillies and counsale commandit and chargit [the deacons of crafts] and ilk ane of thame to 
 remove thameselfis incontinent forth of the counsalehous, and to suffer the electioun of the counsaill for 
 this yeir to cum to tack effect eftir the consuetude continewalle obseruit in tymis past, vnder the pane of 
 dissobedience ; and the saidis personis and euerilk ane of thame being seuerale requyrit gif thai wald 
 obey the said charge or nocht ansuerit euerie ane seueralie that thai wald nocht remove thameselfis nor 
 suffir the said electioun to tak effect without thai wotit particularlie thairintill, and maister James 
 Lyndesay thesaurer protestit for the townis actioun aganis the saidis disobeyariss. 
 
 [The deacons of crafts] protestit that insafer as thai hade power grantit to thame be the Quenis grace 
 to wote in electioun of the new counsale, and be vertew thairof remanit in the counsall hous nochtwith- 
 standing that thai were commandit be the baillies and counsale to remove thame furth thairof, that 
 thai incurit na panis of dissobedience thairfoir. 
 
 22 September 1559.^ .... The quhilk day in prescns of the prouest bailies and counsaill.
 
 Xxxvi INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 
 
 (distrain) at their awen hands for transgressions, except by the advice and 
 consent of the Provost, Baillies, and Counsel." 
 
 Regarding the holding of "Conventions," Maitland in his History of 
 Edinburgh throws considerable light. He says, — "It having till this time 
 been a custom whenever any of the Craftsmen of Edinburgh were summoned 
 to appear to answer for an offence committed, he was accompanied by the 
 several Corporations of Arts to assist him in his defence ; which frequently 
 
 being convenit for electioim of the lyttis to bruke offices within this burgh this yeir to cum, conipeirit 
 [the deacons of crafts] and desyrit to be adiriittit to voit in the said electioun in respect of the priuilegis 
 grantit to thame be the Quenis grace thairvpone, and producit the xx day of September instant, and 
 desyrit the saidis provest, baUies and counsaill ansuer thairvpone. The saidis dekyunis being furthe of 
 courte reinovit and incallit agane, and the saidis provest, bailies and counsaill being with thair assessouris 
 riplie awisit vpone the said allegiance fyndis that the saidis dekynnis aucht to hane na voit in the said 
 electioun in respect of the Quenis grace writing producit be thame and registrat in thir bukis the said 
 XX day of September instant, as the samyn is consauit, in respect of the ansuer gevin thairto the said 
 day and for the cussis contenit thairin, and the saidis dekynnis askit instrumentis that the provest, 
 bailies and counsaill disobeyit the charge contenit in the said writing as thai alledgit, and protestit that 
 thair disobedince wer nocht prejudicial! to thair prinleges and liberteis contenit in the said charge, and 
 declarit that thai wald obey na officeris to be chosiu for this yeir to cum in cais thai be nocht present at 
 the electioun of thame, and thairvpone askit instrumentis. 
 
 Followis the tennour of the Quenis grace writting direct to the provest baillies and counsaill of this 
 burgh for electing and chesing of officeris : — Eegina. Prouest baillies and counsall of Edinburgh, we 
 greityou weill : Forsamekle as we for certain caussis moving vshes thocht neidfuU that ye at this present 
 feiiit of Michaelmes elect and cheis sic personis, honest merchandmen of your awin burgh, to be vpoun 
 your counsale and beir other hiear offices abone you for this yeir intocum, quhais names we sail send to 
 yow be sum special! seruand of our awin or other wyis declair to sum of yow be our awin mouthe, quhilkis 
 personis we pray yow effectuouslie, as ye will do vs singulair plesour and report our speei.-ill thankis, that 
 ye elect and admit to be vpoun your counsale and beir your other offices for this yeir intocum as said is, 
 promitting be this present that the samin sail nocht be hurtfull preparatiwe nor preiudiciall to your 
 priuilegiis nor auld liberteis in tymes cuming be this present. Subscriuit with our hand at our palyce 
 of Hal)Tuidhous, the xxij day of September 1559. Sic suhscrihiiur : IVIarie R.
 
 MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT IN SCOTLAND. XXXVli 
 
 occasioning great commotions, for preventing of -svhich in all time coming, it 
 was by the Council enacted, that no such Convention shall assemble anytime 
 hereafter, under the penalty of the loss of their freedom, and otherwise to be 
 fined at the discretion of the Magistrates." 
 
 The ostensible object of the decreet-arbitral of the King in regard to these 
 Conventions, and to the power of assembling of the Corporations, was to connect 
 the Members of the Guildry and the Craftsmen more closely with the Magis- 
 trates of the Burgh ; or, as might be said in the language of the present day, 
 to bring them more in touch with the Magistracy, and to destroy their powers 
 of acting independently. 
 
 The erection of the Crafts into separate Incorporations was not under- 
 stood as depriving the Magistrates of the Burghs of their right of complete 
 and absolute control over the whole individual Members of such Incorporations 
 in the exercise of their privileges. In various statutes that right was recog- 
 nised and enforced, and in their capacity of nohile oficiuvi, the Town Council 
 did not fail to recall the charters they had previously given, and to renew 
 these on fitting occasions. They very often exercised the power of regulating 
 the prices of bread, fish, flesh, and other requisite commodities. They also from 
 time to time appointed markets, and fixed the hours of sale. The recogni- 
 tion on the part of the Scottish Parliament as to the Magistrates' right of 
 control is clearly set forth in an Act passed in 1535, c. 43, during the reign of 
 King James V., wherein it narrates the great wrong that is daily done to our 
 Sovereign Lord's lieges by cordiners, smiths, baxters, browsters, and all other 
 Craftsmen, sellers of victuals and salt, compelling them to pay for their stuff' 
 and for their workmanship exorbitant prices to the great hurt (scaith) of all 
 our Sovereign Lord's lieges, bringing on such dearth in the country " that the 
 samyn may nocht be sustenit." To remedy this state of afl"airs, it was provided 
 that certain Commissioners should be appointed, of whom tlie Provost of Edin-
 
 XXXviii INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 
 
 burgh should be one, to enact such statutes and ordinances as they should deem 
 most expedient for the good of the community ; to cause all Craftsmen within 
 the precincts of the town of Edinburgh, as well as others of the realm, to 
 manufacture good and suflficient stuff, and sell " the samyn of ane competent 
 price. And the saidis Commissaris to do justice upoun the brekaris of thir 
 ordinancis als oft as thai here murmur or complant thairof." 
 
 By another Act of King James V., passed in 1607, c. 8, regarding the con- 
 duct of Craftsmen, which proceeded upon the narration of "its being hevily 
 murmuret " that all Craftsmen within this realm, and especially within Burghs, 
 make use of " sic extortiounis upoun uthers Oure Soverane Lordis liegis," by 
 reason of their crafts and of private acts and constitutions made among them- 
 selves, contrarj'^ to the good of the community, and to the great hurt, damage, 
 prejudice and scaith to all the lieges of this realm, — certain enactments are made 
 against combinations, particularly among artificers employed by those that " lies 
 ony biggingis or reparationis to be maid for making of policy in this realme," of 
 which the most remarkable is, that they may choose " guid craftismen, freemen 
 or utheris, as they may think most expedient for ordouring, bigging and ending 
 of all sic warkis." This Act was passed and put into execution, " notwith- 
 standing whatsumever Act or Statute made to the contrare." The introduction 
 of Craftsmen within the liberties of a burgh to which they did not belong, was 
 secured against any impediment by others of the Craft, by a declaration that, 
 besides other penalties, it would infer a forfeiture of their freedom ; and the 
 " Provost and Baillies of all Burrows were enjoined to tak inquisitioun here- 
 upon, and putt tins Act to execution in all punctis." Nevertheless, it would 
 appear from Sir George Mackenzie's Observations (p. 146) that, by a case in 
 1675, the Act received a most liberal construction from the Town Council of 
 Edinburgh, by lin<ling " that, where a freeman either deserted or delayed, the 
 owner of the work might employ any, even unfreemen ; though it was alleged
 
 MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT IN SCOTLAND. XXxix 
 
 it was not just to punish all the freemen for the part of one ; nor was it con- 
 venient for the commonwealth that unfreemen should be admitted, for whose 
 work none can be answerable." 
 
 In the Acts of the Scottish Parliament of 1551, there are strong complaints 
 made against the gross negligence of the Provosts and Bailies, as well the 
 inefficiency of the Deacons, in consequence of the alleged extortions practised 
 by the Craftsmen ; and an injunction is given that steps be immediately taken 
 for attaching a reasonable price to all articles, and the same to be reported 
 to the next Parliament. This injunction seemed to have been of no avail. 
 Four years thereafter (1555) another Act was passed, in which it is stated 
 that it is clearly understood that the choosing of Deacons and Men of Crafts 
 within burghs has been " Rycht dangerous, and as they have usit thame selfis 
 in tymes bygone, hes causit greit troublill in burrows, commotion, and rysing 
 of the Quenis liegis in diverss partis ; and be making of leggis and bandit 
 amangis thame selfis, and betwixt burgh and burgh, quliilk deserves greit 
 punishment," etc., it is statute and ordained that " NA Deakons " be chosen ; but 
 that the Provost, Bailies, and Town Council should " cheis the maist honest 
 man of Craft of gude conscience, ane of everie craft " to visit their own Craft, 
 and see that they do their work properly, and the same be of sufficient quality 
 and workmanship; and that such persons "be callit visitouris of thair Craft;" 
 but withdrawing all power to have gatherings or assemblies of their number 
 to any private conventions, or of making any acts or regulations of their own ; 
 but that in all time coming they should be under the control of the Provost, 
 Bailies, and Town Council. It would thus appear that their alleged extor- 
 tions had highly incensed the Government of the day, which led to this 
 drastic measure being passed. The law enacted was not only applicable to 
 Edinburgh, but to all the other Scottish Burghs, where similar conditions 
 seemed to prevail. The statute, however, proved ineffective.
 
 xl INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 
 
 The policy of Exclusive Privilege so much resorted to in former times was 
 a decidedl}'^ conservative or protective measure. It was iu entire antagonism to 
 Free trade. It restricted enterprise on the part both of merchants and trades- 
 men, while it had a most injurious effect on the community at large. It 
 caused high prices to prevail, and put down the least approach to rivalry. It 
 is amazing that the Legislature of the day did not take speedy measures for 
 obtaining a better state of matters. 
 
 King James VI., on ascending the throne of England, and obtaining the 
 experience of the much larger area of London, soon discovered how a system of 
 greater freedom would become of considerable public utility. Dealing with this 
 very question in the basiaikon AfiPO or "Instructions to his son Prince 
 Henry," he says : — " The Craftes-men think we should be content with their 
 worke, how bad and dear soever it be, and if they in anything be controlled, 
 up goeth the blew blanket. But for their part take example of England, 
 how it hath flourished both in wealth and policie since the strangers Craftes- 
 men came in auif)ng them. Therefore, not only permit, but allure strangers to 
 come here also ; taking as straite order for repressing the mutining of ours at 
 them, as was done in England at their first in-bring'ino; there." 
 
 The system of Exclusive Privilege continued for many generations after 
 this, as it had done for centuries preceding. The Convention of Royal Burghs 
 was the means to a great extent of preventing any change upon the system. 
 That body is a very old organisation, instituted in the reign of King James III., 
 and was appointed to be held annually at Inverkeithing. By an Act of James 
 VI., however, it was appointed to meet four times a-year, at any Burgh it 
 thought proper ; and to avoid confusion it was ordained that only one Commis- 
 sioner sliould appear for every Burgh except Edinburgh, which should have 
 two. Tiie Convention took tlic place of the Four Burghs — Edinburgh, Rox- 
 burgh, Berwick and Stirling — which previously had been a Court of Consulta-
 
 MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT IN SCOTLAND. xU 
 
 tion, in which the Great Chamberlain of the Kingdom presided, and where he 
 was assisted in the adjudication of disputes by Commissioners from the four 
 burghs referred to. On the suppression of the office of the Great Chamberlain, 
 the power of controlling the Magistrates' accounts was vested in the Exchequer ; 
 that of reviewing their sentences was transferred to the ordinary Courts of 
 Law; while the power of the Chamberlain himself, in regulating matters 
 concerning the common welfare of the State, was transferred to the Conven- 
 tion of Royal Burghs. 
 
 The influence of these Royal Burghs on the Scottish Parliament was 
 undoubtedly great, and a system of mild modification in reference to trade was 
 the most that could be resorted to with any hope of success. This was made 
 apparent by an Act passed in 1661, in the first Parliament after the Restoration 
 of Charles II. It contained powers for "establishing companies and societies 
 for making linen cloth, stuffs," &c. 
 
 And that manufacturies may be promoved, and for the encouraging of skilful artisans to 
 come from abroad, for training up the persons foresaid, and working for the use of the said 
 companies, it is hereby declared, that all such as shall be brought home and employed for the 
 said companies, shall be free to set up and work in burghs and landwart where the companies 
 shall think fit, without paying any thing whatsoever to any person or persons, under what- 
 soever pretext, for their freedom, and shall be free of taxes, jjublic burdens or exactions, during 
 their lifetime ; notwithstanding of any law, statute, privilege or indnlgence made or granted 
 in the contrair by His Majesty or any of his predecessors, in favors of any committee or in- 
 corporation whatsoever, which are all hereby cassed, rescinded and declared void and null, 
 in so far as they may be conceived to derogate from the privileges and immunities granted by 
 this present Act in favors of tradesmen, natives or strangers belonging to or brought home by 
 the said companies for working in the said manufactures. 
 
 As a counter-blast to this, there is another Act of the same Parliament 
 which inhibits and discharges all tradesmen and mechanics from importing 
 from any foreign parts, any made work belonging to that trade or calling 
 
 /
 
 Xlii INTRODUCTOEY CHAPTER. 
 
 whereof they are freemen, or to sell the same, or any such ware brought home 
 bv merchants, in their shops or otherwise, under the pain of confiscation. 
 While, therefore, the former Act indicated a desire to have liberal and advanced 
 views, the latter contained in its very essence the old traditional exclusiveness. 
 
 Of course this system of privilege existed only within prescribed limits. 
 As cities and towns got enlarged and the original area extended, there was 
 the utmost freedom in the outside districts in regard to the matter of trade. 
 This fact could not fail to help most materially the bringing about of larger 
 views in the conducting of business; and latterly the privileged classes, as 
 they were supposed to be, began to realise the fact that there was greater 
 scope for them in the exercise of their calling, if they were left quite unfettered 
 in the development of their business. Nevertheless, no doubt owing to the 
 old feuds between the Merchant class and the Crafts in regard to their 
 respective municipal rights, frequent cases occurred in the Courts of Law 
 which were bitterly fought by both parties. For example : — 
 
 At so comparatively recent a date as the 2d of March 1802, a question 
 of this kind was decided. An action was raised in the Law Courts against 
 the Guildry, to have it found and declared that, as they were not members 
 of the Goldsmiths' Incorporation, they had no right to sell gold or silver 
 ware within the precincts of the city. It was urged on the part of the 
 defenders that, as members of the Guildry, they had the privilege of importing 
 and selling goods w'ithin the precincts of the city ; and that from time 
 immemorial, goods of all sorts had been so imported into the city and 
 sold by members of the Guildry, in their shops and warehouses, without 
 the slightest desire to infringe the rights of the craftsmen. The Court 
 of Session declared that the defenders were entitled to import made 
 articles of gold and silver work, and to sell and retail the same in the 
 shops kept by tliuin : but they reserved the question as to their right
 
 MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT IN SCOTLAND. xVui 
 
 to manufacture the gold and silver work ; which seemed to imply that this 
 was a breach of good faith with the craftsmen — at least they had difficulty 
 in deciding against the latter in this department. There were other cases 
 came before the Courts from Aberdeen, Inverness, Perth, and Dunfermline. 
 While reference has been made to these cases as illustrative of the manner 
 in which these two great bodies of burgesses strove sedulously to protect 
 their respective rights and privileges as against each other, even down 
 to the present century, their differences were far more frequently as well 
 as conspicuously apparent in connection with the great struggles of both 
 for municipal rule. 
 
 In many of the Burghs, there existed a central body among the Trades, 
 called the Convenery, or Convener's Court. Its functions were to consult 
 regarding the general interests of the various Incorporations, to protect their 
 rights and privileges, to determine all differences that might arise between 
 them, and in some cases to frame bye-laws relative to the various arts. The 
 Convenery had no judicative power ; its powers, when tested in the Law Courts, 
 were not sustained. The Convenery existed in Edinburgh, Glasgow (there 
 denominated the Trades' House), Aberdeen, Dundee, Banff, Perth, Inverness, 
 and several other Burghs. The constitution of the Convenery varied in the 
 different towns. As a rule the body consisted of the Deacons of the various 
 Incorporations, who elected out of their number a preses, who used to be 
 called the Deacon- Warden, but is now designated the Deacon-Convener or 
 rather Convener of Trades. Strange to say, there has never been a similar 
 Court instituted in any of the Continental Towns. 
 
 It is not known at what time this Court was first instituted. It could not 
 have been before the year 1424, when Parliament, for the better government 
 of the respective Crafts throughout Scotland, conferred upon them the right 
 to elect from among themselves a prudent and judicious man for their Deacon.
 
 xliv INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 
 
 The election of a preses would necessarily become part of the organisation 
 after it was established. Maitland, with a considerable amount of plausibility, 
 attributes the institution of the office to about the year 1556, during the reign 
 of Queen Mary, when civic disputes ran so high between the Merchants and 
 Trades of Edinburgh. It has been since ascertained, that 1578 was the proper 
 time, when Robert Abercroraby, deacon of the Hammermen, was elected the 
 first Deacon-Convener. 
 
 An incident which occurred on the 17th day of December 1596 will serve 
 to illustrate the high civic position of the Convener of Trades at the time 
 referred to. It was on occasion of a scare having been given to the King 
 while he was in the Tolbooth Church, which resulted in His Majesty 
 temporarily withdrawing from the City, and taking up his abode in Linlithgow 
 Palace. An account of this occurrence is fully narrated in Spottiswood's 
 History of the Church of Scotland; but the quaint manner in which it is 
 refercd to by Birrel, in his Diary of the Remarkable Events of that period, 
 may be more interesting to the reader. It is as follows : — 
 
 "The 17th day of December 1596, being Fryday, hes Maiestie being in 
 the tolbuith sitting in session, and ane convention of Ministers being in the 
 new Kirke, and some noblemen being convenient yame, as in special Blantyre 
 and Lindesay, ther came in some divilish officious persone, and said that the 
 Ministers were coming to tak hes lyfe ; upone the qlk. the tolbuith dores wer 
 shut and steikit ; and yair araise sic ane crying, God and the King — and 
 uther some crying, God and the Kirk, that the haill commons of Ed''- raise 
 in armes, and knew not quher for. Yair (There) wes ane honest man quha 
 was Deiken of Deikens, hes name wes Johne Watt, Symth. This Johne 
 Watt raist tiie haill craftis in armes, and came to the Tolbuith quher the 
 entric is to the checker hous, and yair cried for a sight of his Maiestie, or 
 ellis he sould ding up the zet (break up the gate) wt. foir hammers ; sua that
 
 MUNICIPAL GOVEENMENT IN SCOTLAND. xlv 
 
 nevir ane wt. in the tolbuith sould come out wt. yair lyfe. At leno-th, lies M. 
 lookit out the window, and spake to the commonis, quha offerit to die and live 
 with him ; quhilk commonis of Ed''- ofFerit to die all in ane moment far hcs 
 Maiestie; weill far hes Maiestie came doun after the tounsmen were com- 
 mandit of the gait, and was convoyit be the Craftismen to the abbay of Holy- 
 ruid-house quhair he stayit that night, and, upon the morne he rode out of 
 the toune, and sent back the chairges, as ze sail heir heirafter. This tumult 
 bred grate troubell betwixt hes M. and the toune of Ed""- " 
 
 The King fled to Linlithgow ; and a deputation of four citizens was 
 despatched to that Town to induce him to return. The well-known George 
 Heriot was one of the number selected to go and remonstrate with His 
 Majesty to return to Edinburgh. The King complied with their request. 
 
 The Convenery were in the habit of meeting at Michaelmas term, for the 
 purpose of considering who of all the persons on the list or in nomination for 
 the office of Magistrates were the best men to be elected. In a matter of 
 this kind they were generally unanimous. The very fact of their unanimity 
 could not fail to have exercised considerable influence on elections, as well as on 
 the general aflfairs treated upon by the Civic body. This led to great jealousy on 
 the part of the Merchant class in the Town Council. They strenuously tried 
 many stratagems to get the Trades representation and the Convenery abolished. 
 The Convenery, however, as rigorously maintained its rights. This was 
 specially the case in 1684, when the Convenery obtained a Decree in the Court 
 of Session, in favour of its retaining many of its most valuable privileges, 
 particularly that of meeting and discussing the merits of those proposed as 
 Magistrates. This decision of the Court was confirmed by the Scottish 
 Parliament on the 13th day of June, of the same year. 
 
 In 1721 the Incorporated Trades made another effort for extension of their 
 power. On this occasion they demanded that the Convener of Trades ought
 
 Xlvi INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 
 
 to be received into the Town Council in his official capacity. To this the 
 Corporation replied, " That he was already qualified as Deacon, and there was 
 no mention of Convener in the Sett of the Burgh." They further desired that 
 the extraordinary Deacons should be allowed to vote in the choosing of all 
 proxies, and insisted that no Committee could be legally appointed by the 
 Town Council, without the concurrence of the extraordinary Deacons, and 
 that the Convener was officially a Member of all Committees. These demands 
 alarmed the Provost and Magistrates, who brought an action before the Court 
 of Session to set aside King James' Decree-Arbitral of 1684. The Trades on 
 the other hand brought a counter action, to have the decree-arbitral confirmed, 
 and the various privileges which they sought given efiect to. 
 
 The long period of ten years had elapsed, and no settlement had been come 
 to, when both parties agreed to refer their difierences to the award of 
 Archibald, Earl of Islay, afterwards Duke of Argyle, who in 1780 pronounced 
 his decree-arbitral, which as explanatory of that of King James, in conjunction 
 with the Acts of Council of 1658 and 1673, formed the established Municipal 
 Constitution of Edinburgh down to the year 1833. 
 
 The decree of Lord Islay gave universal satisfaction at the time. Never- 
 theless thirty-three years thereafter (1763), the Trades having conceived an ill- 
 will against the Town Council in regard to their exercise of patronage of some 
 of the city churches, which was not by popular call, procured an Act of Council 
 the object of which was that the Corporation should apply to the Convention 
 of Royal Burghs for their authority to put an end to the Craftsmen sending up 
 leets to the Town Council, but to give the Trades an uncontrolled power of electing 
 their own representatives. Several Members of the Town Council presented a Bill 
 of Suspension to the Court of Session to prevent the application to the Convention, 
 The Court granted a temporary interdict ; and as the Trades declined to take 
 any further proceedings in the meantime, the same proposal was revived in
 
 MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT IN SCOTLAND. xlvii 
 
 1776, when Lord Provost Dalrymple and a majority of the Council appealed 
 to the Court of Session. The question was ably and keenly argued, with the 
 result that the Court unanimously granted a perpetual interdict. 
 
 The following is the decree of Lord Islay, in regard to the Town Council's 
 objecting to receive the Convener in his official capacity as a constituent 
 member of the Town Council : — 
 
 And touching the office of Convener, and the Meeting of Deacons and 
 Craftsmen among themselves : — " Finds the office of Convener has the authority 
 of too long usage, and has been too much admitted by the Magistrates and Coun- 
 cil, to be at this time called in question, and that the Meeting of the Deacons 
 has been also long practised ; but that, by the Sett of the Town, neither the 
 Merchants among themselves, nor the Crafts and their Deacons or Visitors, can 
 have, or make any particular or general conventions, as Deacons with Deacons, 
 Deacons with their Crafts, or Crafts among themselves, without the advice and 
 consent of the Provost and Council, excepting the cases in the said Sett parti- 
 cularly accepted ; and that the Meeting said to be frequently held the first 
 Tuesday after Michaelmas, in the manner, and with the circumstances the same 
 is particularly set forth in the Declarator of the Merchants, can in no ways be 
 contained in the said expectations." — Islay. 
 
 The Convener of Trades is the last of the Ten Chains worn by the holders 
 of office in the Town Council. He is, in virtue of his office, a J.P. of the county of 
 the city, and is a representative at the boards of several of the public charities. To 
 his care has been entrusted the Blue Blanket already referred to. Maitland thus 
 writes ; — " To him is committed the custody of the Flag, falsely called The Banner 
 of the Holy Ghost, but commonly called the Blue Blanket ; which is delivered 
 from Convener to Convener with great ceremony, as a valuable jewel; the origin 
 of which, according to an idle tradition, is that a number of Scotish Tradesmen, 
 chiefly Edinburghers, having amongst other great feats performed in the Holy
 
 Xlviii INTEODUCTORY CHAPTER. 
 
 War, were the first who fixed their Banner on the Wall of Jerusalem ; and that 
 such of them as returned being called Knights of the Holy Ghost had many 
 privileges granted them, and their Banner hung up at St Eloi's Altar, in St 
 Giles' Church in Edinburgh. But this deserves not the least credit; for the 
 present Flag, properly called the Tradesmen's Banner, but vulgarly the Blue 
 Blanket, so denomiuated from its colour, was granted to the Crafts of Edinburgh 
 by King James III., in return for the great service done him in freeing him 
 from Duress in the Castle of Edinburgh, in the year 1482, after a confinement by 
 his rebellious subjects, for the space of nine months ; and impowered them to 
 display the said Banner, in defence of their King and Country and their own 
 Rights. At the appearance of this Banner, attended by the Deacon-Convener, 
 'tis said that not only the several artificers in Edinburgh are obliged to repair 
 to it, but all the Artisans or Craftsmen throughout Scotland are to resort to it, 
 and to fight under the command of the said Convener. Besides the aforesaid 
 Banner, the said Convener has in his custody the Trades- Youths' Banner. 
 These were the Ensigns of Edinburgh, when its military force consisted of 
 only two companies." 
 
 When a Royal Parliamentary Commission was appointed to inquire into 
 the position and affairs of the Municipal Institutions in Scotland, who presented 
 their Report to both Houses of Parliament in 1835, the Members of the Com- 
 mission had to give their attention to the subject of the Incorporated Trades. 
 At that time, there were connected with the Ancient and Extended Royalties of 
 Edinburgh fourteen different Incorporations: — viz., the Surgeons, Waulkers, 
 Skinners, Furriers, Goldsmiths, Hammermen, Wrights, Masons, Tailors, Baxters, 
 Fleshers, Cordiners, Websters, and Bonnetmakers. There was also an Incor- 
 poration of Candlemakers, and one of Barbers; but neither of these were 
 represented in the Convenery. 
 
 The main object of the enquiry was to ascertain the actual state of each
 
 MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT IN SCOTLAND. xHx 
 
 Incorporation, with reference to Exclusive Privilege, and the amount of money 
 that had been expended in the Law Courts in defence of their rights. The 
 Commissioners were also charged with reporting upon the various Incorpora- 
 tions as to any injury that would be done, if trade privileges were abolished, 
 while the members of the Incorporation retained all their funds, hospitals, 
 and patronage. 
 
 Evidence was also led on the part of non-incorporated tradesmen as to 
 abuses which existed among the privileged classes, and the partial and 
 arbitrary manner in which the rights of the latter were exercised. 
 
 The Commissioners reported adversely to the continuance of the system 
 of Exclusive Privilege, more especially as its abolition was not likely in general 
 to endanger the funds of the Incorporations, although a strong representation 
 was made to them on the other side. The Incorporations as a rule were in 
 favour of a continuance of the old system, although several held otherwise, 
 more especially the Goldsmiths. The evidence led outside the various Incor- 
 porations was decidedly hostile to a continuance of the old practices, which was 
 the means of causing the Commissioners to report as follows : — " We have 
 ascertained that the general opinion of well-informed persons acquainted with 
 the state of the trade and manufactures within the city was, that the time had 
 arrived when the Exclusive Privileges might safely be taken away, leaving the 
 various Incorporations in possession o£ their funds as benefit societies, with 
 any other advantages of which they might be possessed." While, therefore, 
 the Royal Commissioners reported to Parliament the desirableness of a change 
 to the above effect in 1835, it was not until 14th May 1846 that the right of 
 Exclusive Privilege was finally and for ever abolished. 
 
 When the Municipal Reform Act of 1834 became law, the whole state of 
 matters in regard to municipal administration and representation was changed. 
 The Town Council was made to consist of thirty-three members, thirty-one 
 
 9
 
 1 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 
 
 of whom were elected by the direct votes of their fellow citizens, while the 
 Dean of Guild was appointed by the Members of the Guildry, and the Con- 
 vener of Trades was elected by the Deacons of the various Incorporations. 
 In consequence of the extension of the city boundaries, the number of Town 
 Councillors was, in 1856, increased to forty-one. Although recently there 
 has been a still further extension, there has been no change in that number 
 down to the present day. 
 
 The Incorporated Trades are, no doubt, an institution of the past, intimately 
 connected with our citizen struggles for municipal independence. Though they 
 are now merely benefit societies, they still retain the right to send, from among 
 their Deacons, a representative to the Town Council, in the person of the 
 Convener of Trades, who in open Council has a seat opposite to that of the 
 Lord Provost, as being practically Vice-Preses of the Meeting. Apart from the 
 care and attention which in early times they bestowed on the productions of 
 their respective crafts, to fulfil a high standard of workmanship, they will be 
 remembered still more for their noble struggles, during many generations, on 
 behalf of free and popular election in our Municipal Institutions.
 
 THE 
 
 INCORPORATED TRADES 
 
 OF THE 
 
 CITY OF EDINBURGH.
 
 THE 
 
 INCORPORATED TRADES 
 
 OF THE 
 
 CITY OF EDINBURGH. 
 
 THE mCOEPORATION OF CHIRURGEONS (AND BARBOURIS). 
 
 N coDformity with the custom of the Continental nations of 
 Europe, the chirurgeons, or surgeons, were, in Edinburgh, 
 originally united with the barbers. Their charter, or seal 
 of cause, granted by the Town Council, is dated the 1st day of July 
 1505, being about eight years previous to the battle of Flodden. It 
 is to the following^ effect : — 
 
 To all and sindrie, to quhais knawledge thir present Letters sail cum, the Provest, 
 Baillies and Counsall of the Burgh of Edinburgh, greeting in God evirlesting. 
 
 With zoure Universities, that the Day of the Dait of thir Presentis, compeirit 
 before us sittand in Jugement, in the Tulbuith of the said Burgh, the Kiik-maister and 
 Brether of the Surgeanis and Barbouris within the samyn, and presentit till us thair Bill 
 and Supplication, desyring us, for the Love of God, Honour of oure Soviiane Lord and 
 all his Liegis, and for Worscheip and Polecy of this Burgh, and for the gude Pteull and 
 Ordour had and maid amongis the saids Craftis in Tym to cum ; that we waUl grant 
 and consent to thame the Privileges, Reullis and Statutis contenit in thair said Bill 
 and Supplication, quhilk efter followis. 
 
 To zow, my Lord Provest, Baillies, and worthy Counsall of this gude Tonne riclit 
 humblie meinis and schawis zoure daylie Servitors, the Kirk-maister and Brether of the 
 
 A
 
 THE INCORPORATED TRADES OP EDINBURGH. 
 
 Chirurgeonis and Barbouris within this Burgh, at all Tymes, as uther Nichtbouris and 
 Craftis dois within the samyn. 
 
 We desyre at zoure Lordship and Wisdomes, to give and grant to us and our 
 Successours, tliir Reullis, Statutis, and Preveligis uuderwrittin, quhilkis ar consonant to 
 ResQun, Honure till oure Sovirane Lord, and all his Liegis, perfect and loveabill to this 
 gude Toune. 
 
 The following regulations, set forth in the language of the present 
 day, were the rules enacted for the government of the body : — 
 
 1. That there shall be yearly chosen from among us, one "kirk- 
 maister and overisman," to whom the whole brethren of the craft 
 shall give obedience for that year. 
 
 2. That no person occupy or use " ony poyntis of oure saidis 
 craftis of Suergerie or Barbourie craft" within this burgh, unless he 
 be first made freeman and burgess of the same ; and that he be tried 
 and expert in all the points that the craft should know, and he 
 should be carefully and advisedly examined and admitted by the 
 " maisters " of the said craft for the honourable service of our 
 sovereio-n Lord, his lieges, and the neighbours of this burgh. Also, 
 that every man that is to be made a master and freeman of the 
 craft shall be examined on the following points and his knowledge 
 thereof tested. That is to say, he must know the anatomy of the 
 human frame and the nature and complexion of every member of 
 the human body ; he must also know the veins of the same that 
 he may " mak Flewbothomea (blood-letting) in dew tyme " ; also, 
 that he know in which member the sign has domination for the 
 time, because every man "aucht to knaw the nature and substance 
 of everie thing that he wiekis, or ellis he is negligent." Also, that 
 we may have once in the year that one man has been condemned, 
 to make anatomy of after he is dead ; by means of which we may 
 gain experience — one teaching others, and "we sail do suffrage for
 
 THE CHIRURGEONS (aND BARBOURIS). 
 
 the soule." That no master-barber within this burgh, nor any of 
 his servants, do exercise the craft of surgery unless he be expert, 
 and know perfectly the things before written. That any person on 
 his admission to the craft as freeman or master, or on his practising- 
 any point of the same, shall pay, on entry for his " Upsett," five 
 pounds sterling money of the realm of Scotland, for the purpose of 
 repairing and upholding our said Altar of St Mungo, for divine 
 service to be done thereat, with one dinner to the masters of the 
 said craft, on his being admitted and entered among us — with the 
 exception of one lawfull3^-begotten son of a master and freeman, 
 who, after he has been examined and admitted, shall pay for the 
 dinner, but have no other fees to pay. 
 
 3. That no master of the said craft shall take any apprentice or 
 " feit-man " (fee'd man or servant) in future to use the surgery craft 
 unless he can both write and read. Any master who takes an 
 apprentice shall pay, on his entrance, twenty shillings for the keeping 
 up of the altar. All masters were prohibited from resetting or re- 
 ceiving any other master's apprentices or servants until he had served 
 his proper term. Neglect of this law subjected him on every occa- 
 sion to the payment of twenty shillings for the repair of the altar. 
 
 4. That every master who is made a freeman by the craft shall 
 pay his " ouklie " (weekly) pennie with the " Spistes Meill, as he sail 
 happin to cum about"; and each fee'd servant shall pay "ilk oulk" 
 (each week) one halfpenny to the said altar ; so that no one had 
 power to complain to do divine service daily at our said altar in time 
 to come. They were also to choose an officer for the ingathering of 
 the quarterly payments, as well as the weekly pennies, wdio should 
 always precede us on Corpus Christi day and the Octavis thereof, and 
 all other general processions and gatherings, " sicklyke as the uther 
 Craftis hes within this Burgh." Also, that one of the masters of the
 
 THE INCORPORATED TRADES OF EDINBURGH. 
 
 foresaid craft, with the chaplain and officer of the same, " pas at all 
 Tymes neidful," collect the said quarters' payments from every one 
 who ow^es the same ; and if any be disobedient, his goods to be poinded 
 and distrained, and at all times they must have a town's officer with 
 them. 
 
 5. That no master or freeman of the said craft shall purchase any 
 lordship contrary to the statutes and rules above written, in hindering 
 or "skaithing" of the craft foresaid, or common good thereof, under 
 the pain of " tynsall " (losing) of their freedom. 
 
 6. That all the masters, freemen, and brethren of the said craft 
 must readily obey and come to their kirk-master at all times when 
 they shall be required by the officer, for the purpose of hearing the 
 quarterly accounts, and for advising concerning any matters affecting 
 the '•' common Weill " of the craft; and that he who disobeys shall 
 pay twenty shillings to the reparation of the said altar. Also that 
 no person, either man or woman, within this burgh, shall make or 
 sell any aqua vitce within the same, except the said Masters, Brethren, 
 and Freemen of the said craft, " under the payne of escheit of the 
 samyn but favour." 
 
 The Towm Council's Seal of Cause then proceeds thus : — 
 
 Beseking thairfor your Lordschippis and wisdomes, at the Reverence of God, that 
 ze will avyse with thir our sempill Desyris, Statutis, Reullis, and Prevelegis above writtin, 
 and grant us the samyn ratefeit and apprevit be zou under zour Seill of Cause. And, 
 with the Grace of God, wo sail do sic service and plesure to the King's Grace, and gude 
 Toune, that ze sail be contente thairof, and zoure Dely verance heirintill humblis we beseik. 
 
 The quliilk Bill of Su])jilicatioun, with the Reullis, Statutis, and Preveligis con- 
 tenit thairintill, being red {sic) befoir us in Judgement, and we therewith beand ryplie 
 and distinctlie avysit, thinks the samyn consonant to reason, and nathurt to oure 
 Soverane Lord's Hienes, us, nor nane utheris his Lieges thairintil ; and thairfoir, we 
 consent and grants the samyn to the foresaids Craftis of Suergeirie and Barbouris, and 
 to thair sucessours, and in sNsa far as we may or hes powar, confirmis, ratefeis, and
 
 THE CHIRURGEONS (aND BARBOURIS). 
 
 approis the saids Statutis, and Reullis, and Prevelegis in all Poynts and Articlis contenit 
 in the Supplicatioun above writtin. And this to all and sundrie quhome it efferis, or 
 may effere, we mak it knawin be thii^ oure Letters ; and for the mair verificatioun and 
 strenth of the samyn, we haif hung to oure Common Seill of Cause ; at Uclinhtiryh the 
 first day of the moneth of July, the zeir of God ane thousand five hundred and five 
 zeires. 
 
 During the following year, on 13th October 1506, the above 
 charter was ratified by King James IV. Again, on the 11th May 
 1567, the surgeons were exem^Dted from serving on juries, and from 
 watching and warding within the city and liberties thereof. These 
 privileges were conferred upon them by letters patent by Queen 
 Mary, in consideration of their arduous duties in connection with 
 their studies and their attendance on their respective patients. They 
 were subsequently confirmed by James VI. on 6th June 1613, and 
 eventually received the sanction of the Scottish Parliament on 17th 
 November 1641. 
 
 The healing art must at all times and in all circumstances be 
 regarded as the outcome of one of the most humane impulses of human 
 nature. In all ages and in all climes, injuries by external violence 
 implied that wounds had to be dressed, bleeding had to be stanched, 
 and blood had occasionally to be drawn, each as the case might be ; 
 while injured limbs had sometimes to be taken ofi", and dislocated 
 joints had to be put right. Where any accident occurred to the frame, 
 there was need of the surgeon. The surgeon's functions imply a 
 knowledge more or less of medicine, as the physician's functions, 
 on the other hand, presuppose an acquaintance with the anatomy of 
 the body and of the surgeon's sphere of operation. In fact, a know- 
 ledge of both is requisite, whether the science of healing by instru- 
 ments is the one to be employed, or the administration of drugs or 
 of other substances supposed to be of a sanative tendency is to be
 
 THE INCORPORATED TRADES OF EDINBURGH. 
 
 made use of. Surgery cannot now be altogether dissociated from 
 medicine. They are twin brothers, and must always remain so. In 
 the early history of the Incorporation, the culture now required of 
 practitioners could not be possessed by them. 
 
 As has been already shown, the barbers formed an integral part 
 of the craft. The barbers, however, have fallen very much from this 
 high degree ; while the surgeons have advanced to so great an extent 
 as to place them second to none of the professional classes in a 
 civilised community. The symbol of the barber, which still takes 
 its place at the door of those wdio practise the trade, usually exhibits 
 a pole with a ribbon painted around it, and a brass plate at tlie end 
 of the pole, thereby indicating bleeding and bandaging or binding 
 up. Many, very many years afterwards, a separate profession ap- 
 peared for this purpose — namely, the " cupper." He, too, is a prac- 
 titioner of the past ; while the barber of the present day is restricted, 
 notwithstanding of his ancient s3'mbol, to the duty of hairdressing 
 and manipulating the beards of Her Majesty's lieges, the latter 
 of w^hich is an occupation which, in these hirsute days, is likely to 
 become " smaller by degrees and beautifully less." Bleeding, also, 
 is now not often resorted to. The antiseptic mode of treatment of 
 wounds by Sir Joseph Lister, Bart., is now the popular method 
 among surgeons ; while accupressure — the invention of the late Sir 
 James Simpson, Bart, (which he regarded as his greatest discovery, 
 greater even than the use of chloroform) — is an unknown, because 
 forgotten, agency. 
 
 A century or so after the Seal of Cause was granted to the 
 chirurgeons, a marked line of demarcation began to exist between 
 them and the Ijarbers, as will appear from the following entries : — 
 
 On tlie 31st Marcli 1.58.'5, Aloxancler Rattray, a " burhour," having offen^led the 
 deacon and Ijrethren, had to " liuuiell him self to the deakin and brethirin'' and ask 
 
 J
 
 THE CHIRURGEONS (aND BARBOURIS). 
 
 thame forgevness on his kneis, and of his awin consent bindis and oblissis him, that c^if 
 evir he fall in the lyk offence to tyne his fredome of the craft." 
 
 5 March 1589. — Mark Libertoun admitted a harbour " to wit, to cow, clip, schaife, 
 and wesche." He was likewise enjoined to practise "na point of chirurgie vnder the 
 pane of tynsall of his fredome." He was sti'ictly ordered to " haif na signe of chirurgie 
 in his bught nor hous, oppynlie or privatlie, sic as pigis, buistis, or chirurgane caiss or 
 box pertening to the chirurganis." 
 
 30 March 1603. — Williame Lawsoun admitted to the freedom and liberty of " ane 
 barbour " — viz., " to kow, schave, wasche, and to mak aqua vitce allanerlie : Lykeas the 
 said Williame binds and oblissis him that he sail nowayis vse the art of chirurgie within 
 the liberty of this burgh t, vnder the pane of tuentie pundis to be pay it be him toties quoties 
 in cais he contraveine, and sail act him in the tounes bukis heirto vnder the pane foirsaid. 
 
 Altliougli the surgeons and the barbers eventually began to pur- 
 sue entirely different vocations, the line of separation between them 
 getting wider and wider as years progressed, it was not until the 
 23d of February 1722 that all connection ceased. This was the 
 result of a process before the Court of Session. The barbers by 
 the decree then pronounced w^ere declared to be a separate society to 
 govern themselves ; and they formed certain constitutions and rules 
 for their better government, and they applied to the Magistrates and 
 Town Council to ratify the same, which the Town Council eventually 
 did. But as the new body had no electoral privileges, it was not 
 accounted as one of the incorporated crafts, and it is not requisite 
 that its rules or future history should be here treated of. 
 
 Other crafts came in course of time to be associated with 
 the surgeons. On an application by the body on 25th February 
 1657, the Town Council enacted that the surgeons and the apothe- 
 caries should belong to one community. This was confirmed by 
 Charles II., and ratified by Parliament on the 22d August 1670. 
 Pharmacy also, at a later period, was conjoined to surgery. 
 
 In 1694, by letters patent from William and Mary of date
 
 8 THE INCORPORATED TRADES OF EDINBURGH. 
 
 28th February, liberty was granted to the body to practise in the 
 counties of East, West, and Mid Lothians, and the shires of Fife, 
 Peebles, Selkirk, Roxburgh, and Berwick. This arrangement re- 
 reived the sanction of the Scottish Parliament on the 17th July 
 1695. 
 
 Durino- the first century and a half of the Incorporation's 
 existence the members were in the habit of meeting in the house of 
 the Deacon. On the 15tli July 1647, they hired premises in "Diksone 
 Close for £40 yearly." l\venty-two years thereafter — viz., 18th May 
 1669 — they resolved to build a house of meeting for themselves, 
 which was improved in 1697, when their anatomical theatre was 
 completed. In 1705, a Professorship of Anatomy w^as constituted 
 which received the favour of the Town Council, who connected the 
 Professor with the University of Edinburgh, of which institution 
 the civic body had control. 
 
 The erection of the Surgeons' Incorporation into a Royal College 
 in 1778 was one of the most important steps in the history of the 
 body. It gave them a national position, while their old relations 
 with the civic Corporation continued. The same state of matters, 
 which the other members of Incorporations laboured under, during 
 the times wdien Town Councillors were not popularly elected, obtained 
 in that of the Surgeons. They had their Deacon as an integral 
 member of the Council, and they had to submit their leet to the 
 Corporation, who chose the Deacon or President. They tried to 
 shake off this thraldom; but they were for the time unsuccessful. It 
 is right, however, to say that the Town Council very rarely dis- 
 appointed them in their elections. The Reform Bill of 1833 made 
 it no longer necessary that the President should be a member of 
 the Town Council. It placed the Incorporation of Surgeons on the 
 same platform as the other Trades Incorporations — viz., it vested in the
 
 THE CHIRURGEONS (aND BARBOURIS). 
 
 President or Deacon a vote in the election of the Convener of Trades. 
 The Act and Charter of the Royal College of Surgeons of 1851 put 
 an end to the civic connection ; and thus terminated the ancient 
 relations which existed between them and the Town Council of 
 Edinburgh. 
 
 It may still be a subject of debate whether the old civic 
 relationship did not materially help the surgeons in reaching to the 
 high position to which they have now attained. That there was a 
 kindly feeling at all times shown by the Town Council towards the 
 Royal College of Surgeons is undeniable. Their thorough support of 
 the extra-academical or out-door school, against the extreme nonsense 
 urged by ravings of the University Professors of the period, is abundant 
 evidence of this fact. What would the Medical School of Edinburo-h 
 now have been without its out- door competitors ? 
 
 There are many of its members who supposed, and still suppose, 
 that the civic connection was a drawback to the surgeons. That was 
 not the opinion of the University Professors, as will be seen from the 
 evidence of the late Sir Robert Christison, Bart., when he appeared 
 before the Commissioners on Municipal Corporations, on 21st October 
 1833, in regard to the Town Council's control of University afiairs. 
 He said (page 364) : — 
 
 "Another serious objection I have is, that the Town Council has been, and will 
 continue to be, open to the admission of men who may, and often indeed must, be pre- 
 judiced against the University at large, and also in regard to individual Professors. 
 This took place under the present regime, in one department, the medical. The 
 President of the Royal College of Surgeons is a member of the Town Council, and the 
 only medical man there. It seems plain that the governing body of the University 
 should not be so constituted that it may run the I'isk of falling into the hands of 
 a medical man, and that medical man the head of a rival establishment." 
 
 It is pleasing to know that all the bickerings, animosities, and 
 
 B
 
 10 
 
 THE INCORPORATED TRADES OF EDINBURGH. 
 
 rivalries of those days are now at an end ; that the Professors of the 
 University recognise the necessity and the value of the out-door schools 
 which the Town Council and the Eoyal College of Surgeons did so 
 much to foster, and that the Medical and Surgical Colleges, fully 
 recognising their respective positions and value, are in entire accord 
 with each other. 
 
 The handsome building in Nicolson Street, which is now the 
 headquarters of the Royal College of Surgeons, was finished and 
 inaugurated in 1832. It contains, in addition to the common hall, 
 a fine museum, which it obtained partly by acquisition and partly by 
 purchase. The former was the donation of the late Dr John Barclay, 
 and the latter was bought from the trustees of the late Sir Charles 
 
 Bell.
 
 THE INCORPORATION OF HAMMERMEN. 
 
 [HE Incorporation of Hammermen is a very old civic Corpora- 
 tion in Edinburgli. Although its records go no further back 
 than 1582, it is nevertheless true that the hammermen were 
 at first created into a Society or Incorporation by a " seal of cause " 
 or charter from the Town Council of Edinburgh, on the 2d day of 
 May 1483. 
 
 The following is a quotation from the seal of cause : — 
 
 " Till all and sindrie quhais knawledge thir present lettres sal cum, Sir Patrick 
 Baroun of Spittaltield, Knycht and Provest of Edinburgh, Patrick Balbyi'nie of that ilk, 
 Dauid Craufuird of St Gely Grange, and Archibald Todrik, baillies of the said burgh, 
 with the consent and advyse of the counsall of the samyn, greting : Forsamekill as the 
 hedismen and maisteris of the Hammermen craft, bayth blacksmythis, goldsmiths, 
 lorymeris, saidlaris, cutlaris, buclar makaris, armoreris, and all vtharis, within the said 
 burgh of Edinburgh, the day of the daitt of thir present lettres, presentit thair bill of 
 supplicatioun till ws beseikand reformatioun and remeid of the greitt iniuris and 
 skaythis done to thame, as was contenit in thair said bill, of the quhilkis thair follows a 
 pairt, that thairthrow the said iniuris and vtharis may be eschewit in tyme to cum, sen 
 they depend thairvpoun, and in lyikwis vpoun the honor and worschip of the said burgh, 
 als Weill as vpoun thair singular availl and profitt : In the first thair complaint buir 
 and specifyit that thay war rycht havely hurt and put to greit poverty throw the 
 doun cummiug of the blak money, walking, warding, and in the payment of zeldis and 
 extentis quhilkis thay war compellit to be vse, and to be compellit thairto be our Lordis 
 authoritie mandimentis and chargis, and in lyik wyis that they wer havely hurt be the 
 dayly mercat maid through the Hie Streitt in Cramis, and on the backsyde the toun in 
 bachling of hammermenis werk pertening to them of thair craft, in greit dishonour to 
 the bur"h, and in braking of the auld gude rule and statutes of thair craft, and vpoun
 
 12 THE INCORPORATED TRADES OF EDINBURGH. 
 
 vther skathis that susteuit in default of reformatioun. We heirfoir, bavand, etc., till 
 equitie and iustice of remeid, considering weill thair supplicatioun and iust petitioun 
 according to the gud reule of the burgh have statute and orJanit ; (fee. <fec." 
 
 The following may be popularly stated as the regulations for the 
 protection of the members of the Incorporation in the exercise of 
 their trade, and for the proper government of the body : — 
 
 1. That no haiumerraan, either master or servant, presume to practise more arts 
 than one, to prevent damage or hurt to other trades. 
 
 2. That no person presume to expose to sale any sort of goods in the street at any 
 other time than on the market day. 
 
 3. That certain of the best qualified persons of the said crafts be empowered to 
 search and inspect the goods made by members ; and if found insufficient in material and 
 workmauship, the same should be sold under " the pane of escheitt," or forfeiture. 
 
 4. That all hammermen be examined by the deacons and masters of their several 
 crafts, iu respect to their several qualifications ; and all tliat are found to be masters of 
 their respective trades, to be admitted into the freedom of the Corporation ; and such as 
 are not, to be rejected till by an industrious application he become a master of his business. 
 
 5. That no person harl)Our or employ the apprentice or servant of another without 
 his master's consent, who shall receive his wages or money lie may earn. 
 
 6. That no person not of the foresaid craft shall take upon him to sell or vend any 
 sort of work made by any of the said hammermen. 
 
 7. That all persons guilty of a breach of the above specified articles, to pay eight 
 shillings Scottish towards the support of the Corporation's altar of St Eloy, in the 
 Church of St Giles, and maintenance of the priest officiating thereat. 
 
 The "armourers" were among the first of the hammermen, and, 
 as the term will easily imply, were trained to the making of armour, 
 which was much made use of in those warlike times ; but when that 
 species of defence ceased to exist, they could no doubt take up the 
 manufacture of sword-blades, which formerly existed as a separate 
 trade. It is recorded in 1582 that "Hew Vans, dalmascar," was 
 ordained not to buy "sword-blades to sell a^jain," because the busi-
 
 THE HAMMERMEN. 13 
 
 ness of a dalmascar was solely confined to the gilding of iron and 
 steel. The fashioninsj of sword handles was the business of the sfaird- 
 makers, and in the following year it is recorded that Robert Lyal, 
 being admitted to the trade, had prescribed to him as his task or 
 "essay" " ane pair of clain skellit gairds and ane pair ribbit gairds." 
 Nevertheless, on the 5th of August 1581, there was an applicant 
 admitted from the fact of his having produced " a pair gairdes, 
 dalmash'd and gilt with lief gold." 
 
 These tasks or " essays," as they were termed at the time, con- 
 stituted what we would now desio;nate the " entrance examinations " 
 for admission to the Corporation ; and they were very varied — e.g., 
 in 1584 the cutlers' essay was "a plain-finished quhanzear." The 
 saddlers' essay was "ane man's sadil (saddle) of the French fashion 
 covered, ane woman's sadil ready for covering, ane man's sadil of the 
 Scots fashion covered." The blacksmiths' essay was "ane door 
 cruick and door band, ane iron spaid, ane iron schoile, and horse 
 shoe and fix nails thereto." In 1586 the beltmakers' essay was "ane 
 sword belt and ane belton belt," the use of the latter being to keep 
 the body firm and to provide for the side pistols. The locksmiths' 
 essay was " with consent of the blacksmiths, two kist (chest or 
 trunk) locks." It would appear, therefore, that at this time the 
 locksmiths and the blacksmiths formed two branches of the fra- 
 ternity. The lorimers' (saddlers' ironmonger, who usually came from 
 Sanquhar) essay was " ane bit of small ribbit sword gairds, and ane 
 bridle bit, ane pair stirrip irons, and ane pair of spurs — these all to 
 be of French fashion." In the year 1595 the manufacture of scissors 
 appears on the record. The sheirmakers are called upon to submit 
 "ane pair of skinners' sheirs and ane pair of taylors' sheirs." In 
 1600 the armourers had to produce "ane mounted braid sword, 
 sufiiciently wrought," and the cutlers "ane finished guinzeir." The
 
 14 THE INCORPORATED TRADES OF EDINBURGH. 
 
 "essays" proposed from time to time did not remain perpetual. 
 Hence we find that on the 2d September 1609 the locksmiths' 
 essay was ordained to consist of " ane kist lock, ane hing, ane bois 
 lock, and ane double plate lock." Following out the same rule 
 durino- the year 1614, a great addition was made to the beltmakers' 
 essay, which was in future to consist of "ane bridle, ane headstill, 
 and ane pair of stirrup leathers." In like manner the armourer 
 was called upon to produce "ane mounted sword and scabbard." 
 The essay of the pewtherers in 1620 was "a quart flaggon," while 
 in 1621, with the special consent of the lorimers, a dagmaker was 
 admitted on production of "a brazen buckle and an arrow head." 
 In 1641 a coppersmith was admitted on account of his having manu- 
 factured "a stoving pair and a scovit " ; while in 1644 the gaird- 
 makers' essay was made to consist of "ane double scheith and pair 
 of scheiths, ane single scheith, and ane pair of hulsters." During 
 1644, also, a "key and sprent band" were added to the locksmiths' 
 essa}-. Up to the year 1647 each member of the Corporation was 
 confined to the practice of his own particular branch of manufacture. 
 This was, however, superseded on the 6th of December 1647, when 
 a person, qualified as a locksmith and knockmaker (clockmaker) 
 produced "a lock with the key and sprent hand, and knock and 
 minutes and dyall." He was admitted with consent of the lock- 
 smiths and knockmakers, and the record of his admission bears he 
 was "the first who was permitted to exercise these trades jointly." 
 In 1648 the braziers' essay consisted of "ane little bell, ane hand 
 bell, and ane mortar with ane pestil." 
 
 In 1649 and 1653 several changes w^ere made in the future essays 
 of the hammermen. For instance, the saddlers had to produce "ane 
 French sadel and hunting sadel"; the braziers had to exhibit "three 
 several sorts of buckles, three several sorts of nails, with ane sadel
 
 THE HAMMERMEN. 15 
 
 head " ; the coppersmiths were obliged to submit " ane stewen pan 
 and skeilit," while the armourers' essay was altered to the manufacture 
 of " ane mounted sword, with a new scabbard, and ane Highland guard." 
 
 In 1659 and 1660 the saddlers' essay was again changed to "a 
 great sadle, an woman's sadle, a small sadle, a side sadle, and a hunt- 
 ing sadle." Four years thereafter (1664) what we now know as a 
 tinsmith appears on the scene. He is designated in the records 
 "a white ironman." He produced as his credentials for admission 
 " a lantern, a sugar box, a lamp, and a candlestick." In the records 
 of 1688, the white ironmen got prescribed for their essay "a stoven 
 pan, a lantern, a watering-pot for the gardening, and a chandler." 
 During this year, although a "dagmaker" was admitted, eight years 
 thereafter (1676) this particular branch of trade ceased to be recog- 
 nised, the manufacture of the buckle and arrow head having been 
 added to the gunsmith's essay, which also consisted of "a mounted 
 pistol and a carriban." 
 
 The coppersmiths' essay at this time consisted of "a skeilit of 
 brass, a stoving pan of copper, and ane standing chandler of beaten 
 brass"; while in 1677 the clockmakers' essay was ''the movement of 
 a watch." In 1686 a bookmaker was admitted to the Corporation on 
 his production of " a dozen of hooks and a dozen of clasps." In 1689 
 the clockmakers' essay was changed to the production of " a house 
 clock, with a w\atch alarum, and locks upon the doors." Durino- this 
 year a brassfounder was first admitted on his producing "a suit of 
 oval buckles with the pertinents, a bullion-nail, a coach-nail, and a 
 chair-nail." In March 1691 a distressed French Protestant of the 
 name of Paul Martin was admitted as a member of the Corporation, 
 for the purpose of manufacturing lancets, razors, and all manner of 
 chirurgical instruments. His essay consisted of " a dismembering saw 
 for the leg, a trepan, a razor, and a lancet."
 
 16 THE INCORPOEATED TRADES OF EDINBURGH. 
 
 Other changes took place upon the membership and their pre- 
 scribed essays, which were originally few and simple ; but, as time 
 advanced and civilisation increased, the necessaries of life naturally 
 extended, and the arts and manufactures combined to meet the 
 popular demand. In illustration of this, we may mention the fol- 
 lowinf^ : — In 1728, for the safety of the lieges, the locksmiths' essay 
 was ordained to consist of " a cruick and cruickband, a pass lock w^ith 
 a round filled bridge not cut or broke in the back side, with nobs 
 and jamb bound." In 1733 the white iron smiths were required to 
 produce "a box with three cannisters in it, of beaten work, a struck 
 globe lanthorn with sixteen horns, and a syphon with a brass bow 
 or curtee " ; while the pewtherers' essay was to consist of " a basin, 
 a pint flaggon, and a decanter with a lid and stroup to it." In 1764 
 the first edge tool maker w^as admitted on producing " a set of boring 
 l)its and a plain iron " ; while, during the same year, a fish-hook 
 maker was received into the Corporation on his submitting "a fish- 
 hook and a clasp and eye." 
 
 These changes are indicative of the progress of society ; and 
 although the various essays "which we have enumerated may appear 
 to the reader somewhat tedious and too detailed, nevertheless they 
 not unfrequently serve to show in a very marked degree the manners 
 and customs of the period. For example, in Wodrow's " Church 
 History" it will be found that, in the latter part of the 17th century, 
 no period of the country's history w^as more celebrated for the use 
 of "handcuffs, gallow-stocks, spikes, chains, axes, cleavers, thumbkins, 
 boots, and other engines of torture, death, and demembration." In 
 fact, the period was remarkable for inventive genius of this sort, as 
 will appear from the following Act of the Privy Council, of date 
 23d July 1G84: — "Whereas the hoots were the ordinary w\ay to 
 expiscatc matters relating to the Government ; and that there is
 
 THE HAMMERMEN. 17 
 
 now a new invention called the Thumhkins, which will be very- 
 effectual to the purpose and intent foresaid ; the Lords of His 
 Majesty's Privy Council do, therefore, ordain, that when any person 
 shall, hy their order, be put to the torture, the said boots and 
 thumhkins both be applied to them, as it shall be found fit and 
 convenient." 
 
 Although the Incorporation of Hammermen existed essentially for 
 the purposes of making freemen of the burgh and protecting trade 
 within the limits of the same, it nevertheless does appear from the 
 records that occasionally amateur tradesmen were admitted into the 
 fraternity. For example, on the 21st of March 1657, Mr Charles 
 Smith, advocate (a son of Sir John Smith of Grattle, Knight, who was 
 Lord Provost of Edinburgh during the years 1643-5), was admitted as 
 a blacksmith, on his submitting " the portrait of an horse's leg, shoed 
 with a silver shoe, fixed with three nails, with a silver staple at the 
 other end thereof ; which was found to be a qualified and well- 
 wrought essay." 
 
 Sir George Mackenzie of Rosehaugh was, on the 11th January 
 1697, also received into the body, at a meeting of the hammermen 
 held in the presence of Sir James Dalrymple of Stair, who was the Lord 
 President of the Court of Session, the Lord Arniston, and " several 
 other persons of quality." He had taken great interest in the Incor- 
 poration, and, although at the time he produced no evidence of his 
 practical skill, his services otherwise and goodwill to the body were 
 regarded as a sufficient essay. 
 
 Again, it is minuted that on the 25th of March 1746, William, 
 Duke of Cumberland, was admitted to the freedom of the Corporation 
 of Hammermen. He was also admitted to the freedom of all Incor- 
 porations within the city ; and the various acts of admission were 
 transmitted to him by the then Lord Justice-Clerk (Lord Miltoun)
 
 18 THE INCORPORATED TRADES OF EDINBURGH. 
 
 ill a c^oKl box, the expense of which amounted to £1212 Scots, equal to 
 £101 sterliiiir. The reason of his having received this signal honour 
 was his \ictory at Culloden, which was regarded as a sufficient 
 
 essay. 
 
 At a later period (19th July 1784) there is the following entry : — 
 " The Corporation of Hammermen of Edinburgh unanimously resolved 
 to transmit their sincere thanks and acknowledgments to Sir Thomas 
 Duudas, Baronet, chairman, and the other nineteen members of Parlia- 
 ment from this part of the kingdom, who met at London on the 
 5th current, for their attention to the good of the country, and their 
 resolution to oppose the proposed tax on coals. The meeting, as 
 a testimony of their gratitude, did at the same time unanimously admit 
 Sir Thomas Dundas, Baronet, to the freedom of the Incorporation 
 in all its branches. Ordered this minute to be published in the 
 newspapers." 
 
 It is recorded in the books of the Incorporation that on the 6th 
 of October 1695 James Aitchison, engraver, was admitted into the 
 Incorporation, as a proficient in the art of engraving and clasp-making. 
 His essay was a " pair of lock brass clasps, and a cut seal bearing the 
 Hammermen's arms." It would thus appear that at this early period 
 the art of engraving, which has latterly been ranked among the fine 
 arts, was at that time confined chiefly to the cutting of letters and 
 seals. The comparatively recent productions of the late William Miller 
 and William Forrest, as reproduced on plate paper, throw a flood of 
 light on the great development of the engraver's art. 
 
 When Maitland wrote his "History of Edinburgh" in 1753, 
 it would appear that the Corporation of Hammermen consisted 
 of blacksmiths, cutlers, saddlers, locksmiths, lorimers, armourers, 
 pewterers, and sheersmiths. To several of these, other trades 
 were united. To the locksmiths were added the w^atchmakcrs, pin.
 
 THE HAMMERMEN. 19 
 
 makers, liookmakers, and gunsmiths. To the lorimers were added 
 the beltmakers, founders, braziers, and coppersmiths. To the pew- 
 terers were added the white ironsmiths or tinmen. The Companies 
 of Arts belonging to the Incorporation were seventeen in number. 
 The meetings of the deacons, masters, and members of the Incor- 
 poration were held usually in the beautiful little chapel of St Mary 
 Magdalen, in the Cowgate, almost opposite where the new Free 
 Library now stands. At these meetings the affairs of the Hammer- 
 men's Incorporation were thoroughly discussed. The Incorporation 
 of Hammermen were at that time patrons of the hammermen of 
 Portsburgh and Potterrow, as they formerly were of the hammermen 
 of the adjoining town of Leith. 
 
 It is right to state that in respect of the meetings of the Incor- 
 poration, these did not supersede separate meetings of the several 
 arts, who transacted their business and jealously protected their own 
 interests. The arts elected two officers, the eldest and the youngest 
 master, who respectively presided over these gatherings. 
 
 The meetings of the Incorporations were always constituted by 
 prayer. The form of prayer which was made use of was one inscribed 
 on one of the blank pages of an old copy of "The Breeches Bible," 
 of date "anno 1612." The prayer is said to have been composed 
 for the hammermen by John Knox. It is to the following effect : — 
 "Most Holy and Blessed Lord, make us Thy servants, met together 
 before Thee at this time, mindful that all things are naked and open 
 before Thy Majesty, with whom we have to do : Give us, we beseech 
 Thee, to perceive Thee in everything we undertake, and help ; and 
 lead us through every difficulty and strait we meet with ! Keep our 
 hearts near Thyself ! Pemove from us all partiality, corrupt affections, 
 and division ; and grant us Thy grace to go about everything we, by 
 Thy providence, shall happen to meet with ; and that, with uprio-ht-
 
 20 THE INCORPORATED TRADES OF EDINBURGH. 
 
 ness 
 
 of heart, and singleness of eye, as in Thy all-seeing sight and 
 presence, so that the whole fruits of our labours, by Thy special grace 
 and assistance, may tend to Thy praise, and the glory of Thy dread- 
 ful and blessed name, the well-being of every one, and the comfort 
 and c'ood of us, who are before Thee, and that for Christ, Thy Son's 
 sake, blessed for ever! Amen." The prayer was always read by 
 the clerk ; and the same practice continues even to the present 
 
 time. 
 
 Tlie members who were admitted into the Incorporation had, as a 
 rule, to be sworn in, and the following entry, of 12th September 1751, 
 may be interesting, as illustrative of the social customs of the period : — 
 " One of the honble. the magistrates of the city came to the Chaple, 
 and qualified such of the members of the house as inclined, and that by 
 teuderinfT to them the oath of allegiance, together with the assurance 
 conform to the respective subscriptions adhibitate to the said oath and 
 assurance, in order to such members being entitled to vote in the 
 election of a Deacon, in the terms of the laws on that behalf made and 
 provided. Thereafter the Deacon, with some of the senior brethren 
 who had qualified, went to entertain the Magistrate in a tavern, the 
 expense whereof ordered, as use is, to be defrayed by the house, and 
 given out by the Theasurer." This appears from the minute book to 
 have been a quarterly occurrence. 
 
 The oath was occasionally dispensed with — e.g., on the petition of 
 John Kelly, white ironsmith, whose essay was approved of upon the 5th 
 of ^lay 1770, and who had paid the last moiety of his entry money, 
 but was never received as a member of the Incorporation, because of his 
 refusing to take the oath of admission, as inconsistent with his present 
 profession of religion. The hammermen, at a meeting held on the 
 29th January 1774, resolved, out of their high regard for his con- 
 scientious sciuples, to admit him to all the privileges of a freeman
 
 THE HAMMERMEN. 21 
 
 white iroDsmith and member of the Incorporation on his subscribing 
 a declaration to the following effect : — 
 
 " I do solemnly Declare and Ingage that I shall serve my Customers in my vocation 
 without fraud or guile, that I shall behave myself respectfully to the Deacon and 
 quarter-masters, that I shall bear publick charges, and perform honest services with my 
 brethren according to my ability, and that I shall according to my station, maintain and 
 defend the just libertys of the crafts, that I shall be subject to all the regulations of the 
 crafts, which shall be for the just utility and welfare thereof, that I shall not colour 
 unfreemen nor use any collusions with them, that I shall not take any of the brethren's 
 houses, works, or booths over their heads, and I shall not seduce any of their apprentices 
 or servants, nor employ them before they have a proper clearance from their masters." 
 
 Although the hammermen as a body were decidedly liberal in 
 their views of civic government and control, and appeared to be 
 liberal in their views of Parliamentary politics, and although the fact 
 recorded above was indicative of a certain amount of religious tolera- 
 tion, there was one question on which their idea of religious liberty 
 was found wanting, and that was the movement which led eventually 
 to the passing of the Catholic Emancipation Act. An entry on 
 12th January 1779 is to the following effect: — "The Deacon in- 
 formed the meeting that a petition had been presented to the Lord 
 Provost, Magistrates, and Town Council by a great number of the 
 citizens of Edinburgh, showing that ' they were afraid that a Bill was 
 soon to be brought into Parliament for repealing the statutes that 
 were enacted against Papists, similar to the late Act of Parliament 
 regarding England, which they intended to oppose by every means 
 in their power, and requesting that the Magistrates and Council, in 
 the name of the community and as their guardians, would oppose such 
 intended Bill ' — a copy of which petition having been read, &c. — the 
 Incorporation, after serious consideration, were unanimously of opinion 
 tliMt a repeal of the present laws against Papists would endauoer their
 
 22 THE INCOKPORATED TRADES OF EDINBURGH. 
 
 civil as well as their religious rights and liberties." They directed 
 their Deacon to report their views to the Town Council, and to co- 
 operate with and support the petitioners against any attempt for 
 repealing said law. 
 
 The state of feeling at the time in reference to the question of 
 religious liberty will be read at present with some interest. The 
 followinf^ extract from the records of the hammermen will make this 
 plain : — 
 
 "1st February 1779. — The Deacon informed tliat he had called the meeting 
 at the desire of the Loi-d Provost and one of the Magistrates, who told him that 
 different copies of an inflammatory letter had been drop'd and found by several persons. 
 A copy of one of them he produces, and was read of the following tenor: — 
 
 " Men and Brethrex — 
 
 "Whoever shall find this Letter will take a warning to meet at Lieth (sic) Wynd, 
 on Wednesday next in the evening to pull down that pillar of Popery lately erected 
 
 there. " A Protestan. 
 
 "Edin. Jany. 29, 1779. 
 " F.S. — Please to read this carefully, and keep it clean, and drop it somewhere 
 
 else. 
 
 " To every Protestan into - £r«- ^ 
 
 " whose hand this letter \R./ "^ 
 
 "shall come. "Greeting. vhl^l 
 
 "The members of the Incorporation present unanimously expressed their detesta- 
 tion of any tumultuous meetings whatever, and agreed to use every means in their 
 power to prevent any such meetings of mobs, and in the meantime would endeavour 
 to prevent their servants from being connected therein." 
 
 It is proper to explain that at that period there was no system 
 of police established in the city other than the old Town Guard, for 
 whom the public generally, and the unruly in particular, had a special 
 detestation. While the dropping of the letter was in all probability 
 one of the practical jokes or tricks which the youth of the day were
 
 THE HAMMERMEN. 23 
 
 fain to indulge in, it was nevertheless thought expedient to devise 
 measures of defence, as mobs in those days, on mischief bent, were of 
 too frequent occurrence. As an example of this, at a meeting of the 
 Incorporation held on the 1st of February 1783 the Deacon intimated 
 that he had called a meeting of the Convenery this morning, and that 
 the Lord Provost was present. That meeting recommended a proposal 
 made by the Sheriff, and agreed to by the county, to the followins; 
 effect : — " That, upon any appearance of a mob, the whole inhabitants 
 should turn out and attend the Magistrates, and do their utmost 
 endeavour to prevent mischief; and that members do keep their 
 servants and apprentices at home, excepting such able-bodied persons 
 as may choose to attend their masters." This w'as agreed to. The 
 matter, however, again came up on 9th June 1784, thus: — "The 
 meeting having taken into consideration the mobs and alarming riots 
 in the neighbourhood of this city, they unanimously declare their 
 abhorrence of such proceedings, and agree to talk with their servants 
 and apprentices in a serious way, to behave in a decent and orderly 
 manner ; and to show them the bad consequences of a contrary 
 behaviour, both to such rioters themselves and to the community ; 
 and particularly, that if any of the apprentices should appear among 
 such rioters, they will forfeit their freedom agreeable to their in- 
 denture." It will be abundantly evident, therefore, that the hammer- 
 men, as well as the other Incorporations, were most helpful to the 
 Magistrates and Tow^n Council in their efforts to preserve the peace 
 of the town. 
 
 The Incorporation took a lively interest in many civic matters. 
 When the Town Council proposed to lay or cess upon the inhabitants 
 in 1749, for the maintenance of the Charity Workhouse, a resolution 
 was passed, as the minutes bear, nemine contradicente opposing the 
 measure, in respect that they (the hammermen) provided for their
 
 24 THE mCORPOEATED TRADES OF EDINBURGH. 
 
 poorer brethreu. Their interest in their own poor may be illustrated 
 l.v tlie following entry:— "2d February 1754. — Ordered that the 
 masters of the several arts, between and the next quarter visit the 
 poor on the roll of their several arts, and report the state of each person 
 and their opinion of the same, under the penalty of half-a-crown each 
 master." They also showed a kindly feeling towards the poverty- 
 stricken clerical denomination of the day — '' the poor Episcopal clergy." 
 On 10th April 1751 the minute bears — "Ordered that the Thensurer 
 {sic) pay to the poor Episcopal clergy one pound ten shillings sterling 
 for the year to come, from Candlemas 1751 to Candlemas 1752, and so 
 forth yearly in time coming, during the pleasure of the House, and the 
 measure be recalled." 
 
 For some reason or other they opposed the South Bridge Act of 
 1776. They were greatly mistaken in this action. The South Bridge 
 was an extension of the city southwards, and the necessity for it was so 
 evident that the price obtained for the feus discharged the whole costs 
 of the bill and the operations under it — a result not often attained. 
 
 They frequently agitated for being relieved from the thraldom of 
 the Town Council in the election of their Deacon. They wished to be 
 free handed, and not hampered by the Town Council selecting three 
 members, out of whom they had to choose their Deacon or representa- 
 tive at the Council Board. The other Incorporations concurred with 
 them in all these measures before the Council, the Convention of Royal 
 Burghs, and the Imperial Parliament. The Reform Bill, however, set 
 this matter right, and the various Incorporations, including the 
 hammermen, were zealous supporters of, and advocates for, the passing 
 of the Reform Bill. The minutes contain the terms of many petitions 
 on this subject, as well as votes of money to help the good cause. 
 
 I'tefercnce might be made to many other public questions, such as 
 the injudicious patronage of the Town Council in the appointment of
 
 THE HAMMERMEN. 25 
 
 a minister, the proposed Coal Tax, the placing of toll bars, the Mort- 
 main Bill, the abolition of the Corn Laws, the First Police Bill, and 
 other public matters. But these are only incidental to a notice of an 
 Incorporation whose chief aim was to protect trade within the district, 
 and to see that there was no scampiyig of work. That they were strict 
 in their oversight of the members will be shown from the followinsf 
 entry: — "28th January 1769. — A copper backet (bucket) having been 
 seized as insufficient, and James Aberdour having claimed the backet 
 as every way sufficient, the coppersmiths were desired to give their 
 opinion, which they declined to do, in respect of the law process 
 depending between the Incorporation and James Aberdour, but pro- 
 posed that the Coppersmiths in Cannongate should be desired to inspect 
 the backet, and report their oppinion ; however, the Coppersmiths and 
 J. Aberdour having retired, communed, and returned — reported that 
 they had agreed upon James Aberdour's putting new handles to the 
 backet, at the sight of one of the coppersmiths, and paying the officer 
 two shillings and sixpence for his trouble ; that the same should be 
 returned, which agreement was ratified by the Incorporation, and the 
 2s. 6d. was instantly paid to the officer." 
 
 The passing of the Reform Bill in 1833 led eventually to the 
 abolition of exclusive privilege of trading in Burghs in Scotland, by an 
 Act passed on 14th May 1846. This was disastrous to the continued 
 prosperity of the various Trades Incorporations. No one was likely 
 to become a member of these unless he had a hereditary privilege. 
 The result was that the various Incorporations became weakened as 
 a rule, and took steps to have their funds adjusted, so that the 
 utmost fairness should be shown to all who had a claim upon them. 
 In regard to the hammermen, a scheme was prepared at the time, 
 which took the form, of a "contract of annuity," and the deed bears 
 
 the signatures of the members. The Hammermen's Incorporation still 
 
 D
 
 2G 
 
 THE INCORPORATED TRADES OF EDINBURGH. 
 
 exists for the twofold purpose— (l) of paying the various sums of 
 money to the remaining annuitants, and (2) of electing a Deacon, who 
 has, in virtue of his office, a right to vote in the election of the Con- 
 vener of Trades, who is a constituent member of the Town Council of 
 Edinliuro-h. Mr John James Moir is at present Deacon-Convener of 
 the Hammermen, and Mr Alfred Bryson, W.S., is the Treasurer and 
 Clerk.
 
 THE INCORPORATION OF GOLDSMYTHIS. 
 
 HE Goldsmiths were originally included in tlie Incorporation 
 of Hammermen. At what time they became separated 
 from that body is not now known, as there seems to be 
 no authentic record of the occurrence. It is likely, however, to have 
 been a short time before they obtained from the Town Council a Seal 
 of Cause in their own favour, on the 20th day of August 1581. The 
 Seal of Cause granted to the Hammermen, was at so early a period as 
 1483, being ninety-eight years previous to that of the Goldsmiths. 
 
 The minute-books of the Incorporation, which are still extant, date 
 back to 1525. The names of all the Goldsmiths are therein recorded. 
 But, as many of the special crafts had meetings of their own, and would 
 in all probability have a record of the proceedings of such meetings, it 
 does not necessarily follow that at this time the Goldsmiths had seceded 
 from the Incorporation of Hammermen. On the other hand, the pre- 
 sumption is, that they continued as members of that Incorporation, until 
 they sought a separate and distinct charter from the Town Council in 
 1581. 
 
 Previous even to the existence of the Incorporation of the Ham- 
 mermen, statutes had been passed by the Scottish Parliament, regarding 
 the " Goldsmythis " of Scotland. During the reign of James II. in 
 1457, the following statute was enacted : — 
 
 " As anent the reformacione of golde and siluer wro* be goldsmythis 
 ande to eschewe the desaving done to the kingis liegis tliair salbe
 
 28 THE I>X"ORPOKATED TRADES OF EDINBURGH. 
 
 orJayut in ilk burghe quliair goldsmythis wirkis ane vnderstandande 
 and cunnaude ma^ of gude conscience, quliilk sail be dean of the 
 craft. And quen the werk is brot to the goldsmyt and it be golde 
 qiiliat golde that ever it beis brot till him, he sail gif it fuft agane in 
 NVL'ik na wer than xx granys. And of siluer quhat ever be bro^ him 
 he sail gif it furt agane na wer na xj granys. And the said goldsmyt 
 sail tak his werk or he gif it furthe and pass to the dene of the craft, 
 and ger examyn that it be sa fyne as is before wrettyn. And the 
 said dene of the craft sail set his raerk and takyn thairto togidder 
 \vt the said goldsmytis. And gif faute be fundyne thairin efterwartis 
 the dene foresaide and goldesmytis gudis salbe in eschet to the king 
 and thair liffis at the kingis will. Ande the said dene sail haif to his 
 fee of ilk vnce wro<^ jd. And quhair ther is na goldsmy^^ bot ane in a 
 towne, he sail schawe that werk takin it w<^ his awne merk to the hede 
 otticiaris of the towne quhilkis sail haif a merk in like manner ordanyt 
 tliairfor and salljc set to the said werk. And quhat goldesmy* that giffis 
 furth his werk vtherwayis thane is before wrettyne, his gudis salbe 
 coufyskyt to the king and his life at the kingis will." 
 
 In 1483, it was enacted that as " throw the neo;lio;ence and avarice 
 of the wirkaris and golde smithis the said siluer gevin to thaim is 
 myuging with laye and uther stuife that is put in the said werk that 
 fra the siluer cum agane fra the werkmen. It is sa fer scaithit of the 
 avale fra the fyne siluer that the pupill is ouer gretly scaithit and 
 dissauit thcrthrow. And thairfor the lordis avis and think speidfull 
 that in ilka towne quhair that golde smiths ar and thair crafts exersit 
 and vsit tliat thair be deput and ordanit a wardane and a decane of the 
 craft that sail be suorne thairto and examyn all the werkmanschip that 
 cumniys fni thair handis. And quhair thai fynd it sufficient set thair 
 merkis thairto. And quhair thai fynd it vnsufficient thai sail Refusit 
 and I'linice the w\ rkar cfter his demeritis. And quhair ony werknijin
 
 THE GOLDSMYTHIS. 29 
 
 walde culour or stele away his werk w^out examinacioun it sail be 
 eschetit quliaireuer it may be fundia. And the dampnage thairof fall 
 in the werk manis hand." 
 
 By the Act of 1485, "a dekin and a sercho'' of the craft " were to 
 be duly appointed, and it was further enacted " that al goldsmytis werk 
 be markit w* his avn mark, the dekynis mark, and the mark of the towne 
 of the finace of vjd fyne." 
 
 It is understood that those enactments, although applicable to the 
 various towns in Scotland, were more strictly carried out in Edinburgh, 
 where the great majority of the Goldsmiths of the country at that time 
 carried on business. Nevertheless, there were frequent complaints of 
 the quality of silver in those days. In the Act of 1555, it is men- 
 tioned that the quality was found so low as " six and seven deniers." 
 Pure silver at that time was reckoned as = 1 2 deniers. The denier was 
 divided into twenty-four grains. The standard was in those days fixed 
 at eleven deniers. 
 
 The Seal of Cause originally granted by the Town Council (20th 
 August 1581) is to the following efi"ect: — 
 
 1. That na Unfreemau of the said Craft ressave an Prenteis for ane schorter Tyme 
 nor sevin Zeires, in respect of the Difficultie of the said Craft ; and that it sail uocht be 
 lesum to ony Maister of the said Craft, that hes ony Prenteis for the Tyme, to tak or 
 haif ane new Prenteis quhill thrie Zeires be expyrit of the Tyme of his last Prenteis, 
 that he may help and learne the young Prenteis, under the Paine of Threttie Pundis to 
 the Maister that sail faille in ony of the Premissis. And for the better Tryall and 
 Confirmation heirof, that all Indentouris be subscryvit be the Dekin of the Craft, or 
 ane Notair for him. And that nane be buikit in the Tounis Prenteis Bulk, but quhair 
 the Indentouris is subscryvit as said is. 
 
 2. Anent the ressaving of Fremen and Maisters, be resoun of the Excellence of the 
 said Craft, and Difl&cultie thairof, and thairby subject to the gryter Fraude and Abusis 
 that may be hurtfull to our Soverane Lordis Lieges, and caus an evil Brute and 
 Dishonour to the Craft and Fremen thairof, that thair, in all Tymes cuming, nane be
 
 30 THE INCORPORATED TRADES OF EDINBURGH. 
 
 ressavit or adiuittit Maister nor Fremen of the said Craft, bot upoun the Conditionis 
 
 and Maner following, to witt : — 
 
 (1.) That thay haif bene ane Prenteis of the said Craft, with ane Freman thairof. 
 Burgess of the said Burgh, for the space of sevin Zeires; and haif and 
 servit compleitlie the Zeires of their Indentouris. (2.) That the said 
 Prenteis beand ane Burgess Sone, haif servit ane Freman of the Craft for 
 ane Zeir, and ane Straynger for twa Zeires, efter the outrunning of thair 
 Prenteischip, afoir thay be admittit Fremen and Maisteris of the Craft, 
 according to the Set betwixt the Merchants and the Craftismen, and Actis 
 of Counsall maid heiranent. (3.) That he be of gude Life and Conversation. 
 (4.) That he be valiabill in Gudis and Landis, to the soume of Fyve hundret 
 Pundis, to the Intent he may be mair responsall to answer to all Parties 
 for thair Stufe ressavit, or ellis, that he find sufficient Caution before his 
 Admissioun, to be answeiabill to all Men for his Admission and Fidelitie. 
 {Lastly.) That he, in haifing gevin ane sufficient Assay, Pruf, and Tryall to 
 the said Deykin and Maisteris of the said Craft, for his cunnyng and 
 Experience, bay thair Workmanschip and Knowledge of the Fynnes of the 
 Metallis, be fund qualifiefc thairinto. And gif ony sail be ressavit heirefter, 
 bot in Maner foresaid ; the Deykins and Maisteris, and ilk ane of thame 
 Receiveris and Admitteris of the same Persoun to pay an Unlaw of Fortie 
 Pundis. 
 
 3. To inliibite and discharge all Goldsmythis quhatsumevir, nocht beand admittit 
 be the Deykin and Maister, is, as said is, to work, melt, or braik doun, or sell any Gold 
 or Silver Work, within his Buith, under tlie Payne of Twentie Pundis ; and gif ony beis 
 fund doand the samyn, that Officiars of this Burgh pas with the Deykin, and Maisteris 
 of the said Craft, serche and braik doun thair Hairthes and Rowmes maid for doing of 
 the samyn, and put thair persouns in Waird, quhill the said Unlaw be payit, and forder 
 OrJour fane with theme. 
 
 4. To inhibite and discharge, that na Maister sail ressave ane uther Maisteris feit 
 Servand induring the Term of his Service agreit upoun with his Maister, without his 
 Leive and gude Will of liis Maister, so that he be knawin be the Deykin and Brother 
 of the Craft, that he is cum from his Maister with his Leive, under the Payne of Ten 
 Pundis. 
 
 5. That na Maister ressave ane Servand and cullonr him under his Fredome, in 
 gevin him Libcrtic to work at his Pleasure, to quhome he pleisis, in Defraude of the
 
 THE GOLDSMYTHIS. 31 
 
 Libertie of the Bretheren ; bot, all Servtanclis sail work for Meitt and Fie, under the 
 Payne of Fortie Pundis, to be tane of the Maister that sail cullour the said Unfreeman. 
 
 6. That nane of the said Craft melt any brokin or haill Work, without it be 
 schawin to the Deykin, that it may be knawin quhidder it be stollin or nocht, under the 
 Payne of Twentie Pundis. 
 
 7. That na Maister tak on him to work ony Wark in Lattoun or Copper, or gilt 
 the samyn, in Defi'aude of the Lieges, under the Payne of his Fredome and Payment of 
 Twentie Pundis. 
 
 8. That na Maister of the said Craft sail hald ony in a oppin "Wark Buithis, bot 
 ane, under the Payne of Twentie Pundis, and wairdin of his Persoun. 
 
 9. The uplifting and ressaving of the said Unlawis, to pertein to the Townis 
 Collectouris, and Officiaris at the Command of the Magistrates; and the twa Pairts 
 theirof to be imployit be the Toun to the Use of the Pure (poor) ; and the third Pairt 
 thairof to be delyverit to the Craft for thair Travell in searching and delating of the 
 Transgressouris. And to this Effect, that ane of the Tounis Officiaris pas with the 
 said Collectouris, and Deykin and Brether of the said Craft, and arrest, waird, and 
 poynd for the said Unlawis swa oft as Neid requyres. 
 
 By the Crown Charter of 1586, granted by King James VL on the 
 third day of January of that year, the Incorporation of Goldsmiths of 
 Edinburgh would appear, as has been already shown, to have possessed 
 for a long period anterior to that time, many rights, privileges, 
 liberties, and immunities. By the terms of the charter referred to, 
 not only all Unfreemen are discharged from exercising the business 
 of a Goldsmith, within the City of Edinburgh and liberties thereof, but 
 the Incorporation is further invested with the power to inspect, try, 
 and regulate all gold and silver wares in all other parts of Scotland, 
 with the right to punish offenders, in cases where they were convicted 
 of working with adulterated gold or silver. The Incorporation also 
 obtained powers to make bye-laws for the better government of the 
 body. 
 
 By a charter of King James VIL, on 14th December 1687, the 
 Incorporation got all its ancient rights, immunities, and privileges
 
 32 THE INCORPORATED TRADES OF EDINBURGH. 
 
 reserved, but it also received the additional privilege of having power 
 crranted to the Incorporation to search, inspect, and try all jewels set 
 in o-old or silver, in all parts of the Kingdom ; to destroy all those 
 that are pronounced false or counterfeit ; and to punish Transgressors 
 according to their deserts either by Imprisonments or Fines ; in which 
 case they were to be assisted by the Magistrates of the several places 
 where such searches were made, so that they might be able to bring to 
 justice all offenders. There was also a power given to them to seize all 
 the working tools of unfreemen (goldsmiths) that should presume to 
 work within the city or suburbs of Edinburgh, and to detain the same in 
 their custody, until satisfaction should be made to the Corporation of 
 Goldsmiths, by the payment of such fines as were imposed by the 
 Deacons and Masters of the said Incorporation. 
 
 The trial of the precious metals on the part of the Goldsmiths' 
 Incorporation — to test their accurate value — was entrusted to the 
 Wardens and the Assay Master, who made use of what is now known 
 as " the ancient Pyx." For information regarding the Pyx, the 
 writer is indebted to his friend Mr Chaney, of the Imperial 
 Standards Department, Old Palace Yard, Westminster. 
 
 It would appear that the first clear evidence that exists of the 
 Trial of the Pyx was in the time of Edward I., about the year 1279, at 
 the period when the Royal Mints were consolidated under one Mint 
 Master, and when the Assay was ordered to be made at the Exchequer, 
 at Westminster, by the King's Assay er. It is right to say that the 
 trial of the justness of the coinage of this country is of still more ancient 
 origin, dating back probably to the time of the Saxons, to whom, in all 
 likelihood, may be ascribed the introduction of the old Standard of 
 Silver in Britain, as regards its quality of fineness and weight. The 
 word Pyx is derived from the Greek, and is of Roman origin, signifying 
 a box. [In church rituals, the Pyx is a little chest or box wherein the
 
 THE GOLDSMYTHIS. 33 
 
 consecrated host is kept.] The Master of the Mint was required to place 
 in a box specimens of all gold and silver coins issued by him. This box is 
 opened annually, even to the present day, and the several coins are 
 tested by a Jury of Goldsmiths, both as to the weight and fineness of 
 the metal. The Jury is formed of independent members of the Gold- 
 smiths' Company of London, acting under the judicial authority of the 
 Queen's Remembrancer. They are sworn to test the coins produced by 
 the Deputy -Master of the Mint, by comparison with the standard trial 
 plates of gold and silver, and the standard weights which are then 
 produced from the Standard Department of the Board of Trade. Much 
 interesting information on this subject may be obtained by the perusal 
 of an Official Report made to the Imperial Parliament in 1866, by Mr 
 H. W. Chisholm, the predecessor of Mr Chaney. The present King's 
 Assay Master is Professor Roberts Austin, of the Royal Mint. 
 
 The Pyx Chapel at Westminster takes its name from the fact that 
 it contained the Pyx-Box, or Mint Box, and that it has been used as a 
 depository for the standards of the realm since the Norman period. It 
 is now, and always has been, in the direct custody of the Crown. The 
 ecclesiastical authorities, or Dean and Chapter of Westminster, have, 
 therefore, no care of it. It does not appear that the Wardens of the 
 Incorporation of Goldsmiths of the City of Edinburgh ever took part 
 officially in the trials of the Pyx in London, although the Goldsmiths 
 of Edinburgh were entrusted with the trial of the justness of the 
 ancient coinage of Scotland, and took the oath de jideli administra- 
 tione for the proper discharge of their duties. 
 
 By the Act 6 and 7 William IV., cap. 69 (1836), which fixes 
 the standard qualities of gold and silver in Scotland, and provides for 
 the arranging and marking thereof, the same gold and silver standards 
 are adopted as in England, the Assayer's " diets " being required to 
 consist of not more than eight grains per pound troy, one half for 
 
 E
 
 34 THE INCORPORATED TRADES OF EDINBURGH. 
 
 "diet box," and one half of assay. That is to say, the Edinburgh 
 Assayer or Assay Master was not allowed to take a scrape more than 
 eit^ht grains in the pound from the gold and silver ware sent to him 
 to be assayed. The Act also provides that the " diet box " should be 
 examined annually by such person or persons as the Treasury shall 
 direct — a somewhat analogous procedure to that of the trial of the 
 Pyx. 
 
 The duties of the Assay Office in Edinburgh, although quite 
 distinct from the Goldsmiths' Incorporation, have been carried on for 
 many generations under the direction of a Committee of the In- 
 corporation. The Offices consist of two small rooms connected with 
 the C4o]dsmiths' Hall. The "diet box," punches, assay -books, etc., 
 are to be found there. The Office of Assay Master used to be a life 
 appointment, and was latterly held by the late Mr A. H. Watt, and 
 Mr Cross (of the late firm of Cross & Carruthers) respectively. The 
 holder received a salary, and no other emoluments. Now Mr John 
 Pollock occupies the position. His election is from year to year, and 
 he is paid by fixed salary. 
 
 The last trial of the Pyx was on the first day of October last. It 
 took place in the presence of the Deacon and Wardens. The meeting 
 consisted of Mr John Crichton, Deacon; Mr John Crichton, secundus, 
 Treasurer; Mr Archibald Pollock, A ssay master ; and Messrs E. B. 
 Kirkwuod and Keir. It is recorded that the standard was found to 
 be correct, and the letter for the year then begun was changed to 
 I Gothic. The punches for the previous year were destroyed. 
 
 On the 28th May 1890 the duties of Is. 6d. per oz. on silver 
 and 17s. per oz. on gold were abolished, but that in no way interfered 
 with tlic obligation to have gold and silver articles hall-marked. It 
 was only reverting to a state of afi'airs which existed for more than 
 three hundred years before duties were imposed.
 
 THE GOLDSMYTHIS. 35 
 
 Id former times the standard of silver was 12 ounces Troy. In 
 the days when Hall-marking was obligatory, silver to the extent of 
 11 ounces and 2 dwt. required to be found in the 12 ouuces — 18 dwt. 
 being therefore allowed for alloy. The standard of silver remains the 
 same at the present day. 
 
 Gold articles are stamped according to carat. They are stamped 
 with a figure indicating the carat, so that the intrinsic value of the 
 article may be verified. Twenty-four carat constitutes pure or virgin 
 gold. Twenty-two carat is the standard of sterling gold. The ordinary 
 quality of gold for superior jewellery is from fifteen to eighteen carat. 
 The currency is of sterling gold, — viz., twenty-two carat. 
 
 In 1588, George Heriot (the great Benefactor to the City of Edin 
 burgh) was admitted a Member of the Goldsmiths' Craft. He occupied the 
 position of Dean or Deacon of the Incorporation about ten years there- 
 after. He was in great favour with the King, and would no doubt be 
 very popular with the Town Council of the period. It would be no great 
 stretch of imagination to suppose that it was chiefly owing to George 
 Heriot's influence that the Incorporation of Goldsmiths was indebted for 
 its independent Seal of Cause three years after Heriot's entering the craft. 
 The following extracts from the Town Council records of the period will 
 show that George Heriot had other important public parts to play. In 
 1587, on the 21st day of April, there is the following minute : — "The 
 sam day at efter none it wes proponit be my Lord Prouest that the 
 King's Majestic had send for his Lordschip, and the baillies, qua exponet 
 and declaret unto him that his Graice wes to direct embassadouris to 
 Denmark for intreating of mariage, and thairfore desyret the Guid 
 Town and burrowis to mak the charges and expensis of the schipping 
 to the said Imbassadouris," etc. Again, regarding the expense of the 
 marriage of the King's daughter, the following eutry occurs on 17th 
 June 1592: — "The same day names and constitutes my Lord Prouost
 
 3G THE INCORPORATED TRADES OF EDINBURGH. 
 
 and George Hereott eldare commissioners for the Guid Toun to the 
 Parliament of Estaitts, to be halden within this burch." 
 
 It may be interesting here to quote the description of George 
 Heriot's attire as recorded by Sir Walter Scott in the " Fortunes of 
 Nif^el." " Ilis hose were of black velvet, lined with purple silk, 
 which garniture appeared at the slashes. His doublet was of purple 
 cloth, and his short cloak of black velvet to correspond with his 
 hose ; and both were adorned with a great number of small silver 
 buttons richly wrought in filigree. A triple chain of gold hung 
 round his neck, and in place of a sword or dagger he wore at his 
 belt an ordinary knife for the purpose of the table, with a small 
 silver case, which appeared to contain writing materials." 
 
 George Heriot was appointed by His Majesty King James VI., 
 under a writ of the Privy Seal, dated at Dunfermline, July 27, 1597, 
 goldsmith to his Queen. He was soon after that event constituted 
 jeweller and goldsmith to the King, with a right to all the profits 
 and emoluments of that lucrative office. In the Diary of Robert 
 Birrel, p. 44, there is the following entry : — " 1597. The 27 of Julii, 
 George Heriot maid the Quein's goldsmythe ; and was intimat at the 
 Crosse, be opin proclamatione and sound of trumpet ; a7id ane Clei, the 
 French man, dischargit, quha was the Quein's goldsmythe befor." 
 
 In ancient times the status of the Edinburgh Goldsmiths was 
 a very high one, far superior to that of their brethren in Glasgow. 
 The Edinburgh Goldsmiths, in addition to their ordinary avocations, 
 traded as Bankers, Money Lenders, and Speculators. The business 
 was a very popular one in the city ; hence it is recorded that, in 
 1G87, there were twenty-five goldsmiths in Edinburgh, whereas there 
 were only 5 in Glasgow, 3 in Aberdeen, 1 in Perth, 1 in Inverness, 
 1 in Ayr, J in Banff, and 1 in Montrose. It is proper to state that 
 the number of goldsmiths in the city did not include those of Canon-
 
 THE GOLDSMYTHIS. 37 
 
 gate or Portsburgh. These were distinct municipalities — having 
 separate Trades Incorporations of their own, with various privileges 
 conferred upon them both by charters obtained from the Crown, and 
 granted by the Lords Superior of the respective burghs. In most of 
 the burghs, however, the goldsmiths had no separate incorporation ; 
 but they were included in the Hammermen. 
 
 From the institution of the Incorporation down to the present 
 time, the meetings have been invariably opened with prayer. The 
 following are the words of the original prayer : — 
 
 " Ane jprayer to he said alwayes att oure Meati7igis." 
 
 " Gratious God and loving Fathair, we humblie beseik Thy holy 
 magestie, for Thy awin Chrystis saik, to be present in mercie withe 
 us, in giving and blyssing to all our affairis ; and, seeing Thou art 
 only wyse, be Thou oure Wisdome in all oure adoes, and grant 
 that partialitie and all corrupt affectiounes being sett asyide, we 
 may deall in all materis preseutit to us withe upricht hairtis and 
 single eyis, as in Thy presence : Sha that the fruitis of owre travellis 
 by thy speall grace may allwayes tend to the glorie of Thy holy 
 name, the weillfair of this oure native toun, and comfort of everie 
 faithfull member of the same, throw Jesus Chryst oure Blyssid 
 Lord and Saviour. So be it." 
 
 In later years, the form of prayer was altered, so as to be more 
 in conformity with the times. The following are the words now made 
 use of : — 
 
 "0 Most Gracious God and Loving Father ! We most humbly beseech 
 Thy Holy Majesty for Thine own Christ's sake to be present in mercy 
 with us in giving a blessing to all our affairs ; and seeing that Thou only
 
 38 THE INCORPORATED TRADES OF EDINBURGH. 
 
 art wise, be Tliou our wisdom in all our adoes ; and grant that all 
 partiality and all corrupt affections whatsoever being set aside, we may 
 deal in matters presented to us with upright hearts and single eyes as 
 in Thy presence, so that the fruit of our travel by Thy special Grace, 
 may always tend to the glory of Thy Holy name, the welfare of this 
 our native Town, and comfort of every Member of the same, through 
 Jesus Christ, our Lord and only Saviour. Amen." 
 
 The original Members were required to take an oath on their 
 beino- made freemen, as Members of the craft of Goldsmiths. The 
 following is the original oath : — 
 
 " Folloives the forme of the aithe to be givin he these that ar maid 
 friemen to the craft of Goldsmythis." 
 
 " Heir I protest befoir God and in zour prens and as I sail 
 ausuar to God that I profess and allow wt my hairt the trew 
 religioun prstlie professit within this kiugdome, and sail abyde 
 thairat to my lyfe's end. I sail be leill and trew to the Kingis 
 magestie and his leigeis. I sail be leill and trew to my calling, 
 mantein and defend the liberteis wt my bodie and guidis. I sail 
 work na gold nor silver bot that Cjlk is sufficient of the fyness 
 following, viz. : — All gold tuentie tua carrottis fyne, and the silver 
 ellevin dennier fyne, conforme to the Act of Parliament, and sail 
 not conceill nor cullour na unfriemen's guidis, nayair sail pack nor 
 peill withe thaime, and allowe and approve all ye actis made of be- 
 fore be my predicessouris Brethrine of the Goldsmythis to ye weill 
 of my caling, and sua oft as I brek any poynt of this my aithe I 
 oblcid me to pay to ye use of my calling tuentie pundis for everie 
 fall toties quoties, but defalcatioun to be socht be me yairof, and sail 
 schift nor scik na meains to eschen the samyn at na oyr judge nor
 
 THE GOLDSMYTHIS. 39 
 
 judges bot in this realme, but before ye Deacone and Brethrine of 
 my calling. Sua help me God, and be God himselff. 
 "Be yir pntis sub* w' my hand." 
 
 In 1805, the form of oath, like the prayer, was, during the month 
 of September, altered to the following : — 
 
 " Oath to he administered to each Member at his admission. 
 
 " Here I protest before God, and in your presence, and as I shall 
 answer to God, that I profess and allow with my heart the True Eeligion 
 presently professed within this Kingdom, and shall abide therein to my 
 life's end. I shall be leal and true to the King's Majesty, and His 
 Heirs ; I shall be leal and true to my calling, maintain and defend the 
 liberties thereof with my Body and Goods. I shall work no gold or 
 silver but which is sufficient of the fineness allowed by law, and shall 
 not conceal nor cover any Unfreeman's goods, neither shall pack nor 
 peil with them ; and allow and approve of all the Acts made of before 
 by my predecessors, Brethren of the Goldsmiths, to the weil of my call- 
 ing, and so oft as I break any part of this my Oath, I oblige myself to 
 pay to the use of my calling, Forty Pounds for my fault, toties quoties, 
 but defalcation to be sought by me thereof ; and shall shift nor seek no 
 means to screen the same at no other Judge nor Judges within this 
 realm, but before the Deacon and Brethren of my calling. So help me 
 God, and by God himself." 
 
 At the present time, there is no oath taken by entrants, a simple 
 declaration to the following effect being held as sufficient : — 
 
 " I hereby declare that I shall be true and faithful to the Incorpora- 
 tion of which I have now been admitted a Member." 
 
 The Deacon, also, when he is elected has to make a declaration of
 
 40 THE INCORPORATED TRADES OF EDINBURGH. 
 
 fidelity to his office ; and the Members on the other hand have to 
 declare that they will be true and faithful to the Deacon, and stand to 
 all the Acts of the Incorporation. 
 
 Oaths ch Jideli are still administered to the Treasurer, Quarter- 
 Masters, Wardens, Assay-Master, and Collector and Treasurer. 
 
 The Hall of the Incorporation was originally situate in Parlia- 
 ment Close. There, for several generations, the meetings used to 
 be held. The present premises in 98 South Bridge Street were 
 purchased by the body in August 1809, and from that time to 
 the present day, these premises have continued to be their head- 
 quarters. There is mention in the Eecords of the north-west corner 
 of South Bridge Street having been purchased and used as a hall. 
 This, however, must have been only for temporary use. There is 
 evidence in the minutes of these premises having been afterwards 
 let, and finally disposed of prior to 1823. 
 
 The Great Fire in Parliament Square, which was the means of 
 destroying so much valuable property, occurred on 15th November 1824. 
 The old Hall in Parliament Close must by that time have passed 
 iuto other hands, as there is no mention in the records of any loss 
 having been sustained by the Goldsmiths. On the other hand, there 
 is the following entry in the Minute-Book of date 22d November 
 1824: — "The Deacon moved that Twenty Guineas be granted to 
 the poor sufferers by the late calamitous fires ; which motion was 
 seconded by ]\Ir Craig. Mr Francis Howden moved as an Amend- 
 ment that the consideration of the subject be delayed until the state 
 of the funds already received and their application shall have been 
 published ; which amendment was seconded by Mr Nasymth. The 
 names of the members present were then called, and the vote taken, 
 the state of the question being Amendment or Motion, when the 
 following members voted for the Amendment, viz. : — Messrs Adam
 
 THE GOLDSMYTHIS. 41 
 
 Elder, William Marshall, Francis Howden, James Nasmyth, Andrew 
 Wilkie, William Cunningham, Daniel Walker, William Edmonstone, 
 Alexander Kamage, and Simon Cunningham ; and for the Motion, 
 Messrs Deacon Cunningham and James Craig. The Amendment was 
 therefore declared to be carried." 
 
 It is proper to state that the Goldsmiths' Incorporation has, 
 as a rule, been most liberal in their benefactions to public charities ; 
 and several of the charitable institutions of the city receive at the 
 present time an annual contribution from their funds. 
 
 The following entry from the Minute Book will serve as an 
 illustration of Burghal life at the period referred to: — "15 July 
 1794. — . . . Mr P. Cuningham then represented to the meeting that 
 Mr Ochiltree, a member of their body, had been last night cruelly beat 
 and bruised, and otherwise very ill used by the soldiers of the City 
 Guard, when he was returning home in a peaceable and orderly 
 manner, and requested that an investigation should be made into 
 the affair, and a note written to the Lord Provost, soliciting him to 
 take it under his cognisance." 
 
 From time to time the Incorporation has passed Laws for the 
 regulation of its affairs. On the 12th of August 1766, certain Eules 
 were made for the establishment and management of a Widows' 
 Fund. Again, on 29th June 1813, Regulations were enacted regard- 
 ing the providing of Annuities to Members of the Incorporation on 
 their attaining a certain age and complying with certain conditions. 
 During the years 1823, 1825 and 1826, certain modifications took 
 place on these. The last and existing code of Laws was agreed to, 
 so recently as 10th November 1886. 
 
 In terms of the Charter by King James VII. in favour of the 
 Incorporation, apprentices are required to be indentured for seven 
 years, and the office-bearers must be present at the signing of the
 
 42 THr: incorporated trades of Edinburgh. 
 
 Indenture, which has to be entered in the Minute Books. A note 
 is also recorded when the Indenture is discharged. Applicants for 
 admission into the Incorporation are admitted at 21 years of age, 
 provided tliat three years have elapsed from the date of the com- 
 pletion of their apprenticeship. They must produce, along with their 
 Indenture, a Burgess Ticket. If the Meeting of the Incorporation 
 acrree to the application, an Assay Piece is resolved upon, to be 
 made by the applicant, at the sight of two of the Members, as 
 Assay Masters, in any workshop the Incorporation may direct. Four 
 months thereafter, the report regarding the Assay is presented ; and, 
 if favourable, the applicant is admitted to the body, on his paying 
 to the Treasurer the requisite fees. 
 
 There are quarterly Meetings for the passing and auditing of 
 all accounts, and the office-bearers are elected annually. Mr John 
 Crichton is the present Deacon ; Mr John Crichton, secundus, is the 
 Treasurer; and Mr John P. Wright, W.S., is clerk and law agent of 
 the Incorporation.
 
 THE INCORPORATION OF BAXTERS. 
 
 ONCERNING the origiu and history of the Incorporation of 
 Baxters, or Bakers, very little is known in the present 
 clay. Maitland, when he published his History of Edin- 
 burgh, thus wrote : — " Although the Company of Baxters, or Bakers, 
 be one of the chief Incorporations in Edinburgh, I cannot learn the 
 time when it was first erected into a fraternity ; though for that end 
 I not only applied to their clerk, but likewise to the chief men of the 
 Company, but without success. However, it must have been before 
 the year 1522, when by a grant from the Common Council of this 
 city to this Corporation, of the 21st March in the said year, con- 
 cerning grinding their corn at the town's mills, they then appear to 
 have had both a deacon and master, which shows them to have been 
 a Society before that period. And to transact their affairs in, they 
 have a convenient hall in James' Court." 
 
 The writer cannot well understand where Maitland sought for his 
 information. He seems, like Moses of old, to have been in sight of 
 the promised land, and yet was not permitted to enter. On the day 
 previous to the said Act of Council to which Maitland refers — viz., 
 20th March 1522, — the records of the Corporation bear that the Pro- 
 vost, Magistrates and Town Council had granted the Baxters a seal 
 of cause, which is to the following effect : — 
 
 To all and sundrie quhaise knawledge thir present letteris sail to come, the provest, 
 bailies, and council of the briigh of Edinburgh, greeting in God everlasting, Witt 
 your universities that ther compearit before us counsally gatherit within the Tow-
 
 44 THE INCORPORATED TRADES OF EDINBURGH. 
 
 buith of the said brugh, our lovite neighboures and toune burgesses — viz., George 
 Foulis, "Walter Scott, George Gibson, David Gillaspie, William Wilkieson, Robert 
 llod'»er Johne Maider, Henry Scot, Alexander Heriot, Andrew Simson, Michael 
 Gibson, James Baird, James Scot, John Fallsyde, Johne Black, Archibald Bartillmo, 
 John" Bartillmo, James Gillaspy, Edward Thomson, Andi'ew Bovss, Arther Mowbray, 
 ami Michael Lochmyll, Kirkmaisteries, and the laif of the maisteries of the Baxter 
 Craft within the brugh, and present thair supi>licautione till us, makand mentione 
 that the facidtie and power they had of before upon the guid guyding and reule of 
 thair said craft was destroyit and our seal of cause tane thairfra be negligent in time 
 of troubill, and thairfore desyrit the samyne newlinges againe to be granted for the 
 honour and lovage of Godis service at thair altar of Sant Cubart, situat within our 
 collt'dgc kirk of Sant Geille witliin our said brugh, and for the common profeit of 
 the neighboures thairof conteinand this effect : — 
 
 In the Jirtit, that na per.sounes presume them to be maisteris of the said Craft, to 
 baik thair awin stuffe to sell without they be first prenteis, syne burges, and thairafter 
 examynit be the maisteries of the said Craft, fundin able, and admitit thairto, and 
 syne thairafter till pay tliair dewties as uthir Craftis dois within this brugh ; and also 
 that the said Kirkmaisteris and brether of the said Craft choise them ane sufficient 
 chaplane at thair pleasiire to make devyne service at thair said altar of Sant Cubart, 
 upon ane competent pryce as they can agrie with the said chaplane, sicklike as uthir 
 Craftis dois within the said brugh ; and that ilk brother of the said Ci'aft furnish the 
 said chaplane orderly as he sail happen to cum about to theme ; and quhen any 
 persones of the said Craft happens to be chargit to forgather with the Kirkmaisters 
 and principal maisters of the said craft to treit upon the common weill and profyte 
 thairof, and absent tharae but rationable cause, that persona to pay ane pund of wax 
 i) Sant Cubart's light at thair said altar; and also quhatever he be maister of the said 
 craft that beis apprehendit bakand falss and rotten stuff, or insufficient to sell again 
 to our Soverane Lordis lieges, sail pay ane pund of wax to thair said altar the first 
 tyme, and fur the secund fait, two pund of wax, and gif he beis overtane in the third 
 fait, he and his bread sail be brocht before the i)rovest and baillies, and they to punish 
 him thairfore as sail be thocht expedient with the advise of the Kirkmaister and 
 worthiest of the said Craft as effeirs. 
 
 Jleju.— That quhatsumever persounes of the said Craft happens till disobey the 
 Kirkuiai.st«;r and the worthies uther persounes forgatherit with him of the said Craft 
 for the honour and common weill thairof sail pay fourty shillings to Saint Geilles 
 walk, and twa j.und of wax to Saint Cubart's altar as said is.
 
 THE BAXTERS. 45 
 
 Item. — That no maister of the said Craft sail take ony childer in service thairat 
 ana or mae fra this tyme furth, but gif they be prentices and pay thair dewties as 
 efFeirs, and that na baxter take nor resset ane uther man's servand of the said Craft 
 under the payne of fourtie shillings to Saint Geilles work, and twa pund of wax to 
 Saint Cubart's licht, or else to be expellit frae the occupatioune thairof. 
 
 Item. — Anent the flour baiks and fadges that cumes fra landwart into this toune 
 to sell (this afterwards explained), that they may be examit upone the guidnes of the 
 stufFe and weicht for the toune weill sycklyke as thair stuiFe is, sua that gif they 
 be nocht fundin conformand in guidnes and weicht, with the avise of the officiaris and 
 maisteris of the said Craft, that they be destroyit ; and nocht to repair with sycklyke 
 stufFe in tyme thairafter sen this caiss standis baith for the common weill and 
 common profeit of our mylles, and also that they micht have facultie and priviledge 
 yet as of before to make statuts and reules for the guyding of thair said Craft in 
 hunestie, and for the common weill of the said toune, accordand till equitie and 
 reasoune. 
 
 With the quhilkis desyres we beand diligently avisit has considerit the samyn and 
 fyndes them conformand to the honour and lovage of Code and this guid toune and 
 common profeit of our Souerane Lordis liegis repairand thairto ; we ratiffie and con- 
 firme the samyn in all efFect above written. 
 
 In witnessing of the quhilk thing to thir our present letteres we have gart 
 append our common seal of cause of the said brugh at the samyn the twentie day of 
 the moneth of March, the year of God ane thousand fyve hundreth and twenty and 
 twa yearis. 
 
 A printed copy of the above seal of cause was granted to the 
 Incorporation of Bakers in 1825. The original, therefore, must have 
 been lost. 
 
 From the foregoing seal of cause it would appear that the In- 
 corporation of Baxters is by far the oldest civic incorporation of 
 Edinburgh. The document referred to states that it is a new charter 
 of incorporation, the body having for some reason or other forfeited 
 its previous one. That there was a previous charter is self-evident 
 from the minutes of the Town Council, which, in so far as they have 
 been preserved, are about a century older than the seal of cause which
 
 4G THE INCORPORATED TRADES OF EDINBURGH. 
 
 has been quoted. The writer will give a few examples of them. For 
 instance, in 1443 (April 9), there is the following entry :— 
 
 It is statute and ordainit that na baxter baik na mayne breid to sell fra hine 
 fiirthwart, saiffiiig allenarly at Whitsounday, Saint Geillis messe, Yule and Pasche ; 
 and that the said breid sail nocht be sauld at nane of the said festivall tymes bot 
 endurand aucht days, that is to say begynnand at the evin of ilk ane of the said feists 
 and end u rand quhil that day awcht dayes, and gif any mayne breid be sauld any uther 
 tyoie it sail be chete, and the said baxteris sail nocht bake the said mayne forotyn 
 pase to be given to thame to the haillies. 
 
 Again on 13th September 1456, regarding the entrance of their 
 members as burgesses or freemen, there is the following entry : — 
 
 The quhilk day it was grantet be the provest, baillies and counsale of the toun 
 in favoures of the haill Craft of the Baxteris that thair sail na man of that Craft be 
 maid burges or freman, without the avys and consent of the maist pairt of the worthiest 
 of the craft, and that it sail be sene that he be worthie and sufficient to labour, and 
 that he haif cunnying and power to labour, and that thai pay their dewteis to the 
 alt ir 1\ k as the laif of the Craft dois. 
 
 On 10th November 1482 all Baxters within the burgh were for- 
 bidden to purchase flour, whether for baking of bread or to sell in 
 small quantities, without paying to the " fermorar of thair common 
 mylnis" the multures [multour thairof as effh-is). It would appear 
 that in those days the Bakers had the privilege of selling flour in small 
 quantities to the poorer people ; because the same Act of Council 
 ordains that no merchant within the burgh take upon him to tap 
 or sell any flour " in small bot in greit, under the pane of escheit of 
 the samyn quhair evir it may be foundin or ourtane." 
 
 On the 10th of November 1492 the Baxters were ordained by 
 the Town Council to pay multure on all imported flour, and they 
 were forbidden to sell flour in large quantities — this privilege being
 
 THE BAXTERS. 47 
 
 reserved for the merchants. The reguhition regarding the Baxters 
 grinding corn at the town's mill seems to have been in existence 
 before the date mentioned by Maitland. By an Act of Council on 
 28th July 1514, the Magistrates and Council re-enacted the rule which 
 had previously obtained that during times of scarcity of water each 
 neighbour thereof should have the facility and privilege of grinding 
 four " laid of quheit " (wheat) and eight " laid to be broken in his 
 roume as accordis," so that each neighbour one after the other should 
 be served ; and when any failed to take his turn it should be law- 
 ful to the next person to occupy the place for the time. Whoever 
 should be found guilty of breaking this statute should be fined in the 
 sum of twenty shillings, of which fifteen shillings should go to the 
 " Kirk werk," and five shillings to " their awin altar." Alexander Gray, 
 the " serchour," was to be recompensed for his labour, and had to 
 collect the multure. 
 
 The minute of the Town Council to which Maitland refers re- 
 enacts former rules in regard to the grinding at the mills, and specially 
 forbids the Incorporation of Baxters grinding at any other mills except 
 those of the city. 
 
 Down to the year 1518 the Incorporation of Baxters appear to 
 have had a monopoly in the sale of bread to the inhabitants. The 
 Lords of the Scottish Parliament, however, altered this state of matters, 
 and permitted outsiders to bring in bread to be sold on the market 
 days. This caused the Incorporation to apply to the Town Council 
 for protection from the invaders, by asking that rules should be laid 
 down for the strangers regarding the terms on which bread could 
 be sold. The following minute, of date 15th October 1518, was passed 
 by the Lord Provost, Magistrates, and Town Council in regard to 
 this matter : — 
 
 It is statute and ordainit be the president, baillies, and counsale that foresa-
 
 48 THE INCORPORATED TRADES OF EDINBURGH. 
 
 mekill as it is statute be the lordis of Parliament that it sail be lesum (lawful) to 
 8travn<'eris to cum with their breid to this burgh and sell the samyn on twa mer- 
 cat dayes in the owlk, Wedinsday and Fryday, and becaus the saids strayngeris and 
 viifremen [iiotlier] steiitis waikis nor wairdis nor beds na vther portabill chairges 
 within this burgh, that thairfore it is statute that iiijd. laif of qulieitt breid sawld 
 be the said vnfremen sail wey iiij vnces mair than the iiijd. laif baikin within this 
 burgh, and that the samyn be of fyne stufe weeill baiken and dryet, and the gray 
 breid vj vnces mair than the gray breid baiken within this burgh vnder the payne 
 of escheitt of the breid. 
 
 The Macristratos and Town Council seem to have exercised strict 
 surveillance over the Baxters' fraternity, as well as those who sold or 
 bought meal. They, therefore, did not leave the matter to be 
 adjudicated upon by the members of the Incorporation as was to be 
 found in the case of the Hammermen. This will be evident from the 
 following minute of the Council, of date 4th April 1503 : — 
 
 Thir ar the personis and regi'attouris (retailers) vnder writtin o^ meill (meal) 
 that ar convict be ane assys for the bying of the samyn in greit quantitie, mair than 
 may sustene thair self to thair awin meit, and selling of the samyn to the puir folkis 
 vpoun profFeit-wynning, causand greit darthe. 
 
 Item. — Thir ar the personis caik-baxteris regrattouris vnderwritten that ar 
 convict be ane assys for the baikin of caikis, nocht kepand the pais vsit and wount, 
 that is to say, that the caikis for the penny sould wey vther half-tymes alsmekill as 
 the penny quhit breid, viz., the quhit penny laif weyand xvj vnce, the vther to wey 
 xxiij vnce, and swa les or mair pais [as] aecordis ; and attour the baillies ordanit and 
 cliargit gif thir personis aboue written will baik ony caikis in tyme to cum, or the 
 laif that are conAact, that thai obserue and keep the statutis maid thairvpon as 
 aecordis. 
 
 The Town Council also passed ordinances regarding the quality of 
 the bread baked, as well as in regard to the weight and the price. 
 One of these is to the following effect : — Ordains all masters of the 
 Baxter Craft, and all Baxters within this burgh, to bake their bread
 
 THE BAXTERS. 49 
 
 " sufficientlie and weill diyit " under the pain of " tynsall of their 
 freedom e and escheiting of their breid that dois in the contrare, 
 and to be merkit with thair irnis as abefoir vnder the said payne." 
 Another is to this effect : — The Town Council finds and declares that, 
 by the price of wheat as found at the last market day at 12s., that 
 the Baxters bake commonly to our Sovereign Lord's lieges 12^ ounces 
 well baked bread and dried sufficient stuff for one penny; and that 
 they furnish the town with 2d. bread and Id. bread, and that they 
 sell " nocht to the tovne vnder the payne of spaining fra the 
 occupation yeir and day ; and that thay cum to the clerkis buith 
 and tak thair tikket heirvpon." There are also ordinances regarding 
 " fages " of wheat bread and the " fowattis of Musselburgh," all 
 which must be regulated by " the wecht of Leith." From time to 
 time, according to the Town Council records, the civic body fixed 
 the price at which bread was to be sold within the burgh. 
 
 The Baxters seem always to have had some fatality about them 
 as to their history and their records ; because the chief historical 
 volumes of the Corporation have not now any existence. It is 
 understood that these were destroyed some years ago by one of the 
 chief officials of the Corporation, whose appreciation of the minute 
 books seemed to rank them no higher than the value of waste paper. 
 With that act of vandalism perished a good deal of matter that might 
 have shed some light on the civic history of the period. 
 
 It ought to be stated, however, that the Incorporation of Baxters 
 was at one time a very wealthy fraternity, that built and owned for 
 many years several mills on the Water of Leith, viz., the West Mill, 
 Mars Mill, the Greenland Mill, etc. There they ground their own 
 grain, and that of other bakers of Edinburgh, who were not members 
 of the Incorporation, and who carried on business in the town after 
 the exclusive privileges of trade were abolished within the burgh. 
 
 G
 
 50 TllK INCORPOKATED TRADES OF EDINBURGH. 
 
 These mills were eventually a great loss to the body. In fact, they 
 ah.^orbeJ nearly all the funds of the Incorporation other than the 
 funds specially reserved for the widows. It is understood that not 
 less a sum than £40,000 perished in this adventure. The great 
 cause of the eventual failure of the Water of Leith mills was the 
 creation of a milling industry in the town of Leith, when steam took 
 the place of water power. The bakers in general ceased to purchase 
 grain and send it to the mill for grinding. They found it was more 
 profitable for them, and gave them less trouble, to purchase the flour 
 ready made from the millers. A baker was thus enabled to start 
 business, and work upon a smaller capital. To show how unprofitable 
 the Water of Leith mills had become, it may be stated that during 
 the last year of the Incorporation's proprietary interest in them, they 
 were let to a Mr Allan without any rent, but on condition that he paid 
 to the City of Edinburgh the feu-duty exigible for the ground. 
 
 The Incorporation, however, was more careful about the money 
 set aside for their widows. This was strictly guarded by a special 
 Act of Parliament passed in the year 1813. The fund is therefore 
 dispensed in accordance with the provisions of this statute, and is now 
 a valual)le inheritance to those who possess the right under it. 
 
 Tliere are on the average quarterly meetings of the body. Mr 
 Alexander Kamage is the present Deacon, and he has recently been 
 appointed Convener of the Trades. Mr Edward Sawers is Treasurer, 
 and -Mr K. U. ilankcn, W.S., is Clerk of the Incorporation.
 
 THE INCORPORATION OF '' FLESCHOURIS." 
 
 T a very early period in the history of the Scottish burghs, 
 a due surveillance seems to have been kept over the markets, 
 and as to the sale and purchase of perishable food. Laws 
 regarding these are fully set forth in the Leges Burgorum, i.e., the 
 Laws and Customs of the Four Buro;hs of Scotland — viz., Edinburgh, 
 Roxburgh, Berwick, and Stirling. They are contained in the most 
 ancient MS. now preserved (the Berne MS.) among the public records 
 of Scotland in Her Majesty's General Register House in this city. 
 These four burghs constituted a court of consultation, in which the 
 Great Chamberlain of the Kingdom presided, and where he was 
 assisted in the adjudication of disputes by commissioners from the 
 four burghs referred to. Some of these laws in reference to the 
 " fleschouris " are to the following effect : — 
 
 Clause 68 provided that whoever sells flesh shall sell "gude and 
 halthsum flesh, sic as ky, oxen, and swyne," at the sight and considera- 
 tion of the good men of the burgh (jyrohorum hominum villae). It 
 enacted also that the same should be exposed in their windows or 
 in the open market, so that the goods might be common to all willing 
 to buy. And if any foul beef or salmon was brought into the market, 
 the "serjand" of the burgh was to seize the same, and "send it 
 incontinent to the puire or leprose folk," or otherwise dispose of it 
 as he thought fit, " without ony question, favour, or grace." If the 
 seller had received any money for the same, he was compelled to pay 
 it back to the purchaser " without difiiculty or delay." In the event 
 of his refusing to do so, he " sail be distrinzeit be ane unlaw."
 
 52 THE INCORPORATED TRADES OF EDINBURGH. 
 
 The same clause also enjoins the Fleschouris to serve the burgesses 
 in slauf^hter-time, from Martinmas to Yule. They were to serve them 
 "in slaying, dichting, and ordouring of thair flesche to lay in thair 
 lardner." During the time they were so occupied in serving the 
 burcesses they were to " sit and eat with thame at thair awin buird, 
 and thair servandis with thair servandis." The fee to be paid was 
 as follows : — " For ilk kow and ox, ane half-penie ; ane swyne, ane 
 half-penie ; and for fyve scheip, ane half-penie." There is also this 
 creneral injunction — " Gif the Fleschouris grathis not the flesh weill, 
 they sail restoir the damnage and skaith to the awineris thairof." 
 
 By clause 69 a prohibition was enacted against slaughtering beasts 
 or selling flesh during the night, but only during " fair daylicht," under 
 pain of unlaw. 
 
 By the statutes of the Gild, " apprysouris " were appointed to set 
 a price upon flesh (stat. Gild 53), who were sworn to appraise the 
 same faithfully, and in doing so to spare no person for " fee, favour, 
 or dread." 
 
 Laws are also enacted regarding the purchase and sale of fish. 
 
 The ''Iter Camerarii," which contains the Prohibitions of the 
 Lord High Chamberlain, has (c. 8) the following " Cliallenge of 
 Fleschouris " ; — 
 
 In the first, tliat they sell not the flesh conform to the price set thairupon be the 
 honest men of the burgh. 
 
 Item. — That they sell the flesh befoir it be prysit, as thay pleise, or efter it isprysit 
 they sell it dearer, and of ane greater price. 
 
 Item. — That thay buy and slayis beistis within time of nicht, aganis the law of the 
 l)urgh. 
 
 Item. — That tliay foirstall the burgli, buyand without, in ane town in the countrcy. 
 
 Item. — That thay sell flesh without ane token or signe, or befoir the putting out of 
 the samin. 
 
 Item. — That thay sell guid flesh to strangeris, and evil flesh to nichthouris, or 
 contrary wayis.
 
 THE FLESCHOUEIS. 53 
 
 Item. — That thiiy conceale or denyis the price of flesh to thame that desiris to knaw 
 the samin. 
 
 Item. — That thay sell flesh in secret, and not in thair buith ; or in thair buith, not 
 liavand thair window opin. 
 
 Item. — That thay mak lardner in griet, and sellis it out to tavernis in small, 
 aganis the law of the burgh. 
 
 Item. — That thay deny to the apprysouris how thay buy thair beistis in the 
 countrey, contrare thair aith, swa that thay may not be laucchfullie prysit. 
 
 Item. — -That thay tak tar ledderis afTthe hides, and thairafter affirmis the samin to 
 be haill and not dismemberit. 
 
 /^e??i.— That thay mix togidder auld flesh and new sayand all is of ane, or ony 
 unhalthsum flesh. 
 
 Item. — That thay blaw the flesh and cause it seem fat and fair, throw the quhilk 
 siudrie men takis seiknes, and utherwayis are beguylit. 
 
 Item. — That thay have not all manor of flesh reddie to sell as effeiris for the tyrae. 
 
 The first allusion to the duties of the Flesher Craft which appears 
 in the minutes of the Town Council of Edinburgh — in so far as these 
 records are extant — goes back to the year 1483, and, strange to say, it 
 has reference to the selling of fish. It is as follows : — That " na fische 
 be halden nor keipit into houssis, nor brokin into houssis, bot in the 
 mercat vnder the pane of escheit, and vnlaw of vijs. Item. — That "na 
 fische be halden ouer nycht and presentit the morne to the merket, 
 vnguttit or cleugit, vnder the said pane." One of the Bailies (weekly in 
 turn, especially during the season of Lent), accompanied by one Coun- 
 cillor and two sergeants, had to visit the market to see that the 
 regulations were kept, and also to observe that the fieshers broke the 
 fish honestly for the fee paid to them for so doing. 
 
 The remuneration paid to the flesher was as follows : — ''Item. — Ilk 
 fleshour sail haue to his fie for braiking of ilk killing, lyng, skait, jd. ; 
 and for the turbet iiijd. ; and for pellock said derrer nor xxti. schillingis 
 xijd., and within xxs. vjd. ; and for ilk salmond ijd., and sicklike of all 
 vther griet fische." It would thus seem that the salmon was in those
 
 54 THE INCORPORATED TRADES OF EDINBURGH. 
 
 eiirlv times accounted of very little repute. In the recently published 
 Memoir of Sir George Burns, Bart, (tlie Patriarch of Wemyss Bay), it 
 would appear that upwards of 300 years afterwards the salmon was still 
 beino- regarded as a very common fish ; because, in his " father's native 
 town of Stirling, it vjas a customary stipulation by servants that they 
 should not })e fed on salmon more than twice in the week." 
 
 The duty of the flesher was simply to cut up the fish ; he w^as not 
 permitted in those days to sell or retail fish. The prohibition against 
 his doing so is as follows : — ''Item. — That na fleschour bye na fische to 
 sell and reerrait afjane, bot to brek thame allanerlie for thair fie as said 
 is, and handell thame honestlie." 
 
 A few years after the above ordinance of the Town Council, the 
 Fleshours applied for a Charter of Incorporation. Their seal of cause is 
 dated the "allewint" (llth) day of April 1490. 
 
 The circumstances under which it was granted are as follows : — On 
 the foresaid day there compeared in the Chambers of the Tolbuith of 
 Edinburgh, in the presence of the " richt nobill and worschipfullmen " — 
 viz., Thomas Tod, Prouest for the time ; George of Touris, James of 
 Cubing, and Thomas of Yhare, Bailies ; John Foular, dene of Gild ; 
 John of Teudy, thesaurer ; and "the laifF of the counsall" of the town 
 and burgh of Edinburgh ; and presentit a supplication and bill of com- 
 plaint — the following — viz., Richard Furde, "deykin" of the Fleschouris 
 for the time, Robert Gray, Johnne Coky, John Malcolm, eldar, Riche 
 Gray, Andrew Tait, Patrick Andersoun, John Malcolm, younger, Adam 
 Edgear, Androw Sillar, John of Fyfe, Johnne of Loche, John Towart, 
 Robert Gilry, Dauid Johnstoun, Richard Phillop, Dauid Airth, Gilleis 
 Ker, and others, the principal masters of the said Flesher-craft, desiring 
 the said Provost, Bailies, and Council of the town, that having regard 
 to tiie great trouble and vexation that the officers had experienced 
 hitherto by the " evill rcuU, multitude of dyuerssis persouns vnhabill
 
 THE FLESCHOURIS. 55 
 
 contenit in the burgli [qulia] sclander and blaspheme men of the toun 
 and the haill craft throw evill payment and vther wrangous iniuris and 
 deidis" used among the Craft, to the great hurt and prejudice of the 
 town and common profit of the same, that such things might be set 
 right and reformed by the Provost, Bailies, and Council of the town 
 with the advice of the deacon and principal masters of the Craft, by 
 passing such statutes and rules and ordinances as the said Craft thinks 
 expedient, with the advice of the said town. The which bill of 
 supplication and complaint having been openly read, heard, and seen by 
 the said Provost, Bailies, and Council, they therewith, in absence of the 
 Craftsmen, advised and considered the bill, and found it was profitable 
 and needful for the common profit — that amongst themselves for the 
 proper control of the Craft, that they should make certain statutes, 
 which the good town, with the deacon of the Craft and the masters of 
 the Craft should use, execute, and punish the trespassers as eff'eirs, 
 according to the laws of the burgh. 
 
 The said deacon and masters of the Craft then presented to the said 
 Provost, Bailies, and Council their desires, statutes, and rules, and 
 caused them to be read and considered in the Tolbuith, with the terms 
 of which said Provost, Bailies, and Council were advised. The tenour 
 of them is as follows : — 
 
 Tmjyrimis. — We the deykin and princiitale maisteris of the Fleschouris Craft within 
 this burgli, thinkis it expedient for the comoun proffeit that all vnfreeraan, laidies and 
 boyis, vsand our Craft be expellit thairfra bot gif he outhir v/ill be ane voniannis prenteis 
 or ane feit man, gif he can work for certane yeiris, efter the tennour of the auld actis of 
 the toun maid of before, sua that na man handill menis sustentatiouns wther at his stok 
 or vtherwayis, but honestlie be the maister him selff, or his seruand, or prenteis allanarlie 
 as effeiris, and nane vthers vnder the pane of xl s., the tua pairt to be raisit be the 
 officeris of the toun to the Kirk werk, and the thrid pairt to be raisit be the deykin of 
 Craft to the reparation of thair awin altar vnforgevin ; and sicklyk all the vnlaws of 
 thaif statutps viiderwritten beix'is.
 
 56 THE INCORPORATRD TRADES OF EDINBURGH. 
 
 2. "We tliiuk it expedient for the honour and honestie of freemen of this Ciaft, 
 that ur of small substance, quhill God refresche them, that thairfor sic a burges 
 bot ua vther persoun marrow liim with ane maistcr of substance, and lay his penny 
 to his, and sua far as it will reik the pennyvorths to be bocht betwixt them, and 
 they to dele thairvpon vyning and tynsell as efFeiris, and sua far as ilk pairt reikis ; and 
 gif this freemen gettis credence in the cuntrey of ony stufe, he to bring it to the 
 guid toun and sell it oppinlie in the mercatt, the said fremen first fyndand souerty 
 at the Craft sail nocht be blasphemit through his evill payment, nor yit the ofBceris 
 of the toun to be wexit for administratioun of justice, vnder the pane xl s. for 
 ane vnlaw to be disponit and raissit as first saidis be the officeris of the toun and 
 the deykin of the Craft for the tyme, 
 
 3. We think it expedient that the deykin and best of the Craft daylie serche 
 the Craft, gif ony of tliom owther byis slais or sellis ony infectit flesche or fishe 
 with or keippis rottyn purit beistis, cassin or deid be the selff, or ony ither in- 
 sufficient sustentatioun owther of fishe or flesche ; and quha that beis apprehendit 
 theairwith to be dejjryvit of his fredome, the guids to be escheit to the seik folk 
 in almous (alms) and he to be baneist the toun and Craft, by the officiars at thair 
 dise'retioun for evir mair. 
 
 4. Wo think it expedient that na freman of this Craft dele nocht be pairties 
 man with ane unfreman, becumis his guidis under cullour of his awin contrair his 
 aith, under pane of depriuand of his freedorae, and putting fra the Craft, and escheting 
 of the stufe that he coUouris. 
 
 5. That na flesche be brokin nor sauld in hiddillis nor in bak houssis, bot 
 oi)pinlie in the hie mercatt, quhair it may be sene and sercheit be the deykin 
 and the Craft, with ane ofiicer of the toun, that the fait may be sene and pvneist 
 and the guidis falteis to be escheit and delt ; and siclyk quhair ony nolt hydis 
 ur ony vtber infectit flesche bene brokin to sell amangis guid stufe to the Kingis 
 leidgeis, that stufe to be escheit, and the persoun pvneist at the discretioun of the 
 Provcst, Baillies, and Counsale, and be awyse of the deykin and the heidis men 
 of the Craft. 
 
 C. We think it expedient that na man of Craft, candlemakers, nor vthers, in 
 tyme to cum, but fremenis soneis of the Craft vse the Craft, and that can handill 
 in himsellT l)aith in slaing and breking as a Craftisman honestlie at his stok, and 
 as he lies been leirnit and brocht vp thairvvith vnder a maister, vnder the penalty 
 of xl s. and cscheitting of thair guidis as said is, and banysing of the Craft. 
 
 7. We think it fxi)euient that na man of this Cr.ift pas outwith the touu.
 
 THE FLESCHOURIS. 5*/ 
 
 nor send their seruands to by ony stufe fishe or flesche, beif, mwttoun, veill 
 lameis, swjne, nor kiddis, frae Pashe to Mydsomerday, that all beistis may be 
 in ply, vnder the pane of escheit; and gif a maister sendis his seruand to landwart 
 to fesche ony beisties to sla at his maister has coft himselff, and nocht be his 
 seruand vnder cwllour, he sail first certifie the deykin and vther maisteris of the 
 Craft that thai guidis was coft be the maister his selff, and nocht be the seruand 
 quhilk sail haiff authoritie nether to by nor sell. 
 
 8. That na maister ressaue ane vther manis seruand or prentois in seruise 
 quhill the islie of thair termes, and it be weryfeit (verified) to tlie deykin the tyme 
 of his leive taking. 
 
 9. We think it expedient that ilk prenteis desire of the deykin and maister that 
 lykis to vse the Craft that first thai desire and obtene the fredome of the toun, and 
 gif he [be] fund abill to be ressauit to the Craft, and to pay his dewteis to the Craft 
 and alter as eflferis. 
 
 10. We think it expedient that the deykins serche all falls, and to pvnishe tua 
 faltis, and the third fait to be pvneist be the toun with all rigour. 
 
 11. That na fleshe that hes [been] presentit [in] the mercatt tuyis and has tynt 
 the sessoun be put to the mercatt agane vnder the pane of escheit ; nor yit 'that 
 ony of our Craft by ony fishe fra the vyffies (fishwives) nor regratours of the toun 
 duelland in Leith. 
 
 12. That quhat persone of the Craft disobeyand the deykin in the vsing of his 
 oifice foirsaid, that ane officer pas and pvneis his persoun as eflfeiris, and quha that 
 beis obstinat to be put in ward quhill he amend the fait. 
 
 These statutes and supplication having been read, seen, and con- 
 sidered by the said Provost, Bailies, and Council, they found the same 
 consistent with reason, and for the common good, as well as for the 
 increase of " guid sheip, fish, and fleshe " in the town, as w^ell as for 
 good government of the burgh. They, therefore, ratified and approved 
 of the same, " in sua far as in them w^as in all thingis, according 
 to the common profi'eit, and in sua far with the help of God will 
 autoreis (authorise) the samyn." The Seal of Cause concludes with 
 the following : — " Written vnder the Seill of Cause of the said burgh, 
 in corroboratioun of the same, day year and place aboue written." 
 
 H
 
 58 THE IXCORPOEATED TRADES OP EDINBURGH. 
 
 It would thus appear that the restriction previously placed upon 
 the Fleshers not to sell fish, was removed by the terms of the charter 
 granted to them by the Town Council. It is interesting to note, 
 in connection with this privilege, that a union of flesher and fish- 
 mouorer in trade is now very seldom seen. Each of these, however, 
 is frequently found to combine with their own business that of 
 poulterer. It is also worthy of comment that although the fish 
 industry has always been a great institution in Scotland, it did 
 not obtain in the city of Edinburgh, in the olden times, so pro- 
 minent a place as to be among the incorporated trades of the burgh. 
 This fact is all the more remarkable when brought into contrast 
 with the London Guilds, where the Fishmongers' Company is one of 
 the oldest and wealthiest institutions of the Metropolis. 
 
 The form of prayer made use of, in constituting a meeting of 
 the Incorporation, was as follows : — " Almighty God, — Be Thou merci- 
 fully present with us who are here convened, and grant, we beseech 
 Thee, that our meeting together may tend to Thy honour, and to 
 the standing of this, our ancient, free and honest craft. Most Blessed 
 God, we humbly pray that no persons here present may endeavour 
 to promote their own private interest, to the prejudice of their 
 brethren or liberty of this Craft ; but as sworn brethren, conform to 
 our oaths, may we all, in one voice, honestly and faithfully proceed 
 in all doings as true members, united in one Craft, and in our Lord 
 Jesus Christ, to Whom, with the Father and Holy Spirit, be ascribed 
 eternal praise and glory — Amen." 
 
 Tlie following was the form of oath taken and subscribed by 
 each freeman, on occasion of his admission to the Incorporation : — 
 " Here I protest, before God and the Incorporation, that I shall be 
 a faithful brother of the Incorporation ; that I shall observe the 
 haill acts thereof, made and to be made, and shall not discover or
 
 THE FLESOHOURIS. 59 
 
 divulge what is done in the convening-house or meetings of the In- 
 corporation ; that I shall not colour unfreemen's goods under colour 
 of my own ; and shall obey the deacon and all his calls in relation 
 to the affairs of the trade ; and shall pay whatever shall be deter- 
 mined in case of my disobedience ; and shall not use any endeavour 
 to be free or exeemed from what shall be determined, otherways than 
 by application to the Incorporation ; and shall defend the officer of 
 the trade in the execution of his office ; and, finally, shall not do or 
 attempt anything hurtful to the interest of the Incorporation, under 
 the tinsel of my freedom. So help me God ! and by God himself." 
 It would appear from the Council Eecords that the sole right to 
 sell butcher meat in the market was strictly reserved to the Members 
 of the Incorporation. There is no information extant as to the cause 
 for any change, except what is recorded in the minutes of the Town 
 Council. From the terms of the minute, the statute seems to have 
 been passed on the 26th of October 1514, and the alteration took 
 place at the instance of the Incorporation itself. The terms of the 
 minute are : — 
 
 The quhilk clay, in presens of the President (sic), Baillies and Counsall, com- 
 perit the kirk maister and the laifF of the maisters of the flescheoures fremen and 
 burgesses within this burgh, and thair of thair awin beneuolent will, at the avyse 
 of the said president, baillies and counsale, thai haif consentit and grantit that the 
 vnfremen flescheoures sell their stufFe of flesche, beif and mwttoun, and vthers 
 siclyk stufe, peitenand to thair facultie vpoun the Sonday and Mononday as com- 
 moun fie merkat day is to thame, and in lyk wy is all vtheris fie merkitt tymes 
 sic as proclaimit fairis, to haif na vse of selling of sic stufe flesche, nor siclyke bot 
 on the said merket dayes and vther privilegeit tymes, vnder the paynis contenit 
 in the facultie of the towne grantit to the maisters of the said Craft of before. 
 
 There seems from the records to have been no provision for a public 
 slaughter-house, unless the following entry bears upon the subject : — 
 " 10th November 1545. — The Fleschhous is set to Laurence Tailliefere
 
 60 THE INCORPORATED TRADES OF EDINBURGH. 
 
 and John Levingtoun for the sowme of ten pundis ilk ane of thame 
 dettour for vtheris." If this was in reality a public slaughter-house, 
 under the authority of the municipal body, its arrangements did not 
 appear to give satisfaction ; because on the 9th August 1524, the Town 
 Council enacted an ordinance, along with the deacons of the various 
 crafts, and apparently with the consent of the general public, whereby 
 the Fleshers obtained the power to slaughter oxen and sheep on their 
 own premises, and to pay maill for the same under certain conditions. 
 The following contains the terms of the ordinance : — 
 
 The quhilk day, the bail lies counsale communitie and dekynnis of craftis discernis 
 and ordanis, and als thinkis expedient for the common weill of this gude toun, and all 
 our Sourane Lordis lieges reparand thairto, that all the lleschouris quhilk vsses the 
 land mercat, fremen and vnfremen that duellis within this toun, haiff full free facultie 
 and licens til slaa their stuf, nolt, and scheip, within thair awin houssis that thay pay 
 iTiaill for on Setterday and vther dayis neidfull, and to sell the samyn coinmoulie in the 
 mercatt till all our Souerane Lordis lieges on the tua mercat dayis lymmyt thairto, viz., 
 Sounday and Mononday allanerlie, without any stop or impediment to be maid to 
 thame thairfore be the Fleschour Craft or vtheris in thair names in tymes to cum ; and 
 ordanis that the Act maid to the said Craft of Fleschouris the ix. day of October the yeir 
 of God jm. iiijc. xxxxxvj. yeris banc na strenth force nor effect in tyme to cum, because 
 it wes vnderstandin that the samyn wes maid and is aganis the commounweill and 
 proffit of this gude toun. 
 
 The Town Council of the day seems to have employed an officer to 
 see that the behests of the Magistrates and Council were carried out in 
 all respects. On the 13th August 1524, they ordained that "Jhonne 
 Stevinsoun, fleschour," or the chieftain of the said Craft, should go with 
 their officer, through all the houses of the unfreemen of the Flesher Craft 
 and search them, and certify the authorities as to the same, so that 
 justice should be administered to them ; and if any of the unfreemen 
 " stcikis thair durris wilfullie" so that no entry could be had, the officer 
 liad authority Ijy force to obtain an entrance.
 
 THE FLESCHOURTS. 61 
 
 On the lOtli of October 1551, the Town Council passed an 
 ordinance that the Heshers should not sell tallow to strano-crs or 
 inhabitants of other towns, but only to their neighbours and the 
 candlemakers in the burgh, under the pain of escheat of their stuff, 
 besides a payment of five pounds to the " commonwarkes " and 
 banishment from the town. 
 
 From time to time other regulations were passed by the Magis- 
 trates and Town Council regarding the trade ; but these have not 
 as yet been printed in the volumes of the Burgh Records. 
 
 Fountainhall (1. p. 467) tells us that in 1540 "the Privy Council 
 allowed the landward fleshers to bring in their meat to Edinburgh all 
 the days of the week, and that the town appoint them slaughter-houses 
 at the North Loch side ; and discharges the town or the Edinburgh 
 Fleshers to exact any imposition from them." He then adds : — "This, 
 on the matter, dissolves the Fleshers of Edinburgh's seal of cause from 
 being a deaconry or incorporation." 
 
 Whether the slaughter-houses at the North Loch side, above re- 
 ferred to, were the premises well known among the older citizens of 
 the present day as "the shambles," at the foot of the Fleshmarket 
 Close, until these were removed, from the fact of the site having 
 been utilised for railway purposes by the Edinburgh and Glasgow 
 (now merged in the North British) Railway Company, must remain 
 a matter of doubt. The minute-books of the Incorporation of 
 " Fleschouris " seem to have undergone the fate of many of the 
 ancient records of our city. The following minute to some extent 
 shows this : — " 13th April 1773. — John Mellis, deacon, informed 
 the Society that the last sederunt book, which contained the minutes 
 of their proceedings from 12th September 1767, had been lost or 
 mislaid in carrying from the convening-house to the clerk, and that 
 every method had been taken to recover it, but without success ; and.
 
 62 THE IXCOlirORATED TRADES OF EDINBURGH. 
 
 therefore, he promised that a minute-book should be made out by 
 the clerk from the notes and materials in his hands from the date 
 mentioned ; and that the same when made out should be reported 
 to and examined by the Society, and if found right, that the same 
 should be approved of, and declared to be their sederunt book in time 
 comino-." This was agreed to, and the clerk was instructed " to 
 frame the minutes from the period aforesaid as justly and exactly as 
 could be done from the notes." 
 
 The new minute-book of 1773 contains the signatures of all the 
 members of the Craft at the time, and brings down the history of 
 the Incorporation to 14th December 1820. There is abundant evi- 
 dence contained in this volume to show that " the shambles " were 
 the undoubted property of the Incorporation of Fleshers. They 
 were disposed of to the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway Company 
 in 1844. 
 
 Previous to 1850 the Civic Corporation seem to have had no 
 proprietary interest in slaughter-houses. The slaughter-houses which 
 then existed were mostly in the hands of private persons, and were 
 scattered over the whole older parts of the city. Many of these old 
 slaughter-houses were kept in a deplorably filthy condition. 
 
 The removal of " the shambles " subjected the chief fleshers in the 
 town to great inconvenience as well as loss in the carrying on of 
 tlieir business. In 1849, a memorial, signed by a large number of 
 these, was presented to the Town Council, requesting the Corporation 
 to obtain Parliamentary powers for the erection of public slaughter- 
 houses. A bill was accordingly prepared with this view. It was in- 
 troduced during the session 1849-50, promoted by the Town Council, 
 and supported by the leading fleshers in the city. 
 
 The Bill, which was opposed by the owners of private slaughter- 
 houses, was passed by Parliament during July 1850, during the
 
 THE FLESCHOURIS. 63 
 
 civic reign of the late Sir William Jolinston. Proceedings were at 
 once taken for establishing the new slaughter-houses on an area of 
 ground of about A^ acres in extent, at Fountainbridge, and these 
 were opened for business during May 1852, when the late Mr 
 Duncan M'Laren was Lord Provost of the city. 
 
 By the terms of the Act already referred to, the property of the 
 slaughter-houses is vested in the Lord Provost, Magistrates, and Town 
 Council, who have the management of the undertaking. They frame 
 rules and orders for the control and regulation of the slaughter-houses 
 and those persons resorting thereto, subject, as in the case of the 
 markets, to the approval of the SheriJff of Mid-Lothian. 
 
 The Fleshers are entitled, within a specified time, to petition the 
 Sheriff with regard to the annual charges for management or the 
 accuracy of the accounts, and as to the periodical fixing of the 
 slaughter-houses dues. The decision of the Sherifi" in all these points 
 is final. 
 
 During 1889 the number of animals slaughtered was as follows : — 
 Oxen, 40,638; swine, 6095; calves, 7400; sheep, 173,127; deer, 88— 
 total, 227,348. The receipts for the same year were £4557, 4s. 6d., 
 while the expenditure was £4413, 5s. 2d., showing thereby a surplus 
 of £143, 19s. 4d. In the expenditure is included a sum of £1000 by 
 way of annuity to the City of Edinburgh, in terms of sections 12 and 
 18 of the Act of 1850. 
 
 It is proper to state that the old Incorporation of " Fleschouris " 
 suffered the fate of the other Incorporations when the privileges of these 
 were removed by Parliament. Their aff"airs were practically wound up 
 except for the annuities and other claims upon the body. The 
 remanent members still have a yearly meeting to appoint a deacon and 
 other ofiice-bearers. The deacon has still a vote in the election of the 
 Convener of Trades. Mr John Boyd Morham is at present the Deacon ;
 
 G4 
 
 THE INCORPORATED TRADES OF EDINBURGH. 
 
 Mr Alexander Henry Morham is the Treasurer ; and Mr John Hastie, 
 S.S.C. (of J. & A. Hastie), is the Clerk. 
 
 It is proper to note that for many generations all fleshers were pro- 
 hibited from serving on juries. This prohibition was long since done 
 away with by an Act of the Privy Council. 
 
 Although the functions of the Incorporation of Fleshers have long 
 ceased, the Craft is not without its representative in the Master 
 Butchers' Association, a very powerful company for the protection of 
 the interests of the trade. The same remark applies also to the Fish- 
 mongers of the city.
 
 THE INCORPORATION OF MARY'S CHAPEL. 
 
 HE Incorporation of Mary's Chapel, which at first included 
 only the Wrights and Masons, is at the present time the 
 strongest, most important and most flourishing of all the 
 civic organisations of former days. Its seal of cause dates back to the 
 15th October 1475. After that time the trade of the Coopers was 
 added on 26th August 1489. These grants were ratified by Andrew 
 Forman, Archbishop of St Andrews, on the 29th June 1517, and they 
 were confirmed by a charter of King James V. on the 12th January 
 1527. By a grant from the Town Council of Edinburgh, of date 18th 
 April 1633, several others Arts were added to the Incorporation. These 
 additions were confirmed by a charter of King Charles I., on the 8th of 
 August 1635 ; and by a Decree of the Court of Session, pronounced on 
 the 5th day of March 1703, there were added to the Masons, the Arts 
 of Bowyers, Glaziers, Plumbers, and Upholsterers — while to the Wrights 
 there were united those of Painters, Slaters, and Sievewrights, together 
 with that of Coopers already mentioned. In fact, the Incorporation of 
 Mary's Chapel includes all those who take part in rearing or making 
 beautiful an edifice. As the late Mr Dick, plumber, the poet laureate 
 of the Incorporation used to sing in one of his original compositions, 
 when referring to the body : — 
 
 What are the uses ? 
 
 Building our houses. 
 
 I
 
 66 THE INCORPORATED TRADES OF EDINBURGH. 
 
 The seal of cause originally granted to the Wrights and Masons 
 by the Town Council of Edinburgh, in 1475, had reference not only 
 to relif^ious ordinances, but also to the customs to be observed by 
 the Craft in regard to trade. In so far as religion was concerned, 
 the following are the terms of the Charter : — 
 
 Till all and syndry quhom it efferis quhais knawledge thir present lettres sail 
 
 cum. The Prouest, Baillies, Counsall, Dene of Gild and Dekynnis of the hale 
 
 craftismen within the burgh of Edinburgh, greting in the Sone of the glorious Virgine. 
 
 Wit ye ws in the honour worschipe and glore of Almychte God and of the glorious 
 vir'^in Sanct Mary, and of our patrone Sanct Gele, and for the furthering helping 
 eiking and suppleing of diuine seruice daily to be done at the Altar of Sanct Jhone 
 the Evangelist, foundit in the College Kirk of Sanct Geile of Edinburgh, and for 
 reparatioun beilding and polecy to be maid in honour of the said sanct of Sanct 
 Jhone, and of the glorious sanct Sanct Jhone the Baptist, to have consentit and 
 assi^nit, aud be thir our present lettres consentis and assignis, to our lovit nychtbouris 
 the hale Craftismen of the Masonis and of the Wrichtis within the said burgh, the He 
 and Chapell of Sanct Jhone fra the aid hers of irne inwarts als frely as it is ouris, 
 with all the fredomis proffitis and esementis thairto pertenand at we haf or may haf 
 richt to, nocht doand nor committand ony pi'eiudice or skaith to Sir John Scaithmure 
 or his successouris in his first feftment or priuileges that he has broukit or joisit of befor. 
 To be haldin and to be had the said He and Chapell of Sanct Jhone fra the irne hers 
 iuwart, with the pertinentis to the saidis Craftismen, the Masonis and Wrichtis of the 
 said burgli, and to thair successouris for euir, with power to edify big reparell and 
 put it ony pairt thairof to polesy or honour of the saidis Sanctis outhir in werk or 
 diuine seruice quhatsumeuir at the altar or vther weyes, nocht hurtand the auld 
 feftment. And the saidis Craftismen to vse occupy and aduory the said He as thair 
 avin proper ile, siclyk as vtheris Craftismen occupiis within the said College Kiik, 
 nocht doand ony preiudice to our patronage or to the auld feftment or to the auld 
 laus in the said Ile. And that the said craftismen sail adoury and haf the day of 
 Sanct Jhone the Baptist and to thig to the licht of the said Altar as vtheris dois 
 in the Kirk Yerlie. And this till all thame quhom it efferis we make it knawin be 
 thir our present lettres. And in witnessing hereof our commoun sele of cans of the 
 said burgh, togidder with the selis of Alexander Turing, David Quhytehed, Bartillo 
 Carols, balyeis for the tyme, and Alexander Richardson, sele dene of the gild, in tokea
 
 MARYS CHAPEL. 67 
 
 of gevin consent and assignationn to the saidis Craf tismen of the said He, be tlie handis 
 of the dekin for them all, are to hungin at Edinburgh the xv. day of the moneth of 
 October, the yeir of God j™- four hundreth sevinty and five yeiis. 
 
 The Seal of Cause, in so far as it was intended to regulate the 
 affairs of the body, in matters of trade and otherwise, was to the 
 following effect : — 
 
 Till all and syndry quhom it efFeris quhais knawlege thir present lettres sail cum ; — 
 The prowest baillies counsall and the dekynnis of the hale Craftisraen of the burgh of 
 Edinburgh gretin in God euirlestand, Wit your vniuersiteis that our comburgessis and 
 nychtbouris all the Craftsmen of the Masonis and the Wrichtis within the said burgh 
 quhilkis presentit to ws in jugement thair bill of supplicatioun desyring of as our 
 licence consent and assent of certane statutis and reuUis maid amangis tham self for 
 the honour and worschip of Sanct Jhone in augmentatioun of devyne seruice, and richt sa 
 for reuling, governyng of the saidis twa Craftis, and honour and worschipe of the towne, 
 and for treuth and lawte of the saidis Craftis profitable baith for the wirkaris and to all 
 biggaris, the qnhilk bill togidder with thair statutis and reullis befor ws red, and thair- 
 with we beand well awysit, considerit and fand that thai war gud and loveable baith to 
 God and man, and consonand to ressoun, and thairto we assentit and grantit tham thair 
 desyris, togidder with the He of Sanct Jhone in the college kirk of Sanct Gele to beild 
 and put to polesy in honour of the said Sanct, and for the sufFerage of devyne seruice, 
 and thir ar the artikallis and statutis at we haf approvit, and for ws in sa far as we 
 haf power. 
 
 In the first, it is thocht expedient that thair be chosin four personis of the best and 
 worthiest of the twa Craftis, that is to say twa masonis and twa wrychtis, that sail be 
 sworn e, quhilkis sail serche and sa all wirkis at the Craf tismen wirkis, and that it be 
 leley and treulie done to all biggaris. 
 
 Item, gif ony man beis plentuous of ony wirk or of ony wirkman of the saidis 
 Craftis thai to compleyne to the dekin and the four men or to ony twa of tham, and 
 thai persouns sail cans the scaith and wrang to be amendit, and gif thai can nocht the 
 prowest and baillies to gar if be amendid as efieris. 
 
 Item, gif ony persoun or persouns of the saidis Craftis cummis of newe after this 
 act to the guid towne and scha])is to wirk, or ta tak wirk apoun hand, he sail first cum 
 to the said four men, and thai sail examyn him, gif he be sufficient or nocht and gif he 
 beis admittit he sail lay downe to the reparatioun of the altar a merk.
 
 68 THE INCORPORATED TRADES OF EDINBURGH. 
 
 Item, that na master nor persone of ony of the Craftis tak ony prentis for 
 les termis than sevin yeirs, and ilk prentis to pay at his entre to the said altar 
 half a nierk, and gif ony prentis quhatsumeuir of the saidis Craftismen, or yit his 
 feit man, pasis away or the ische of his termes but leif of his master, and quha that 
 res mis the prentis or feit man, thai sail pay to the altar ane pund of walx the first fait, 
 the secund fait twa pundis of walx, the third fait to be pvnist be the provest and 
 baillies of the tosvne as efferis ; and allswa quhen ony prentisses has completit his 
 torrais and is warne out, he sail be examinit be the four men gif he be sufficient or 
 nocht to be a fallow of the Craft, and gif he be worthy to be a fallow he sail pay half a 
 merk to the alter and brouke the priuilege of the Craft, and gif he be nocht sufficient 
 he sail serf a master quhil he haf lirit to be worthy to be a master, and than to be 
 maid freman and fallow. 
 
 Item, gif thar be ony of the Craft that disobeyis or makis discord amangis 
 the Craftismen of ony of the Craftis, or that ony of them plenyeis apoun them sail be 
 brocht befor the dekynnis and oucemen of the Craftis, and tliai to gar amend it be trety 
 amangis thamself, and gif thai can nocht be faltouris to be brocht and pvnist be the 
 prowest and baillies of the towne for thair trespas as efferis. Alswa the saidis twa 
 Craftismen sail caus and haue thair placis and rowmes in all generale processiouns lyk as 
 thai haf in the toun of Bruges or siclyk gud townes, and gif ony of the Craftismen of 
 outher of the Craftis decesis and has na gvids sufficient to bring him furth honestly, 
 the saidis Craftis sail vpoun thair costes and expensis bring him furth and gar bery him 
 honestlie as thai aucht to do of det to thair biother of the Craft ; and allswa it sail be 
 lefull to the saidis twa Craftis and Craftismen of Wrichts and Masounis to haue power 
 quhatsumeuir vtheris actis statutis or ordinancis that thai think mast convenient 
 for the Ytilitie and proffet of the gude towne and for tham to statut and ordane 
 with awys of the liale Craftis and of our successouris, thai to be ratifiet and apprufit 
 siclik as thir actis, and to be actit and transsumpt in the common buke of Edinburgh, 
 hafand tlie samyn forme, force and effect as this present writ has. 
 
 The following is the deliverance of the Town Council : — " The 
 quhil kis actis ordinance and devys she win to ws and considerit, we 
 appruf ratifyes and for us and our successouris confirmis and 
 admittis, in so far as we haf power. 
 
 " In witncs of the quhilk thing to thir present lettres we haf 
 to aftixt our commoun scle of caus, togedder with the seles of the
 
 MARYS CHAPEL. 69 
 
 baillies of the said burgh for the tyme, in tykynyng of appreving 
 of all the things aboue writtin, the xv. day of October the yeir of 
 God jm. iiij" seventy and five yeirs." 
 
 The Seal of Cause granted to the Coopers, in August 1489, 
 permitting them to become members of Mary's Incorporation, is in 
 the following terms : — 
 
 Till all and synclry quhais knawledge thir present lettres sail cum, the provest, 
 baillies, and counsall of the burgh of Edinburgh gretin in God euirlesting, wit ye that 
 the day of the making of thir present lettres comperit befor ws sittand counsally 
 gadderit and for jugement within the Tolbuith of the said burgh, in the inner chalmer 
 of the samyn, thir persouns vnder written, Alexander Browne cowpar, Jhoue Richart- 
 soun, William Coupar, Jhone Jhonsoun, and Gilbert Turnour, masters of the Cowpar 
 Craft within the said burgh, and thair prersentit till ws thair supplicatioun and bill of 
 complaut makand mentioun that diverssis personis of the said Craft quilkis ar and has 
 bene of lang tyme obstinat and inobedient in obseruying and keeping of gud reuil 
 ordinance and statutis maid and ordaint of befor and confirmit be our predecessorires to 
 the maisteris of the wrichtcraft for the uphald of diuine seruice and augmentatioun 
 thairof at Sanct Jlionis altar situat in our College Kirk of Sanct Gele, within the said 
 burgli, and speciale in the withhalding and disobeying in the deliuering and paying of 
 the oukly penny to God and to Sanct Jhone and to the reparatioun of the said altar, 
 and als in the disobeysance in the payment making of thar prentis siluer at thair entre, 
 qiihilk is five shilling, to the reparatioun and polesy of the said alter, nor yit will nocht 
 pay thair dewteis at the wpsetting of thar buthis siclyke as the masters of the wrychtis 
 ar ordaint and statut to pay, considering the said Cowpar Craft is conformit to thairis 
 and bunden with tham to fulfill the reulis and pay siclyke dewteis to the Sanct and altar 
 as thai and thai lymmit togeddir, and [adionit] to gadder and inbring the samyn 
 dewteis and mak cowpt and rekynnyng thairof to thair dekyu and Kirk-maisters of the 
 Wrichtis as efieris, and siclyke as is vsit amangis vther Craftis of the said burgh, and as 
 auentis the outlandis folkis that the maisteris of the Cowjjar Craft complanit vpoun 
 lauborand and vsand thair Craft and practik thairof in this tovne, passand fra hous to 
 hous mendand and spilland nychtbouris wirk and stuf, hafand nother stob nor stake 
 within this toune, nor yit walkis nor wardis nor yit beris sic portable chargis with tham 
 as extentis and vtheris quhen thai occur, nor yit beand sufiicient in thair labour and 
 yerkmenschip, and thairthrow neuertheless hurtis and scaitliis the saidis masteris in
 
 70 THE INCOEPORATKD TEADES OF EDINBURGH. 
 
 thair fredomes and priuileges contrar to all gud reull ordour and polecy witbin burgh, 
 Quhampon the saidis masteris of the Cowpar Craft besoclit ws of remeid for the honour 
 and loving of God and Sanct Jhone, and the sustentatioun and wphalding of diuine 
 Bcruice at his alter forsaid, patrone to the saidis Craftis. 
 
 The Town Council, having received the request of the Coopers, 
 adopted the followicg resolution : — "The quhilk bill and supplicatioun 
 beand red herd and vnderstandyn and diligentlie considerit by ws 
 that thair petitioun was consonant to ressoun and to the lovage 
 of God and thair patrone forsaid, and als consonand to the commoun 
 proffet of the said burgh, we decret ordanis and dcliueris concordant 
 to thair resonable desyris and petitioun that all the poyntis and 
 articlis contenit in the statutis of the Wrychtis confermit be the 
 tovne be obseruit and kepit to the masteris of the Cowpar Craft, and 
 be tham in all thingis accordant to thair Craft, and quha that dis- 
 obey is tham that ane officer pas with tham and tak a poyncl of the 
 disobey a r, and mak penny [payment] thairof to the awale and 
 quantite of the dewteis awand to Sanct Jhone the altar and chaplane 
 thairof for the tyme, siclyk as vse and wont has bene, and that the 
 said officeris sail caus the masteris and ingadderaris of the said 
 dewteis to be answerit and obeyit theirvntill, and thai to mak compt 
 rekynning and payment to the dekin and Kirkmaster of the said 
 altar, and that all the laif of the Wrichtis statutis forsaid be obseruit 
 and kepit with tham and be tham according to thair faculte ; and 
 anentis the outlandismen quhilkis prevenis tham in thair labouris 
 and proffetis, that officeris pas with tham and forbid and put 
 tham fra the occupatioun thairof in this towne, bot gif thai mak 
 residence thairvntill, and be the masteris thairof, and to fulfill 
 the statutis aboue expremit as efferis, so that the disobeyaris be 
 pvnist be the officeris of the toune efter the tenour of the said 
 wrichtis statutis maid of befor and confermit be our predecessouris,
 
 MARYS CHAPEL. 71 
 
 111 witness of the quliilk thing, we haue gart append our commoun 
 sele of cans to thir present lettres of Edinburgh, the xxvj day of 
 August the yeir of God jm. fourth hundreth aughty and nyne yeiris." 
 
 It was the duty of the Craftsmen in troublous times, on the 
 requisition of the Magistrates and Town Council, to turn out, along 
 with their servants or apprentices, in defence of their homes and hearths. 
 The merchants also were enjoined to do the same, ''weill prouidit in 
 armour and wappinis, and ma gyf neid beis, induring in tyme foresaid." 
 The minute of the 27th May 1558, ordains "the officiaris to pas and 
 charge the dekynis of ilk Craft to consult and awys (advice) with the 
 remanent of the fremen of his occupatioun to see quhat nomer of men 
 thai may be furnising." The object of the call was to raise a local 
 army of citizens, to assist the constituted authorities "for resistance 
 of our aid inemies of Ingland, in cais thai persew this burgh." Every 
 deacon was enjoined by himself to " gif in the nomer that thai may be 
 in roll to the baillies and counsall vpoun Thurisday nixtocum, to the 
 efiect thai may knaw quhat the haill toun may do." 
 
 There was an ordinance passed by the Town Council on 30th May, 
 that no one was to leave the City, if there should be invasion, but 
 should take their share in defence, under penalty of having their goods 
 " escheit, confiscat, disponit and deltt to the wyffis and bairnys of 
 thame that sail happin to remane quhilkis beis hurt mutilat or slane 
 in the defence of the toun." They were also to be " dischargit thair 
 fredome, and banyst this toun for evir." 
 
 On the 10th June 1558 the Minute of Town Council is to the 
 following; effect : — " The saidis President, Baillies and Counsale ordanis 
 Dauid Grahame, dekyn of the Masouns, of his awyn consent, to giff in 
 the roll of the maisteris and habill men seruandis of the said Craft, on 
 Wednisday nixtocum, vnder the pane of wardyn," 
 
 On the same day, there was a roll submitted of the Merchants and
 
 72 THE INCORPORATED TRADES OF EDINBURGH. 
 
 their Servants, numbering 736 capable men ; and of the Crafts and 
 their Servants there were reported 717. The Surgeons, the Fleshers, 
 and the Members of Mary's Incorporation are not included. There is 
 no further notice of this matter in the Minutes of the time. 
 
 Like most, if not all, the other Incorporations, the proceedings 
 of each meeting were opened by the Deacon offering up the following 
 Prayer, which has been attributed to the pen of John Knox : — 
 " ! Lord, — We most humbly beseech Thee to be present with us 
 in mercy, and to bless this our Meeting, and whole Exercise which we 
 have on hand : ! Lord, enlighten our understandings, and direct our 
 hearts and minds, so with Thy good Spirit, that no partial respect, 
 either of feed or favour, may draw us out of the right way ; but Grant, 
 that we may so frame all our purposes, and conclusions, as they may 
 tend to the Glory of Thy Name, and all the welfare of our Brethren, — 
 Grant these things unto us, Lord, and what else Thou seest necessary 
 for us, and only for the sake of Thy Dear Son, Jesus Christ our alone 
 Saviour and Mediator, to whom with Thee, ! Most Merciful Father, 
 and the blessed Spirit of Grace, we render all praise, honour, and glory, 
 for ever and ever — Amen." 
 
 The following contains the words of the Prayer to be said before 
 dismissing the meetings of the Incorporation : — " ! Lord, — We most 
 humbly acknowledge Thy goodness, in meeting with us together at this 
 time, to confer upon a present condition of this world ; ! Lord, make 
 us also study Heaven and Heavenly mindedness, that so we may get 
 our souls for a prey. And Lord, be with us, and accompany us the rest 
 of this day, now and for ever more — Amen." 
 
 One great source of the success of the Incorporation has been the 
 scrupulous care which has been exercised in regard to the management 
 of its financial affairs, whereby its Widows' Fund has been carefully 
 preserved and augmented. At the beginning of the present cen-
 
 MARYS CHAPEL. 73 
 
 tury, the Membership must have been very large. Contests 
 frequently took place at election times, as to those who were to be 
 nominated office-bearers. This led to the contending parties gettino- 
 their personal friends and supporters to become Members of the 
 Incorporation. The strongest example of this kind on the records is 
 in relation to the election of 1809, at which time there were added, 
 within little more than a month previous to the election, one hundred 
 new Members, and a large addition to the Capital Stock. Since all 
 special privilege was abolished, the Incorporation has been continued, 
 like most of the others, only as a benefit society, the admission money 
 being based on actuarial calculation. The numbers who now claim 
 admission are becoming very few. 
 
 The laws of the " United Incorporation of Mary's Chapel," as it 
 is now designated, have from time to time been changed, according 
 to the circumstances of the times. The latest edition of these was 
 published in 1885. It provides for a General Meeting of the body 
 to be held annually, on the third Monday of October, for considering 
 and passing the Annual Accounts, and for the election of Deacons, 
 Treasurer and other office-bearers for the ensuing year. There are 
 also four quarterly Meetings held during the year, at the terms of 
 Martinmas, Candlemas, Whitsunday and Lammas. Extraordinary 
 Meetings may be summoned for special business, on the order of the 
 Deacons, or on a requisition addressed to them, or either of them, 
 signed by five members and stating the purpose of the Meeting. 
 There are two Deacons connected with the body. One of these 
 represents the mason craft, and the other the wright craft. They 
 regularly alternate in taking the chair — the Deacon of Masons taking 
 the precedence. Nine members constitute a quorum ; but, if unani- 
 mous, a smaller number may proceed to business. Both Deacons 
 have a vote in the Convenery. 
 
 K
 
 THE INCORPORATED TRADES OF EDINBURGH. 
 
 The old oath has been abolished for a very long time ; but the 
 Entrant must subscribe a declaration to the following effect : — " I 
 declare and promise that I shall faithfully keep, observe and fulfil 
 all acts, ordinances and statutes, made, or to be made, for the 
 utility and welfore of tlie United Incorporation of Mary's Chapel, in 
 all points, in so far as consistent with the laws of this realm." 
 
 The Incorporation is limited in the Investment of its Funds 
 to the purchase of heritable property, superiorities tmd feu-dutics, 
 Government or public funds, bank or banking companies' stocks, or 
 shares of the capital stocks of such joint-stock companies, or it may 
 lend out its funds on heritable securities, or in debenture bonds of 
 railways or other public companies, all as the members of the United 
 Incorporation, at any of its General Meetings, shall consider to be 
 elio-ible. 
 
 There are now only Kepresentatives of the Mason and Wright 
 fraternity, all the others having died. The Incorporation at present 
 owns a Hall in Burnet's Close, High Street, wdiicli is denominated 
 " St Mary's Chapel," but which is now let for religious worship. This 
 is not the original Chapel. The original Chapel was in Niddry's 
 Wynd, where for many generations the Members used to hold their 
 meetings. This most interesting and beautiful Chapel, by its charter 
 of foundation of 31st December 1504, which was confirmed by a 
 charter of King James IV. on the 1st of January 1505, appears to 
 have been founded by Elizabeth, Countess of Ross, and had its name 
 from its having been dedicated by the pious Foundress in honour of 
 the Virgin Mary. Some of the old furniture which used to garnish 
 the original Hall was transferred to the Trades' Maiden Hospital, 
 Rillbank, Meadows, for preservation at the time when the building was 
 purchased by the City Improvement Trustees under the Act passed 
 at the instance of tlie late Lord Provost Chambers, Among the re^t
 
 MARYS CHAPEL. 
 
 75 
 
 will be found several chairs (arm, devotional, and ordinary), and an 
 old oil painting representing Craftsmen of the Incorporation at work 
 in front of Holyrood Palace. It is not known by whom this work of 
 art was executed ; but it is regarded as a creditable specimen of the 
 period, and is decidedly quaint. 
 
 The present office-bearers are : — Deacon of the Masons, Mr Georo-e 
 James Beattie ; Deacon of the Wrights, Mr William Field ; Treasurer, 
 Mr Donald Walker Beattie ; Clerks, Messrs Macandrew & Blair, C.A.
 
 ■rii ■> 
 
 THE INCORPORATION OF SKINNERS AND FURRIERS. 
 
 I^^JHE Skinners (which included the crafts of the Furriers and 
 the Glovers) would appear to have taken precedence of most, 
 
 ?j^ if not of all, of the other Trades Incorporations. The first 
 iccurd of their existence is to be found in a document written in 
 mediaeval Latin* of date the 12th January 1450, in which they 
 request that certain statutes made by them for the maintenance of the 
 Altar of Saint Christopher, founded in the Parish Church of St Giles 
 of Edinburgh, according to the rule of the said Church, should be 
 forthwith engrossed by the common clerk, notary, and scribe of the 
 burgh, in the common book of the Gild of the said Burgh. It is 
 recorded that the request was complied with, and it was ordained by 
 the Provost Thomas of Cranstoun, and by the Baillies, John of 
 Halkerstoun, Mathew of Chambers, and Richard of Farnley, Adam 
 Cant, Dean of Guild, John Lamb, Treasurer, the Council and dusane 
 
 Pro altari Sancti Cristoferi fundato in ecclesia parochiali Beati Egidii de Edinburgh juxta formani 
 eiusdem ecclesie pro pellipariis artis subs'criptis in instrumento sequenti dicti vero pelliparii condideruiit 
 statuta ad sustentacionem dicti altaris vt jjatet per eiusmodi instrumentuni quiquidem pelliparii requi- 
 siuerunt instanter couimunem clericum notarium et scribam burgi regestare et inscribere dictum 
 instrumentum in libro communi gilde dicti burgi, et ita fieri decretum est per prepositum Thomam 
 de Cranstoun, et balliuos Johannem de Halkerstoun, Matheum de Canimera, et Richarduni de Farnele, 
 Adain Cant decanum gilde, Johannem Lamb thesaurarium, concilium et duodenam dicti burgi, tenor 
 vero instrument! sequitur et est talis : — 
 
 In Dei nomine Amen. Per hoc presens publicum instrumentum cunctis pateat euidenter quod 
 anno ab incarnacione domini millesimo quadringentesimo quinquagesimo, indictione decima quarta, 
 die vero men.sis Januarij duodecimo, pontificatus sanctissimi in Christo patris ac domini nostri domini 
 Nicholaij diuina prouidentia pape quinti anno quarto in mei notarii publici et testium subscriptorum 
 preHciitia pere-maliter constituti prouidi et honosti viri videlicet :—Willelmus vSkynner, Gillcri«t
 
 THE SKINNERS AND FURRIERS. 77 
 
 of the said burgh. The document, as translated into English by the 
 Editor of the Burgh Records, is as follows : — 
 
 In the name of God, Amen : Be it known clearly to all by this present public 
 instrument, that in the year from the incarnation of our Lord, one thousand four hundred 
 and fifty, in the fourteenth Indiction, in the twelfth day of the month of January, iu 
 the fourtli year of the pontificate of the most Holy Father in Christ, and our Lord the 
 Lord Nicholas the Fifth, by Divine Providence Pope, in presence of me notary public 
 and the witnesses subscribing personally appeared discreet and honest men, — videlicet : — 
 William Skynner, Gilcrist Turnebulle, Hugh Tod, Alan Skynner, William Staltt, James 
 Harlaw, David Littell, Thomas Yule, William of Cambusnethane, Edmund Skynner, 
 John Mathe, David Wilky, Thomas Salman, William Lachlane, John of Kympill, 
 
 Turnebule, Hugo Tod, Alanus Skynner, Willelmus Staltt, Jacobus Harlaw, Dauid Littill, Thomas 
 Yule, Willelmus de Camusnethane, Edmundus Skynner, Johannes Mathe, Dauid Wilky, Thomas 
 Salman, Willelmus Lachlane, Johannes de Kympill, Willelmus Ramsay et Andreas (blank), pelliparii 
 infra willam de Edinburgh, una cum consenssu et assensu obligati sunt in forma que sequitur videlicet : — 
 Quod [ad] seruicium et sustentacionem vnins capellani ad celebrandum apud altare Sancti Cristoferi 
 nouiter fundatum per supradictos infra ecclesiam Beati Egidii de Edinburgh et ad reparacionem 
 ornamentorum dicti altaris quilibet dictorum pro toto tempore vite sue ac secundum facultatem 
 bonorum manus adiutrices apponet. Item quilibet accipiens prenticium ad artem pelliparii soluet 
 ad reparacionem dicti altaris quinque solidos monete tunc currentis, ac etiam quod nullus prenticius 
 [per] quemcunque ipsorum accipietur ad dictam artem pelliparii nisi consimiliter obligatus fuit post 
 lapsum annorum sui prenticii ad libertatem vt supra manus suas adiutrices secundum facultatem 
 bonorum ad reparacionem dicti altaris vt supradictum est apponi. Item quod quilibet prenticius 
 antequam ad artem pelliparii recipietur jurabit et obligabitur vt quam cito venerit ad libertatem sui 
 prenticii quod non recipiet quemcunque prenticium ad artem pelliparii nisi ad reparacionem dicti altaris 
 vt supradicimus soluat quinque solidos et sic de similibus imperpetuum. Item ordinatum est quod 
 si contingat aliquam debatam discordiam aut controuersiam infra dictos pelliparios quoquomodo 
 imposterum [exoriri] ambe partes discordes determinacioni et ordinacioni artis sociorum eoruudem et 
 decreto concilii et doudene burgi stabunt et subibunt sine quacunque contradictione aut demanda, 
 ac vt etiam supradicta appunctuamenta inviolabilia perpetuis temporibus obseruent quilibet dictorum 
 pellipariorutn per se compari juramento obligatus est. Super quibus omnibus et singulis petiit sibi 
 fieri dictus Willelmus Skynner nomine communi pellipariorum tunc presentium et nominatorum vnum 
 vel plura instrumentum seu instrumenta per me notarium publicum infrasciptura. Acta fuerunt 
 infra ecclesiam Beate Marie de Campo hora tertia post meridiem anno die indictione meuse et ponti- 
 ficatu quibus supra presentibus probis et discretis viris dominis Alexandre Hundby, Johanne Moffat, 
 Johanne Hendirsone, cappellanis, et Thoma Broun, mercatore, cum aliis testibus ad premissa vocatis 
 specialiter et rogatis.
 
 78 THE INCORPORATED TRADES OF EDINBURGH. 
 
 William Ramsay, and Andrew (blank), skinners within the town of Edinburgh, with 
 one consent and assent, are obliged in manner following, videlicet : — That for the service 
 and support of a chaplain to celebrate at the Altar of Saint Christopher, lately founded 
 by the above-written within the church of St Giles of Edinburgh, and for the repair 
 of the ornaments of the said altar, each of the said persons for the whole period of 
 his life, and according to his means, shall put to helping hands : Item, Every one 
 receivin" an apprentice to the Craft of Skinners shall pay to the repairs of the said 
 Altar live shillings of the money then current, and also that no apprentice shall be 
 received by any one of them to the said Craft of Skinners, unless he has been in like 
 manner taken bound that, after the expiry of the years of his apprenticeship to freedom, 
 he shall put to his helping hands, according to his ability, to the reparation of the said 
 altar as aforesaid : Item, That every apprentice, before he shall be admitted to the 
 Craft of Skinnei's, shall swear and become bound, so soon as he shall come to the 
 freedom of his apprenticeship, not to receive any apprentice to the Craft of Skinners, 
 unless he shall pay five shillings to tlie repair of the said altar as aforesaid, and so in 
 like cases for ever : Item, It is ordained that if any debate, discord, or controversy 
 among the said Skinners shall henceforth happen to arise in any manner of way, both 
 the contending parties shall abide by and submit to the determination and judgment 
 of said matters by the brethren of the Craft, and to the decree of the Council and 
 dusane of the burgh without any contradiction or appeal ; and, moreover, that they 
 may observe the above-mentioned appointments inviolably, each of the said Skinner.«, 
 for himself, has been bound by a like oath. Upon which, all and sundry, the said 
 William Skynner, in the common name of the Skinners then present and named, asked 
 one or more instruments to be made by the notary public subscribing. (And ane Johne 
 Hogo preist in the dyosie of Criasquow is notar heirto.) These things were done within 
 the church of Saint Mary in the Field, the third hour in the afternoon, of the year, day, 
 indiction, month, and pontificate as above, in the presence of good and discreet men, 
 Sir Alexander Hundby, John Moffat, John Hendirsone, chaplains, and Thomas Broun, 
 merchant, with other witnesses specially called and required to the premises. 
 
 Connected with the above offer of the Skinners, to endow the altar of 
 St Christopher, it may be interesting to note that during the same year, 
 viz., 9th November 1451, King James II. granted a charter, under his 
 great seal, for removing the customs on skins and salt. The substance 
 of it is to the following effect : — For the singular favour he bore towards
 
 THE SKINNERS AND FURRIERS. 79 
 
 his 1)eloved merchants, burgesses, and community of the city of Edin- 
 burgh, in respect of the manifold free services rendered by them to His 
 Majesty, he granted and perpetually confirmed to the burgesses and 
 community, and their heirs and successors, burgesses of the said burgh, 
 that in all time thereafter, they should be free absolved and quit from 
 all payment of the custom of salt, and of the skins underwritten, 
 commonly called " schorlingis, skaldingis, futefellis, lentrinwcre, lamb 
 skynnis, tod skynnis, calf skynnis, cunning skynnis, otter skynnis, and 
 fumart skynnis." He also granted to the said burgesses and community 
 free power and faculty to sell, barter, or exchange, as well strangers and 
 unfreemen, as to any other persons whatever, and as well within his 
 kingdom as without, the foresaid wares of salt and skins, without any 
 custom to be paid by the said strangers or others whatsoever, in all 
 time coming, so that no custom should be paid by the strangers out of 
 said salt and skins, bought and purchased from the burgesses foresaid, 
 unless only the small custom due and in use to be paid by strangers 
 and unfreemen to the said burgesses and community off the said salt 
 and skins in former times. This concession was likely to have given a 
 great impetus to the skinners' trade. 
 
 The Seal of Cause granted by the Town Council to the Skinners is of 
 date 2cl December 1474, and is in the following terms: — ■ 
 
 Til all and sinclry quhais knawlag thir present letteres sal cum Tlie prouost 
 bailveis and consale of the burgh of Edinburgh greting in the Sone of the 
 glories Virgine : Sen it efferis to ws jiigis be verteu of our office to declar schew 
 and bere sutlifast witnessing to the verite of the thingis led pronunsit deter- 
 mit and ordanit be ws or befor ws in jugemeat, sa that innocentis be nocht 
 throu the hiding of verite hurt nor scaithit in our defaltis. Herefor it is that 
 to your vniuersite we mak it kiiawin and declaris that the daye of the makin 
 of thir presentis, in the chawmer of the Tolbuth of the said burgh comperit, 
 befor ws we sittand in jugement the craftismen of the Skinnaris of the self burgh 
 that is to saye John of Cranston dekin, Robert Haithwy, William Ramsaye,
 
 80 THE INCORrORATED TRADES OF EDINBURGH. 
 
 Thomas Salmund, Thomas Grahame, Thomas Frew, Robert of Duscon, Alaue Skinnar, 
 John Mathe, James Tod, William Tnimbule, Henry Haswele, James Greg, Robert 
 Lauerok John Scot, Thom of Havlawbankis, Robert Wilschot, Thomas Evinson, 
 Alexander Red and "\Mlliam Craufurd for thaim and in the name of the hale Graf, 
 presf-nt to ws thair bill of complaynt of certane thingis that was vsit amangis the 
 craftismen, quharthrou the tone had a sclander and lak, the Craft sustenit gret scaith 
 and hurt and the commounis dissauit, and als that diuine seruice and sufferage of Sant 
 Cristoforis alter is mynist, and reparatioun of the said alter nocht beildit nor helpit 
 efter the avis statntis and ordinance of the tone and of the said Ci'af b vsit of befor ; 
 and als anentis the dissobeying of thair dekin in the cummiug and gaddering befor 
 hym and the Craft quhen thai ar warnit, for the comonning and avising for the gude 
 of the hale Craft, and for stanching of deformaris and babillaries of the werk baith in 
 kirkis and in tone and for the reformatioun to be had of thir thingis and diuers wtheris 
 concerning and rying [referying] to the hale Craft. The quhilk bill beand in presens of 
 ws and diuerse cf the Craft red herd, and thair desire resonable considerit to the forti- 
 feing and obseruing of the said desiris and statutis vnderwritten we have assentit : In 
 the first, as tuiching the rasing of the Monondais penny of him or them at werkis thair 
 awin laubor, it is statut and ordanit be the dekin and the laif of the Craft witht awis of 
 ws that the said penny be rasit wolkly on the Monundaye outhir be the dekin or ony 
 at beis ordanit to gidder it, of al personis lauborand thair awin werk and quha that 
 dissobeyis the gadderar to pund hym thairfor quhil it be pait. Alswa that all personis 
 of the Craft sal compere befor the dekin and the Craft quhen thai ar warnit for the gude 
 of the sammin and quha that dissobeyis and absentis hym in the tym withoutin lief or a 
 resonable assonye he sal paye to Sant Cristoforis alter half a pund of wax. And alswa 
 quha that beis fundin or attayntit brekand schepe skinnis on the ryme sidis outher for 
 pf)yntis or for gait leddir, or at sellis the samin poyntis for raphell outhir in priue or in 
 a perth fenyeit and fals stnf the committer sal be broach and the stuf at is fundn takin 
 witht him befor the prouost bailyeis and consale of the tone, and thai sal witht avis and 
 ordinance of the dekin and four or five of the worthiest and best of the Craft mak 
 the said persone or personis to be pvnyst as efferis ; and richt swa of the bauchlaris 
 of the said laubour, outhir in the opin gate or in the kirk, quha at beis tayntit tane 
 thairwitht on halidais or werkdais the dekin sal rais on him for the first fait half a 
 pund of wax, the secund fait a pund of wax but fauour to the reparatioun of the said 
 alter of Sanct Cristofor, and the thrid tvra the dekin sal bring him and the werk before 
 the consale of the tone, and thair the prouost bailyeis and consale sal pvnis it witht avis 
 of the dekin and the best of the craft,
 
 THE SKINNERS AND FURRIERS. 81 
 
 The following is the ratification of the said Charter by the Town 
 Council : — " The qnhilkis nrticls and desiris we appruff ratifeis and for 
 ws and our successouris in sa fer as afferis ws or sa fer as we haf power 
 confermys ; and this til all thame quham it efferis we mak knawin be 
 thir oure presentis ; and for the mare witnessing hereof the common sele 
 of cause of our said burgh is to hungin togidder witht the subscrip- 
 cioue manuale of oure common clerc William Farnely at Edinburgh 
 the secund day of the moneth of December the yer of our lord athousand 
 foure hundreth sevinty and four yere. Farnly." 
 
 Another Seal of Cause was granted to the Incorporation of Skinners 
 and Furriers on 22d August 1533. It was to the folloMdng effect : — 
 
 Till all and sindry qnhais knauledge thir present letteres saltocum, the provest 
 baillies and counsale of the Burgh of Edinburgh greting : Witt youre vniuersiteis that 
 the day of the dait of thir present letteres comperit before ws sittand in iugement the 
 kirkmaisteris and the laif of the maisteris and brether of the Skyimar craft and Furrour 
 craft of the said burgh, and present till ws counsaly gaderit thair bill of supplicatioun 
 of the quhilk the tenour foUowis : — My lordis provest baillies and worthy counsale of 
 this guid toun, vnto your richt honorabill discretionis humlie menis and schewis the 
 kirkmaisteris and the laif of the niaisteris of the Skynnar Craft and Furrour Craft 
 within this burgh viz., William Akinheid kirkmaister, Stevin Bell, Henry Cranstoun, 
 Robert Huchesoun, Henry Lille, Johnne Gibsoim, William Loch, Thomas Bischop, 
 Johnne Huchesoun, William Scott, Robert Haithwy, James Ramsay, Thomas Clerksoun, 
 George Hammiltoun, Johnne Park, Andro Romannos, Johne Watsoun, William 
 Coldane, William Watsoun, William Wallange, Adam Wricht, Thomas Quhite, James 
 M'Lellane, Thomas Hervy, James Andersoun, Johnne Auld, Johne Fairlie, Thomas 
 Wischart, James Forat, James Huchesoun, skynnaris ; the names of the furrouris 
 Robert Bischop dekin, ]\iuid Ferry, Johnne Craig, Archibald Loiche, Ale^iander 
 Duncane, William Duncane, Adam Makcalyeane, Thomas Singiltoun, William Carnys, 
 Dauid Younger, Walter Somervell, Thomas Andersoun, Matho Cant, and Richart 
 Henrisoun, that quhare, first, for the loving of Almichty God, the honour of the 
 realme, the worschip and proffit of this gude toune and all oure Souerane Lordis lieges 
 and vtheris reparand thairto, and in exempill of vtheris and for the augmentatiouu of 
 divyne seruice at the altare of Sanct Cristofer our patrone of the samyn altare situate 
 
 L
 
 82 THE INGORPORATED TRADES OF EDINBORGH. 
 
 xrithin yoare College Kirk of Sanct GeiU of the said burgh, we desire that we micht 
 haue thir statutis, articulis, -.nid rewlis eftir following grantit and gevin till vs be youre 
 autorite quhairthrow gude rewle and giding may be had amangis ws of the saidis craftis, 
 baith maisteris and seruandis, and oure successouris tliairof in all tymes tecum, becaus 
 it is said be commoun autorite that multitude but rewlis makes confusioun, and for till 
 eschew tlie vice thairof, and to be eschewit in tyme tocum, we desir thir rewlis eftir 
 followand : 
 
 In the first, that sen all incresment of vertew practikis and knaulege standis in 
 glide begynning and foundment, and fra thinfurth to continew in vertew and perseuer- 
 ance to finale end, that fra thynefurth na maner of personis of the saidis craftis of 
 skynnaris and furroris be sufferit to set vp buth nor pull skynnis within this burgh 
 without he be first freman and burges of the samyn, fundin sufficient and abill in 
 werkmanschip and vthirwayis, and admittit thairto be the provest laillies and counsale 
 and sworne maisteris of the craftis, and than for his vpsett to pay, gif he be ane 
 skynneris son burges within this burgh ten schillingis, and gif he be ane vthir mannis 
 son to pay for thair vpsett the sowme of fyve pundis vsuall money of Scotland, to the 
 reparatioun and vphalding of divyne seruice at oure said altare ; and at na maner of 
 maisteris of the saidis craftis tyest hous [or] berbery any vtheris maisteris prentice or 
 servand ; and gif ony dois in the contrar he sail pay ane pund candill of walx, and 
 thaireftir als oft as the fait happennis at the discretioun of the i)rovest baillies and 
 counsale the persoun falctand to be pvnist ; and at ilk maister haldin buth within this 
 said burgh of the saidis craftis sail pay his oulklie penny to the reparatioun of 
 the ornamentis of oure said altare and sustene the preistis meit thairof as it cumis 
 about : 
 
 Item, that na fals stuff be sauld till our Souerane Lordis liegis vnder the pane of 
 half ane pund candill of walx to oure said altare als oft as it beis ouretane ; and at the 
 fals stuff be present to the provest baillies and counsale, and thai to remeid and reforme 
 the samyn as thai sail think expedient for the tyme ; and gif ony personis of the saidis 
 craftis intromettis or withhaldis the giulis of the said altare or craftis, and sustenis 
 pley thairintill, he to pay and deliuer the samyn with the expensis of his proper gudis 
 gif he be fundin in the fait ; and at the saidis kirkmai^teris and principall maisteris 
 of the saidis craftis that sail happin to be for the tyme may haif full faculte leif and 
 preuilege, with ane officar of the tovne to pas with thame for to poynd and distrenye 
 gif neid be for the taking rasing and inbringing of thir dewiteis forsaid to the susten- 
 tatioun and vphalding of Goddis seruice as said is, but danger stop or impediment, and 
 that all the maisteris of the saidis craftis that takkis ony persoun in prcnteis
 
 THE SKINNERS AND FUERIERS. 83 
 
 with thame sail pay to the reparatioun of the said altare the sowme of twenty 
 
 schillings : 
 
 Quharfore we humlie beseik youre lordschip and wisdomes, sen we ar twa craftis 
 and vnite oure self in cherite togiddir to the vphalding of Goddis seruice and for the 
 honour of this gude toune and profit of all oure Souerane Lordis liegis, and sen thir 
 oure sempill desiris and petitionis ar resonable and conform e to equite and are consonant 
 to the gude reule honour and polecy according to the vsis and consuetudis of grete 
 townis of honour of vthir realmes and provinces, that ye wald grant to vs thame ratifyit 
 approvit and confermit be yow vnder youre commoun sele of caus, in perpetuall memo- 
 riall of gude reule to be had in tyme tocum, with youre ansuer heirapoun we humilie 
 beseik. 
 
 The following is the Town Council's deliverance: — "The quhilk 
 supplicatioun and desiris before expremit beand red in iugemeut, and 
 we thairwith beand ripelie avisit, we thocht the samyn consonant to 
 ressoun, and thairfore ratifyis approvis and confermes the samyn for ws 
 and our successouris als long as thai salbe sene expedient speidfull and 
 proffitabill for the commoun proffit to the pro vest baillies and counsale of 
 this burgh that sail happin to be for the tyme ; and this till all and 
 sundry quham it efferis we mak it knawn be thir oure letters. In 
 witnes of the quhilk thing we have gart append to thir presentis our 
 commoun seall of caus. At Edinburgh, the twenty-twa day of the 
 nioneth of August, the yeir of God ane thousand fyve hundreth threty 
 and thre yeris." 
 
 Here follows attestation in Latin, as translated in the Burgh 
 Records : — * 
 
 This is a true and undoubted copy of the principal letter of statutes 
 
 * Hec est vera et indubitata copia priucipalis litere, statutorum communitati PelliiDariorum et 
 Foderatorum burgi de Edinburgh per prepositum balliuos et communitatem eiusdem eiis concessis, 
 et per eosdem roborate et confirmate sub eorum communi sigillo, fideliter copiate et coUationate per 
 me notarium publicum subscriptum nil addito vel remote quod facti substanciam mutaret aut intellectum 
 variaret, sub meis signo et subscriptione manualibus. 
 
 Ita est, Andreas Richartsoun notarius publicus nianu propria premissa asseruit.
 
 84 THE INCORPORATED TRADES OF EDINBURGH. 
 
 to the community of Skinuers and Furriers of the burgh of Edinburgh, 
 granted to them by the Provost, Bailies, and Community of the same, 
 and by them ratified and confirmed under their common seal, faithfully 
 copied and collated by me, notary-public subscribing, under my sign 
 and subscription manual, nothing being added or taken away which 
 could change the substance of the deed or vary its meaning. So it is. 
 Andrew Richartsouu, notary public, certifies the premises with his own 
 hands. 
 
 Nearly a century thereafter, viz., during the year 1630, the Incor- 
 poration of Skinners approached the Town Council for an amended 
 charter, in which they desired to have certain regulations passed for 
 the better government of the body. This is the only Charter quoted 
 by Maitland, who had some difficulty in obtaining information as to 
 the Incorporation. It is to the following effect : — 
 
 1. Forsamekill as certane Brether of the said Craft, nocht having Regaird 
 of the Comoneweill, followand tliair awin privat Lucre, hes ressavit ane Multi- 
 tude of Prenteisis of ther awin Appetyfc, quhilk they could nocht be abill to 
 undertak be instructing of them in the said Craft, and susteinin of them as they 
 aucht to do. 
 
 For Remeid tlierefor, to statute and ordane, that it sail nocht be lesum in Tyme 
 cuming to any Brother of the said Craft, to ressave ano new Prenteiss, quhill the first 
 zcir of the last Prenteis quhilk he ressavit immediatlie befoii", be compleitlie outrown, 
 and that under the Payne of Fyve Pund to be payet to the Collectouris of the Townis 
 Unlawis, in the name of the Towne, so often as they failze, the Buithe to be closet and 
 steikit up, and nocht be sufficient to work quhill the sam be reformit. 
 
 2. That na Maister ressave in Service any Servand of the said Craft, that hes 
 nocht bene ane Prenteis with ane frie Maister within this Burgh, except he first cum 
 with the Deykin and quates Maister being for the Tyme, and caws him be buiket in the 
 Townis Buikis, to be ane bound Servand for the space of thrie Zeirs, efter the quhilk 
 thrie Zeirs outrown, the said Servand sail be frie to serve quhair he pleisis, with ony 
 frie Maister within tlio Towne; and this to eschew the Abuse that hes been throw the 
 Multitude of Servandis daylie resorting and repairing within this Burgh, and lernin of 
 the said Occupation ; and therefter passing furthe therof, to remaine quhair they plcis
 
 THE SKINNERS AND FURRIERS. 85 
 
 under the Pane of Fourtie Schillings to be payet to the said Maister, so oft as he 
 failzeis, as said is. 
 
 3. That nane of the Maisters of the said Craft ressave in Service ony uther 
 Maister's Prenteis, without the said Prenteis or Servand first have satisfiet the last 
 Maister for his Service, and have obtenit his Discharge therupone, at the least, without 
 he have ane sufficient Caws, knawin and tryet to leave his Maister foresaid, under the 
 Pane foresaid. 
 
 4. That na Prenteis of the said Craft shall be ressavit or admittit to his Upset 
 and Friedome, without he have servit for the Space of thrie Zeirs at the leist, efter the 
 utrunning of his Prenteischip with sum frie Maister, that he may be the mair abill, and 
 that he may serve oure Soverane Lordis Lieges. 
 
 5. That na Skinner Wark be sauld within this Burgh upon the Hie-streites or 
 other publict Places outwith Buithis, except upone the Monondayis Market, upone 
 Paine of Escheit of the same to the good Tpwnis Use. 
 
 6. That nane be admittit nor ressavit Frieman of tlie said Craft, except first he 
 give his Assey to the Deykin and Craft, and suche as they sail appoynt thereto ; and 
 that the samyn be fund sufficient be thame, utherwayis nocht to be maid Frieman. 
 
 7. That the Provest and Baillies, at the Desyre of the Deykins, or any Brother 
 of the said Craft, sail put the said Articles to Executione, and reforme all uther Enor- 
 mities of the said Craft, and gif Command to thair Officers to that Effect. 
 
 The following is the Town Council's deliverance upon the 
 same : — " Quhilk Articles beand read and considerit, after lang Con- 
 ference and Consultation had thereupone, and therwith beand ryplie 
 advyset, the said Provest, Baillies, and Counsall, and Deykins of 
 Craftis findes the same mest ressonabill, lawfull, and profitabill for 
 the Honor, Weill, and Profit, and Pollicie of the said craft, and there- 
 fore rattifies and approvis the samyn haill Clausis and Circumstances 
 thereof, be thir Presentis interponiug their Authoritie thereto ; and 
 decerning thame to be observit and Keipet in all Tyme cuming, with 
 a Command to the Officiars present and to cum, to the samyn, to 
 dew Executione in all Poyntis agains the Contraveners and Brekkers 
 therof, and to uplift the Paynes contenet therin, to be imployet in 
 Maner above mentionat."
 
 86 THE INCORPORATED TRADES OF EDINBURGH. 
 
 The above Charter was confirmed on the 26th November 1630, by 
 the Town Council, subject however to the following restrictions : — 
 
 1. "That none of the Trade presume to brock Sheep-skins on the 
 Rim or Flesh-side, either for Points or Gaitt-leather, or to sell the same 
 for Raphall, under the Pain of Punishment, at the Discration of the 
 Town's Council, by the Advice of the Deacon and Brethren of the 
 Craft. 
 
 2. " That none presume to sell a bad commodity, under the Pain of 
 an arbitrary Punishment as aforesaid. 
 
 3. " That no member of the Corporation presume to bachill any 
 Wark in the Gaitt or in the Kirk, neither on Holy-days or Wark-days, 
 on the Penalty aforesaid. 
 
 4. " That no Person hang up Bachall or Exampill of his Work to 
 publick view w^ithin the Town, or hang out the Sign of the Glove before 
 his Shop, unless he be a Freeman of the Company. 
 
 5. " That no Freeman of the Corporation shall take upon him to 
 alum, grow, or lime Sheep, Kid, Lamb or Calve Skins, or peel the Wool 
 from ofi" the same for Sale ; except such as belong to Paul's Worh, and 
 others wlio hereafter may be permitted by the Common Council. 
 
 6. " That no Unfreeman presume to wash, collour, Buttoun, or 
 dress any Gloves, or work with Sheers, Needles, Grind-stones, or other 
 Implement belonging to the Craft or Art of Skinners, except such as 
 have bought Gloves by way of Merchandise, who may help or mend 
 unmarketable Goods. 
 
 7. "That no Unfreeman sell any Sort of Gloves, within Edin- 
 burgh, but on the Market-days. 
 
 8. "And for the better avoiding Frauds in Skins, all Persons are 
 strictly injoined to bring the Skins with the Carcasses to Market, to be 
 openly sold, being first searched, under the Pain of Forfeiture; and
 
 THE SKINNERS AND FURRIERS, 87 
 
 the said Skins to have the Wool on, tinder the Pain of Forty pennies 
 for each Skin which is either pulled or cut. And to prevent all ingross- 
 ing and clandestine Bargains, all Persons that shall buy Skins out of 
 the Market-place, shall be amersed in the sum of Ten Pounds Scotish, 
 and the Seller in Five Pounds of the same Money. 
 
 9. " That no Unfreeman presume to make Gloves, exercise the 
 Trade of a Glover, or hang out a Sign before or in his Shop, relating to 
 the Craft, within Edinburgh," 
 
 Some difficulty afterwards arose among the members of the 
 Incorporation, on account of many of the Skinners' workhouses having 
 been transferred to the banks of the Water of Leith, lest they should 
 lose their right of citizenship and the privileges flowing therefrom. 
 The result of it was the granting of a Deed of Obligation on the part 
 of the Members of the Craft, to the Town Council of Edinburgh, so 
 as to avoid the necessity of raising an Action of Declarator in the 
 Court of Session. This was done on the 22d June 1765. 
 
 The deed narrates that the business or craft consists of two 
 branches: — the one of manufticturing various skins into leather or furs, 
 and therefore named Skinners and Furriers ; and the other of manufac- 
 turing the leather or furs into gloves, breeches, muffs, and the like, 
 and therefore named Glovers. The Glover Craft, with their families 
 and servants, resided within the city's bounds, while the Skinners had 
 to betake themselves to a running stream, and past the memory 
 of man they had their workhouses at the Water of Leith. They 
 alleged that the great improvements they were constantly making in 
 their business necessitated close attention to their workhouses, and 
 that for some years past they and their families and servants had 
 dwelt near to their works, and had notwithstanding this enjoyed all 
 the privileges of the Incorporation. But doubts having arisen as to 
 the legality of their position, it was with a view of solving the
 
 88 THE INCORPORATED TRADES OF EDINBURGH. 
 
 difficulty that the Deed of Obligation was granted. The Deed bound 
 all the parties to be subject to the jurisdiction and laws of the city of 
 Edinburcrh, and to all Acts and Regulations of the Magistrates and 
 Town Council, and of the Guildry and Convenery, and of our own 
 Corporation of Skinners and Furriers, and to be subject to all services, 
 burdens, and taxations imposed by the Stentmasters, as if their actual 
 residence were in the city. The Skinners' Hall, or the Weigh-house of 
 Edinburgh, were to be held as the domiciles for all citation purposes, 
 and that a schedule or copy of citations affixed on a conspicuous 
 place on the inside of the wall of either of these buildings should be 
 deemed good service, and as effectual as if it were delivered at one's 
 dwellincr-house. 
 
 One of the first statutes of the Town Council preserving the 
 rights of the Skinners to sell their skins in the Market is as follows: — 
 "15th May 1530. — The quhilk day, the Provest, Baillies, and 
 Counsall statutis and ordanis and als commandis and chargis that 
 na maner of brokharis nor forstallaris of woll, hydis nor skyn, man 
 nor woman, be fund nor sene on the Merket day in the place quhar 
 ony woll, hyd or skyn are to sell, nother spekand, standand, nor 
 commondand with the sellaris tharof in na tyme to cum, vnder the 
 pain of," etc. 
 
 Another statute, of date January 24, 1532, prohibits a flesher 
 from buying skins for sale. It is to the following effect : — " The 
 quhilk day, in presens of the Provest, Baillies and Counsall, Jhonne 
 Lawsoun, flcshour, comperit and granttit that he sauld and delieurit 
 to Alexander Mauchane the xj scheip skynnis, and oblist him to 
 warrand the said Alexander thairof at all handis, as accordis vpoun 
 the law, and als the said Jhonne oblissis him of his awin consent 
 neuir till by onye skinnis till sail agane to ony merchand, vther nor 
 his awin slauchter, vnder the pane [of] banissing the toun,"
 
 THE SKINNERS AND FURRIERS. 89 
 
 The ancient Market for the sale of Hides and Skins was at the 
 Tolbooth, but on the 11th February 1558, it was shifted. The Town 
 Council's order was that it should be " sett and haldin beneth the 
 Salt Trone, betuix Walter Scottis Close and Nudries Wynd on bayth 
 sidis, induring the townis will allanerlie, and that for guid caussis, 
 considerationis and motives moving thaim thairto, at this instant 
 tyme, and that officeris put this present act to execution with all 
 dilio-ens." There is a further Act of Council to the followino- effect- — 
 ''4th Sept. 1559. — The Baillies and Counsall foirsaid ratefeis and 
 apprevis the Act made of befoir for doun taking of the skyn merkatt 
 fra the place quhair the samyn wes vsit to be had to the Freir Wynd 
 held, and fra thyne furthe to the Nether Bow, and ordanis the samyn 
 to iudure efter the tenour of the said act, and the samyn to be putt 
 to executioun in all poyntis, and all persons havand skynnis to sell to 
 keip mercatt in the place foirsaid, vnder the pane of escheitting of 
 the samin." 
 
 The Furriers seem never to have been erected into an Incorpora- 
 tion, although there are most unmistakable proof of their having at an 
 early period exercised considerable sway among the various arts. They 
 were not without cause of complaint ; and they sought redress at the 
 hands of the Town Council of the period. For example, on the 7th 
 of September 1593, they state that "it is not unknown to them (the 
 Council) that they are an ancient Free Craft, with as old liberties and 
 privileges as any other occupation within Edinburgh, paying Scot 
 and bearing Lot with the rest of the inhabitants ; but of late are greatly 
 decreased both in the number of their members and the profits of their 
 trade, chiefly occasioned by the Skinners and Tailors practising divers 
 branches of their business ; " which being taken into consideration by 
 the said Town Council, they hereby strictly enjoined all persons, not 
 being freemen of the Furrier Craft, that they do " not fur cloaks or 
 
 M
 
 90 THE INCOKrORATED THADES OF EDINBURGH. 
 
 ffowns, nor dress Lamb-skins or Scliorlings, under the Penalty of 
 Forty Shillings Scotish Money for each offence." 
 
 This order of the Corporation was not found to answer the desired 
 end; because on the 5th of April 1665, another Representation came 
 before the Lord Provost, Magistrates and Town Council, to the effect 
 "That there are sundrie Persones within this Burgh, Cannogait, Town 
 of Leitli, Barronies of Portsburgh and Broghtoun, who take upon them 
 the Exercise of the Furriers' Trade within the said boundis, being Un- 
 freemen in calling, as making of Muffs, furring of Coats and Caps, and 
 w^orking of furred skins, and hanging out of the saymn in open view 
 for sellino- thairof." The Narrative goes on to say that such conduct 
 causes His Majesty's lieges to be abused ; the Craft injured by being 
 disenabled and frustrated from receiving those benefits which should 
 belong to them ; that it is contrary to all equity and reason, and to the 
 liberty of Free Burghs, and their " awin auld Pichts and Privileges 
 who have been a Calling of ane very antient Standing within Burgh." 
 
 The Representation further proceeded to desire that the Town 
 Council would prohibit and discharge any person or persons whom- 
 soever to use or exercise the said Art of Furrier Craft, as making of 
 Muffs, furring of Coats or Caps, working of furred Skins, and hanging 
 out in open view for sale, or using any other point of the said Calling 
 within this burgh and liberties thereof, in all time coming, under the 
 penalty of Twenty Pounds, toties quoties ; the one half to be paid to 
 the Magistrates and the other half to the use of the Craft, — besides 
 imprisoning their persons at the discretion of the Magistrates. It 
 then desired a general concurrence, that the Deacon and his successors 
 should " searche, seik, take, and apprehend all such Persones and their 
 Warke within the said Boundis, who sail be found Transgressors ; and 
 the Baillies to punishe the Transgressors according to their Fault, as 
 the said Supplicatioun in itself at mair Lenth beires," 
 
 i
 
 THE SKINNERS AND FURRIERS. 91 
 
 The Lord Provost, Magistrates and Town Council, taking into 
 consideration the fact that the supplication and desire of the Furriers 
 was reasonable, passed the following resolution: — "They doe heirby 
 prohibite and discharge all Unfriemen, or any uther Persone whatsom- 
 ever, to use and exerce the said Furrior Craft, as making Muffs, furring 
 of Coatts or Caps, working of furred Skinns, or hinging out of the samen 
 in open view for selling, or useing any uther Poynt of the Calling 
 within this Burgh or Liberties thereof in na Tym comeing under the Pain 
 of Twentie Pund, toties quoties ; the ane Halfe to be payit to the 
 Magistratts and the uther Halfe to the Calling, besyde the Imprisonment 
 of their Persones at the Discratioune of the Magistratts. And siklyk, 
 gives generall Concurrance to the present Deaken and his Successors, 
 Deakens of the said Calling, to imploy Officars to searche, seik, take and 
 apprehend all such Persones and thair wark within the said Boundis, 
 who sail be found Transgressors ; and the Baillies of the Boundis to 
 punish the Transgressors according to their Fault, as said is ; whereanent 
 thir Presents sail be their warrand." 
 
 It will be observed that the first notice of the Furriers being 
 included in the Incorporation of the Skinners is in the Seal of Cause 
 granted to that body by the Town Council on 22d August 1533, which 
 bears to be " Seal of Cause to the Skinners and Furriers." Again in the 
 Deed of Obligation already referred to as having been granted on the 
 22d June 1765, the tenor is as follows: — "The business or Craft 
 consists of two branches : — the one of manufacturing various skins into 
 leather or furs, and thereby named Skinners and Furriers," etc. It 
 would appear, therefore, that down to this date there was no separate 
 Incorporation of the Furriers. They seemed to have gone straight to the 
 Town Council with their complaints. Another case of this kind occurs 
 on 5th April 1665. This complaint has not been published by the 
 Burgh Records Society. It is probable that it was like the one of
 
 92 
 
 THE INCOKPORATED TRADES OP EDINBURGH. 
 
 1593: because the Deed of Obligation of 1765, being one hundred 
 years afterwards, states specifically that the Skinners and Furriers 
 were Members of the same Incorporation. 
 
 The following is the Prayer which is regularly read before 
 beginning the business of any meeting : — " Almighty God ! "Who 
 of Thy tender love towards mankind, hath graciously promised to 
 hear the prayers and petitions of those that ask in Thy Son's name, 
 we humbly beseech Thy blessing upon this our meeting for the 
 preservation of brotherly love and concord amongst us. And grant, 
 Lord ! that no malice, resentment, or selfish views may bias the 
 wills or influence the resolutions of any here present ; but that 
 Thy Good Spirit may direct, sanctify, and govern all our actions 
 and resolutions, to do always what is good in Thy sight, for Thy 
 glory and for the good and welfare of this society. And this we 
 beg, Lord ! in the name of our Advocate and Mediator, Jesus 
 Christ, Amen." This form of prayer has been made use of since 
 the year 1749. 
 
 The Incorporation had originally a Hall and other property 
 situate in Skinners' Close, High Street. But these were disposed 
 of in 1832. 
 
 Mr Robert Legget is the present Deacon of the Skinners, and 
 Mr Andrew M'Cullagh, the Deacon of the Furriers, is Treasurer 
 and Clerk. Both Deacons enjoy the privilege of voting at the 
 election of the Convener. 

 
 THE INCORPORATION OF CORDWAINERS (CORDINERS). 
 
 [HE word Cordwainer (or Cordiner, as it was eventually called) 
 was derived from the word Cordovan, a kind of leather 
 made of goats' skins in the city of Co7xIova, in Spain. 
 The Cordiners were, according to Maitland, at first erected into a 
 fraternity or Incorporation, by a Charter from the Town Council of 
 Edinburgh, on the 28th July 1449. That Charter had no reference 
 to trade purposes. It is not to be found in the City Archives, and 
 consequently does not appear in the Burgh Records which have been 
 recently printed by the Scottish Burgh Records Society. Like the 
 first Charter of the Skinners' Incorporation, which is of date the 
 12th January 1450, it had reference exclusively to religious pur- 
 poses. Each master of the trade who kept a booth or shop within 
 the town was enjoined to pay weekly one penny Scots, and the 
 several servants of the Craft one halfpenny towards the support of 
 their altar of St Crispin and Crispiani, within the Collegiate Church 
 of St Giles in Edinburgh, and the maintenance of the Priest who 
 officiated thereat. 
 
 Maitland again states that by a second Seal of Cause, dated the 
 26th November 1479, power was granted to certain masters and chief 
 men of the trade to search and inspect the various kinds of work 
 brought to the market by the Shoemakers, to prevent the people 
 being imposed upon by having bad work or inferior leather supplied
 
 94 THE INCORPORATED TRADES OF EDINBURGH. 
 
 to them. This Seal of Cause, likewise, is not to be found among tlie 
 existiuo- muniments of the city. Neither of these Charters are 
 produced by Maitland. 
 
 There is, however, a reference to the latter Seal of Cause in an 
 Act of Council, dated 6th December 1513, a note of which, to the 
 followiuo- efifect, is to be found in one of the volumes of the Burgh 
 Eecords Society. It refers to the same Charter, and is in the 
 following terms : — 
 
 They limitt and ordanet certane persouns, maisteris and oversmen of the said 
 Craft sworne in thair presence, quha suld every market-day diligentlie sercbe, visie 
 and sie all maid wark and barked ledder cummand and presentit in the market, and 
 if that they find sufficient till mark it ; and quhair they find fals feyngyeit wark or 
 barket ledder, the sercheris till bring it to the pro vest and baillies for the tyme, and 
 at the "will of thame to escheit the stufe faltive, and the persouns to pvneis as effeiris, 
 sua tliiiL the King's lieges be nocht dissavit, and that na sic stufe be sauld on the 
 market-day quhill the sercheris have visit the samyn. Nor yit that nane be stoikkin 
 up to sell quhill seven houris at somer and nine houris in wynter before none, vnder 
 the payne of escheit and pvnesing the persouns as said is. And that no outlands 
 folk dwelland without this burgh, nor unfreemen by any rwch hydes nor barkit 
 ledder, w4thin this toun, bot on the nmrket-day allenarlie, vnder the payne above 
 written. And attour, for certane reasonabill causis moving thair predecessours, 
 b lyth for honestie of the said burgh, and profit of the said stufe, maid wark and 
 others perteinin to the said Craft, they locat, limitt, and ordanet the market place for 
 selling of thair wark and vther stufe foresaid in the market-day in the Kowgaitt, fra 
 the new well to the Grayfreris allenarly, as at length is containet in the said letter, 
 or seal of cause. 
 
 The oldest Seal of Cause that appears on the records of the Burgh 
 is of date 4th February 1509. It is in the following terms: — 
 
 Tyll all and sundry quhais knawlege thir present lettres sal cum, the provest 
 baillies and counsaill of Edinburgh grt-ting in God euirlesting. "Wit your vniuersities 
 that the day and the dait of the making of thir i)resent lettres comperit before ws
 
 THE CORDWAINERS. 95 
 
 counsally gatherit — John Dauidsoun, Kirkmaister, Thomas Quhitehill, Nicholl Bynnyn, 
 
 Andro Qiihite, Alexander Willesoun, Peter of Murray, Williame Hamyltoun, Richert 
 
 Nicholsoun, and the laif of tlie maisteris of the Coz'dinur craft, within this burgh, and 
 
 presentit to ws thair supplicatioun contenand certane Statutis Articulis and Renlis 
 
 diuisit be thame and affermit be ws for the loving of God Almychty, the honour of the 
 
 realme, the wirschip and proifet of this guid toun, and the proffet of all our Souerane 
 
 Lordis Lieges and vtheris reparaud tbairto ; of the quhilk supplicatioun the tenour 
 
 folowis : — My Lordis Provest Baillies and worth! Counsaill of this guid toun, vnto your 
 
 honorabill discretionis licht humlie menis and schewis the Kii'kmaister and the laif of 
 
 the niaisteris of the Cordinar Craft within this burgh, that quhair tirst for the loving of 
 
 Grod Almychty, the honour of the realme, the wirschip and proffet of this guid tovne, 
 
 and the profFett of all our Souerane Lordis Liegis and vtheris reparand thairto, and in 
 
 exampill of vtheris, and for augiuentatioun of divine seruice at the altar of Crispine and 
 
 CrisiDyiniane situat within the College Kirk of Sanct Geill of the said burgh, we desire 
 
 that we micht half thir Statutis artikillis and reulis folowing grantit and gevin to ws 
 
 be your autorite, quhair throu guid reull and gyding may be had amang ws of the said Craft, 
 
 baith maisteris and seruandis, and our successouris thairof, in tyme to cum ; considering 
 
 it is said be commoun autorite that multitude but reull makis confusioun, and for to 
 
 eschew the vice thairof, and to be eschew it if in tymis to cum thir folowand ar our 
 
 resonabill desiris : In the first senc that all incresment of vertew practik and knawlege 
 
 standis in guid begynnyng and fundament and frathinfurth to continew in vse and 
 
 perseuris to finale end, that frathinfurth all maner of prentissis to be tane at the said 
 
 Craft sail stand in prentischip for the space of seven yeris and nales, without the 
 
 dispensatioun of the principale maisteris of the said craft, and specialie in fauouris of 
 
 the sonis of the said Craft ; and ilk prentis to pay at his entre to the reparatioun and 
 
 vphalding of divine seruice at our said Altar sex schillingis aucht pennis ; and that 
 
 nouthir thir prentissis nor nane vthir persoun of the said Craft be sufferit to sett up 
 
 buith within this said burgh without he be fundin sufficient habill and worthi thaii-to 
 
 in practik and vther wayis, and admittit thairto first be the sworne maisteris of the said 
 
 craft, and maid freman and burges of the said burgh, and than for his vpsett to pay 
 
 four merkis, except burges sonis of this tovne to pay twa merkis to the reparatioun and 
 
 vpholding of divine seruice at our said Altar ; and that ilk seriand sail pay his vlkly 
 
 halfjjenny to vpholding of divine seiuis as said is ; and gif ony man of the said craft 
 
 cummis nocht to the quarter comptis four tymis in the yeir als aft as thai be, thai bein 
 
 lauclifully warnit be thair seriand thairto, thai sail pay twa pundis of walx vnforgevin, 
 
 without thai half ane lauchfull impediment, and the saidis twa pundis walx to be delieurit
 
 96 THE INCORPORATED TRADES OF EDINBURGH. 
 
 to our said altar witliiu twa dayis efter the fait be notourly knawin before the said sworne 
 niaisteris of the said Craft ; and that na maner of raaister of the said Craft lift hous 
 herbery nor ressaue ony vther inaisteris prentice or seruand, vnder the pane of paying of 
 twa pund of walx to our said Altar vnfoirgeven ; and that ilk maister haldand buith 
 within this burgh of the said Craft sail i)ay his vlkly penny to the reparatioun of the 
 ornaiuentis of our said xVltar, and sustene the Priestis nieit thairof as it cummis about ; 
 and that the said Kirkmaister and ane certane of the principalis maisteris of the said 
 Craft that sail happin for the tyme sail liaif full faculte leif and priuilege witli 
 ane officiar of the toune to pass with thame, poynd distrenye gif neid be for the takin 
 rasin and inbringing of thir dewiteis forsadis to the sustentatioun and vpholding of God's 
 seruice as said is but danger stop or impediment : and gif thair be ony fre maister of 
 the said Craft that raakis impediment in the paying of his said dewiteis, quhair throw 
 ane officiar of this gaid toune may be haldin to poynd him, he sail pay the officiaris fee 
 for his laubouris als weill as the principale dewiteis that he is owin to the said Altar; 
 and gif ony Maister of the said Craft disobeys the Kirkmaister that sail be for the tymo 
 to pay twa pundis of walx for ik tyme he disobeyis vnforgevin to our said Altar : 
 Quairfor my Lordis sen thir our resonabill and simpill desiris and resonis conformis to 
 equite, and are consonant to honour and policy accordinge to the vse and consuetudes of 
 greit tounis of honour in vther realmis and provincis, that ye wald grant to us thame 
 and ratifeit and apprevit and conferrait be you vnder your seill of cans, in perpetuall 
 memoriall of guid reull to be had in tyme to cum, with your ansueir heirupoun we 
 humbiUe beseik. 
 
 The following is the deliverance of the Town Council on the 
 same : — " The quhilkis Artikillis, Statutis and Eeulis being red (sic) 
 hard and vnderstand and diligentlie considerit be ws that thai ar first 
 for the loving of Almychty God, and sustentatioun of Divine Seruice, 
 and for gud Reulis to be had in tyme to cum amangis thame of the 
 said Craft, in augmentatioun and supple of the commoun proffitt, for 
 to eschew misgidit wayis that has beyn vsit in tymes bygane, we haif 
 ratifeit apprevit and confermit, and be thair presentis for us and our 
 successouris ratifeis apprevis an confermis the samyn in all poyntis 
 and artikillis to the saidis maisteris and thair successouris of the said 
 Craft, in perpetuale memoriall in tyme to cum forcuirmair, and this to
 
 THE CORDWAINERS. 97 
 
 all quhame it effeiris we mak it knawin, be the tenour of thir our lettres. 
 In witnes of the qiihilk thing to thir our present letteres, our commoun 
 seill of cans of our said burgh we haif gart append at Edinburgh, the 
 ferd day of Februar, the yeir of God ane thousand five hundreth and 
 nine yeris.'*' 
 
 In so far as these Seals of Cause referred to religious matters, 
 it is right to state that all these ordinances and obligations were 
 abolished at the time of the Keformation, and the following Consti- 
 tution, which is now regarded as the chief Charter of the Incorporation, 
 was granted by the Town Council of Edinburgh, on the 1st day of 
 February 1586. Strange to say, although it appears in Maitland, it 
 finds no place in the Burgh Records Society's Volumes, and it may 
 therefore be assumed that it is not to be found in the City Archives. 
 The terms of the Charter are as follows : — 
 
 1. Forsamekill as the Predicessoures of the Provest, Baillies, Counsall and Deykins 
 of guid Memorie, diligentlie considering and understanding upoun the Supplicatioun 
 gevin in to thame be the Masters and Heidisraen of the said Craft for the Tyme, thair 
 Nichtbouris and Burgesses, that oure Soverane Lord's Lieges ar greitumelie skaithet and 
 defrawdet be insufficient Wark of ignorant Persouns, Lawbourirs, bayth in black Wark 
 and barket Ledder, be tharae daylie boucht and sanld within this Burgh, alsweill be 
 Friemen als Unfriemen and Owtlandsmen on the Wolk dayes, alsweill as on the 
 Maiket-dayes, the Friedome and Privileges of Burgesses destroyet thairthrow, contrare 
 to the Comnionweill. For Reformatioun thairof, be thir Lettres patent, under thair 
 Seill of Caus, limit and ordanet certane Persouns, Maisters and Oversmen of the said 
 Craft, sworne in thair Presence, quha suld every Market-day diligentlie serche, visie and 
 sie all maid "Wark and bai-ket Ledder, cummand presentit in the Market, and that thay 
 find sufficient Persouns to mark it; and quhair they find fals feyngzeit Wark, or barket 
 Ledder, the Sercheris till bring it to the Provest and Baillies for the Tyme, and at the 
 Will of thame to escheit the Stufe faltie, and the Persouns to puneis as efi'eiris, swa that 
 the King's Lieges be nocht dissavit : And that na sic Stufe be sauld on the Market-day 
 quhill the Sercheris have visit the samyn. Nor zit, that nane be strikkin up to sell 
 quhill seven houres in Somei', and nyne houres in Wynter before None, under the 
 
 N
 
 98 THE INCORPORATED TRADES OF EDINBURGH. 
 
 Payne of Esclieit, and punesin tlie Persoims as said is. And that na Outlandsfolk, 
 dwellaud without this Burgh, nor Uufriemen, by any rowch Hydes or barket Ledders 
 within this Toun bot on the Market-day allanerlie, under the Payne above writtin. And 
 attour thay, for certane resonabill Causis moving thair Predecessours, bayth for 
 Honestie of the said Burgh, and Profit of the said Stufe, maid Wark and uthers per- 
 teinin"' to the said Craft : They locat, limit, and ordanet the Market-place for selling of 
 thair Wark, and uther stufe foresaid on the Market-day in the Koicyaitt, fra the new 
 ^^^ell ta the Grayfrieris allanerlie, as at length is containet in the said Lettre of the 
 Dait, the sext day of December, 1513 Zeires. 
 
 The quhilks being of sic Antiquitie, and for ane Comounweill, the said Deykin 
 and Breter desyre thair Lordschips to ratitie, approve, authoreis, and allow in all Poynts, 
 and ordane the samyn to be observit, keipit, and obeyit in all Tyme cuming ; and to mak, 
 creat, and constitute the Deykin, and sex Quarter-maisteris of the said Craft, and thair 
 Successouris zeirlie, to be generall Searchers for paiting the samyn to execution be the 
 Assistance of thair Officeris, except and heirin the place of Market of barket Ledder, 
 to be in the nytlier Kirk-zaird, quhair the samyn is presentlie plaicit, induring the 
 Townis Will allanerlie ; and that it sail be lesum to the Burgesses of this Burgh and 
 Friemen to sell thair barket Ledder, at all Tymes, the samyn beand guid and sufficient 
 Stufe. 
 
 2. For putting Remeid to the present Derth, and eschewing the lyke in Tyme 
 cuming, that all Forestallers, Regraiteris, and Cowpeiis of barket Ledder be discharget ; 
 and do statute and ordane, that na Maner of Persouns present any barket Ledder to the 
 Market, bot sic as buyes the samyn rowch, and barkis the samyn be thameselffis or thair 
 Servands ; and that nane of the said Ledder be huirdet or keijiet in Housses, but be 
 brocht altogidder to the Market, at the Houres before mentioned, that the samyn may 
 be tryet be the Serchers to be sufficient Stufe to serve the King's Lieges, under the 
 Payne of escheiting of the said Ledder ; and that the Friemen of the said Craft be 
 nocht sufferit to sell insufficient Stufe mair than the Outlandsmen. Thairfore, that 
 they lykewayes that bark any Ledder within this Burgli, present thair barket Ledder 
 or ane resonabill Pairt thairof to the Common Market appoyntit ; to the effect that the 
 samyn may be serchit and markett as the Outlandsmens Ledder is, under the Payne 
 foresaid. 
 
 3. That na Unfrieman cum to the Market to by any Ledder before elevin Houres 
 be past, to the effect that Friemen may be first stockit that beirs portabill Chairges, 
 under the Payne of wairding of the said Unfrieman, and paying of an unlaw of Twintie 
 Schillingis.
 
 THE CORDWAINERS. 99 
 
 4. That all maid Stufe be presentit to the Market, and be sauld to the Lawboreris 
 thairof, or thair Servands, that the samyn may be tryet, gif it be sufficient or nocht 
 for serving the King's Lieges, be the serchers foresaid, and the insufficient Wark 
 escheitt. And that all Wark unsauld be removit at twelf Houres every Mononday 
 conforme to the auld Ordour, under the Payne of Fourtie Schillings. 
 
 5. That na Unfrieman bring any Buits or Schone, or uther maid Wark to 
 sell within the Friedom of this Burgh, bot on the Monondayes, and present the 
 samyn to the Market in Tyme and Place appoyntit, under the Pain of Escheitt 
 thairof. 
 
 6. That all Buithes within this Burgh be serchit owlklie, or swa oft as neid is, 
 be the said Serchers, and the insufficient Wark escheitt. 
 
 7. That on the Sondayes na Buithes be oppin after nyne Houres in the morning ; 
 and that na Wai'k be wrocht at any Tyme the said day, under the pain of Twentie 
 Schillings. 
 
 8. That na habill young Men be sufFerit to keip ane Cobleris Buith, bot onlie 
 the samyn to be peimittit to thame that ar past threttie zeir awld, that the 
 Friemen may have their Servands to serve thame ; and that the said Cobleris sell 
 their auld Wark in the Eon^gaitt on the Monondayes, and nocht at the Croce, nor 
 on the Hie Streitt, in Dishonour of the guid Toun, under Payne of escheitt of thair 
 Stufe. 
 
 9. That na Frieman of the said Craft, being Burgess, pack nor piell, nor be 
 Partiner with Unfriemen, nor mak Conventioun with thame, under the Payne of 
 Ten Pund and Tynsell. And that na Frieman and Burgess of the said Craft, owt with 
 the Friedome of this Burgh, nor wirk his Wark owt with the Friedome, under the 
 Payne foresaid. 
 
 10. That na Maister resett ane uther 's Prenteis or Servand without leif, or ane 
 resonabill caus first schawin and tryet, under the Payne of Twentie Schillings, 
 
 11. At the taking of any Prenteis, that Tryall may be tane, gif the Pesaver 
 be worthie to tak ane Prenteis, and to instruct him and gifF him Meitt and 
 Drink sufficientlie ; to statute that all Indentouris be subscryvit be the Deykin 
 or his Clerk, utherwayes the Prenteis nocht to be buiket in the Toun's Prenteis- 
 buik. And that na Maister of the said Craft tak any uther Prenteis, quill thair be 
 thrie Zeires owtrun of his former Prenteis, to the effi^ct that the awld Prenteis 
 may be habill to teache the Servand for eschewing of unsufficient Warking, under 
 Payne of Fyve Pnnds. 
 
 12. That nane be maid Maister of the said Craft, except he half bene ane Prenteis
 
 100 THE INCORPORATED TRADES OF EDINBURGH. 
 
 for fyve Zeir, and servit ane Fricuian for Meitt and Fie thrie Zeires thairaftei-, or ellis 
 marie ane Burgess Dochtor, under the Payne of Ten Fund to be i)ayit be the Deykin 
 and Craft-maister that admits him maister; and alsmekill be thame that procures 
 the same. 
 
 13. To ordane ane of thair Lordschips' Officers to put the Premisses to Execution, 
 be passing with the Serchers, and ane of the Touiiis Collectors of the Unlawes, 
 and wairJing or poynding for the Unlawes, and intromit! ing with the Escheitt 
 Guids, to be delyverit be him to the said Collectors, to be imployit be thair Lord- 
 schips, and according to the Decreit arbitrall, and the saids Collectors to gif zeirly 
 Compt thairof. 
 
 The ^linute of the Town Council, approving of the above terms, 
 is to the following effect : — The foresaid Laws and Articles having 
 been duly considered, the Provost, Bailies, Council and Deacons of the 
 Craftsmen, having given commission to certain merchants and crafts- 
 men, to " intreat, considder and resoun upoun " the said articles, and 
 the said persons having met together, and reasoned and consulted 
 thereupon, and made emendations on certain points and clauses thereof, 
 — They made this day their report of the same to the said Provost, 
 Bailies, Council and Deacons of Crafts who caused the Articles to be 
 read in open Council : And they been advised regarding them after 
 mature deliberation, found them to be "guid, honest, and profitabill" 
 for the said Craft, and all our Sovereign Lord's lieges. They, there- 
 fore, ratified and approved of the same, interponing their authority 
 thereto. They likewise decerned them to be observed and retained 
 as perpetual Laws in all time coming, under the penalties contained 
 therein, with "reddy executioun to follow thairupon." And having 
 granted to the said deacons and brethren and their successors this Act 
 and Ordinance, they ordained that their seal of cause should be 
 appended. Provision was made, however, that if any question should 
 arise upon the Articles, or any of the points or clauses, the interpreta- 
 tion, execution, and mitigation of the same should be at the discretion
 
 THE COEDWAINERS. 101 
 
 of the Provost, Bailies and Council for the time, " according to the 
 qualities and circumstances of the Persounes, Tyme, Maner and Places." 
 
 This Seal of Cause granted by the Town Council was afterwards 
 confirmed by James VI., on the 6th day of March 1598, in considera- 
 tion of " the Goodwill and thankful service done to us by our Servitor, 
 Alexander Craivfurd, present Deacon of the said Cordiners and his 
 Brethren." 
 
 The Cordiners obtained another Seal of Cause from the Town 
 Council on 17th September 1533, which does not appear in Maitland, 
 and refers to a desire to raise more money for upholding the altar of 
 St Crispine and Crispiani, whereof the tenor follows : — 
 
 Till all and siiidry quliais knaulege thir present Uteris sail tocum, the proucst bailies 
 counsale communite and dekynnis of Craftis of the burgh of Edinburgh greting in God 
 euirlesting, Wit youre vniuersiteis that the day of the date of thir present lettres com- 
 perit before ws sittand in jugement the dekyn kirk raaisteris and bretlier of the Craft of 
 Cordinaris within the said bui-gh, videlicet, Thomas Mureleyis dekin, James Litiliohnne, 
 Richart Nicholson, Robert Borg, and the remanent of the haill brother of the said Craft, 
 and presentit before ws thare bill and supplicatioun in maner and forme as efter followis, 
 that is to say ; To yow my lordis provest bailies and worthy counsale of this gude town, 
 humlie menis and schawls your dailie seruitouris the dekyn kyrkmaisteris and brether of 
 the Cordinaris within this burgh, that quhair it is weill kend to all your wisdomis how 
 for the lowing of God and vphalding of dewyne seruece we mak grete reparatioun and 
 expens at oure altare of Sanctis Crispine and Crispiani situat within your College Kirk 
 of Sanct Geill, and has na lowing to vphald the samyn and daly chaplane thairat bot 
 oore ouklie penny gaderyt amangis the brether of the said craft, quhilkis ar bot a few 
 nommer, to the regarde of vther greit craftis within this burgh, quhilk has grantit to 
 thame ouklie one the merket day ane penny of all stuf belanging thare craftis brocht fra 
 landwart Canongait or vther placis to be sauld within this burgh, for sersing of the 
 gudnes and fynes tharof, sua that oure Souerane Lord and his lieges be nocht begylit 
 tharewith anent the vnsufficientnes of the samyn, and to that effect oure said Souerane 
 Lord of his speciall grace has direct his writingis to yow praying yow efiectuislye and 
 als chargeing that ye grant and geve syklike priuelege and fredome to tlie dekyn and 
 maisteris of oure said Craft of Cordinaris within this burgh that we may ouklie on the
 
 102 THE INCORPORATED TRADES OF EDINBURGH. 
 
 luerket day haue and tak aue penny to the reparatioun of oui* said altare and vphalding 
 of dewyne seruice thai-at of all barkit leddir and maid stuf belanging oure craft that beis 
 brocht fra laudwart, Canongait, or vtlier partis, to be sauld within this said burgh, for 
 sersinc of the gudnes, fynes, and warkmanschip of the samyn, sua that oure Souerane 
 Lord and his liegis be nocht begylit tharwyth as saidis ; Beseking heirfor youre lord- 
 schippis and wisdomes that ye wald grant ws be your autorite till haue and tak ouklie on 
 the merket day ane penny of ilk dakyr of barkit leddix-, and of ilk stand of maid stuf 
 belanging till oure snid Craft, that beis brocht fra landwart, Cannongait, or vther pairtis, 
 to be sauld within this burgh to the reparatioun of oure said altar, siklyke as vther 
 Craftis within this burgh has, sen it is for the comraoun weill and with the grace of God 
 we sail do sua for the honoure of God and v})halding of devyne seruice at oure said 
 Altare and for the vniuersale weill of oure Souerane Lordis liegis, that youre lordschippis 
 salbe conteutit tharof, with your deliuerance heirintill humlie we beseik ; and als the 
 saidis dekin and maisteris producit oure Souerane Lordis lettres vndir his signet and 
 subsciiptiouu manuall of the date at Striuelyng (Stirling) the secund day of Merche, 
 and of his rigne the tuenty yeir desyrand and chargeand ws till consent to the samyn. 
 
 The followino- are the terms of the Minute of Council in reference 
 thereto : — The foresaid Supplication and Bill having been openly read 
 before us sitting in judgment, and we having been ripely advised 
 regarding all points and articles contained in them ; find the same 
 consistent with reason, and for the common good of our Sovereign 
 Lord's lieges of this Burgh and those repairing thereto : Therefore we 
 consent, give, and grant, for us and our successors, to the said Deacon, 
 Kirkmaster, and brethren of the said Craft of Cordiners now present, 
 and their successors in all time coming, full faculty and freedom, that 
 weekly on the Market Day, they have and take One Penny to the 
 repair of their said altar of Saint Crispin and Crispiniani, and to the 
 upholding of Divine Service at said altar, ofi" " ilk dakyr of barky t 
 leddir and siklyk of ilk stand of maid stuf belangand thare Craft that 
 beis brocht fra landwart, Cannongait," or any other parts to be sold 
 within this said Burgh : for searching as to the goodness, fineness, and 
 workmanship of the said stuff", so that our Sovereign Lord's lieges may
 
 THE CORDWAINERS. 103 
 
 not be imposed upon through the insufficiency of the same, conform to 
 the command and desire of our Sovereiojn Lord's letters and writinsfs 
 directed to us on this subject, and this in the same way as each other 
 Craft does within this Burgh : Discharging them and their successors 
 from taking such pennies from any person residing in the Burgh : And 
 this to all and sundry whom it may concern, be it known by these 
 presents. — " In witnes of the quhilk thing we haue to thir present lettres 
 hungin oure commoun seill of cans, at Edinburgh the xvij day of the 
 moneth of September, the yeir of God ane thousand fif hundreth thretty 
 and thre 3^eris." 
 
 Three years thereafter, the Town Council seem to have again 
 granted them another Charter, viz., on 22d September 1536. This 
 also is not to be found in Maitland. The terms are as follow : — 
 
 Till all and sindry qiihais knawlege thir present letteres sal cum, Robert Lord 
 Maxwell, ane of the rep;entis of this realme the tyme of oure Souerane Lord the Kingis 
 absence, and provest of the burgh of Edinburgh for the tyme, George Henrisoun, 
 William Adamsoun, Johnne Carkettill, and William [Littil] baillies of the said burgh 
 for the tyme, counsale and communite of the samyn, greting in God euirlesting. Wit ye 
 ws, at the instance and i^equeist of Thomas Mureleyis dekin for the tyme of the Cor- 
 dinare Craft of the said burgh, Richart Nycholsoun, Robert Borg, Johne Wilsoun, 
 Johnne Freland, Johnne Prestoun, and Robert Dikesoun, maisteris of the said Craft, 
 and vthers thair brethir and maisteris of the Cordinaris of this toun, and for incresment 
 of the commoun weill of this burgh, policy of the same and agmentatioun of devyne 
 seruice, to haue gevin and grantit to thume and thair successouris Cordinaiis within this 
 toun thir priuilegis under writtin : — that is to say, all maner of prentesis to be tane to 
 the said Craft sail stand in prentischip for the space of sevin yeris and nay les, without 
 dispensatioune of the principall maisteris of the said Craft, and speciallie in fauoris of 
 the sonis of the said Craft, and ilk prenteis to pay at his entre to the rejiaratioun and 
 vphalding of devyne seruice at thair said altar tuenty schillingis vsuall money of this 
 realme; and that nodir thir prentesis nor nane wthir person ne of the said Craft be 
 sufferit to set wp buith within this said burgh without he be funding sufficient, habill 
 and wourthy in practik and wthir ways, and admittit thareto be the kirk-maister and
 
 104 THE INCORPORATED TRADES OF EDINBURGH. 
 
 sex maisterisof the Craft, and maid burges and f reman of the said burgh, and brhig his 
 tiket thairupone, and than for his wpset to pay fyve pundis, except burges sonis of this 
 toune to pay fyfty schillingis, to the reparatioun and wphalding of devyne seruice at 
 thare said Altar; and that ilk seruand sail pay his wkly halfpenny to the wphalding of 
 devyne seruice as said is, and gif ony mai«ter of the said Craft cuniis nocht to the 
 quartar comptis four tymes in the yere als oft as thai be, thai being lauchfullie warnit 
 be thare seriand thareto, tliay s^dl pay tvva pundis of wax, unforgevin, without thai haue 
 ane lauchfull impediment, and the saidis twa pundis walx to be deliuerit to thare said 
 Altar within twa dayis efter the fait be notourly knawin befoir the said maisteris of the 
 foirsaid Craft; and that na maaer of maister of the said Craft tyst hons herbery resaue 
 nor gif him lanbouris to ony wtlier maisteris prenteis nor seruand, wnder the pane of 
 paying of twa pundis of wax to thare said Altar, wnforgevin ; and that ilk maister 
 haldand buith within this burgh of the said Craft sail pay his wkly penny to the repara- 
 tioun of the ornamentis of thare said Altar, and sustene the preistis meit thareot" as it 
 cumis about; and that the said kirkmaister and ane certane of the pi-incipale maisteris 
 of the said Ci-aft that sail happin to be for the tyme, sail haue full faculte leif and 
 priuilege with ane officiar of the tounto pas with thame, poynd, distreynye gif neid beis, 
 for the taking raysing and inbringing of thir deviteis foirsaidis to the sustentatioun and 
 wphalding of Goddis spruice as said is, but danger stop or impediment ; and als that the 
 dekyn sail haue power to poynd for the preistis meit, that is to say aucht penneis on the 
 day, gif neid beis, and gif thair be ony fre uiaister of the said Craft that makis impedi- 
 ment in the paying of his said dewiteis, quhairthrow ane officiar of this toun may be 
 haldin to poynd him, he sail pay the officiaris fee for his laubouris alsweill the principale 
 dewiteis that he is awand to the said Altar ; and gif ony maister of the said Craft disobeis 
 the kirkmaistare that salbe for the tyme, to pay twa pundis of wax for ilk tyme he 
 disobeis, wnforgevin, to thare said alt are. 
 
 The following is the deliverance of the Town Council thereon : — 
 " The quhilki.s articulis statutis and rewlis we haue ratifiet npprevit and 
 cornfermit, and be thir prcsentis for ws and oure successouris ratifies and 
 apprevis and als confermis the samyn, in all punctis and articulis, to the 
 saidis maisteris and thare successouris of the said Craft in perpetuall 
 memoriall in tyme to cum for evirmair ; and this to all quhome it efferis 
 we mak it knawin be the tenouro of thir oure letteres. In witness of
 
 THE COEDWAINERS. 105 
 
 the quliilk thing, to thir oure present letteres oure commoun seill of 
 caus of oure said burgh we haue gart append, at Edinburgh the twenty- 
 twa day of September the yere of God ane thousand five hundreth 
 thretty and sex yeris." 
 
 The Members of the Incorporation of Cordiners used to assemble 
 in a handsome Hall of their own, situated at the south-west corner 
 of the Horse Wynd. The Essay which each Member had, and still 
 has to perform, is to make a pair of boots or shoes to the satisfaction 
 of two Essaymen, one of wliom is chosen by the Incorporation, and the 
 other by the applicant. On admission he has to make the following 
 declaration : — 
 
 I do solemnly and sincerely declare and promise that I shall defend the true 
 Religion and Protestant form of Woi'ship presently professed and practised within this 
 Realm : that I shall obey the Deacon and Office-bearers of this Incorporation for the 
 time being, and shall scot, lot, watch and ward and bear all manner of Burghal customs 
 and charges with my brethren according to my ability, and that I shall keep all the 
 general Statutes and Ordinances made or to be made for the welfare of the Craft, and 
 shall not colour nor fortify any unfreemen : And T make this solemn Declaration 
 conscientiously and honestly, intending to observe and fulfil the same in all points. 
 
 The Incorporation meets at least four times a year. Its business 
 consists of the management of the Funds, and the election of Office- 
 Bearers. It is represented in the Convenery by the Deacon. Mr 
 Walter Park, 14 College Street, is the present Deacon ; and Mr John 
 Whitehead, S.S.C, is the Clerk.
 
 THE INCORPOEATION OF TALZOURIS. 
 
 HE charter of tlie Incorporation of Talzouris or Taylors (now 
 Tailors), dates so far back as the 26th clay of August 1500. 
 Nevertheless, there is abundant evidence to prove that its 
 existence as a Society was antecedent to that date. For a long 
 time prior to their application for a Seal of Cause from the Town 
 Council, the body supported an Altar dedicated to St Anne. Before 
 the Reformation in Scotland, the revenues of the Craft were freely 
 devoted to the salary of their Chaplain in St Giles, and the upkeep 
 and repair of the Altar. When Altar worship was, however, abolished 
 at the change of religious views which took place at the time, the 
 revenues of the Talzour Incorporation, like those of the other Crafts, 
 were judiciously employed in providing a fund for the Widows and 
 Orphans of the various members of their respective Incorporations. 
 
 Desirous, however, of having certain articles passed for the better 
 Government of the fraternity, they approached the Town Council with 
 the view of obtaining from them a Seal of Cause, as several of the 
 other Incorporations had already done. In this they were successful. 
 The following are the terms of the charter referred to, which will be 
 found chiefly to relate to the maintenance of divine service : — 
 
 Till all and sindry to quhais knawlege thir present Letters sail cum. The 
 Provost, Baillies and Counsall of Edinburgh, gretings in God evirlesting. 
 
 With zour Universities, that the Day and Dait of the making of thir present 
 Lettres, comperit before us in Counsall gatherit, John Stcill, Kirkmaster (Deacon), 
 George Bell, William Hockburne, Johne Quhyte, Robert Richartsoun, Johne of
 
 i% 
 
 THE TALZOURIS. " J 07 
 
 Lauder, .William Lamb, Thomas Foulare, William Dick, Morice Slenny and the 
 Laife of the Maisters of the Talzour Craft, within this Burgh, and put till us thare 
 supplicatioun contenand certane Statutis and Rewles devisit be thame, to be affirmit 
 be us, for the loving of God Almichty, the Honour of the Realme, the Worschip and 
 Profit of this gude Toune, and the Profit of all other soverane Lordis, Lieges, and 
 utheris reparand thareto ; of the quhilk supplicatioun, the Tenore followis. 
 
 "My Lordis Provest, Baillies, and Worthie Counsale of this nobill Tonne, unto 
 zoure honorable discrationis, richt hiimily menis and schawls the Kirkmastir, and the 
 Laife of the Maisteris of tlie Talzouris Craft, within this Burgh, that first for the 
 loving (Praise) of Almichty God, the Honore of the Eealme, the Worschip and 
 Proffit of this gude Toune, and the Profitt of our Soverane Lordis, Leigis, and utheris 
 reparand thareto, and in Exempill of utheris, aud for the Augmentatioun of Divine 
 Service at the Altar of Sanct An, our Matrone of the samen, situate witliin the 
 College Kirke of Sanct Geils of the said Burgh. We desyre that we micht have thir 
 Statutis, Articulis, and Rewlis followand, grantit and gevin till us be zour Autoritie 
 quarethrow gude Rewle and gyding, may be had amangis us of the said Craft, baith 
 Masteris and Servandis, and oure successoris ; considering it is saide be comone 
 Auctorite, that Multitude but Reull maks confusion, and to eschew the vice thereof 
 and be estimit in tyme to cum, thir follow-and ar our rationable desyris. 
 
 " In the Pirst, That for the several Encresments of Yertue, Practick and Knawlege 
 standis in gude Begyning and Foundment, and fra think, furth to continew in Yertue, 
 and persevere to final End, That fra thine furth all Manir of Prentice to be tane at 
 the said Craft, sail stand in Prenteischip for the space and termes r.f sevin Zeirs, and 
 na less, without Dispensatioun of the principall JNIaster of the said Craft, and Specialie 
 Favour of the Sonnys of the said Craft, and ilk Prentice to pay at his Entrie, to the 
 Reparatioun and Uphalding of Divine Service at oure said Altar, Ten Schillings, and 
 that nouther thir Prenticis, nor nane othyr Persoun of the said Craft, be sufferit to 
 set up Buth within this said Burgh, without he be fundin sufiicient habill and worthy 
 thairto, in Practick and utherwayis, and admitted thairto, first be the sworne Masters 
 of the Craft, and maid Freman and Burgess of the said Burgh ; and for his Upsett 
 to pay Forty Schillings to the Reparatioun and Uphalding of Divine Service at oure 
 said Altar. 
 
 "And that na Maner of Master of said Craft, to hous, harber, or resett any 
 uther Master's Prentice or Servand ; and gif he dow, he sail pay ane Contribution 
 and Taxt to oure said Altare, at the Discratioun of oure said sworn Masteris principall,
 
 108 THE INCORPORATED TRADES OF EDINBURGH. 
 
 of the saids Craft, and the Canse thereof to be reformit be thame : And that ilk 
 Master haldan Buth, within this said Burgh, of the said Craft, sail pay his wolkly Penny 
 to the Reparatioun of the Adhornementis of oure saids Altare, and to sustene the 
 Preistis Mete thereof, as it cummys about ; and that the said Kirkmaster and certane 
 of the principall Masteris of the said Craft, that sail happin to be for the Tyme, may 
 have full Facultie, Leife, and Privilege, with ane Officare of the Toune to pass with 
 thame for to poind and distrenzie, gif Neid be, for the taking, raising, and inbringing 
 of their Dewities foresaid, to the Sustentatioun and Upholding of Goddis Service, as 
 said is, but Danger, Stop, or Impediment. 
 
 " Quharfore, as this our rationable and simpil Desyris and Petition is conform to 
 Equitie, and ar consonant to Honore and Pollecey, according to the Usis and Consuetudis 
 of great Antiquitie in nther Realmys and Provincis ; that ze wald grant till us thame 
 ratify it, approvit, and confirmit be zou, under zour Sele of Cause, in perpetual 
 Memorial of gude Rewle to be had in Tyme to cum, with zour Answere hereupon 
 we humily beseik." 
 
 The Town Council's deliverance thereupon is to the following 
 effect : — The aforesaid Articles, Statutes, and Rules having been heard, 
 read, and diligently considered by us ; and seeing that they are for the 
 love of Almighty God and the Sustentation of Divine Service, as well 
 as for good Rules being observed in time to come among the Members 
 of the Craft, in augmentation and supply of the common profit, and for 
 the purpose of " eschewing misgydit way is that has bene usit if time 
 began e" : Therefore we have ratified, approved, and confirmed the same, 
 in all points and articles, to the said Masters and their successors of 
 the said Craft, in perpetual memorial in time to come for evermore. 
 And this to whom it concerns we make known by these our letters. — 
 " In Witness of the quhilk Thing, to thir oure present Lettres, oure 
 comone Sele of Causs of oure said Burgh, we have gart append : At 
 Edinburgh, the 26th day of the moncth of August, in the Zere Ane 
 thousand and five hundreth Zeres." 
 
 The Town Council about thirty years afterwards granted the
 
 THE TALZOURIS. 109 
 
 Incorporation another Charter, viz. : — on the 20th of October 1531, 
 of which the tenor follows : — 
 
 " Tyll all and syndry, quhais knawlege tlnr present letters sal cum, the provest, 
 bailies, and couns:)ll of Edinburgh, greting in God euerlesting : Wyt your vniuersite, 
 that the day and the dait of the making of tliir present letters, com])erit befor ws 
 counsally gaderyt, Thomas Stanhous, kyrk-maister, Thomas Arthour, Andro Edgar, 
 William Pacok, Alexander Frostar, Andro Persoun, Alexander Robesoun, Robert 
 Spittal, Johne Cowpar, Johne Kraik, Johne Bayne, and Thomas Thomesoun, and the 
 laif of the maisterys of the tailyeor craft within this Burgh, and present till ws thair 
 supplicatioun, contenand certane statutis, articulis and reulis, dyuysyt be tham to be 
 afSrmyt be ws, for the loving of God Almyghty, the honour of the realme, the worshype 
 and profFyt of thjs gud tovne, and the proffyt of all oure soverane lordys liegis, and 
 vtheris reperant thairto, and in exam pell of vtheris, and for the agmentatioun of dyuyne 
 seruice at the alter of Sanct An, situat within our College Kyrk of Santt Gele of tlie 
 said Burgh, and thairfor desyryt that thai mycht haue thir statutis articulis and reulis 
 followand grantyt and gevyn to the saidis brether and thair successouris be ws and our 
 authorite, quhairthrow gud reule and gyding may be had amangis thame of the said 
 craft, bayth maisterys and seruandys, and thair successouris thairof in tyme to cum, 
 considering it is said be commonis authorite, that multitud but reule makys confusioun 
 and for till eschew the vice thairof, and to be eschewyt in tyme to cum, the quhilk desyr 
 we thocht consonant to resoun, and thairfor has grantyt and gevyn to the saidys 
 brethir, and thair successouris, thir statutis, articulis and reulis followand : — 
 
 " Item, in the first, that sen all entresment of verteu, practik and knawlege, standys 
 in gud begynyng and fundiment, and fra thynfurth to continew in vse and perseuire 
 till fynale end, that fra thyn furtht all maner of prentis [that] sail be tayne at the said 
 craft sail stand in pryntischype for the space of sevyn yeris, and na less, without dis- 
 pensatioun of the principall maisterys of the said craft, and specialye in fauours of the 
 sonys of the said craft, and ilk prentis till pay at his entry to the reparationis and 
 wphald of dyuyne seruice at thair said altar, or ony prentis be sett upoun the tailyeor 
 burd, ten shillingis. 
 
 "Item, that na maister resaif ane seruand that hes nocht bene prentis within this 
 Burgh with ane free maister of the said craft, without he pay ten shillingis to the said 
 altar, and that he [be] bund prentis to the maister that resaiffis hym for ane certane of 
 yeris, as the sayd maister and he can aggre.
 
 110 THE INCORPOEATED TRADES OF EDINBURGH. 
 
 " Item that nane of thir saidys prentissis be ressauit, without the dekyn, the four 
 kvi'k niaisterys and the chaphane tliat says prayers, till be for the tyme, be present for 
 till put the saidys prentissis in thair prentis buk, and mak the indenturis of thair con- 
 ditiouns amangys thanie, under the payne of twenty schillingys, till be payt till Sanct 
 Gelys werk, and twenty to the reparatioun of the said altar of Sanct An vnforgevyn als 
 oft as thai brek ony punct of the said act. 
 
 "Item, that nowthir thir prenti.sis, nor nane vlher persoun of the said craft, 
 be sufferyt till sett wp buyth within this said Bnrgh, nor wyrk of the said craft, bot 
 with ane fre maister of the samyne, without he be sworn maister, and fund sufficient, 
 habyll and worthy thairto in practik and vtherywayis, and admyttyt thairto first be 
 the sworn niaisterys of the said craft principall, and maid fre man and buigess of the 
 said Burgh, and than for his wpset till pay fyf pundys to tiie reparatiouns and 
 wphald of dyuyne seruice at thair said altar with an honest dennar to the sworne 
 maisterys thairof. 
 
 " Item, that na fre maister of the said tail\ eor craft fie ane vther craftis man of ane 
 vther craft to wyrk in his buyth, under pain of ten schillingys till be payit to Santt 
 Gelys werk, and ten schillingys to Santt Annys altar, als oft as ony maister wses the 
 samyne. 
 
 " Item, that na vnfreman of the said craft cum within tlie fredome of this towne that 
 has ane buyth without the fredome of the samyne, till tak ony werk or stuff furth of the 
 samyne till wyrk it, owder schappin or wnschappin, it sail be lesum till the dekyn and 
 maisterys of the said craft for the tyme till tak the samyne werk fra thanie, and gyf it 
 be made werk, the price thairof till cum to the reparatioun of thair said altar of Sanct 
 An, and gyf it be not maid, na fre maister of the said craft till mak the samyne to the 
 persouns that the said stuf pertenys to, and take his price thairof, 1 cause the saidis 
 vnfremen nowthir scottis, lottis, walkis nor wardis within our said fredome. 
 
 " Item, that na burgess, na fre man within this burgh, lord na lard, resaif ane 
 vnfreman of the said craft in thair houses nor lugenys till wyrk quyetly or oppynly, in 
 defraude of the said craft, without the pricys thairof be payit to the said dekyn and 
 maisterys, to the reparatiouns of thair said altar, and quhay doys in the conti'ar, that 
 ofEciaris of this gud tovne pas with the saidis dekyn and maisterys, and mak thame 
 opi)yne durris, and deliver the stuf that they fynd wrocht and vnwrought, being in the 
 saidis vnfremens handys foi- the tyme, to the saidis dekyn and maisterys, and till 
 reniayne with thame quhill the pricys thairof be payit to the reparatioun of thair said 
 altar, and gyf ony burgesses, lordis, lardis, or vther fremen, induellers, or vnfremen
 
 THE TALZOURIS. HI 
 
 within this burgh, uses the resett of sic vnfremen of the said craft in tyme cummyn, 
 thai sail pay vnforgevyn twenty schillingys to Santt Gelys Werk, for ilk tyme thai be 
 fund in thair forsaidys houses and lugenys, fra the first charge be gevyn be aue ofiycyar 
 of this gud tovne, and to pay tlie officiaris for thair lawbouris, and ten schillingys to 
 the said altar, for the costys and skayth it sustenys thairupon. 
 
 Item, that [na] maister of the tailyeour craft ressaif nor resset ane vther maisterys 
 servand nor prentis of the said craft within this burgh, without he haue maid compt 
 and raknyn with the maister he cumys fra, and that he be contentyt thairof, vnder 
 the payne of ten schillingys to be payit to the said altar quha dois the contrar 
 vnforgevyn. 
 
 Item, gyf ony fremaister of the said craft within this burgh brekis ony manys stuf 
 vnordourly, or womanis, and spillis the samyne in his defalt of werkmanshype, the 
 persoun that aw it sail cum to the dekyn and maisterys of the said craft for the tyme, 
 and plenye thairupon, it beand seyn be ane certane of the said sworne maisterys, that 
 the werkmen thairof has falyeit in ony punct, the said dekyn and maisterys sail 
 cause the said man till recompens the complenyear thairof, of the skayth he has sustenyt 
 thairthrow, and that thair be certane maisterys of the said craft be sworn apon all sic 
 caissis, or thai decerne in the samyne, that thai sail lelely and treuly, without feid, 
 fawour, or prejudice of party, depone and deliuer in the samyne, and cause the com- 
 plenyear till be payit of his skayth. 
 
 Item, that na maister sail haue forman in his buyth till wyrk, bot ane allanerly 
 within this fredome. 
 
 Item, that na maister sail dissobey the dekyn and maisterys for the tyme, in the 
 gatheryn in of the dewteis to thair said altar, vnder the payne of twa punddis of walx 
 till be payt to the said altar als oft as thai dissobey vnforgevyn. 
 
 Item, gyf thair be ony fremaister of the said craft that bydis away fra the quarter 
 comptis, thai being lawfully warnyt be the seruand of the said craft, he sail. pay ane 
 pund of walx vnforgevyn, without he haue ane releuand excusatione, and that it be 
 oppynly knawn. 
 
 Item, gyf ony maister of the said craft dissobeys the dekyn and the maisterys in 
 ony thing that is for the commone weill of the samyne, quhairthrow they will not obey, 
 without an officiar of this gud tovne be brocht to thame till pund for the samyne, thai 
 sail pay twa schillingys to the officiar for his feys, ane pund of walx with the dewteis 
 that are awyn. 
 
 Item, that ilk maister haldand butht within this burgh of the said craft, sail pay
 
 112 THE INCORPORATED TRADES OF EDINBURGH. 
 
 his wkly penny to the reparationis of the enhornamentys of the said altar, and susteyne 
 the prestis meit thairof, as is cummys about, and that the said kyrk-maister, and ane 
 certane of the i)rincipall maisterys of the said craft that sail happyn till be for the tyme, 
 sail haue fulfeture, leif and preuilige, with ane officiar of the tovne till pas with tham 
 for till pund and distrenye, gyf neid be, for the takyn, raising, and inbringyn of the 
 forsaids dewteis to the sustentatione and uphald of Godis seruice, as said is, but danger, 
 stop, or impedyment. 
 
 And attour, gyf it sail happyn ony maister or freman of the said craft, efter that 
 he be maid maister to the saymne, abstrak him and disuse his said craft, and thairefter 
 returne agane to the occupying of the saymn craft, that he sail pay all maner of dewteis 
 bypast, sa he be thollyt till wyrk at the said craft, or ellis till pay his new upsett 
 agane. 
 
 The terms of this Charter contain very ample jDrivileges and 
 immunities. The Minute of Town Council sanctioning the same is to 
 the following efi'ect : — The Articles and Rules, with the privileges above 
 written, we, the said Provest, Bailies, and Council, for us and our 
 successors, Grant to the said Deacon and Masters, and we affirm, ratify, 
 approve, and confirm the same, in all points and respects to the said 
 Deacon and Masters, " to be brukyt and josyt be thame and thair 
 successors of the said craft, in perpetuall memoriall in tyme cummyn 
 for euei- mayr." And this to all whom it may concern, we make known 
 by the purport of these our letters. — " In witnessing of the quhilk 
 thing to thir our present letteris, oure commone seill of cause of our 
 said burgh we haue gert append, at Edinburgh, the twenty day of 
 the moueth of October the year of God ane thousand fyve hundreth 
 and thretty ane zeris." 
 
 The terms of this Charter were afterwards confirmed by Kings 
 James V. and VI. Indeed, the Incorporation of Talzouris had the 
 honour to receive a Letter from James VI. The following is a copy 
 of the said letter in which his Majesty requests that his own private 
 Tailor, whom he kept exclusively for making and working the " Abul-
 
 THE TALZOURTS. 113 
 
 zements " of his own person, should be admitted gratis to the liberty 
 and freedom of the " Talzouris " Incorporation : — 
 
 " Deki7i and remanent Maisters and Br ether of the Tailzom- 
 Craft ivithin oure Burgh of Edinburgh, ive gret zou iveill." 
 
 " Forasmeikle as respecting the gude service of Alexander Millar 
 in making and working the Abulzements of oure awin Person, mindino- 
 to continew him in that oure Service as ane maist fit and meit Persone. 
 We laitlie recommendit him unto zow be oure Letter of Requeist, desir- 
 ing zow to ressave and admit him gratis to the Libertie and Fredom 
 of the said Craft, as a thing maist requisite for him, having the cair of 
 oure awin wark, notwithstanding that he wes not Prenteis amangis 
 zow, according to your ancient Liberties and Privileges had in the 
 contrair. Willing zow at this oure Requeist to dispense with him 
 thereanent. 
 
 '•' Quhilk lettre being presentit and red before zou, we have hard by 
 gude Report of zour gude-will and mynd utteiit to the fulfilling and 
 obedience tharof ; sa the same indurit not a Preparative, and was not 
 ane Miens to ony uther Unfreman to sue and obteine the lyke Benefite, 
 to the hinder of zowr privileges heirefter ; quhilk we esteeme maist 
 ressonable for eschewing of confusioun and disorder ; always sen the 
 said Alexander is burdenit with the chairge of our awin proper service 
 and man only gif Attendance tharupon as he sail be commandit. 
 
 " It is oure Will, and we aft'ecturuslie requeist zow zit as of befoir, 
 that at this oure ernist requeist, ze will ressave and admit him to be ane 
 Brother of said Craft amangis zow gratis ; seing it is maist convenient 
 that he being oure awin Servand have that Privilege and Benefite ; 
 assuring zow upon oure Promeis, that for evading of Preparatives and 
 Prejudice of zowr Privileges, we sail not burden zow with the lyke for 
 heirefter; not doubting, bot upoun this conditioun, ze will agre to this
 
 114 THE INCOJRPORATED TRADES OF EDINBURGH. 
 
 oure ressoiiable Desire, as ze will do us maist thankfull and acceptable 
 plesur, we comit zow to God. Subscrivit with oure Hand at the 
 
 day of 1584. James R." 
 
 Of course Millar — who seems to have been the Scottish " Poole " 
 of that period — required to be made first burgess and freeman, and 
 this privilege could be conferred on him only by the Town Council. 
 Although there is no mention of his name in the Buroh Records 
 which have been published, there is sufficient evidence of occasional 
 commands on the part of the King to give free admission to the Burgess 
 Roll. For example, during the previous year, there is the follow^ing 
 Minute of the Corporation: — "14th June 1583. — At the request of 
 the Kingis Maiestie, grantes and admittis Phinlaw Tailyeour, lacquay 
 to his Maiestie, burges of this burgh gratis, and ordanis his name to 
 be insert in the lokkit bulk and his aith of burgess to be resauet." 
 
 The last Statute of the Town Council regarding the Body is of 
 a somewhat lengthy description, and is dated 11th November 1584. 
 It complains of the great number of unfreemen practising the craft, 
 and asks a remedy. It is as follows : — 
 
 In presens of ane nobill and mychtie lord, James erle of Arrane lord Avon and 
 Hamrailtoun, chancellare of this realme, provest of the said burgh, and of the bailyeis, 
 dene of gikl, thesaurer, counsell and deykins, being convenit to consult vpoun the commoun 
 efFairis of the said burgh, comperit Alexander Owsteane, deykin of the tailyeouris of 
 the sainyii, and the said George Smyth, James Nicolsoun, Patrik Sandelands, Jhonn 
 Murdow, Jhonn Young, And row Cairnie, Nicoll Rynd, eldare, tailyeours, friemen of 
 the said craft and burgessis of the said burgh, quha for thame selffis and in name and 
 behalfF of thair remanent brether, burgessis and friemen, exhibit and produceit dyuers 
 heids and articles concerning thair said craft, desyring the said bailyeis, counsall and 
 deykins, to interpone thair decreitt and authoritie thairinto. Quhilk heids and 
 articles beand red and considerit, and the said bailyeis and counsall after lang 
 and sutlicient resoning being thairwith rypelie avyset, all in ane voice admittet, 
 retefeit, and apprevit the heids and articles vnderwritten, as tending to the weill of the
 
 THE TALZOURIS. 115 
 
 said brether and all our Souerane Lords lieges and agreand to all guid lawes ordour 
 and policie ; and thairfore hes interponet, and be thir presents interponis thair 
 authorite thairto ; decerning and ordaning the samyn to be inuiolablie obeyet, kepet, 
 and obseruet as ])erpetuall lawis in all tymes cuming amangs the present brether 
 of the said craft and thair successoures and vtheris, burgessis, freinen, indwelleris of 
 the said burgli, and all vtheris repayring and remaning within the samyn, vnder the 
 paynis contenit thairinto. Followis the saidis heids and articles : — 
 
 In the first. Forswamekill as it is complenit be the said deykin and brether that 
 thai ar heavelie hurt and damnefeit be ane greit number of vnfremen dwelland within 
 this burgh, als weill mareit as vnmareit, quha ar nawayes under subiection of ony 
 maisteris nor yitt subiect to ony stenting, watcheing, wairding, or vther portabill 
 chairges with the friemen of the said craft, bot levis licentiouslie and workis all maner 
 of wark that thai may purches in priuie howssis, lofts and cbalmeris, and takkis pay- 
 ment thairfore as thai wer admittet to thair friedome, and thairby hinders and preiugcs 
 the frie brether of the said craft quha ar subiect to all portabill chairges of thair 
 commoditie and proffeitt ; for remeid thairfore that gife onie sic vnfrie persouns of 
 the said craft quha niakis daylie residence within the toun beis apprehendit within 
 this burgh, ather vpoun the Hie gaitt, privie howssis, loftis, chalmeris or vther strettis 
 in tyme cuming, nocht subiect to ane frie maister aither for meitt, fie, or owlklie waige, 
 and his conditioun of seruice maid before the deykin and foure maisteris, that thai sail 
 be tayne and put in waird quhaireuir they may be apprehendit, and gif thai be ony sic 
 houssis that ofiiceris of this burgh mak oppin durris quhill thai be apprehendit and mak 
 payment of the sowm of fourtie schillings als oft as thai be apprehendit furth of the 
 seruice of ane frie maister, viz., the twa pairt of the said sowm to the vse of the 
 hospitall and the third pairt to the apprehendaris at the distributioun of the said 
 deykin and maisteris being for the tyme. 
 
 Item, Becaus the said deikin and brethir complenit that thai ar havelie hurt and 
 damnefeit be sindrie persouns of the said craft nocht beand friemen of this burgh 
 duelland in the Cannogait, Potterraw, and West Port, and vther suburbs of the said 
 burgh, quha daylie cumis within the fredome of the samyn and takis furth wark, 
 schaipin and vnschaipin, pertening to the burgessis and friemen of this burgh, and 
 wirkis the samyn in thair awin friedomis, and thairafter inbringis the said wark 
 agane to this burgh to the awner tbairof and takis thair pryce thairfore, and thairby 
 also grittumlie hurtis the said deykin and brether of thair commoditie and proffeitt 
 quhilk thai wald obtene of the said wark gif thai wer stoppet to vsurp thair fredome 
 and libertie ; for remeid thairof, the said provest, bailyeis, counsall and deykins, hes
 
 116 THE INCORPORATED TRADES OF EDINBURGH. 
 
 statute and ordanit that gif ony sic vnfrie persouns dwtlland outwith tlie said fredome, 
 nocht beand burgessis and friemen of the sainyn burgh, beis apprehendit with ony sic 
 wark in tyme cuming, ather schaipin or vnschaipin, in the owttaking or inbringing 
 within this bwrgh, that it sail be lesum to the said deykin and maisteris, or ony of 
 tharae, with the concurrance of ane officer, to tak and intromett with the said wark fra 
 the haver thairof quhaireuir the sani may be a[)prehendit within the fredome of this 
 burf h, and to keip and retene the samyn quliill payment be maid of the soum of fourtie 
 schillings be the warkmen that wirkis sic wark, and as thai be fund and apprehendit 
 comnuttin" the said fait, the twa pairt of tlie said sowmes to the vse of the hospitalitie 
 and the thrid pairt to the apprehendaris at the distributioun of the said deykin and 
 maisteris being for the tyme. 
 
 Item, Becaus the said deykin and brother havelie complenis that thai ar grittumlie 
 hurt of thair coramoditie and proffeit be sindrie of thair awin brethrein, burgessis and 
 friemen of this burgh, quha vnder cuUour and pretence of ane seruand takis, resavis 
 and resettis, within thair buithis, vnfriemen, uatlier being thair seruands nor prenteissis, 
 and sufferris and perniittis thame to wirk and inbring within thair buithis to thair awin 
 behuift' and profeitt all maner of wark that thai may purches and obtene and to tak 
 pryce thairfore and to dispone thairv[)oun at their plesure and to vse all vther liberteis 
 of the said craft as the said frie maister micht do himselff, for granting of the quhilk 
 pretendit libertie the said vnfrie personis ar bund and oblist for payment to the 
 maisteris of craft that resettis and resauis thame of ane certane sowm of money, to 
 the greitt abuse of the said craft and preiudice of the liberteis of the samyn ; for remeid 
 quhairof the said provest, bailyeis, counsall, and deykins of craftis, hes statute and 
 ordanit that na frie maister of the said craft sail be suflferit to liald, resett, nor resaue 
 ony sic vnfiie persouns to wii-k within thair buithis in tyme cuming, nor yett to hald 
 nor resaue any seruand of the said craft in thair seruice without he be bund for certane 
 yeiris to remayne in his said maisteris seruice for meitt and fie as his maister and he 
 can agrie, and the condition of seruice to be maid before the said deykin and foure 
 sworne fey maisters being for the tyme ; and gif it be fund verefeit and provin that 
 ony fiie maister of the said craft sail happin to do in the contraie, or that the said 
 maister and seruand sail happin to mak any collusioun betuix thame to the hurt of the 
 said craft, vtherwayis nor beis iu thair appoyntment to be maid before the said deykin 
 and brciher, the said maister and seruand sail pay euerie ane of tliame swa oft as thai 
 failyie heirin the sowm of fourtie schillings money, the twa pairt to the hospitalite and 
 the thrid thairof to the apprehendaris at the sicht and distributioun of the ."^aid deykin 
 and brother.
 
 THE TALZOURIS. 117 
 
 Item, To the effect that the nichtboui-is of this burgh be rocht hurt nor preiugeit 
 be debarring of the vnfriemen to mak or mend thair claytlds in thair howssis, it is 
 thairfore agreit, statute and ordanet, that the deykin and brether of the said craft sail, 
 be thamselffis or thair seruands, mak the said nichtbouris als guid and reddie seruico 
 within and without thair hows^is as thei wer wont to haif be the said vnfriemen ] and 
 thairfore quha swa wirks thair nichtbouris claythis sail at all tymes quhen he is 
 requyret, vpoun xxiiij houris warning, appoint ane of his seruandis for quhome he sail 
 ansuer to pas to the nichtbouris dwelling hous for mending and repairing of sic ornaments 
 and clething as ar to be mendit of all soits without exception. And the said seruand 
 to enter to wark at five houris in the morning, vngangond owt without leifl" quhill nyne 
 houris at evin, and to haif thairfore ilk day twelf penneis and his meitt ; and quhair 
 any inaister of the said occupatioun failyeis to do as said is [he] sail pay ane vnlaw 
 of xl s. to be a[)plyet as said is. 
 
 Item, That na prenteis be maid frienien quhill he serue his maister fyve yeir 
 during his prenteischip and tliairafter with him or with ony vther frie maister thre yeir 
 for meitt and fie, quhilk will mak of the haill awcht yeiris or he be maid frie, and na 
 vther to be made frie except he marie ane friemanis dochter of the said craft or haif 
 bene ane prenteis as said is. 
 
 Item, Gif any frie maister of the said craft in ony tyme heirafter sail happen to 
 procure in favouris of ony prenteis or seruand to be maid friemen of the said craft after 
 the owtrynning of his prenteisschip or of his seruice, without the said prenteis haif 
 seruet ane frie maister of this burgh thre yeiris after the owtrynning of his prenteis- 
 schip for meitt and fie, or that the said seruand that beis ])rocureit and requeistet for 
 haif mareit or is to marie ane friemanis dochter of the said craft, the said maister or 
 maisters that sail mak the said requeist or procuratioun sail pay thairfore the sowm of 
 ten pund money to be bestowet to the puir at the discretioun of the counsall. 
 
 Fynallie, Quhen any difference sail aryse betuix ane of the nichtbouris of the toun 
 and ane frieman of the said craft anent the pryce of anye maid wark, or vpoun the 
 insufficiencie of the warkmanschip, or vpoun any fraude or deceitt committet, bayth the 
 said pairteis sail abyde and vnderly the try ell and inquisitioun and als fulfill the juge- 
 ment and will of ane bailyie, the deykin of the craft, with twa of the counsall of the 
 towne, the ane beand ane merchant the vther ane craftisman, to be chosin be the said 
 bailyie. 
 
 And for the mair securitie, fayth, and authoritie to be given heirto, ordanis the 
 seill of caus of the said burgh to be appendet to the extract of this present act and 
 ordinance, to be subscryuet be the provest and bailyeis and be thair cummoun clerk.
 
 118 THE INCORPORATED TRADES OF EDINBURGH. 
 
 To the Incorporation of Talzouris, there belonged in ancient times 
 the superiority and direction of all the tailors within the suburbs of 
 Edinburgh and the Town of Leith. Latterly their jurisdiction was 
 confined to Portsburgh, Potterrow, south side of the Canongate betwixt 
 St John's Cross and St Mary's Wynd, and the ancient and extended 
 Eoyalty of the City. They received fees from apprentices who were 
 indentured in these districts. They also had the privilege of exacting 
 certain fees from all Mantua-makers, for liberty to make up women's 
 apparel within the city. The abolition of all special privileges has, 
 however, put an end to this state of matters. 
 
 The Incorporation of Tailors is still in existence, for the purpose 
 of paying annuities to those entitled to the same, and for electing a 
 Deacon to represent the body in the Convenery. Mr R. G. Muir 
 has recently been elected Deacon. Mr James Dundas Grant is the 
 Treasurer, and Mr Alexander Wardrop (of Messrs Banks & Wardrop, 
 S.S.C.) is the Clerk.
 
 THE INCORPORA^^ION OF WOBSTARIS. 
 
 HE Websters, or Weavers, of the City of Edinburgh, having, 
 in the year 1475, petitioned the Magistrates and Town 
 Council to erect them into an Incorporation, their request 
 was at once granted. 
 
 The following are the terms of the same : — Till all and sundrie 
 quham it effeira, quhais knawlege this present Letteris sail cum ; the 
 Provest, Baillies, and Counsale of the Burgh of Edinburgh, greeting in 
 God everlasting. To your Universitie we mak it knawin, that there 
 comperit before us in our Tolbuith, we sittand in Jugement, the best 
 and worthiest Personis of the haill Craft of Wobstaris within the said 
 Burgh, quhilkis presentit to us thair Bill of Supplicatioun, in the 
 quhilkis was contenit certane Statutis and Articles maide and avi^it 
 with thame, for the Honour and loving of God Almightie, and of his 
 Modir, the Virgin Marie, and of Saint Soverane ; and for the suppleing 
 and uphalding of divyne Service, and appareling of thare Altar of Saint 
 Soverane, foundit and uphaldin be thame in St Giles Kirk ; and for the 
 Governance of thare Warks and Laboure and gude Reule baithe for the 
 Worship of the Realme, commone Profite, Laute of the Craftismen, and 
 for other diverse and mony Causes of gude Motive, the quhilkis Bill we 
 have sene, hearde, and gart be rede ; and tharewith beande riplie avisit 
 considerande thare Desyres of us tharein, to have our Benevolence, 
 Assistance, and Leif thareof, and to have our Affirmatioun and Rati- 
 ficatioun thareupon, so far as in us is, or may be. We tharefore have 
 considerit the said Desyris and Statutis, and find thame consonant to
 
 120 THE INCORPORATED TRADES OF EDINBURGH. 
 
 Reason, Honour, and Worship to God and Hale Kirk, profitable to the 
 Real me and Craft. 
 
 The following are their Desires and Statutes : — 
 
 (1.) In tlie first, tliat the haill Craftismen may zeirlie chese them a Deykiii, 
 like as iither Craftismen dois, quhilks sail reule and govern the Craft in all gude 
 Reulis as effeirs ; to the quhilk Deykin all the Leif of the Craft sail obey in all 
 leifuU and honest Thingis concerning the Craft; and this Deykin to be chosen 
 with Freemen of the Craft that are Burgesses, and nane uther to have Voyce tharin. 
 
 (2.) That na Man occupy the Craft as Foremaster quhill he be made Burgess and 
 Freeman, and to be examinate be the Deykin and Maisteris of the Craft, gif that he 
 be worthie ; and that he sail have gude and sufficient Graith and Warkloumis to be 
 scene and considerit be four Men of the Craft ; this beande, he sail pay Twa Marks 
 and Twa Fund of Wax to the said Altare, and Upholde thereof ; and gif he be a 
 Burgess' Son, he sail pay half a Mark to the Altare foresaid. 
 
 (3.) Na Maisteris sail tak ane Prenteis for less Terms then five Zeirs, and sail 
 pay at his Entrie to the said Altare, Five Shillings, or less, as can be tretit with the 
 Craftismen gif he be nocht of Powei-, and the Mynisar of thir five Zeires sail 
 pay Twentie Shillings quhen it is tayntit upon ony Maister. 
 
 (4.) Thare sail na Maister tak ane uther Maisteris Prenteis in Service, nor ane 
 uther feid Servand quhilk be feid, or els have Leif of this Maister that aws him, under 
 tlie Payne of Ten Shillings and a Fund of Wax, and restore the Prenteis and Servand 
 again. 
 
 (5.) That na Man tak on Hand to resave nor wark ane uther Mannis warpit 
 Zarne, nor Wark but Leif, but ho sail pay ane Fund of Wax, or the Price thereof. 
 
 (G.) Ilk Man or Woman that occupies the Craft, sail gif the Priest his Mete, and 
 ilk Owlk gif to the Altar a Pennie ; and this to be gaderit be the Deykin ; and ilk fcit 
 Servande sail gif in the Zeire Foure Pennies. And also, that the Personis that 
 disobeys the Dekin, and will nocht underlie the Ordinance of the Craftis Statute for 
 the Gude thareof ; alse oft as he disobeys, he sail pay ane Fund of Wax, or the Price 
 tiiareof, and to be tane but Favour. 
 
 (7.) That na Woman sail occnpie the Craft as a Master to hold Warkhonss, but 
 gif she be a Frieman's Wyfe. 
 
 (8.) That na Man sail tak ony Loumis to hyre for dout of si)illing of them ; but 
 gif it be a Frieman, and qua that dois, sail pay a Fund of Wax ay quhen he can be 
 taniit tharwith.
 
 THE WOBSTARIS. 121 
 
 These desires, statutes, and articles, with all the various points 
 contained in them, having been laid before the Provost, Magistrates and 
 Town Council, and they having found these " lovable to God, and holy 
 Kirk, honourable for all the Kealme, and profitable for the Worship of the 
 Craftismen,"— did admit the same : And for them and their successors 
 in office, the Provost, Bailies, and Town Council did approve and ratify 
 the above-written articles in all points, in so far as they had any power. 
 And to make them more effectual, the following Minute was added : — 
 " To all and sundrie quham it effeirs, we mak it knawin be thir oure 
 Letteris ; and for the maire witnyssing to the samyn we have to 
 hungin oure commoune Seill of Cause. At Edinburgh, the last day of 
 Januare the Zeire of our Lord 1475 Zeires." 
 
 This Charter was confirmed by the Town Council on the 27th day 
 of February 1520, with an additional Eight of receiving from every 
 Country Weaver that wrought for the Edinburghers One Penny Weekly, 
 towards the support of their Altar aforesaid. Both of these grants 
 were during the same year confirmed by John, Archbishop of St 
 Andrews, as they were subsequently done by the Scotish Parliament. 
 
 About the beginning of the sixteenth century, certain disputes 
 having taken place between the Incorporation and the Waulkers in point 
 of precedence, they both made an application to the Town Council to 
 get the same adjusted. The Civic body, in order to avert all contests 
 of a like kind in future, was pleased to make Eegulatious on the 15th 
 day of May 1509, of which the following is a copy : — 
 
 15 May 1509. — The quhilk day the Provest, Baillies, Counsale, and Kirkmaisteris 
 hes consentit and ordanit that in tyme to ciim, baith the craftis, Webstaris, Wakeris 
 and Scheraris, in all tymes of processionn quhair euir thair bannaris beis borne, that 
 thai pas togedder and be incorporat vnder ane baner in als formis as thai pleis ; and 
 to be maid in this wys, that thair baneris of baith the saidis Craftis be paynitt with 
 the imagis figuris and armis of the Webstaris, and principalie becaus thai ar found the 
 
 Q
 
 [2'2 THE INCOKPORATED TRADES OF EDIXBURGH. 
 
 elder Ci'aft, aud iirst placit ; and witli the ymagis tiguris and armys of the said 
 Scheraris and "Wakaris quarterrie rynnand togedder ; and the amies of the Webstaris, 
 \-iz. thair signe of the spule to be vnmaist in ilk baner ; and ilk ane of thair craftis to 
 haue thair bymarkis on thair awin bannaris that thai mak principide cost vpoun for the 
 keiping of the Siiymn ; and the said Scheraries and Wakeris to pas vnder the bannar 
 of the Wobstaris quhill thai may gudlie furnis thair awin, and the armys of the said 
 Scheraries and Wakeris to be now put in the "Webstaris bannaris gif thai may be gudlie 
 formit aud gottin thaii'vntill. 
 
 Maitland states that tliis settlement of the question in dispute put 
 an end to all diiferences between the two bodies. In this respect, the 
 historian is wrong. Twenty years thereafter, viz., 21st June 1530, 
 there is a Decreet- Arbitral with much the same object in view between 
 the Websters, Waulkers and Shearers ; as well as along with the 
 Bonnetmakers to have it determined to which of the Corporations there 
 should be an annexation. The ]\Iinute, like all formal documents of 
 the day, is wiitten in mediaeval Latin.* The translation of the Editor 
 of the Burgh Records is as follows : — 
 
 In the name of God, Amen. By this present public instrument let it appear 
 c^■idently to all, that iu the year of the incarnation of our Lord one thousand five 
 hundred and thirty, on the twenty-first day of the month of June, in the third 
 indiction, and in the seventh year of the pontificate of the most holy father in 
 Christ and our lord the lord Clement the Seventh, by divine providence. Pope : In 
 
 * In Dei nomine, amen. Per hoc presens publicum instrumentura cunctis pateat euidenter quod anno 
 incamationis Dominice millesimo quingent«simo tricesimo mensis vero Junii die vicesimo primo, in- 
 dictione tertia, pontificatus sauctissimi in Christo patris et domini nc>stri domini dementis diuina 
 prouidentia Pape septimi anno septdmo : In mei notarii publici et testium subscriptorum presentia 
 personaliter constituti honorabiles et circimispecti viri Willelmus Raa, Andreas Ed^^ar, Stephanns Bell, 
 Edwardus Thomsone, Johannes Arras, Jacobus Litiljohnne, Adamus Baxtar, Edwardus Hendirsone 
 et Thomas Andersone, burgenses burgi de Edinburgh, tanquam judices arbitratores et amicabiles com- 
 possitores de vniuersa secta et caterua arti6cum per subscriptas partes de consensu honorabilis et egregii 
 viri magistri Adame Otterbume prepositi de Edinburgh acetiam de consensu balliuorum et dominonun 
 consilii dicti burgi specialiter electi et jurati inter Alexandrum Michel decanum Textorum prefati 
 burgi et ceteros artifices et magistros eiusdem artificii ab vna, et Johannem Gray decanum FuUonum et 
 ceteros artifices et magistros eiusdem artis dicti burgi partibus ab altera, penes discrimina singula
 
 THE WOBSTARIS. 123 
 
 presence of me, notary-public, and the witnesses underwritten, personally compeared, 
 honourable and discreet men, William Raa, Andrew Edgar, Stephen Bell, Edward 
 Thomsone, John Arras, James Litlejohnne, Adam Baxtar, Edward Hendirsone, and 
 Thomas Andersone, burgesses of the burgh of Edinburgh, as judges, arbitrators, and 
 amicable compositors of the entire set and company of craftsmen, specially cliosen and 
 sworn by the underwritten parties, with the consent of the honourable and worthy 
 man. Master Adam Otterburne, provost of Edinburgh, and also with consent of the 
 bailies and deacons of the council of the said burgh, between Alexander Michel, deacon 
 of the Websters of the said bux-gh, and the rest of the craftsmen and masters of the 
 same craft, on the one part, and John Gray, deacon of the Walkers, and the rest of 
 the craftsmen and masters of the same craft of the said burgh, on the other part, anent 
 sundry contentions and debates concerning these parties respectively, and chiefly anent 
 the craftsmen of Bonnetmakers, as to which of the foresaid craftsmen they ought to 
 be incorporated, annexed, and adjoined with, and in regard to the place and position 
 of the same in general processions whatsoever, the men above-written, judges, arbitra- 
 tors, and amicable compositors, not led by force or fear, but long reasoning and mature 
 deliberation being previously had at divers times to the effect above-written, and being 
 convened together, with unanimous consent and assent, without any disagreement or 
 change whatever, with consent also of the aforesaid parties there present, who having 
 touched the holy evangelists of God, they swore for themselves and their successors, 
 henceforth to observe the decree of the said judges, and not to contravene the same 
 in any way in time coming ; as in the said decree-arbitral made thereupon, in the 
 common tongue, is more fully contained. The tenor of the decree-arbitral, of which 
 mention is above made, follows word for word, and is thus : — 
 
 At Edinburgh, the xxi day of Junij the yeir of God j*" v° and thretty yeiris, we 
 Williame Raa for the brethir of the Smyth is, Andro Edgar for the Tailyeouris, Stevin 
 
 et debatabilia ipsas partes respectiue concernentia et precipue penes discrimen artificum burrutorura 
 vtri predictorum virorum artificum incorporari annexari et adungi deberent, et penes locum et loca- 
 tionem eorumdem in processionibus generalibus ; quiquidem suprascripti viri judices arbitratores et 
 amicabiles compositores, non vi aut metu ducti, sed longo temporis tractu et matura deliberatione 
 prehabita diuersis vicibus ad effectum suprascriptum insimul congregati vnanimo eo consensu et assensu 
 sine discrimine aut variatione quibuscunque, de consensu etiam partium predictorum ibidem presentium, 
 tactis sacrosanctis Dei euangeliis, jurauerunt decretum dictorum judicum pro se et suis successoribus in 
 futurum obseruare nee eidem aliquatenus contrauenire temporibus futuris imperpetuum, prout in sue 
 decreto arbitral! in vulgari desuper lato sequenti, latius continetur : cuiusquidem decreti arbitralis de quo 
 supra fit mentio tenor sequitur de verbo in verbum et est talis,
 
 124 THE INCORPORATED TRADES OF EDINBURGH. 
 
 Bell for the Skynnaris, Edward Thomsone for the Baxtaris, Jolmiie Arras for the 
 Barbouris, James Litiljohnne for the Cordinaris, Adame Baxtar for the Wrichtis 
 and Masonis, Edward Hendirsone for the Flescheouris, and Thomas Andersone for 
 the Furrouris, as jugis arbitratouris and amicable compositouris coniunctlie chosiu 
 sworne and admittit be avise and consent of the provest baillies counsall and the 
 haill communite of the craftismen of the said burgh betuix Alexander Michel dekin 
 of the "Wobstaris and the laif of the masteris and brethir of the said Craft one 
 that ane part, and Johanne Gray dckin of the Walkaris and Scheraris and the laif 
 of the hedisman and masteris of the said Craft one that vther part, anent the con- 
 tentioun and debait betuix the saidis bretliir and communite of the Wobstaris Walkaris 
 and Scheraris, and specialie anent the brethir of the Bonetmakaris to quhome thai 
 suld he incorporat vnit and annexit, to be vnderneth ane ouerman or dekin equalie 
 to be chosin yeirlie amangis thame, to proceid gang pay and fulfil thair dewiteis 
 with thame in reparatioun of ane altare, processionis and vthers conuentionis neidfull, 
 and to haue thair place in the samyn, conforme to all vthers craftis and sectais 
 within the said burgh, the qidiilkis partiis beand oblist and suorne to stand abid 
 and fulfil oure decreit deliuerance and finale sentence anent the mater foirsaid ; 
 and we the saidis jugis takand the said mater in and vpone ws, and inlikuis oblist 
 and sworne to deliuir thairintill eftir oure vndirstanding and knawlege, all in ane 
 voce, the richtis resonis and allegationis of baith the saidis partiis be ws sene 
 vnderstand considerit and riply auisit and matur deliberatioun had thairupone, for 
 stanching of pley vnite concord and tranquilite to be amangis thame and tbair 
 successouris in all tyme tecum, decretis deliueris ordanis and for finale sentence 
 arbitrale gevis that the Scheraris Walkaris and Bonetmakaris sail pas all togedder 
 vnder ane hedisman dekin or oureman equalie chosin amangis thame as said 
 is in all processionis generale and all vtheris conuentionis and counsallis neid- 
 full amangis thame to be ouresene considerit and visiit and to obey to him as 
 thair oureman siclik as vtheris craftisman obeyis to thair dekin or oureman in 
 reparatioun of ane altare and sustentatioun of ane chaplane to the samyn, and in 
 all vtheris thingis vsit and wount in tymis bigane amangis thame, and to haue 
 thair place in all generalle processionis and conventionis with thair banneris and 
 seriraontis betuix the Flescheouris and the Barbouris, becaus the saidis Scheraris 
 Walkaris and Bonetmakaris war incorporat vnit and annext all togiddir vnder ane 
 oureman of befor of thair avin desiring and consent with the auis of the pi'ovest 
 baillies and communite of the said burgh, as ane obligatioun and contract of thair 
 annexatioun vndir the common seill of the paid burgh maid and gevin to thame
 
 THE WOBSTARIS. 125 
 
 thairupone mair fullelie proportis ; and that inlikuis the saidis Wobstaris pas all 
 togiddir vnder ane dekin with thair banneris and vtheris derayis in processionis 
 and generale conuentionis in thair auld place vsit and wount to thame of Lingtyme 
 bigane passit memore of man, that is to say betuix the Baxtaris and the Tailyeouris, 
 and tliat ilkane of the foirsaidis partiis stand afald lele and true in freyndlie luf 
 and kyndnes till vtheris in tyme tocnm, and quhilk of the saidis partiis that niakis 
 any incontentatioun troubill or impediment in the mater foirsaid and kepis nocht 
 this our decreit arbitrale and sentence in all thingis aboue expremit, the party 
 contendand or failyeand ony maner of way to be banist the toun or to be i)unist 
 at the discretioun of tlie provest baillies and counsaill of the said buro-h for the 
 tyme as thai think cause, with assistance of the haill craftismen nixt eftir the 
 failye be notoiirlie knawin to the saidis provest baillies and counsaill of the said 
 burgh; and gif thair be ony terme doutsum or obscur in the premissis the inter- 
 pretatioun and declaratioun thairof to be referrit to the jugis arbitratouris forsaidis. 
 And for the obseruying fulfilling of this our foirsaid decreit arbitrale and deliuerance 
 aboue written and euery poynt thairof, baith the saidis partiis ilkane till vtheris 
 ar bund oblist and sworne inuiolably to obserue the samyn for thame and thair 
 successouris be the vphalding of thair richt handis, the haily Euangelis tuichit, 
 and neur tocum in the contrar vnder the panis aboue expremit, and of provit 
 infirmite and inabilite in presens of ane notar and ws jugis arbitratouris in ratifi- 
 catioun and approbatioun of thair first aith maid to ws of befor thairupon. And 
 this our decreit arbitrale and final sentence to all and sindry quhome it efferis 
 we mak it knawn. In witnes of the quhilk we the saidis jugis arbitratouris hes 
 subscriuit this our decreit arbitrale with cure handis at the pen, day yeir and 
 place forsaidis, befor thir witness Andro Michel, Johne Bane, Archibald Mowbray, 
 Schir James Huntar, Schir Johne Hendersone, and Sir Williame Thomsone, chap- 
 lanis, with vtheris diuers. Sequuntur subscriptiones judicum arbitratorum super- 
 scriptorum de quibus supra fit mentio [Follow the subscriptions of the judges 
 arbitrators above written, of whom mention is made above] Androu Edgar, Edward 
 Thomsone, James Litiljohne, Edward Hendersone, John Arras, William Raa, and 
 Stevin Bell, with owr handis at the pen, and Thomas Andersone with my hand. 
 Upon* which, in all and sundry, the said parties for their own part, and each of 
 
 * Super quibus omnibus et singulis dicte partes hinc inde a me notario publico subscripto sibi fieri 
 petierunt et quilibet earum pro se petiit vnum seu plura publicum seu publica instrumentum siue instru- 
 menta. Acta erant bee infra insula beati Johannis euangeliste infra ecclesiam collegiatam de Edinburgh
 
 126 THE INCORPORATED TRADES OF EDINBURGH. 
 
 them for himself, asked fi'om me, notary-public, a public instrument or instruments, one 
 or more, to be made. These things were done in the aisle of St John the Evangelist, 
 situated within the collegiate church of Edinburgh, at the twelfth hour before noon, 
 in the aforesaid year, month, day, indiction and pontificate ; being present discreet 
 men. Sir James Mofi'et, John Hendersone, and William Thomson, chaplains, with 
 divers other witnesses specially called and required to the i)remises. 
 
 On the 19th May 1531, there was presented before the Town 
 Council of the city sitting in judgment, another Decree Arbitral be- 
 tween the parties. It had reference to the sums which the Incorpora- 
 tions should respectively pay to Saint Mark's altar, and the order in 
 which they should pass in procession on ** Corpus Christi day and the 
 octaius tharof," and all other general processions and gatherings. The 
 unanimous resolution of the Council was that the Deacons and Brethren 
 of the Websters should receive and suffer those of the Waulkers, Shearers, 
 and Bonnetmakers to " resort and pas with thame all togidder," in one 
 place without any hindrance, and that they should display their 
 respective banners ; and that the place and room should be called the 
 "Wobstaris place and rovm for euir." Further, that the Waulkers, 
 Shearers, and Bonnetmakers and their successors should pay to the 
 Websters the sum of thirteen shillings and fourpence yearly, aye and 
 until they pay the sum of Ten Pounds " vsuall money haill and togidder, 
 on ane day." This order and rule was to remain binding upon them to 
 prevent variance and discord in time to come. The award was signed 
 by Jo. FouLAR, notary public, clerk of the said burgh, on the above 
 date. 
 
 On the 29th May 1532, the various parties again appeared before 
 the Magistrates and Town Council, when they received the following 
 discharge : — 
 
 situatam, hora duodecima ante merediem sub anno mense die indictione et pontificatu quibussupra ; pre- 
 sentibus ibidem discretis viris domiiiis Jacobo Moffet, Johanne Hendersone, et Willelmo Thomsons 
 capellanis, cum diuersis aliis tcstibus ad preuiissa vocatis specialiter atquc rogatis.
 
 THE WOBSTARIS. 127 
 
 The twentynyne day of the moaeth of Maij the yeir of God ane thousand five 
 hundreth thretty and twa yeris, the quhilk day, in presens of the provest baillies and 
 counsall sittand in jugement comperit the dekin kirkmasteris and brethir of the craft 
 of Wobstaris on that ane pairt, the dekin heidisman and brethir of the Walkaris 
 Scheraris and Bonetmakaris on that vther pairt, and thare in presens forsaid the saidis 
 dekin heidisman and brethir of the saidis Walkaris Scheraris and Bonetmakaris con- 
 tentit and paiit to the saidis dekin and brethir of the Wobstaris the sovnie of ten pundis 
 vsuall money of Scotland for the annuell of xiij s. iiij d. quhilk thai war decernit to pay 
 yeirlie to the saidis Wobstaris, efter the forme of the decreit and act of the tovne maid 
 thairupon of the dait the nyneteyne day of Maij the yeir of God j™ v° and xxxj yeris, 
 qnhilk ten pundis the saidis dekin and brethir of Wobstaris grantit thame till haif 
 ressauit fra the saidis Walkaris Scheraris and Bonetmakaris for the said annuell of 
 xiij s. iiij d. yeirlie eftir the forme of the said act, and grantis the said merk of annuell 
 lauchfully redemyt fra thame, and tharfor for thame and thare successouris renuncis all 
 richt and titill of richt that euir thai had to the said xiij s. iiij d. yeirlie, and quytclamis 
 and dischargis the saidis Walkaris Scheraris and Bonetmakaris and thare successouris 
 thairof now and for euir, promittand neuir till clame nor thar successouris tharfor in 
 jugement nor vtouth jugement in na tymes tocum ; and the saidis pairtiis craftismen 
 oblissis thame ilkane till vtheris that nane of thame sail perturb nor iniure ane another 
 nouthir in word nor deid in preue nor in pert in tyme tocum vndir the payne of that 
 persone that dois in the contrair to be ryalii pvnist be the avise and sicht of the provest 
 baillies and counsall of this tovne to the rigour but fauouris. 
 
 The Weaving business, in former times, was extensively carried on 
 within the City and suburbs of Edinburgh, chiefly by Quakers — mem- 
 bers of the Society of Friends. The far-famed Paisley Shawls, for which 
 that town eventually obtained notoriety, were originally contrived and 
 manufactured in the district of Scieunes, and were first named " the 
 Edinburgh Shawls," and were well-known all over the world. Potter- 
 row, Brown Street, the Banks of the Water of Leith, the district where 
 Picardy Place now stands, and the West Port contained each of them 
 not a few manufactories. In fact, in the last-mentioned district, there 
 was a motto carved out on the front of one of the Factories ; the 
 building has now been removed ; but the stone containing the motto is
 
 128 
 
 THE INCOKPOEATED TRADES OF EDINBURGH. 
 
 still iu existence, having been appropriated for the purpose of em- 
 bellishincr a recently erected edifice in the district. It contains the 
 words, "My life is as a Weaver's Shuttle." The names of Deacon 
 Brown, whose manufactory was in the Water of Leith district, of the 
 Wici-hams, of the Howisons, whose working-house was in a lane off 
 Brown Street, the Hewats, the Scotts, the Simes, the Grays, and other 
 noted weavers of their day, are still in the recollection of many Edin- 
 burgh people. 
 
 Eegarding all these worthy citizens, it is now only too true that 
 the place that once knew them knows them no more for ever ; 
 although we have still among us one of our most respected Lady 
 Citizens, noted for her benevolence and her many good offices, — viz., 
 Miss Eliza Wioham. The click of the looms which was wont to fall 
 upon the ear of the passer-by, indicating industry, prosperity, and 
 plenty, is now for ever silent. The factories are utilised for other 
 purposes. Bailie Nicol Jarvie's trade has deserted our City. The 
 financial affiiirs of the old Incorporation of Wobstaris were wound up 
 under the direction of the Court of Session about fifteen vears ag;o. The 
 bod)' is, however, still represented in the Convenery through its Deacon, 
 who is a citizen of Glasgow, — viz., Mr Robert Brown, 17 Hope Street.
 
 THE INCORPOEATION OF WAEKARIS. 
 
 HE Members of the Craft of Waekeris, or Waulkers, as they 
 are now called, on the 20th day of August 1500, obtained 
 a Seal of Cause from the Provost, Magistrates, and Town 
 Council of the period. In the Petition which they presented to the 
 Corporation, they alleged that their Craft had previously been incor- 
 porated, and they relegated their existence to a very remote period, 
 viz.: — "very soon after the foundation of the city." This, however, 
 would seem to be an entire mistake on the part of the Petitioners. 
 The very terms of their request were not in accordance with their 
 suggestion or rather allegation ; because in their Petition, they ask 
 the Town Council to grant them the liberty to meet for the purpose 
 of managing and controlling the aflairs of their own Craft. The 
 business of the Waulkers might be said to consist chiefly in the dressing 
 of cloths, the working-in of wool, or of fur, to make felt, etc. Hence 
 the Craft of Sheermen (Scissorsmen) was engrafted upon it. And on 
 the 13th September 1672, the fraternity of Hatters became incor- 
 porated with the Waulkers. In the Council Register of the City, 
 there is a Seal of Cause to the Hatters on 18th February 1473. 
 This by many is supposed to be a mistake, and should be read 
 "Bonnet-makers," as Hats were not in use in Scotland until about the 
 middle of the Sixteenth century, or about seventy years thereafter. 
 
 The Regulations laid down by the Provost, Magistrates, and Town 
 Council in 1500 for the government of the Waulker fraternity, as 
 
 R
 
 130 THE INCORPORATED TRADES OP EDINBURGH. 
 
 well as for God's service at their Altar of Saints Mark, Philip, and 
 Jacob in St Giles' Church, are as follows : — 
 
 1. In the first, that we may haue faculte and powere yeirlie to cheis our Ivirk- 
 maister of the said altar as vthir Craftis dois. 
 
 2. And at euery fremau of our saidis Craftis pay for the vpsett of his buthe five 
 croonis vsuall mony of Scotland, and or he sett wp buthe that he be examit be foure 
 maisteris of the said Cnift quiiether he be abill and worthy tbairto or nocht to serue 
 the nichtbouris of the toone and vtheris reparand tbairto, and gif he be fundin abill to 
 sett vp buthe that he be worth of his awin substance thre pair of scheris and of powere 
 to pay ane steik of hewit claith, swa that gif ony fait standis in him he to satefy the 
 pairty sustenand the scaith. 
 
 3. And at euery master of our saidis Craftis that takis ane prenteis to pay at his 
 entre ten schilliugls to the sustentatiouu of Godis seruice to be done at the said alter ; 
 and gif it sail happin ony maister of the saidis Craftis to take or ressave aue vther 
 masteris prenteis, seruand or wagit man, he sail pay tuenty schillingis Scottis mony to 
 the said alter ; and gif ony personis of the saidis Craftis beis ouertane wyrkand with 
 cardis uotit or previt apone him he sail pay for ilk tyme he beis ouertane or tayntit 
 thairwith fivetene schUlingis Scottis mony, to be distribuit in this wys, five schillingis 
 to Sanct Gelis werk, five schillingis to our said alter, and five schillingis to the findar 
 quhat euir he be. 
 
 4. And at the kirkmaister for the tyme and ane honest man of the saidis Craftis 
 with him may pas to the nichbouris tharof in sobir wys for the ingathering of thir 
 dewiteis and sowmes aboue expremit to the vphald of Godis seruice at our said alter aud 
 the ornamentis of the samyn, buke, challice, vestimentis and sikUke neidfull thingis, 
 and gif neid beis tharfor till poynd and distrenye with ane officiar of the tovne as 
 efferis. 
 
 5. And now becaus thecommunite of our Craft Walkaris and Scheraris within this 
 to\Tie walkis wardis extentis and beris all vthir commoun chargis within this toviie, 
 and the outland walkaris and scheraris duelland vtouth the fredome of this burgh takkis 
 the werk of the nichtbouris and wynnyn tharof and beris na portable chargis within 
 this tovne, that thairfor ilk out walkar or scherar of claith to landward cumand within 
 this tovne and fcikand the stuf thairof till wyrk sail pay ilk oulk ane penny, quhilk is 
 bot small valour, till vphald the devyne seruice at the said altar of Sanct Mark, Philip, 
 and Jacob, to be ingatherit be the dekin and kirkmasteris of the saitlis Craftis for 
 the tyme.
 
 THE WAEKAEIS. 131 
 
 Maitland adds another clause, but this does not appear on the 
 records. It may. however have been in the original document in 
 the hands of the Incorporation and seen by the Historian. It is, 
 therefore, proper, because of its importance, that it should be quoted, 
 viz., "That the Masters and Godsmen of the Craft may assemble and 
 determine all Controversies that may arise among the Members of 
 the Corporation." 
 
 The decision of the Town Council was to the following effect : — 
 Having considered the before mentioned desires, Statutes, and Rules 
 and these being deemed expedient and convenient for the " lovage 
 of God, honour and policy for the said Kirk and this Burgh," and 
 for the common profit for the same and of all our Sovereign Lord's 
 lieges, we ratify and approve of the same, by these our present 
 letters, so long as it shall be thought proper by us and our successors, 
 Provost, Bailies, and Council of this Burgh : And we confirm them 
 for the common weal and profit. AVe interpone our authority for 
 their being kept and observed in so far as we have power, according 
 to the desires of the said craftsmen. And this to all and sundry to 
 whom it effeirs, we make it known by these our present letters, written 
 under our Common Seal of Cause of the said Burgh, at Edinburgh, 
 " the tuenty day of the moneth of August, the yeir of God ane 
 thousand five hundreth." 
 
 To promote the trade and interest of the Hat-makers in Edin- 
 burgh, the Scotish Parliament in the years 1641 and 1661, empowered 
 them to choose an Overseer or Quarter-master to be elected yearly 
 from amongst themselves by the Town Council ; and the fraternity 
 having petitioned the Corporation for this purpose, it was thought 
 more expedient, and for the advantage of the said Craft, that they 
 should be united to one of the fourteen Incorporations of the city. 
 Having obtained the consent of the VTaulkers to be conjoined with
 
 132 THE INCORPORATED TRADES OF EDINBURGH. 
 
 them, both Crafts made application to the Town Council for this 
 purpose. This having been agreed to, as the only means to promote 
 successfully their mutual interests, the civic Corporation granted 
 them a charter wherein are contained the following Rules and 
 Eegulations : — 
 
 1. That the said Trade, Airt, and Handicraft, of making Hats within this Burgh, 
 shall be united and incorporate with the said Calling and Trade of Waekers in Tyme 
 comeing. Lykeas the Council by thir Presents, unitts, annexes, and incorportites the 
 Freemen of the said Incorporation of the Waekers and the present Hat-makers of 
 this Burgh, viz. : — the said James Broun, first effectual Mover of the said Designe, 
 George Andersone, etc., and their Successors respectively in the said Airts, into one 
 Bodie and Incorporation, to meitt, sitt, and vote, and conclude in the Election of their 
 Deacons and Officers of the said Calling of Waekers, and in all other Things relating 
 to the Good of the said incorporated Calling. 
 
 2. Maks, constitutes and creates the foresaid Persones, present Hat-makers, and 
 their Successors, in all Tyme comeing, Judges in the Tryell and Qualifications of the 
 intrant Hat-makers conforme to the provisions undertaken. 
 
 3. In respect that the saids Trades of Waekers and Hat-makers are unite into one 
 Bodie ; therefore the Council declairs that the Members, Freemen of the saids Callings, 
 shall indifferently be capable of being lited Deacons and other Officers of the saids 
 Callings, consisting of Waekers and Hat-makers. 
 
 4. That in respect all Tyme comeing, the Hat-makers of this Burgh are to be 
 under the Rule and Government of one Deacon and Incorporation; and that everie 
 ane shall not liave Libertie as formerly at his own Hand, without previous Tryall of his 
 -Qualification to exerce the said Trade of making Hats within this Burgh and Liberties 
 
 thereof ; wherefore the Council, by thir Presents, in all Tyme comeing, prohibits and 
 discharges all and whatsomeAdr Persones, except the Persones whose names are 
 particularlie before exprest, to exerce and profess the said Airt and Trade of 
 making Hatts within this Burgh and Liberties thereof, without they be lawfullie 
 admitted and received Freemen of the said Incorporation, be the saids Persones, present 
 Hat-makers, and their Successors in their Trade, confoi'me to the following Provisions, 
 excepting alwayes such Persones, Hat-makers, who by Vertue of the Act of Parliament 
 in favour of Manufactures, wes sett up before the Date of thir Presents, and actually
 
 THE WAEKARIS. 133 
 
 exerces the said Trade of makeing Hats, as Master of the said Calling, within any of 
 the Liberties of the good Toun. 
 
 5. The Magistrates of this Burgh, present and to come, are to give concurrance 
 to the present Deacon and his Successors, for apprehending all Unfreemen of the said 
 Calling, and the Half of the Penalties and Fynes that they happen to exact from the 
 Members of the said Calling is to be applied to Pious Uses, at the Discration of the 
 Magistratts, and the other equall to belong to the Poore of the Calling. 
 
 6. That no Freeman of the said Trade of Hat-makers shall make insufficient Hatts, 
 under the Paine of Escheit. 
 
 7. That the Tyme that a Prenteis shall serve to any Freeman of the said Trade of 
 making Hatts, shall not exceed sevin Zeires. 
 
 8. That no Freeman of the said Calling shall take ane Apprentice but once in 
 three Zeires, except they be Burgess Sones, and that they shall be booked in the Dean 
 of Gild's Books, conforme to the Custome of Prentieces of other Crafts within this 
 Burgh. 
 
 9. That none of the said Freemen of the said Trade shall take ane other man's 
 Servand, without ane reasonable Caus. 
 
 10. That no Freeman of the said Calling of Hat-makers cullor any other Unfree- 
 man to work in the said Trade, 
 
 11. That no Freeman of the said Calling dwell, or worke without the Toun of 
 Edinburgh, in no Tyme comeing, except they be licensed by the Deacon and the 
 Incorporation. And to the Effect, the granting of the foresaids Privileges in favour of 
 the Hat-makers may not prejudge any just Interesses within this Burgh; therefore the 
 Council ordaines the following Provisions to be insert therein, and to be holden as a 
 Pairt thereof in all Tymes comeing, which the foresaids Hat-makers, for themselfs and 
 their Successors, by their Acceptation of thir Presents consents hereto : — 
 
 (1.) That the importing of forraigne Hatts shall be free to all Burgesses, whether 
 Merchands or Tradesmen ; and to sell the samen in Chopes and Housses as thay think 
 fitt. 
 
 (2.) That the retailing of Hatts made within this City, or any Pairt of this Kingdom, 
 shall be free to all Merchands and Tradesmen that are only Burgesses. 
 
 (3.) That the retailing of imported Hatts shall be free to all Merchands and 
 Tradesman that are Gihl-brether. 
 
 (4.) That all Merchants and Tradesmen, and their children who shall happen to 
 mary their Daughters and their Prentieses; and generallie all Persones that shall
 
 134 THE INCORPORATED TRADES OF EDINBURGH. 
 
 happen to be Burgesses, cany maner of Way, and who shall be found, after Tryall, 
 qualified to make Hatts, wherein they have learned the said Airt, whether within this 
 Eanf'dom, or in forraigne Nations, and are desirous to be Members of the said 
 Incorporation of Hat-makers ; the said Incorporation is hereby obliged to admit aud 
 receive them Freemen of the said Trade, and that upon payment, viz. : — The Sones of 
 Burt^esses and Gild-brether that hes learned the said Trade abroad, the Soume of 
 Twentie Marks for the Upsetts, and all other Expenses. And all others promiscuouslie 
 to pay for the Upsetts, as the Waekers' Prentieses are in use to pay. 
 
 (5.) That no Persone be admitted Freeman of the said Trade of Hat-makers, with- 
 out they be first actuallie entered Burgesses. 
 
 (6.) That albeit by the said Union and Incorporation of Hat-makers and Waekers 
 into one Bodie, as to Government and Policie, and having one Deacon and other Ofiicer 
 in common ; yet the said Waekers by themselfs, shall only admit and examine Freemen 
 and receave Prentieses, and meddell with the Servands of their said Calling of Waekers, 
 and cognosce upon what relates to their Trade of Waekers. And sickly e the saids Hat- 
 makers shall only by themseltis examine and recave Freemen, and their Prentieses, and 
 meddell with the Servands of their said Calling of Hat-makers, and cognosce upon what 
 shall relate to their said Trade of Hat-making. And that the said Waekers and Hat- 
 makers shall enjoy the Privileges and Liberties of their respective Trades, without 
 incroaching or invading upon one ane others Liberties. And hereby it is not only ex- 
 presslie declaired and provyded, that the Waekers' former Rights and Seall of Caus 
 shall not in the least be waikned, infringed, or impaired by any thing contained in thir 
 Presents. Bot also the Council grants full Power and Warrand to the said Hat-makers 
 and Waekers, to make such Acts and Ordurs amongst themselfs, whereby cleare Limits, 
 Bounds, and Marches may be made betwixt the saids respective Trades. 
 
 (7.) It is declaired, that notwithstanding the said Incorporation consists now of 
 both Waekers and Hat-makers yet, that in all Tyme comeing the said Incorporation 
 shall be called, termed, and denominated The Incorj'ioration of the Waekers; and the 
 Deacon of the said Incorporation to be called allanerlie. The Deacon of the Waekers. 
 
 (8.) It is alwayes expresslie provyded and declaired by thir Presents, that in all 
 emergent and occasional Debates that shall happen to aryse betwixt the said incor- 
 porated Callings, or betwixt the Members thereof, or concerning the receaving of intrant 
 Hat^makers, that the Council of this Burgh shall be competent judges thereto. 
 
 (9.) And, in respect the Council of this Burgh has been most full and free in grant- 
 ing the foresaids Privileges in favour of the Incorporation of the Hat-makers ; therefore
 
 THE WAEKARIS. 135 
 
 it is heirby declaired, that in Case at any Tyme herefter, the said Incorporation shall 
 happen to obtain from the Council of this Burgh, any furder Priviledges wliich may any 
 Wayes be destructive to the foresaids Provisions : Then and in that Case, the haill 
 foresaids Liberties, Immunities, and Priviledges granted to them shall, ipso facto, become 
 voyd and null. 
 
 The Town Council, on the above conditions being fulfilled, con- 
 sidered that the Eules and Articles submitted by the Craft were just, 
 lawful, and for the common good of the Burgh. They therefore rati- 
 fied the same, and interponed their authority that they should be 
 observed in future. They likewise took power to punish any offenders 
 or breakers of these Laws. They further consented that the Deacon 
 and Brethren of the Incorporation of Waekcrs, consisting of Waekers 
 and Hat-makers, should endeavour to get a ratification of the same 
 by the Scotish Parliament. In the meantime the Town Council ordered 
 the Deed to be subscribed by their clerk, who was further enjoined 
 to attach thereto the Seal of the Burg;h. 
 
 It will be evident from a perusal of the above that the Town 
 Council of the time entertained more liberal opinions, in the way of 
 free trade, in so far as Hat-making or selling was concerned, than 
 were held by many of their predecessors or successors in office. 
 
 Apart from the reference made to Decreets-Arbitral between the 
 Websters, the Waulkers and the Bonnet-makers, in the notice already 
 made regarding the former, the two latter Crafts frequently contended 
 against each other, particularly in reference to the collecting of dues 
 for the upkeep of the Altar. The matter was brought before the Town 
 Council, who, on the 23d of November 1453, ordained that there 
 should be " bot ane commoun box betwixt baith the saidis Craftis," 
 and that there should be four keys, two of which should be put into 
 the hands of the most honest and principal brethren of both Crafts 
 respectively ; also that the box should be kept by one member of
 
 136 THE INCORPORATED TRADES OF EDINBURGH. 
 
 one of the Crafts for one year, and pass on to a member of the 
 other Craft during the following year ; and if any of them refused to 
 do so, the defaulting Craft should pay a fine of Ten Pounds to the 
 reparation of the Altar beside their weekly contributions. They also 
 ordained that one of the Waulkers and one of the Bonnet-makers 
 should use all diligence in the collecting of the sums due, and that 
 there should be a weekly or quarterly account kept. 
 
 The Incorporation of Waulkers (including the Hatters) is still 
 represented in the Convenery. The present Deacon is Mr William 
 Bell Mack, 2 Hunter Square.
 
 THE INCOEPORATION OF BONNET-MAKERS. 
 
 jHE Bonnet-makers, whose Craft was originally included in 
 the fraternity of the Waulkers, on the 31st of March 1530, 
 petitioned the Town Council of Edinburgh to give them a 
 separate Charter of Incorporation. This the Civic Corporation readily 
 consented to do ; and in the Seal of Cause which they granted to them 
 the following privileges were enumerated, viz. : — 
 
 1. That the Company yearly chuse, with the Approbation of the Town Council, an 
 Oversraan or Master to inspect the Work made by the several Members of the Trade, to 
 prevent their imposing a bad Commodity on the People. 
 
 2. That persons shall not presume to work as Bonnet-makers unless they have 
 served their apprenticeship to a Member of the Corporation ; and that neither Master 
 nor Mistress of the Craft shall employ the apprentice of another, without consent of his 
 Master, on the penalty of Twenty shillings Scotish money, 
 
 3. That no Member of the Company make any use of unwarrantable stuff, under 
 the Pain of Forfeiture, to be disposed of by the Town Council. 
 
 4. For the purpose of more effectually preventing any Frauds in the Manufacture 
 of Bonnets, the Oversman or Master is to make a Search weekly throughout the Trade, 
 and inspect their work. 
 
 5. That every Member of the Company, working either for himself or herself, shall 
 pay at their admission, a Freeman or Freewoman, the Sum of Thirty shillings Scotish 
 money, to be employed in the Support of the Altar of St. Mark ; and for each Apprentice 
 they take, the sum of Six shillings towards the same object. And so often as the Chap- 
 laincy of the said Altar shall become vacant, the Bonnet-makers shall have their I'ight 
 equal with the Waulkers and Sheermen, in chusing a Chaplain for the same. 
 
 6. The said Craft shall have two Market-days weekly, viz., Monday and Wednesday, 
 whereon to sell their Bonnets ; and for the better carrying on of their Business with 
 success, each person was bound to put his or her Mark on the goods which they 
 severally made. 
 
 S
 
 138 THE INCORPORATED TRADES OF EDINBURGH. 
 
 7. And that this Craft or Trade shall have a Key to the Common Box or Chest, 
 wherein the Cash was deposited, as was also given to the Fraternity of Waulkers or 
 Sheennen. 
 
 By the introduction of Hats, and their almost general use, the 
 Bonnet-makers' Incorporation were reduced to very great straits. They 
 were not able either to support their families or the expenses of their 
 Company, without the assistance of some other of the Crafts. This 
 would almost indicate that a Minute of the Town Council of 1473, 
 which refers to the Hatters, should properly have been to the 
 Bonnet-makers, seeing that the use of Hats had not been introduced 
 at that period. By mutual consent, and that also of the Town 
 Council, the Fraternity of Litsters or Dyers agreed to become con- 
 joined with the Bonnet-makers. 
 
 The Litsters or Dyers had previously existed as a separate craft. 
 But the Litsters, in conjunction with the Weavers and Waulkers, 
 having committed great frauds in their respective occupations, to the 
 great hurt and annoyance, and almost total ruin of the Woollen Manu- 
 factures of the City, the Town Council of Edinburgh, for the purpose 
 of redressing these most pernicious practices, by virtue of an Act of 
 Parliament made certain regulations to restrain the nefarious actions 
 of the said Crafts within the bounds of their jurisdiction. The Litsters 
 of the City, for the purpose of regaining their character, voluntarily 
 appeared before the Town Council ; and, with the view of effectually 
 putting the said Regulations into execution, they, with one accord, 
 bound and obliged themselves, in all time coming, to observe the 
 following statutes of the Town Council : — 
 
 1. That thay nor nane of thame, in ony Tyme cuming, sail lit ony maner of Culler 
 of Muster de Villois, French O'raT/, or Russatis, with Brissell or XJrsell, nor lit ony Blakis, 
 with Cupprus, Gallis, AUer-barkis, or sicklike fals Cullers, hot the samyn to be littet 
 with ]Ma(lcr, Aline, Glew, and sic trew Cullers as hes bene, anil is usit amongis Men of
 
 THE BONNET-MAKERS. 139 
 
 Honestie, Experience, and gude Conscience of the said Craft, under the Pane of Five 
 Fund for the first Fait, Ten Fund the next Fait, to be disponit to the common Workis ; 
 and the third and last Fait, to be baneist the Toun and Fredome thairof for ever. And 
 sa oft as sail happin ouy of the saidis Littisteris or utheris of that Occupatioun, or taking 
 that craft upoun thame, to spill, in thar Defalt, the Claith or Woole gavin to thame to 
 lit, to pay to the Awiner the uttermaist Availl and Fryce that the samyn wald gif, in 
 cace it wer perfitelie, compleitlie and sufficientlie wroucht and littit, provyding the spilt 
 Claith and Wolle be gevin to the Littisteris Spillaris thairof, the uttermaist Availl, as 
 said is, beand payit. And in cace they be nocht abill, the Availl, as said is, to be spanit 
 from the Occupatioun, and baneist the Fredome of this Burgh, quhill the Partie damp- 
 naget be satisfeit in Maner above written, and Cautioun found under Fains, at the AVill 
 of the Jugeis, for trew Labouris and trew Cullors in all Tyme cuming. 
 
 2. For the mare sure Tryall of the Honestie, Lawtie and sure Wark of the said 
 Occupatioun that thair be made ane Stamp, and the Tounis Arms thairupon, quhilks sal 
 be gevin in keiping to ane honest, trew sworne Nichtboure of Experience in making and 
 colouring of Claith, quha sail be Oversear of all Claith littit and made within this Burgh, 
 and sail stamp in Leid and utherwayis, qnha sail have for his Labouris everie Fece of 
 Claith stampit be him, as said is, Twa Pennies allanerlie ; and that na Littister deliver 
 furth of their House, ony Claith littit be thame, bot markit with thair awin Mark, 
 under the Pane of acht shillings, to be distributit in Maner above written, sa oft as he 
 faillies, bot Favour ; and that the Keiper of the said Stamp be in Redynes at all Tymes 
 for stamping of Claith, quhen he sail be requiret ; and gif Neid be, then he sail seirche 
 and seik the samyn to be stampit : and gif it happyns the said Stamp-Keiper to stamp 
 ony Maner of Claith, not sufficiently coulrit, to pay Five Fund for every Fait, to be 
 applyit, as said is, and to be puneist in his Bodie at the Will and Plesoure of the 
 Provest, Baillies and Counsale for the Tyme, 
 
 And farder. That na Maner of Man nor Woman within this Burgh take upoun 
 thame the Occupatioun of Litting, bot sic as be Burgesses and Fremen, and before their 
 Admissioun, that thay mak thair Assay of Colouris, and deliver the samyn to the 
 Provest, Baillies and Counsale of this Burgh, and they to call in before them the honest 
 Nichtbouris, with the said Oversear, and tak thair Judgement of the Wordyness of the 
 said Assay-gevar, and of the Justnes of the Coloure, under the Pane of baneishing of the 
 Toun ; and thir Ordinances to be observit in all Tymes cumming, togidder with the uther 
 Statutis and Ordinances in the Actis made the Tvventie-secund Day of Marche last 
 tuitching the making and liting of Wooll and Claith in all sorts, as said is.
 
 140 THE INCORPOEATED TRADES OF EDINBURGH. 
 
 At the time when the Litsters became incorporated with the 
 Bonnet-makers, viz., in 1684, it was requisite that new Rules and 
 Regulations should be passed by the Town Council for the proper 
 o-overnment of the United Body. The following contain the Basis of 
 Union and the various Clauses and Statutes relating to the same : — 
 
 1. The Coansell by thir Presents unites, annexes and incorporates the Freemen of 
 the Incorporation of the Bonnet-makers and the Litsters, Burgesses of this City, viz., 
 John llobertsone, etc., and their respective Successors in the said Arts into one Body 
 and Incorporation perpetually in all Tyme comeing, with Power to them as one Body 
 and Incorporation, to meitt, sitt and vote, and conclude in the Election of their Deacones 
 and Officers of the said Calling ; siclyke, and als freily iu all Respects as any other 
 Freemen of the Incorporation of any other Craft are in Use to do. 
 
 2. The Counsell makes, constitutes and erects the foresaid Persones, present Litsters 
 and their Successors in all Tyme comeing, Judges of the Tryall and Qualificatioun of the 
 intrant Litsters, conforme to the foresaid Act of Parliament, and the Agreement past 
 between the said Bonnet-makers and them. 
 
 3. In respect to the saids Trades of Bonnet-makers and Litsters are unite in one 
 Body; the Counsell heirby declaires, that for the first two years after the Tyme of the 
 Electione of the Deacones of Ci-afts this nixt enshewing year, the Deacon of the said 
 incorporate Callings, is to be elected out of the Bonnet-makers, in regard by the Sett ; 
 the Litsters now incorporate must be two years Masters of the Calling, before they be in 
 a Capacity to be in the Leit to be Deacone ; and efter the said two years is expyred, the 
 said two incorporate Airts are to choyse sax Litsters for the List, which they are to 
 present to the Counsell, out of which they are to have thrie for a Leit ; out of which 
 Leit, ther Deacone called T]ie Deacon of the Bonnet-makers is to be elected, conforme to 
 the said Agreement. 
 
 4. Conforme to the said Agreement, for the first two Years, that the Deacon must 
 be a Bonnet-maker, the Boxmaster to the said two Airts now incorporate, is to be a 
 Freeman Litster ; and so f urth two Years per vices. The List that is to be given in to 
 the Counsell, in order to the Electione of the Lists of ther Deacones, the same sail con- 
 sist of sex Bonnet-makers on two years, and sex Litsters on two years ; and when the 
 Deacone is a Bonnet-maker, the Boxmaster shall be a Litster; and when the Deacone is 
 a Litster, the Boxmaster shall be a Bonnet-maker. 
 
 5. The Counsell, be thir Presents, in all Tyme comeing, prohibits and discharges all
 
 THE BONNET-MAKERS. 141 
 
 Litsters whatsomever, except the Persons above-named, who are Freemen Litsters of this 
 Cittie to exerce and profess the said Trade and Airt of litting and dyeing within this 
 Cittie, unless tliej be admitted Freemen of the said Incorporation, be the foresaid Per- 
 sones, present Litsters, and ther Successours that shall be lawfullie admitted Freemen of 
 the said Incorporation, with Advice and Consent of the saids Bonuet-makers, to take 
 Tryall of the Sufficiencie of the Work and CuUour dyed and litted by any of the intrant 
 Freemen of the said Incorporation of the Litsters that shall heirafter be admitted, and 
 to make Acts and Statuts amongst themselves for improveing of the said Airt, conforme 
 to the foresaid Act of Parliament in favour of the said Litsters. 
 
 6. It is statut and ordained, conforme to the foresaid Agreement, that the Bonnet- 
 makers and ther Successors, shall in no Wayes incroach upon the Airt of litting of 
 Clothes and Stuffs, which is only proper to be dyed, litted, and drest by the Litsters ; 
 and that non of the said Freemen Litsters, nor thir Successors in ther Airt shall medle 
 with, nor incroach upon the making and dyeing of Bonnets, Night-caps, or any other 
 Things that they bein in use to work and dye, or to have Liberty to doe, be Vertew of 
 ther Seal of Cause. 
 
 7. The Counsell statuts and ordains, that in no Tyme comeing, any Litster shall 
 have Liberty to exerce the Airt of Litting and Dyeing within this Cittie, or Priviledges 
 therof, but such as are actuall Dyers and Litsters, Burgess of Edinburgh at present, or 
 have been alreadie bound Prentices, and are booked in the Dean of Gild's Books as 
 Litsters ; and those shall be obliged, before they can exerce ther Art, to byde Tryall as 
 to ther Qualificatiouns, before they be actually admitted to the Exercise of the said Airt, 
 conforme to the Clauses mentioned in the said Act of Parliament ; and after Tryall, 
 before they exerce, unless they be of the Number of the Persons above-named, they are 
 to be lawfully admitted Freemen of the said Incorporation, before they can exerce the 
 said Art. 
 
 8. That no other Persones in any Tyme comeing are to be admitted Freemen of the 
 said Incorporation as Litsters, wer they never so weill qualified, unless they serve a 
 Freeman Litster of the said Incorporation, five years at leist, and be booked in the Dean 
 of Gild's Books, and in the said Incorporation ther Books as Prentice, unless he be a 
 Freeman's Son, or marie a Freeman's Daughter of the said Incorporation of the Litsters. 
 And it is heirby speciallie provydit and declaired, that this present Grant, establishing 
 and uniting the foresaids two Airts in one Corporatioun, shall be but Prejudice to the 
 Merchants, Burgesses and Gild-brethir of this Cittie, to import any Cloaths, Stuffs, 
 Stockings, or any other Wair in use to be dyed (which are not prohibited by Law) from
 
 142 THE INCORPORATED TRADES OP EDINBURGH. 
 
 any forraigne Cuntrie, of whatsomever Dye or Cullour to this Cittie, or to tlie Burgesses 
 of this Cittie, to import any Cloatlis, Stuffs, or what els is in Use, to be dyed or litted 
 within this Kingdom, or to any Place within the saniyn, and to vend the same, sicklyke, 
 and als freily in all Res})ects, as they have bein in use to do in any Tyme bygone, or 
 may doe in any Tyme comeing, as Merchants, Burgesses, and Gild brethir of this Cittie. 
 
 9. It is tleclared, That all these that are actually exercing the Airt of Litting and 
 Dyeing, shall have Liberty to come in, and be incorporate with the said Bonnet-makers 
 and Litsters, provydiug they be Burgess, and qualified in their Airfc, albeit they be not 
 of the Number of the Persons above-named ; provyding they come in within the Space 
 of three ]Moneth.s after the Dait of thir Presents ; and sicklyke, that all that have bein 
 bound Prentices before the Dait heirof to Freemen Litsters, Burgers of Edinburgh, shall 
 be admitted Freemen of the said Incorporation, they being found qualified, and payin 
 ther ordinary XJpsetts as Prentices. 
 
 10. It is declared. That no Persone whatsomever have Liberty to sett up a Lit-house 
 in any of the Suburbs of the Good Town, or within any other Pairt of the Priviledges 
 of the same, or exerce the said Airt of Litting or Dyeing within the said Bounds, unles 
 they have Liberty swa to do from the Incorporation. 
 
 11. It is heirby provydit and declaired. That when any of the Inhabitants of this 
 Cittie shall take Occasione to export any Cloaths, StufTs, or any Thing else, to be litted 
 out with the Privileges of the Good Town, that they shall have free Liberty, without any 
 Maner of Interruptione, to export the same, and import the samyn litted, as they have 
 been of use to do, in any Tyme comeing. 
 
 The Town Council hereby interpones their authority for the above Articles, and 
 decerns that they be inviolably observed in all time coming : That the Magistrates of 
 this Burgh, present and future, give their concurrence to the oilicers of the City, to 
 see them put into execution in all points, as against Contraveners and Bi-eakers of the 
 same : They consent that the Deacon and Brethren of the Incorporation of Bonnet- 
 makers and Listers should obtain the ratification of these presents by Parliament : 
 And they ordain an extract hereof to be given to them for that purpose, under the 
 subscription of the Town Clerk, and the common Seal of the Burgh appended thereto. 
 
 On the 23rd of June 1558, at a Meeting of Town Council held 
 on that day, the Bonnet-makers lodged a complaint that the " out- 
 landismen of Sanct Jonistouu and vthers vnfremen," were in the 
 habit every day of passing through the town and openly exposing their
 
 THE BONNET-MAKERS. 143 
 
 bonnets for sale, to the great hurt of the members of the Incorporation 
 and in violation of the law, considering the sums paid for watching 
 and warding by the freemen. The Town Council issued a Statute 
 wherein such sales were proclaimed illegal except on Market-days. 
 
 A complaint of a different kind fell to be disposed of by the 
 Civic Corporation on 30th June 1563. It was against the Bonnet- 
 makers on this occasion. They had been in the habit of working in 
 the open street, causing the passers-by to be " fylit with the calk dust 
 and flokis of the saids coittis and bonettis " which scandalised the 
 "hale nobelitie and strangearis." The Council ordered them to desist 
 and cease from this within sight of the High Street, and to carry 
 on their work in their houses and workshops as formerly, under a 
 penalty of Forty shillings. 
 
 Like some of the other Incorporations, the Bonnet-makers elected 
 Honorary Members. For example : — 
 
 5 March 1746. — (Present — Deacon James Watson and ten other members). 
 The Corporation being met and constituted, Considering that it will highly tend to the 
 honour of this City that His Royal Highness William, Duke of Cumberland, be 
 admitted and presented with the freedom of the several Incorporations of this City ; 
 yrfore the Corporation did and heieby do unanimously admit and present the said 
 William, Duke of Cumberland, with the freedom of yr craft, and authorise and 
 empower James Watson, present Deacon, jointly with the other Deacons of the 
 several Incorporations of Edinburgh, to admit and present him with the freedom of 
 the said Incorporations in the most ample form, and that the ticket be " wrote on 
 velum," and delivered to him in a " Gold box." 
 
 The old form of Prayer made use of, as recorded in the Minute- 
 Book of date 1637, is as follows : — 
 
 The grayer usuallie said at ye meetings of ye saids deacones m«. 
 
 (maisters) and Brethraine of Crafts. 
 most gratious God and heavenlie father, who of thyne infinite goodness has 
 ordained thir meetingis for the preservatioun of love, concord, and humane society :
 
 144 THE IXCORPORATED TRADES OF EDINBURGH. 
 
 Grant, Lord, that nae particularitie nor partialitie over-reull the heartis of anny heir 
 present, but that there may be the only object weill and prosperitie of everie brother 
 wished and craved. And to that eifect rectify our wills, memories and understandings 
 to thy heavenly will, and be thou with us through thy comfortable presentis for Jesus 
 Christ sake. To whom with thee and thy holie spirit be all prais, honour and glorie. 
 So be it. 
 
 The jMinute-Book is a fine folio in good preservation, bound in 
 wood covered with calf, and surrounded by two iron bands, each with 
 a separate lock. There is a mark impressed on the one side " For the 
 Waikkers," and on the other, " For the Bannet-Makkers." 
 
 Tlie Oath taken on admission to the Incorporation was as foUoius : — 
 I protest heir before God, that I am ane true professor of ye true religione piitlie 
 preachit in Scotland, as also I sail be leill and trew to our Soverane Lord, ye Kingis 
 niatie, and his hieness successors ; to the Provvist and Baillies of yis burgh ; to ye 
 deacones and m*. of ye Waikeris and Bannet-makers, and shall not hyde (?) nor conceill 
 yare skaith in anny way, be night nor be day, but shall stope ye samen to ye uttermost 
 of my power, and shall fortify and meantyne yame in all yair godlie affairs in what- 
 somever they shall happen to decerne or adjudge me to doe. I shall never come in the 
 contrair before whatsomever Judge or Judges, and sail not take my bretherins house 
 over yair heads, nor shall not fie nor seduce yair servantis by yair knowledge under 
 the paiiie of perjurie and defamatioun for ever, and yis I promoise to keep in all 
 poyntis. Sua help me God and be God himself. 
 
 The Bonnet-makers' Incorporation exists now only for benevolent 
 purposes, and for appointing a Deacon who has a vote in the Con- 
 veucry. Bailie Macdonald is the present Deacon, and Mr James Bruce 
 (of Messrs Bruce & Kerr, W.S.) is the Clerk.
 
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 ■IM B BJggSgiaa ^M.*-
 
 Dyer and Calico Primer 
 
 By Herbekt Robhon, B.Sc. 
 
 itK 
 
 Fbom time to time some reference is inaJe to this 
 ancient Edinburgh guild iu the press, generally on the 
 occasion of the ininiial meeting, and an account of the 
 society will he interesting to our readers. The Incorpora- 
 tion came into existence in the same manner and for the 
 same purpose of mutual help and protection as the London 
 guilds connected with the textile trades, already described 
 in this journal. 
 
 For many thousantls of years man has been a tool- 
 making animal, or in other words a producer of artificial 
 goods. But Providence which has decreed that where there 
 
 are work.T 1 ^ thrm ;4kiI! hr Arniw- :il-n. hn- tnkon care 
 
 that pru.lurlinll -lluni,! 1.,. ;ilu;,V- .■nuHlM'r] lo :, ,,;,rt ,.f thc 
 
 human nrr. ;,n.l ili^i t)i.' |.n"lii.tl\ i' -i.'!]..]] ol' i.i;ndiind 
 shall he iin;nial,lv :,"uri;,!L.I witli ;i noii-inudnrliv- section 
 which helps itself at the expense of the first. In former 
 days this was done according to "the good ohl rule, tire 
 simple plan, that he shall take who has the power, and he 
 shall keep who can." The system is still in vogue, in thc 
 Congo for example, but the progress of civilisation has 
 caused it to be supplanted in most cases by safer and more 
 effectual methods, which have the additional advantage of 
 acting automatically and unceasingly. 
 
 The non-producers naturally regard the producers aa 
 fair game. The producers as naturally resent this view of 
 their position so that from time immemorial there have 
 been combinations of workers, the members of which are 
 supposed to support one another in resisting undue 
 demands upon them. Here we have the origin of the 
 bodies known by many names, such as crafts, guilds, 
 amalgamated societies or trade unions. Providence did 
 not, however, desert the non-producers when these unions 
 began to be formed. Their inception was attended by 
 vaat difficulties, as must he obvious on the least reflection. 
 fc. One of the chief of these was the difficulty of communi- 
 Bcation between producers a long way apart. Anything 
 ^even approaching to free communication is an affair 
 absolutely of yesterday, and only exists in highly civilised 
 countries. All except the youngest of us can remember 
 that when a man moved across London even, say from 
 Battersea to Hackney, he was severed from his old 
 associates as effectively as if he had gone to Timbuctoo. 
 All craft guilds were started by one or two persons, not 
 merely working at the same trade, but working in close 
 personal communication with one another. 
 
 It is an inherent defect of every trade union that it is 
 concerned with one branch only of trade. It is clear that 
 this defect was inevitable, but the full advantages of trade 
 combination can never he obtained without union of tho 
 unions. Whether thc jealousies existing between the 
 different branches will ever permit this is very doubtful, 
 and we sec in this the natural check to the power of such 
 
 organisations, as it makes them waste mnch of thti 
 energies in petty squabbles within the union and betw 
 one union and another. 
 
 Trade societies then are institutions of great antiquit^ 
 anil of very slow growth. Their history is obscure, for 
 the records have often been lost in whole or in part, or 
 have been imperfectly kept. There is one remarkable 
 fact, however, that often supplies a date when a society 
 may be said to have come into officially recognised 
 existence. This date is given in works of reference as 
 fixing the time when the society started. In the early 
 days of the ^nei^:■tv the meinber.s made rules for their own 
 observance, but when they had won a certain position 
 they appiLiacheil thc non-productive section of the 
 community for a rocognition, in writing, of their statutes, 
 and this constitutes what is called in England a charter 
 of incorporation, and in Scotland a seal of cause. The 
 tacit admission of the supremacy of the non-producing 
 element involved in this proceeding has always been taken 
 more or less advantage of, by the laitor. in mulcting 
 the union of property when tha charter was firt-t granted 
 and whenever the grantors conveniently discovered that it 
 required renewal. 
 
 To understand the position of the Scottish craft guilds 
 wo must consider the system of local government in the 
 middle ages. Town.- unv. ;i^ n nil^-'. iimlcr the protection 
 of some baron, wh- li;->I ;. -;i-tl.- n, tli. i,. iMiKurhood, 
 andhewasthePruvM-i M,-ri„..l M,,,^ii:,i.., Tl... r, -r ,.fthe 
 burden of the gi.vcniin.'ni iVIt 111^,11 tlir ninviiniiir L'uilds 
 and the craft guihls had to content themselves witli being 
 governed. The baron, whose proudest boast was that he 
 could n&ither read nor write, looked down on the citizens, 
 and these in their turn looked down upon thc "base and/^ 
 mechanical" craftsmen. That some union among the* 
 
 craftsmen was necessary is snflficiently obvious. 
 
 Among the trade corporations of Scotland, those of 
 Edinburgh were, of course, the chief and give us a model ' 
 by which we can judge those of other towns. The tex- 
 tile trades have occupied a prominent position among them 
 from thc first. Weavers, fullers, dyers and bonnet-makers, 
 all flourished in the good town, and not only there but in 
 every other town in the lowlands. Beyond the Highland 
 line of course there were no trade guilds, because spinning, 
 weaving, and dyeing, were domestic operations carried out 
 by the women-kind of the chiefs and other important 
 personages, and were no more sent out than washing-up 
 the tea things is sent out to-day. We trust all our readers 
 have read the Fair Maid of Perth. If they have not let 
 them do ao without delay and make the acquaintance of 
 Sir Patrick Charteris, the Provost, and of the gallant 
 bonnet-maker, Oliver Proudfute, the deacon of his craft 
 and perhaps the most lovable coward in fiction. The scene 
 is laid at Perth but Sir Walter's account of the trade 
 guilds of Perth is quite applieable to those of Edinburgh. 
 The flrst record of the Edinburgh bonnet-makers in 
 wliich they are called by that name seems t« be in 1530. 
 In that year, long after Hal of the Wynd had been 
 oatliriiil tu bis fathers, the bonnet-makers appear to havaj 
 L.,.|i iniv. -I ii(. with the -weavers, fullers and shearers ovffl| 
 
 a ,p„,i, >l privilege. We learn that in 1509 the two 
 
 . uipoiafiims ul (lie websters on the one hand and thecom- 
 liined shearers and fullers on the other quarrelled about 
 precedence and the matter was referred to tho Town 
 Council. The decision is extant in Mediseval Latin and it 
 has been contflitiporaneously translated into what is alleged 
 to be English, tho ti-anslation being decidedly harder to 
 make out than the original. This decision was, howovpr. 
 that the two were on an equal footing and this state of 
 affairs remained until the bonnet-makers put in their claim 
 as above related. This started the whole business over 
 again, but the three were pronounced equal. 
 
 The Seal of Can.se of the weavers is dated 1475. and 
 that of tho fullers 1500. As regards the bonnet-makers
 
 J 
 
 PRACrrCAL r. CHEMICAL TESTS 
 
 By C. J. Ecois. 
 
 (Concluded from pa,je b)\.) 
 These instances tlemonstniti-, however, that all efforts 
 
 to verify the fnstnes* of d- 
 ludicrous and that such tf" 
 the one side, iiisisteiicc on t 
 introihiction of new anii 
 
 ' other sido does not oftVr ; 
 
 I answer the tests actually [ 
 and fastness. For this rei 
 
 I free from the one 
 Continent, with tlie 
 
 trations, they 
 guaraiitei 
 
 ITS hy chemical reactions are 
 irr- niitlreiy antii[uated. On 
 ■ t''-)- lilnjrr-; progre-ss in the 
 .n.M.I ll^■,■sIlm■s, and on the 
 -iciirity tli;it dyeings wliich 
 •ss the sui)]>oscd composition 
 I, dyers have long tried to he 
 brance of these tests, and on the 
 ^eption of some conservative adminis- 
 
 that hi? 
 
 ely insisted upon. The dyer either 
 dyeingji do not fall short of the 
 
 n him, or, going still 
 dyeings will satisfy the 
 and manufacturers, like 
 
 Liuarantee. or. better still, 
 
 vnvhinp'. niillin;:'. ironing. 
 
 a.i hoiii- l.y:m hour 
 
 tlien knead 
 lining must 
 
 cments 
 
 . properties of the patterns 
 I further, that th.- J;.-tn.> 
 ! demands of the rr-pn fi( 
 I merchants, an- ^aii-linl 
 
 , and acid tests, of tlicd.-, 
 
 I to them. With the exccptiu,, nf thr ,Apu-iirr tr^r ail the 
 
 , others are simple enough, dfrcn -imiiT. :nnl in rvcry case 
 
 -^ifer, than the aliovo uuTitioncd reactions. 
 J For testing the fastness to milling, for example, it is 
 
 -^est to te.st the \\yv\\ woollen yarn or top along with white 
 
 , yarn, either wool alone or wool and cotton hy making 
 
 '• a plait and submitting the saiiqde to a vigorous hand- 
 milling, kneading it in a solution of 1 to 2 oz. soap and 1 to 
 2 oz. soda ash per gallon of water, at a temjierature of about 
 
 ,. llOdeg. F. for 3 to T. minutes. Let the pimple then remain in 
 the millhig solution for lia 
 it once more and finally 
 A dyeing which is intenil< 
 not change much in the •a\h.\,- pm,,--. n-Iii 
 
 bleed on to the wool or lli, mi ,^;iiiipl. 
 
 which have not to stanil wvy -i.-M.rr r 
 regarding milling may be tcstud in a similar 
 without the addition of soda, and lessening the time 
 of treatment. Wherever possiltle, it is alwava 
 
 ■ useful to confirm the milling expi-rinK 
 process in the fulling mill; for liii- 
 descrihed above is sewn on to -a pi. n 
 to be milled according to requireinnii-, 
 thus subjected to the practical process. This i.s the' way 
 to form a reliable opinion of the degree of fastness to 
 milling of the dyeings in question, and the only point to be 
 strictly watched with this, as with every other test, is that 
 it should be ninde eoMiparatively against dyes which are 
 being considered the standard. 
 
 A test whirh in many cases is important, is the one 
 for fastness to potting, to can-v out this test effectively, 
 a plait made up of yarn or tup— either white wool or wool 
 
 *■ and cotton, as described above — is Ijoiled in pure house- 
 hold water (distilled wuter oft*n acts differently from 
 calcareous water) for half an hour. Dyeings fast to 
 potting must not change much through this process, and 
 must neither bleed on to the wool nor on to the cotton. 
 
 Fastness to deeatising is most reliably tested by 
 rolling the dyed sample, be it cloth, yarn or top, round 
 a perforated cylinder covered with cotton cloth, the 
 aamplc to be covered outside with this cloth again. Allow 
 steam of 30 to 40 lb. pressure to pass through the 
 cylinder for five to ten minutes. This treatment should not 
 cause a perceptible change in the shade of the dye. 
 
 As will he noticed, these tests follow the lines of 
 the customary conditions of manufacturing, and no diffi- 
 culties present themselves in carrying them out. The 
 "^ btormiPBtioD of the degree of fastness against acids. 
 
 n' plait 
 
 I 
 
 earlionlsing, perspiration, stoving. washing. &c., can 
 equally be carried out on the .same basis of practical 
 methods. 
 
 A reliable perspiration test, not founded on test tube 
 reactions, but on a practical basis, may be made bv 
 fastening a piece of the dyed cloth to be tested under 
 the saddle of a horse, where it may remain for three or four 
 days during exercise, or a stoker may be asked to wear 
 a swatch of the cloth, for u similar length of time, next to 
 his skin. If there be no change of color, resulting from 
 either of these tests, the dye is fast to perspiration. 
 
 This jirocedure is more relialile in its results than the 
 method which has been adopted by textile experts, who 
 saturate a swatch of the dyed cloth to he tested with 
 a solution of conmion salt and acetic acid, and take 
 account of the change of color after drying. It is open 
 to doubt that the exudation of the human body contains 
 either salt or acetic acid, and so long as this doubt exists 
 the test is arbitrary and unscientific. All appearances 
 point to the fact that the perspiration is alkaline, for the 
 reason that the lining of a coat, if dyed with extract of 
 indigo, gets very soon discolored, and the majority of acid 
 dyes used for dyeing the union lining stains the white 
 cotton under the armpits after a few days' wear in summer. 
 Regarding the ordinary wearing qualities of goods, 
 as, for example, fastness to rubbing, this can easily be 
 tested by practical experiments. Rub a piece of white 
 cotton cfoth ten to twenty times up and down the dyed 
 material and examine to what extent it has been stained. 
 At the same time, loose flocks of wool must not he 
 mistaken for dye-stains, as is sometimes the case. 
 
 As regards the degree of fastness to light, which is 
 such gi-ent importance to the dyer as well as to the ns< 
 there are, as already mentioned, no reactions existing by 
 which the doOTce of fastness can be determined, and 
 test can be reliably recommended than the practical exposure 
 of the dyeing in comparison with one of the same depth, dyad 
 under idrNfi.;il .uiiiliiions, which is looked upo 
 standard. Tin pulni ol" comparative exposure of dyeings 
 of corrr-pninlin;: dr|>ih only must be closely watched ^ 
 as a paler >ba.le will naturally fade quicker than a dark 
 one. This is a question of jiractico which can be acquired ^^ 
 ui time, and the determination of the degree of fastness to ^| 
 light of colors does not then offer any difficulties. The 
 process may be more tedious than spotting the material 
 with a chemical substance, but it offers a guarantee of 
 reliability which cannot be obtained in any other way. 
 
 Common sense tells us that the dyer's work cannot and 
 must not be judged by arbitrary and misleading tricks, 
 hut that the tests applied must correspond with the natural 
 wear or usage of the cloth or material. If the spinner, 
 the manufacturer, or the merchant, however, has not the 
 time to carry out these tests rationally, there is no choice 
 left to him but to rely upon the dyer, or to have his tests 
 carrierl out by really competent, reliable and independent 
 
 Fat in Silk. — Fat has been used since the 'eighties for f 
 
 adulterating raw silk, and makes its degumming more diffi- m 
 
 cult. A compound used for this adulteration in Italy con- ^ 
 
 sists of common salt, soap, uusapouified grease, heavy * 
 petroleum oil and gelatine, and contains the same organic 
 elements as silk itself. It increases the weight and volume 
 of the raw silk, but not its strength. 
 
 Sulphur Dyes anh Silk.— The sulphur dyes are moat - 
 
 useful on silk, specially for mode shades, giving dyeings j| 
 
 fast to light and washing. Silk having no very pronounced ■ 
 
 affinity for these dyes, dark shades require dyeing at the 1 
 
 boil, whereby both the strength and tlie lustre of the silk I 
 
 suffer, unless glucose is added to the bath in quantities twice I 
 
 as great as those of sodium sulphide used. Dyeing at the m 
 boil is best done on bent sticks, and is followed by 
 thorough rinsing and brightening with acetic acid. 
 
 «
 
 m 
 
 1 
 
 o 
 
 lino .louljl.. fn tile BJinburch Council Hegislcr 
 .Sail i,[ Cauai. to tlio liatlcrs. clattd IStli Ki'liru- 
 ar^, 1473, but tliis w;is certainly granted to the honiiot- 
 makers. Until the roign of Elizabeth, lint,- were unknown 
 in Scotland, and there was no trade corporation known as 
 the Hatters until the next reign. The hatters wore 
 amalgamated with the waulkers (fullers) on the 13th 
 September, 1C72. Hence the otEcial recognition of the 
 lionnet-inakers is certainly as far back as 1473, in Edin- 
 burgh. It is as nearly certain as anything can well be 
 that there was an earlier charter in Edinburgh, and also 
 in both Perth and Dundee. Although these charters are 
 not extant, pa.isageA occur in public documents which 
 leave no doubt that they once existed. The Edinburgli 
 bonnet^makers however, became for some reason now un- 
 known, incorporated with the waulkers. Whether the 
 bonnet-makers desired this amalgamation at any time 
 cannotnow be ascertained, but if they did, they soon became 
 desirous of freeing themselves again and obtained a fresh 
 seal of cause on the 31st of March, 1530. The privileges 
 were seven in number, and can be quoted in brief as giving 
 a general view of the functions of these trade societies in 
 general. 
 
 1. This is to the effect that the company appoint an 
 overseer annually, their choice to be approved by the Town 
 Conncil. Nearly all the craft guilds had such an official, 
 and it was his duty to see that the members of the craft 
 did not palm oft bad materials or workmanship upon the 
 public. 
 
 The trade is to be kept to the members of the craft, 
 ;he ranks of tlie masters being recruited from the appren- 
 tices. A fine of 20s. is payable by any master or mistress 
 employing the apprentice of any other member of the 
 guild without that employer's leave. 
 
 3. The penalty for improper workmanship or materials 
 is forteiture of l!.,- defective bonnets or materials. 
 
 4. The ovei-seer to go through the whole trade every 
 week. 
 
 5. Each freeman to pay 30s. Soots tor himself on 
 admission and 69. Scots for each apprentice towards 
 endowment of the altar of St. Mark. The election of the 
 chaplain to the altar fell alternately to bonnet-makers, the 
 shearmen and the walkers. 
 
 The bonnet-makers, waulkers and shearmen to have 
 a common chest to kcej) cash in, each corporation having 
 a key. 
 
 In 1684 the litsters, as the dyers were then Killed, 
 were incorporated with the bonnet-makers. " Litster," 
 by the by, is not a Gaelic word although it seems to have 
 lingered North of the Tweed long after it became obsolete 
 ■ England. It is from the Anglo-Saxon " wlite," beauty 
 color, r^haucer wrote " No ne madyr, welde or wod, 
 
 lilesterr he knew." An Act of James I!, in 1457 
 ordained that " na litstar be draper." The "Burrow 
 Lawes" decreed that "Na man hot ane bnrges may buy 
 well to lit." An old romance speaks of the ground 
 "litten with blood"; that ingenious commentator Payne 
 Collier would probably have read " littered." 
 
 But at the time of tiie incorporation both trades had 
 fallen on evil times. The bonnet-makers had been so 
 seriously affected by the introduction of hats instead of 
 sewn headgear that they were compelled to seek assistance 
 from other craft.s, not only in defraving the expenses of 
 the company but also in maintaining'their families. The 
 litsters previously existed as a separate craft. But 
 together with the wobstaris (weavers) and waulkers tliey 
 had strayed grievously from the paths of commercial 
 rectitude and had almost ruined the woollen trade of the 
 good town of Edinburgh. Consequently they themselves 
 voluntarily submitted to the Town Council, the non- 
 producer this time playing the part of the benclieenl 
 fairy, and bound themselves to give up their bad trade 
 practices. They agi-ee that none of them should "lit 
 
 Uii 
 
 ■ of Muster de Villois. French grey 
 Ursell nor lit any Blaki 
 
 ■Arms as a trade- , 
 and that dyers( 
 their "As.say oEV 
 
 I n|,|.,n;,. r:;,lll,, Aller-barkia, or sicklike false CilUors but 
 111. -inivn iM li,. litlet with the Moder. Alme, Cilew and 
 -1. h.w ('iill..r^ as lies bene and is nsit amongis Moo of 
 
 Hoiiestie, Expeiiinr, I liu.U- Ccnscience of the Craft." 
 
 They bound thenis.k, - .il„, t,, „>,. the I 'Ity Arms asa trade- 
 mark and guaniMti-.' ..1 ^u,.,! work, 
 commencing in the cialt should submit their 
 Colouris," i.i'.^ samples of their dyeings, to the Provost, 
 Baillies and Town Council. When the two companies 
 were united in 1G84 a new Seal of Cause was issued. 
 The new rules are designed to prevent the amalgamation 
 from enabling the litsters to do work hitherto reserved to 
 lionnet-inakcrs, and vice versa, in short, to confine the 
 joint government to the regulation of non-maniifacturing 
 masters, and to secure equal representation of the two 
 trades on the joint boards. 
 
 The Perth bonnet-makers sometimes infringed tlie 
 privileges of tlie Edinburgh craft, whose privileges, of 
 course, did not extend beyond the city boundaries. In 
 1558, the Edinburgh bonnet-makers complained to the 
 Town Council that Perth men came to Edinburgh and not 
 only exposed their own goods for sale, but did so daily 
 without reference to the statutory market days of Monday 
 and Wednesday. All the Council could do, "it seems, was 
 to order the Perth men to confine the exposure for sale of 
 their bonnets to market days. Five years later the 
 Edinburgh bonnet-makers got into trouble by working in 
 the open street and filling the air with fluff and dust to 
 the great annovance of foot passengers and injury to 
 their clothes. The Council ordered them to desist 'and 
 cease from this within sight of the High Street. ; 
 carry on their work in their houses and workshops 
 formerly, under a penalty of 40/-. 
 
 The minute book of the corporation bears date 163 
 and records the opening prayer made at meetings of the 
 craft. It also records the presentation of the freedom of 
 the Company, in 1746, to the Duke of Cumberland, the 
 victor of Culloden. The minute book is bound in wood, 
 covered with calf and surrounded by two iron bands, each 
 with a separate lock. It was used by the " Waekaris " 
 (one more name for them) as well as by the bonnet-makers. 
 The Incorporation now exists for benevolent purposes 
 only. irThe present deacon is Mr. George Morham, and 
 the treasurer is Mr. Duncan McLeod. The auditors aro 
 Mr. J. Cle)ihane and Sir Andrew Macdonald. The clerk is 
 Mr. James Riinv. of tli, firm of Bruce, Kerr, & Burns, W.S. 
 
 The Guild Is ,11 r tl,< Iniorporated Trades of Edinburgh 
 
 and is n'pn-, tii.sl in the Convenery of Trades by its 
 deacon. Tii,> ('uTivi-iniy consists of the deacons of the 
 13 Incorporated Trades, a treasurer and clerk, and two 
 trades councillors. It is presided over by its convener, 
 who has fir oficio a seat on the Town Council of 
 Edinburgh. 
 
 
 Waterproof DriEgaiNG for Cotton and Linek. — Dr. 
 ClaeRaen, of Berlin, baa discovered tliat if the glycerine used 
 in preparing waterproof dressings for fabrics is first heated 
 to eliminate the water, the resultant product, poly- 
 glycerine, will provide a w aterproofiog medium far superior 
 to that iu which ordinary glycerine is employed. The 
 patented dressing {9,579 — 1908) consists of a mixture of 30 
 parts Cologne glue, 45 parts starch syrup, and 35 parts 
 poly-glycerine. 
 
 Influence of Dyeing on Weaving. — It has been ob- 
 served that many red cotton warps do not weave so well as 
 undyed warps of the same yarn. The cause is a roughening 
 of the yarn during the dyeing, and the remedy is to grease 
 the yarn with paraffin wax or steariue, whereby it is 
 smoothed, and passes more easily through the bealds. The 
 warp is made to pass lightly over a cylinder of the greasing 
 material on leaving the beam. The same difficulty has been 
 observed for the same reason with dark brown warps, but^ 
 to a less eyt^nt TIi^ r..,..edv is the same. M 
 
 <#
 
 The Oyer and Oalico Printer. 
 
 Ann; 20, •"OS. 
 
 THE PROPERTIES Of MERCERISED COTTON. 
 
 By \V. ALiesoj- J» THE /Vi/fer ,/„^ rr,i.r/lr. . 
 
 3 
 
 Since merccriaation has been shown to be able to give 
 |a silky lustre to cotton — a discovery which is now free 
 from pateut rights and every other restrictiou, it is difficult 
 to assign any limits to the development of niercerisation 
 in the textile industries. The various points to be con- 
 sidered in practical mercensation of yarn and fabrics liave 
 been exhaustively studied, with the result that scores of 
 processes and scores of machines have been p;it*nted. This 
 commercial activity has left little leisure for the investiga- 
 tion of the causes which determine the lustring of the 
 cotton, and that is the raore unfortunate as these causes 
 are difficult to discover because so little is known about the 
 chemical constitution and reactions of cotton-cellulose. 
 Until wo understand cotton-tellulose as well as we under- 
 stand, say, glycerine, the last word about niercerisation 
 cannot be spoken. 
 
 The practical merceriser takes an interest in scientific 
 investigation of theory only so far as it may help him in 
 his daily work, but that very investigation, although it is 
 as yet far from complete, has brought to light, in its pre- 
 liminary stages, facta of the utmost — nay, vital — import- 
 ance to the practical man. 
 
 One of these results has been to indicate a method 
 whereby it is easy to detect the presence of mercerised fibre 
 in a fabric where it is mixed with unmercerised cotton. 
 This result is the direct consequence of researches into the 
 morphology of unmercerised cotton with the object of 
 chemical and other tests characteristic of it. Other results 
 which scientific investigation has achieved by the way are 
 quantitative determinations of the best strength of caustic 
 lyv to bp used, of the change produced by mercerisation in 
 jtlio affinity for dyes, for example, to say nothing of minor 
 which have to be considered in the mercerising pro- 
 
 ccsaea. ana, annougn smaii singiy, an 
 mercial value collectively. 
 i The first close investigation of the outer structure of 
 'mercerised cotton was made by H. Lange in 1898. It 
 shows that we have two typical cases to consider — niercerisa- 
 tion without and mercerisation with tension. The silky 
 lustre depends on the stretching. Mercerisation without 
 tension causes shrinkage and no lustre. 
 
 If unmerceriBed cotton fibres are compared with similar 
 fibres mercerised without tension, the latter show under 
 the microscope an approach in their outer appearance to 
 many kinds of silk. The fibres look smoother and more 
 uniform, and the lumen is contracted cither entirely or in 
 places. Wlien, however, w© exajiiine microscopically" cotton 
 which has been mercerised under tension, we find in it a 
 rosomblance in physical structure to silk, which is much 
 clowr than that of cotton mercerised without tension. The 
 lumen often becomes obliterated altogether. The spirals 
 of the raw cotton disappear, and we have smooth, uniform, 
 straight rods, just like silk fibres. If, however, the fibre 
 U treated with cuprato of ammonia, the lumen reappeara 
 in the case of mercerised cotton, but not in that of silk. 
 Another distinction between mercerised cotton and silk 
 depends upon the fact that when treated with a solution of 
 iodine in zinc chloride unmercerised c<)tton takes a blue 
 tint, which changes to a blacker tint, according to the 
 degree of mercerisation. while under exactly the same con- 
 ditions silk is dyed yellow or yellowish brown. 
 
 llubncr & Pop« consider that the uncurling of the 
 natural twiut in a cotton fibre is essential for the produc- 
 tion of a silky lustre. Tliey say that when cotton is mer- 
 cerised under tension so that it cannot shrink, the effect 
 of the lye is first to straighten the fibre, and thoii to re-curl 
 it the other way. In the meantime, however, the fibres 
 have swollen, so that when tliey curl up again, this lime in 
 the rovorso direction, they have a rounded 'instead of a 
 flattened section This second twist causes the surface of 
 the fibre, smoothed by the swelling it has undergone to 
 catch the light at many different angles, and thus^'to pro- 
 duce the lustre. Under the microscoiw the use of elliptic- 
 ally polarised light is necessary to bring out the new twist- 
 h^ngs. 
 
 It is probable, however, that the lustre is due to the 
 joint action nf t-hemical and physical agencies. L. Matos 
 Jias shnwn that the mercerising lye acts on one or more of 
 (lie inner layers of the fibre, and causes them on rinsing 
 to exert a stretching effect on the outer cuticle, thus 
 smoothing it and making it lustrous by increasing the light 
 reflection. The same effect is observed on stretching an 
 indiarubber tube. 
 
 The increased affinity for dyes conferred upon cotton 
 by mercerisation has been the subject of a thorough inves- 
 tigation for each class of dyestuffs by Minajeff (Zeitschnft 
 fur Fdrben Jndustnf, 1907). In the case of basic dyes^ 
 the affinity is increased on the average by 40 per cent, f 
 
 Mercerised can be distinguished from unmercerised 
 cotton by chemical tests without the aid of the niicroscope. 
 The oldest test is that recommended by Lange (Cliemikrr 
 Zfifini(i, 1903). His reagent is prepared by dissolving one 
 part by weight of iodine in a solution of 30 parts of pure 
 •zmc chloride and 5 of pure potassium iodide in 14 of water. 
 The clear brown liquid which collects above a sediment of 
 undissolved iodine is poured off for use. Both mercerised 
 and unmercerised cotton are turned blue by it. but the color 
 is permanent in water in the case of the former, not in 
 the case of the latter. Hubner's test is to steep the cotton 
 for a few seconds in a solution of 20 grammes of iodine in 
 100 c.c. of a saturated solution of potassium iodide, and 
 then to wash it with water, when unmercerised cotton 
 becomes quite white again, but mercerised cotton retains 
 the blue-black color. Another test is to dye the cotton 
 with 100 c.c. of a solution of 280 grammes of zinc chloride 
 in 300 c.c. of water, adding to it just before use 10 c.c. of a 
 solution of one gramme of iodine and 20 of potassium iodide 
 in 100 c.c. nf water. The cotton is wetted out and pressed 
 between two filter papers before dyeing. If mercerised it 
 at once becomes a dark blue, but if unmercerised it remains 
 white. 
 
 Kill, ill ii-^.-l 111 M,;npurpurine to distinguish mercerised 
 ■ itnn. In the presence of 
 I I ii' ilyc rapidbuEU^sA^blue tint i 
 I i^-iii'-^caniJnOTT!5rnlTnca. anUnoottier 
 merciTiscd and .i leddish violet .-^- — , „o ^lercerised cotton, 
 Oa heating and carefully adding titanium chloride, both 
 cottons change color, ordinary cotton becomes an indigo 
 blue, and mercerised cotton red, but the difference is not 
 clear unless the mercerisation has been done with a lye of 
 more than 19 deg. B. Instead of the titanium solution (5 
 grammes per litre) a concentrated solution of stannous 
 chloride can be used Knaggs gives a variation of this test. 
 He dilutes 5 c.c. of a solution of Benzopurpurine 4B in 
 10.000 times its weight of water to 100 c.c, and dyes the 
 cotton with the solution at the boil. On then adding 2 c.c, 
 of strong hydrochloric acid unmercerised cotton becomea| 
 blue black, and mercerised cotton red. (I 
 
 David's method {BiilleJin de Rouen, 1907) depends upon 
 the fact that a second mercerisation does not further 
 increase the affinity of the cotton for dye. The yarn or 
 fabric is stretched, and one part of it is wetted with 
 caustic soda lye of 40 deg. B.. another with the same lye 
 previously diluted with its own weight of water, and a 
 third with the same lye diluted with twice its own weight 
 of water. The goods are then rinsed, soured, again rinsed 
 and dyed with a substantive dye, under tension the whole 
 linio. If both mercerised and unmercerised cotton are pre- 
 sent the three jilaces will show differences in tint, but not 
 if the whole of the cotton has been morcerised. The follow- 
 ing figures are taken from Knecht's experiment*: — 
 
 SlrcDKlbot Amotintof.ljD 
 
 from 
 hvdii 
 
 a littlcv 
 
 lit to Ul/ 
 
 ottier \ 
 
 Grey Cotton, UDtncrcerisecI .. 
 
 merceriBed with I 
 
 Bleached Cotton, < 
 
 1-56 
 2-90 
 
 .• ti » withowf „ 29 „ ... 354 
 
 Vieweg has shown that cellulose combines with various 
 amounts of soda in mercerisation. according to the concen- 
 tration of the lye, most when the latter is a 16 per cent, 
 solution of NailO, Tiie compound then formed has the 
 formula C„H„0,, NaOH. The maximum amount is 28 
 grammes of caustic soda for 100 grammes of cellulose. 
 
 Knecht has shown that after drying mercerised cotton 
 has less affinity for dyes than while still wet after rinsing.^
 
 
 
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 CO
 
 LIST OF ALL THE DEACON-CONVENEES, 
 
 From the First Institution of that Office in 1578, to the present day. 
 
 Year. 
 1578. 
 1579. 
 1580. 
 1581. 
 1582. 
 1583. 
 1584. 
 *1585. 
 1586. 
 1587. 
 1588. 
 1589. 
 1590. 
 1591. 
 1592. 
 1593. 
 1594. 
 1595. 
 1596. 
 1597. 
 1598. 
 1599. 
 1600. 
 1601. 
 
 Eobert Abercromby — Hammermen. 
 Robert Hendei-son — Surgeons. 
 Alexander Oustone — Tailors. 
 Gilbert Primrose — Surgeons. 
 Gilbert Primrose — Surgeons. 
 John "Watt — Hammermen. 
 
 William Hutchison — Cordiners. 
 Patrick Sandilands — Tailors. 
 Patrick Sandilands — Tailors. 
 John "Watt — Hammermen. 
 George Heriot — Goldsmiths. 
 John Bannatyne — Surgeons. 
 Alexander Oustone — Tailors. 
 George Heriot — Goldsmiths. 
 George Heriot — Goldsmiths. 
 Alexander Oustone — Tailors. 
 John "Watt — Hammermen. 
 Alexander Millar — Tailors. 
 William Symmington — Hammermen. 
 Patrick Sandilands — Tailors. 
 Patrick Sandilands — Tailors. 
 "William Wallands — Hammermen. 
 
 Year, 
 
 1602. James Wilson— Tailors. 
 
 1603. James Wilson— Tailors. 
 
 1604. Alexander Bunte — Hammermen. 
 
 1605. George Foulis — Goldsmiths. 
 
 1606. George Heriot — Goldsmiths. 
 
 1607. George Heriot — Goldsmiths. 
 
 1608. Edward Kerr— Tailois, 
 
 1609. John Inglis — Skinners. 
 
 1610. George Foulis — Goldsmiths 
 
 1611. John Somerville — Skinners. 
 
 1612. Edward Kerr— Tailors. 
 
 1613. Edward Kerr— Tailors. 
 
 1614. Thomas Weir — Hammermen. 
 
 1615. James Henryson— Surgeons. 
 
 1616. Andrew Scott— Surgeons. 
 
 1617. Andrew Scott — Surgeons. 
 
 1618. Thomas Weir — Hammermen. 
 
 1619. John Inglis— Skinners. 
 
 1620. William Nemo— Tailors. 
 
 1621. William Carnegie— Skinners. 
 
 1622. George Crawford — Goldsmiths. 
 
 1623. Gilbert Kirkland— Goldsmiths. 
 
 1624. Gilbert Kirkland— Goldsmiths. 
 
 1625. Henrv Aikman— Surgeons. 
 
 * There is no entry made in the Convenery-Book, from March 1584 to April 1586 ; no reason being 
 subsequently assigned for this hiatus, it cannot now be ascertained whether or not there was any election 
 in 1584 and 1585. 
 
 T
 
 146 
 
 LIST OF DEACON-CONVENERS. 
 
 Yrar 
 
 1626. Thomas White — Hammermen. 
 
 1627. James Leslie — Tailors. 
 
 1628. Andrew Scott — Surgeons. 
 
 1629. John Hunter— Tailors. 
 
 1630. "William Carnegie— Skinners. 
 
 1631. William Carnegie — Skinners. 
 
 1632. Thomas White — Hammermen. 
 
 1633. George Crawford— Goldsmiths. 
 
 1634. William Carnegie — Skinners. 
 
 1635. William Carnegie — Skinners. 
 1636 Thomas Weir — Hammermen. 
 
 1637. Thomas White — Hammermen. 
 
 1638. Richard Maxwell — Hammermen. 
 
 1639. Richard Maxwell — Hammermen. 
 
 1640. Thomas Paterson —Tailors. 
 
 1641. Thomas Paterson — Tailors. 
 
 1642. Robert Meiklejohn — Skinners. 
 
 1643. Robert Meiklejohn — Skinners. 
 
 1644. Robert M'Kean — Skinners. 
 
 1645. Robert M'Kean— Skinners. 
 
 1646. Robert Meiklejohn — Skinners. 
 
 1647. Robert Meiklejohn — Skinners. 
 
 1648. Robert M'Kean— Skinners. 
 
 1649. James Borthwick — Surgeons. 
 n650. 
 
 1651. Gilbert Somerville — Tailors. 
 
 1652. Gilbert Somerville— Tailors. 
 
 1653. John Milne — Masons. 
 
 1654. John Milne — Masons. 
 1655 Thomas Kincaid — Surgeons. 
 
 1656. Thomas Kincaid — Surgeons. 
 
 1657. John Milne — Masons. 
 
 1658. John Milne — Masons. 
 
 1659. James Borthwick — Surgeons. ' 
 
 1660. James Borthwick — Surgeons. 
 
 1661. William Burnet — Surgeons. 
 
 Year. 
 
 1662. William Burnet— Surgeons. 
 
 1663. John Milne- Masons. 
 
 1664. John Milne— Masons. 
 
 1665. Arthur Temple — Surgeons. 
 
 1666. Arthur Temple— Surgeons. 
 
 1667. John Somerville — Skinners. 
 
 1668. John Somerville — Skinners. 
 
 1669. Arthur Temple— Surgeons. 
 
 1670. Arthur Temple — Surgeons. 
 
 1671. Edward Cleghorn — Goldsmiths. 
 
 1672. Samuel Chiefly — Surgeons. 
 
 1673. John Cunningham — Tailors. 
 
 1674. John Cunningham — Tailors. 
 
 1675. William Hamilton— Tailors. 
 
 1676. William Hamilton— Tailors. 
 
 1677. Alexander Reed — Goldsmiths. 
 
 1678. Alexander Reed— Goldsmiths. 
 
 1679. Edward Cleghorn — Goldsmiths 
 
 1680. Edward Cleghorn— Goldsmiths 
 
 1681. William Borthwick — Surgeons. 
 
 1682. William Borthwick — Surgeons. 
 
 1683. William Watson— Cordiners. 
 
 1684. William Watson— Cordiners. 
 
 1685. Thomas Somerville — Tailors. 
 
 1686. Thomas Somerville— Tailors. 
 
 1687. James Cockburn — Goldsmiths. 
 
 1688. James Baillie — Surgeons. 
 
 1689. George Stirling— Surgeons. 
 
 1690. George Stirling — Surgeons. 
 
 1691. Robert Inglis— Goldsmiths. 
 
 1692. John Pringle — Bonnetmakens. 
 
 1693. Alexander Thomson — Hammermen. 
 
 1694. Alexander Thomson — Hammermen. 
 
 1695. Alexander Monteith — Surgeons. 
 
 1696. Alexander Monteith — Surgeons. 
 
 1697. Alexander Thomson — Hammermen. 
 
 * There was no election this year, in consequence of the English Army, under Cromwell, having 
 entered Scotland.
 
 LIST OF DEACON-CONVENERS. 
 
 147 
 
 Tear. 
 
 1698. Alexander Thomson — Hammermen. 
 r Alexander Monteith — Surgeons. 
 ' \ Gideon Elliot — Surgeons. 
 
 1700. Gideon Elliot — Surgeons. 
 
 1701. EoLert luglis — Goldsmiths. 
 
 1702. William Livingstone — Skinners. 
 
 1703. William Livingstone — Skinners. 
 
 1704. William Wardrope — Bonnetmakers. 
 
 1705. Henry Hamilton — Surgeons. 
 
 1706. Gilbert Somerville— Tailors. 
 
 1707. John Merrie — Surgeons. 
 
 1708. Eobert Moubray — Wriglits. 
 
 1709. Alexander Nisbet— Surgeons. 
 
 1710. William Livingstone — Skinners. 
 
 1711. William Livingstone — Skinners. 
 
 1712. John Monro — Surgeons. 
 
 1713. John Monro — Surgeons. 
 
 1714. John Dunbar — Skinners. 
 
 1715. John Lauder — Surgeons. 
 
 1716. William Wightraan — Skinners. 
 
 1717. Patrick Tunibull— Goldsmiths. 
 
 1718. John Lauder — Surgeons. 
 
 1719. John Lauder — Surgeons. 
 
 1720. William Livingstone — Skinners. 
 
 1721. Andrew Wardrop — Masons. 
 
 1722. Andi'ew Wardrop — Masons. 
 
 1723. James Mitchelson — Goldsmiths. 
 
 1724. John Ker— Baxters. 
 
 1725. David M'Lellan— Wrights. 
 
 1726. William Cant— Skinners. 
 
 1727. David Mitchell— Goldsmiths. 
 
 1728. William Keir— Baxters. 
 
 1729. John Keir— Baxters. 
 
 1730. John Keir — Baxters. 
 
 1731. William Ayton — Goldsmiths. 
 
 1732. William Clark— Tailors. 
 
 1733. John M'Gill— Surgeons. 
 
 1734. William Keir — Baxters. 
 
 1735. James Syme, Sen. — Wrights. 
 
 I'ear. 
 
 1736. John Clarkson — Baxters. 
 
 1737. William Sommerville — Skinners. 
 
 1738. William Mitchell— Surgeons. 
 
 1739. George Cunningham — Surgeons. 
 
 1740. Alexander Nisbet — Surgeons. 
 
 1741. Alexander Nisbet — Surgeons. 
 
 1742. Walter Boswell — Hammermen. 
 
 1743. George Langlands — Surgeons. 
 
 1744. James Norrie — Wrights. 
 
 1745. George Lauder — Surgeons. 
 
 1746. James Ker — Goldsmiths. 
 
 1747. James Ker, M.P.— Goldsmiths. 
 
 1748. Adam Drummond — Surgeons. 
 
 1749. Adam Drummond — Surgeons. 
 
 1750. James Ker, M.P.— Goldsmiths. 
 
 1751. James Ker, M.P.— Goldsmiths. 
 
 1752. William Keir — Baxters. 
 
 1753. James Russel — Surgeons. 
 
 1754. Thomas Clarkson — Baxters. 
 
 1755. Thomas Clelar.d — Hammermen. 
 
 1756. Thomas Cleland — Hammermen. 
 
 1757. Thomas Simpson — Hammermen. 
 
 1758. Thomas Simpson — Hammermen. 
 
 1759. Patrick Jameson — Masons. 
 
 1760. Patrick Jameson — Masons. 
 
 1761. John Balfour — Surgeons. 
 
 1762. Alexander Wood — Surgeons. 
 
 1763. John Lindsay — Skinners. 
 
 1764. John Lindsay — Skinners. 
 
 1765. William Milne— Masons. 
 
 1766. John Milne — Hammermen. 
 
 1767. Thomas Simpson — Hammermen. 
 
 1768. Thomas Simpson — Hammermen. 
 
 1769. Alexander Smith — Baxters. 
 
 1770. William Armstrong — Hammermen. 
 
 1771. Orlando Hart — Cordiners. 
 
 1772. Thomas Herriot — Wrights. 
 
 1773. Thomas Simpson — Hammermen. 
 
 1774. Thomas Simpson — Hammermen.
 
 148 
 
 LIST OF DEACON-CONVENERS. 
 
 Tear. 
 
 1775. Orlando Hart — Cordiners, 
 
 1776. Francis Brodie — Wrights. 
 
 1777. Alexander Hamilton— Surgeons. 
 
 1778. John Bonnar— Wrights. 
 
 1779. James Craig — Baxters. 
 
 1780. James Craig — Baxters. 
 
 1781. William Chalmers — Surgeons. 
 
 1782. WHliam Fraser — Hammermen. 
 
 1783. William Jamieson — Masons. 
 
 1784. William Jamieson — Masons. 
 
 1785. Orlando Hart — Cordiners. 
 
 1786. Eobert Dewar — Masons. 
 
 1787. William Dempster— Goldsmiths. 
 
 1788. Orlando Hart — Cordiners. 
 
 1789. Orlando Hart — Cordiners. 
 
 1790. Alexander Eeid — Masons. 
 
 1791. William Inglis — Surgeons. 
 -1792. John Young — Wrights. 
 
 1793. Thomas Wood — Surgeons. 
 
 1794. Thomas Hay — Surgeons. 
 
 1795. Thomas Hay — Surgeons. 
 
 1796. Francis Braid wood — Wrights. 
 
 1797. Josiah Maxton — Hammermen. 
 
 1798. William Eanken— Tailors. 
 
 1799. Thomas Kennedy — Furriers. 
 
 1800. James Law —Surgeons. 
 
 1801. James Law — Surgeons. 
 
 1802. William Eanken— Tailors. 
 
 1803. John Bennet — Surgeons. 
 
 1804. John Young— Wrights. 
 
 1805. William White — Hammermen. 
 
 1806. James Denholm — Waulkers. 
 
 1807. Adam Anderson — Hammermen. 
 
 1808. John Auchterlonie — Bonnetmakers. 
 
 1809. Andrew Gairdner — Weavers. 
 
 1810. James Denholm — Waulkers. 
 
 1811. James Innes — Hammermen. 
 
 1812. William Fraser, Jun. — Tailors. 
 
 1813. James Law — Surgeons. 
 
 Tear. 
 
 1814. James Denholm — Waulkers. 
 
 1815. John James — Cordiners. 
 
 1816. Thomas Miller— Skinners. 
 
 1817. James Thomson — Weavers. 
 
 1818. James Denholm — Waulkers. 
 
 1819. Alexander Gillespie — Surgeons. 
 
 1820. John Crombie — Bonnetmakers. 
 
 1821. John H. Wishart — Surgeons. 
 
 1822. George Bookless — Masons. 
 
 1823. James Burn — Weavers. 
 
 1824. David M'Gibbon— Wrights. 
 
 1825. James Milne — Hammermen. 
 
 1826. Thomas Sawers — Baxters. 
 
 1827. David Maclagan — Surgeons. 
 
 1828. Gordon Brown— Wrights. 
 
 1829. John Chambers — Tailors. 
 
 1830. William Marshall— Goldsmiths. 
 
 1831. Andrew Wilkie — Hammermen. 
 
 1832. Andrew Wilkie — Hammermen. 
 
 1833. Henry Banks — Tailors. 
 
 1834. William Steven— Waulkers. 
 
 1835. William Dick — Hammermen. 
 
 1836. William Dick — Hammermen. 
 
 1837. William Dick — Hammermen. 
 
 1838. John Clark— Wrights. 
 
 1839. John Clark— Wrights. 
 
 1840. Alexander Scott— Wrights. 
 
 1841. Alexander Scott — Wrights. 
 
 1842. Fredei'ick MacLagan — Baxters. 
 
 1843. John Sheppard— Wrights. 
 
 1844. Henry Banks — Tailors. 
 
 1845. Eobert Sclater — Hammermen. 
 
 1846. William Cushnie — Bonnetmakers. 
 
 1847. George Copland — Tailors. 
 
 1848. Thomas Herriot Weir — Baxters 
 
 1849. Thomas Herriot Weir— Baxters. 
 
 1850. William Beattie— Masons. 
 
 1851. William Beattie — Masons. 
 
 1852. George Crichton — Goldsmiths.
 
 LIST OF DEACON-CONVENERS. 
 
 149 
 
 Veor. 
 
 1853. Heniy Banks— Tailors. 
 
 1854. Henry Banks — Tailors. 
 
 1855. John James — Cordiners. 
 
 1856. John James — Cordiners. 
 
 1857. .George Tibbetts— Waulkers. 
 
 1858. George Tibbetts— Waulkers. 
 
 1859. George Tibbetts— Waulkers. 
 
 1860. John Cox -Skinners. 
 
 1861. John Cox— Skinners. 
 
 1862. John Cox — Skinners. 
 
 1863. Adam Beattie— Wrights. 
 
 1864. Adam Beattie— Wrights. 
 
 1865. Adam Beattie— Wright.s. 
 
 1866. John Cox — Skinners. 
 
 1867. John Cox — Skinners. 
 
 1868. Thomas Field— Masons. 
 
 1869. Thomas Field— Masons. 
 
 1870. Daniel Eobertson — Wrights. 
 
 1871. Daniel Eobertson — Wrights. 
 
 1872. Daniel Robertson — Wrights. 
 
 1873. 
 1874. 
 
 1875. 
 
 1876. 
 
 1877. 
 
 1878. 
 
 1879. 
 *1880. 
 
 1881. 
 
 1881. 
 
 1882. 
 
 1883. 
 
 1884. 
 
 1885. 
 
 1886. 
 
 1887. 
 
 1888. 
 tl889. 
 
 1890. 
 
 1890. 
 
 Daniel Eobertson — Wrights. 
 Daniel Eobertson— Wrights. 
 Eobert Legget— Skinners. 
 Eobert Legget— Skinners. 
 Eobert Legget — Skinners. 
 John Williams — Bonnetmakers. ». 
 John Williams — Bonnetmakers. «- 
 John Smith— Wrights. 
 Alexander Webb— Cordiners. 
 John Masterton — Wrighfs. 
 John Masterton — Wrights. 
 John Pears Hutton — Goldsmiths. 
 John Pears Hutton — Goldsmiths. 
 John White— Wrights. 
 John White— Wrights. 
 John White — Wrights. 
 John White— Wrights. 
 John White — Wrights. 
 Alexander Ramage — Baxters. 
 Alexander Eamage — Baxters. 
 
 * Mr John Smith died during the year 1881, and was succeeded by Mr Alexander Webb, 
 t Mr John White died during the year 1890, and was succeeded by Mr Alexander Ifamage. 
 
 C ^. Cafp,'f^e etna <^ . ^ Ock^cA^^
 
 150 
 
 THE CONVENERY. 
 
 OFFICE-BEARERS AND DEACONS OF THE INCORPORATED 
 TRADES OF EDINBURGH. 
 
 TFriigr/t/.?— William Field. 
 Masons — George Jas. Beattie. 
 Goldsmiths — John Crichton. 
 Skinners— R. Legget, Sen. 
 Furriers — A. M'CuUagh. 
 Hammermen, — John James Moir, 
 
 Convener — Alexander Ramage, Deacon of the Bakers. 
 
 Treasurer — W. B. Mack. 
 Trades Councillors — Kenneth Scoon and D. W. Beattie. 
 
 Tailors — James Rodger. 
 
 Fleshers — John Boyd IMoriiam. 
 Cordiners — Walter Park. 
 Wehsters — Robert Brown. 
 Waulkers — William Bell Mack. 
 Bonnet-makers — Andrew M'Donald. 
 
 Clerk— y^'iWmm Stuart Fraser, W.S.
 
 APPENDIX.
 
 OTHER INCORPORATED CRAFTS 
 
 (not represented in the convenery). 
 
 1. THE CANDLEMAKERS. 
 
 HE Candleraakers do not enjoy the privilege of having a voice 
 
 in the affairs of the Incorporated Crafts. They do not now 
 
 send a Representative to the Convenery. Nevertheless, 
 
 they have a Seal of Cause from the Town Council of Edinburgh of 
 
 a very early date, confirming all their ancient rights and privileo-es. 
 
 This Charter is not published in the Burgh Records, and must have 
 
 been lost or destroyed. At the time Maitland wrote his " History of 
 
 Edinburgh," the principal Deed was in the possession of the Clerk 
 
 of the Incorporation. 
 
 The occasion on which the Candlemakers would appear to have lost 
 
 their civic status was in the yetir 1582, when a difference seems to 
 
 have arisen between the Merchants and Craftsmen. The question at 
 
 issue having been referred to Arbitration, the several Incorporations 
 
 were required to lay their respective Grants or Charters before the 
 
 two Arbitrators and an Umpire, to show their respective rights and 
 
 immunities. The Candlemakers, strange to say, failed to do this ; and 
 
 they did not even sign the Minute of Reference along with the 
 
 Deacons of the other Incorporations. The result of this was — their 
 
 name was not included in the Decreet- Arbitral, which afterwards 
 
 was known by The Sett of The Burgh. This document constituted 
 
 the basis upon which all former disputes became adjusted in an 
 
 amicable manner between the Merchants and Craftsmen at the time. 
 
 u
 
 154 OTHER INCORPORATED CRAFTS. 
 
 The sinefular conduct of the Candlemakers did not conduce to 
 their comfort in civic affairs. They imagined that their Rights and 
 Privileo^es were in danger of being taken away by the Town Council, 
 even although their Charter of Incorporation had been ratified by 
 King James VI. in the thirtieth year of his reign, viz., 1597. They, 
 therefore, made application to Parliament to get their rights secured, 
 against all attacks made upon them. This was effected by an Act 
 passed on the 17th July 1695. The Town Council, however, at a 
 much later period, having been inclined to challenge their rights, — 
 the Incorporation raised an Action of Declarator in the Court of 
 Session, by whose interlocutor of the 4th July 1716, all their 
 Ancient Rights and Privileges (except their having a Representative 
 in the Common Council) were retained to them. 
 
 Before the introduction of Gas into the City, in 1819, the 
 Candlemaking Trade was a large and profitable industry. A time 
 of illumination of the Town was a glorious harvest for the Candle- 
 makers. The Lord Provost and Magistrates were in the habit of 
 issuing Proclamations for a General Illumination much more fre- 
 quently in those days, than their civic successors in office now are. 
 Illuminations were ordered on many occasions when a considerable 
 number of the general public did not quite realise the necessity for 
 such. This led to the old rhyme, 
 
 " There's nae Illumination 
 It's a' big lees ; 
 It's naething but the Caunel-makers 
 Makin' bawbees," 
 
 The penalty for not lighting up the windows on occasion of an 
 illumination was the breaking of the panes of glass on the part of 
 the mob, with no recourse against the public funds on account of the 
 omission beinjr a gross act of disobedience to the Magistrates' order.
 
 THE CANDLEMAKEKS. 155 
 
 The following is the origiDal Seal of Cause granted to the Candle- 
 makers by the Lord Provost, Magistrates, and Town Council : — 
 
 To all and sundrie quliom it effeirs, to quhais knawledge thir present Letters 
 sail cum, the Provest, Baillies and Counsall of the Burgh of Edinburgh, gretin in God 
 evirlasting : Wit zour Universities, that the Day of the Daitt of thir Presentis, com- 
 perit before us sittand in the Tolbuith in Jugement, the haill Craftismen of the Candil- 
 makers of the said Burgh ; that is to say, Robert Taffintoun, Andrew Galloway, and 
 uthers. The quhilk Persones and Craftismen, producit as their Supplicatioun and 
 Bill of thair Desyres, for the confirming and keeping of thair Statutes and Rules, maid 
 for the common Weill of this Burgh and King's Lieges reparand thairto, according 
 and conformand to the awld Statutes and Previleges that they had of the Provest, 
 Baillies and Counsale of the said Burgh of Edinburgh ; the quhilk Supplicatioun and 
 and Bill red before us at Lenth ; and we thairat beant ryplie avysit thocht the samyn 
 consonant to Reasoun, and greitt Appearances of Profeit to the said Craftismen to 
 this guid Town and King's Lieges reparand thairto ; and thairfoir, it is oure Will, and 
 als we grant and ordain, that the said Craftismen and thair Successors bruik, injoy, and 
 use thair awld Fredom, Statutes, Rowles, Articles and Conditiouns, maid for the guid 
 Rowle of the said Occupatioun and Craft, as efter followis : 
 
 1. That zeirlie the hail Craft of the said Candilmakers within this Burgh, sail cheyse 
 ane Deykin amangs them, that is Freman and Burgess of the Toun ; quhilk Deykin sail 
 be oblist and sworne to rowle this said Craft in all guid Rowle and Ordinance, for the 
 Honor Worship of the Realme and Toun lyk as uther Craftismen dois within the samyn. 
 
 2. That na Maner of Man nor Woman occupy the said Craft, as to be ane 
 Maister, and to set up Buit, bot gif he be ane Freman, or ells ane Freman's Wife of 
 the said Craft allanarlie ; and quhan thay set up Buit, they sail pay to Sainct Geil's 
 Wai% half a Mark of Sylver, and to the Reparatioun, bylding, and uphalding of the 
 Liebb of ony misterfull Alter within the College Kirk of Sanct Geil's, quhar the said 
 Deykins and Craftismen thinks maist neidfull, and half ane Mark by and quhill the 
 said Craftismen be furnist of ane Alter of thair awin. 
 
 3. And in lykwayis, ilk Maister and Occupiar of the said Craft, sail in the Honour 
 of Almichtie God, and of his blessit Mother, Sanct Marie, and of our Patroun Sanct 
 Geill, and of all Sanctis of Heaven, sail gif zeirly to the helping and furthering of ony 
 guid Reparatioun, either of Licht or ony other neidful Wark till ony Alter situate 
 within the said College Kirk, maist neidfull, Ten Shillings ; and to be gaderit be the
 
 156 OTHER INCORPORATED CRAFTS. 
 
 Deykin of the said Craft, ay and quhill they be provydit of ane Alter to thameselffis ; 
 and he that disobeis the same the Deykin and the Leif of the Craft sail poynd with 
 ane officiar of the Toun, and gar him pay Walx to oure Lady's Alter, quhill thay get 
 an Alter of thair awin. And that nane of the said Craftismen and ony Lads, Boyis, 
 or Servanda, openlie upon the Hie-gait with ony Candill, to roup or to sell in playne 
 streites, under the Payne of escheiting of the Candill, paying ane Fund of Walx ; the 
 third Tyme escheiting of the Candill, and his per.soun to be brocht with the Deykin of 
 the Craftismen of the said Craft to the Provest and Baillies of the Toun, and thair to be 
 punist with Avyse of the said Deykin for the Tyme, and the Leif of the said Craft for 
 the brekinfT of thair said Statutes and Rowles. But it sail be leful to ilk Maister of the 
 Craft to half ane Servand that sail gang honestlie throw the Town with Creills and Stufe, 
 to furneis his Callender with, bot nocht to rowp them oppenlie to sell ; and that he 
 beir in his creill his Maister's Mark, to ken him and his stuf(^ And quha that beis sein 
 gan^and otherwayis, the Candill to be escheitt, and the persons jDunist as said is. 
 
 4. That na Man of the said Craft tak ony Prenteis for less Tyme than four Zeir ; 
 and that na Man of the said Craft, nor na utheris, tak ane nther Man's Prenteis nor 
 Servand, without Licence and Leif of his Maister, askit and obtenit, quhill the conipleit 
 End and Ischeu of thair Termis ; and quha sa dois the contrar heirof, the Deykin and 
 the Laif of the said Craft to puneis thame as effeirs ; and atour, that all the Maisters 
 of the said Craft mak gude and sufficient Stufe, and honestlie handlit and sufficient 
 wrocht worth the Money ; and that all Women be expellit the said Craft, bot Free- 
 menis WyfFes of the said Craft allanerlie, they donand and obeyand to the Deykin and 
 Craftismen, lykeas is contenit in the aforesaid Statutes ; but gif it be allanerlie for thair 
 awn Use, and byrning in thair Howss. And quha that will not be maid Freeman, 
 he sail not sett up, nor hald Buit, bot to be ane Servand under a Maister, quhill that 
 he grow and be reddy thairto. And that nane of the said Craftismen, Servands, Boyes, 
 nor Prentes, thair Tymes beand run, mak Service to ony uther Man, except to tlie 
 Craftismen of the said Craft, unto the Tyme that thay be reddy to wirk thair awin 
 Wark, and to be Freemen of the Toun. 
 
 The quhilk Articles, Statutes, Rowles, we the saids Provest, Baillies, and Counsel! 
 of the said Burgh, for us and our Successors, approve, ratifye, and confirmis the samyn, 
 in swa far as effeirs till us or his Powar ; and this till all and sundrie quhom it effeirs or 
 may efFeir in Tyme to cum, we mak it knawin be thir present Letters ; and for the mair 
 Confirmation and Strenth of the samyn, we haif to thir present Letters hungin the 
 Common Seill of Cause of the said Burgh of Edinhuryh, the Fifth day of the Moneth 
 of September, the Zeir of God ane thousand five hundred and seventein Zeii's,
 
 THE CANDLEMAKERS. 
 
 157 
 
 Notwithstanding the introduction of Gas, Candles are still an 
 article of daily use. But the former mode of manufacture is nearly 
 obsolete. The Candlemakers of old made their candles of tallow and 
 cotton wick. There were two kinds of candles sold, viz., "moulds" 
 and "dips." The latter was the candle of the poorer classes — a cheaper 
 kind of candle. The tallow being a substance which was easily melted, 
 the candles of those days were very soon consumed, and the persons 
 making use of them had to be provided with a pair of scissors, or rather 
 " snuffers," for the purpose of taking away from time to time the burnt 
 wick which remained. Of course there were wax candles in those days, 
 to be found in the houses of the more wealthy classes, just as in pre- 
 Reformation times, it was one of the duties laid upon the corporations 
 to provide a suitable supply of wax candles for their respective altars. 
 
 At the present time, a superior candle is manufactured. The wax 
 and the tallow candles are still made use of. But the Composite and 
 Paraffin Candles are those generally adopted. 
 
 In former days, the chief resort of the Candlemakers in Edinburgh 
 was in the Row which bears their name. Another large manufactory 
 was in the place known as " the Crooked Dykes, Crosscauseway."
 
 158 OTHER INCORPORATED CRAFTS. 
 
 2. THE BARBERS. 
 
 The Barbers of EdiDlmrgh, as has already been noted, were origin- 
 ally incorporated witli the Surgeons on 1st July 1505, by a Charter 
 granted by the Town Council. 
 
 Frequent disputes arose between the Surgeons and the Barbers, as 
 to their respective rights and privileges, which continued down to the 
 23d of February 1722. In an action of Declarator before the Court of 
 Session, at that time, the Barbers were, by decree of the Court, separated 
 from the Surgeons, with this one exception, viz., that their Apprentices 
 should still be registered by the Surgeons' Incorporation, in order to 
 have the fact recorded that they were admitted both by them and the 
 Barbers. The Barbers, by the said decree of the Court, having been 
 constituted into a Society or Company to govern their own affairs, 
 formed a Constitution and Rules for conducting the business of their 
 Craft, and these were placed before the Town Council for the purpose of 
 being approved of. 
 
 The following are the Constitution and Rules : — 
 
 1. That all those who shall after this be admitted fiee Barbers within the Burgh 
 of Edinburgh, shall be first free Burgesses thereof, and produce their Burgess Tickets 
 with a Petition of the Society ; upon which they shall be tried and examined by the 
 Masters of the Trade, and receive their Acts of Admission in terms of, and as is 
 provided by the said Decreet of the Lords of Session, upon payment to the Boxmaster ; 
 and that no Freeman shall protect in his Trade or Imployment ane Unfieeman, under 
 the Penalty of Forty Pounds for each Trangression. 
 
 2. That none be hereafter admitted a free Barber, but such as is Son, or Son-in-law 
 of, or lias served his Apprenticeship to, or discharged of his said Indentures from a free 
 Barber ; or is the Son or Son-in-law of a Chirurgeon, in the Terms of that Decreet ; 
 reserving still to the Society the Consideration of the Circumstances of such as have been 
 assistant to them in the Prosecution of the foresaid Process, and a Discretion or Power 
 of admitting such as they sliall think deserve of the Society.
 
 THE BARBERS. 159 
 
 3. That all Apprentices shall be bound for five Years, and for no less time : That 
 their Indentures be written by the Clerk of the Society, and that they be regularly 
 recorded or booked, as is ordained by the said Decreet, within forty Days after the 
 Date of the Indentures, at the Sight of the Preses or Boxmaister, and two at least of the 
 other Maisters of the Trade ; and that there shall be paid for every such Bookinof Three 
 Pounds Scots Money to the Boxmaister, for the Use of the Society ; besides the common 
 Dues to the Clerk and Officer, and the Crown appointed by the foirmentioned Decieet 
 to be paid therefor to the Society of Surgeons. 
 
 4. That no Freeman take Apprentices more than one in three Years for the 
 Freedom. 
 
 5. That all hired Servants, who are Strangers, and have not been Api)rentices to 
 Freemen, shall be recorded or booked in Manner foirsaid in the Books of the Society, 
 and shall pay for and at such Bookinir, One Pund ten Shillings Scots to the Boxmaister, 
 for the common Use foirsaid : beside Twelve Shillings Scots to the Clerk, and Six 
 Shillings Scots to the Officer ; and that, on booking of such a Servand, is and shall be 
 sufficient, though they shall afterwards have different Maisters : And that no Freeman 
 recave another Freeman's Apprentice or Servant, until he be discharged from his former 
 Maister. 
 
 6. That all free Barbers within the Burgh be obliged punctually to attend the 
 quarterly Meetings of the Society, and all other Meetings lawfully warned thereto, by 
 the Officer, at Command of the Preses, under the Penalty of Six Shillings Scots for 
 Absence from each Meeting, and shall [)ay One Shilling Scots for each Meeting that 
 they shall come in after calling the Rolls. 
 
 7. That any Barber to be admitted in Canongate, Leith, Portshurgh, Potterrow, 
 Bristo, Pleasants, and other suburbs of Edinburgh, shall first make Application to the 
 Society of Barbers of Edinburgh, and be tryed and examined by the Maisters, and pay 
 an Upsett of Fifty Punds Scots, unless he be Son, or Son-in-law of a Freeman in those 
 Places ; in which case he shall pay only Threttie Punds Scots, and recave his Admission 
 in the Terms of, and as is appointed by the before mentioned Decreet ; and that all the 
 Barbers in the said Suburbs shall be obliged to obey the Statu ts and Acts made, and to 
 be made, by the Society of the Barbers of Edinburgh ; and that all their Indentures be 
 written by the Clerk of the Society, and their Apprentices and Servants shall be booked 
 and recorded in Manner foirsaid. 
 
 8. That the Barbers, both in Edinburgh, Canongate, Leith, Portsburgh, Potterrow, 
 Bristo, Pleasants, and other Suburbs of Edinburgh, pay punctually One Merk Scots 
 Money to the Boxmaister of the Barbers of Edinburgh, at Whitsunday, Lambas, Mar-
 
 IGO OTHER INCORPORATED CRAFTS. 
 
 tinmass, and Candhmass, in all Tyme comeing; beginning the first Payment at Lamhas 
 next, for raantening the Poor, and supporting the common Burdens of the Society, 
 under the Pain of Poynding and taking in their Basons, till full Payment of Byegones. 
 
 9. That no Barber in Town or Suburbs, by himself, or his Apprentice or Servant, 
 exercise his Imployment on Sunday, under the Penalty of Six Punds Scots the first, and 
 Twelve Punds Scots for each following Transgression. 
 
 10. That the Preses and Boxmaister be annually chosen, aud that no Man be 
 allowed to continew in one of these Offices for more than two Years together ; and that 
 the Boxmaister shall make, and be discharged of his Accompts, before he can be in a 
 Capacity to be chosen Preses : But they inclining to do nothing without the Allowance 
 and Approbation of the Council, they are in Duety bound to demand the same. 
 
 11. They, therefore, with all duetyfull Submission, expect the Council would give 
 their Concurrence for the due Execution of the before mentioned Statutes, and such 
 other Rules to be made as shall be necessary for preserving tlie good Order and Govern- 
 ment of the Society, and recovering the quarterly Accompts, and other Money now 
 payable to them, and thereby supporting their own Poor, and curbing all Unfreemen 
 from invading upon their Imployment agreeable to Law ; and to their said Constitution, 
 established by the Seal of Cause, and the said Decreet of the Lords of Session : Craving, 
 therefore, the Council to approve of the afore-written Rules and Statuts, and to give 
 their Concurrence for the due Execution thereof, according to, and in Terms of their 
 their said Rights ; and as the Council are in use to grant to other Societies witliin the 
 Burgh, as the Petition signed by the said John Blair, and Alexander Stiven hears. 
 
 The said Petition and Eequisition having been received by the 
 TowQ Council, and remitted to a Committee of their number to consider 
 and report, the following was the Civic Corporation's deliverance. The 
 Report " being considered by the Council, they, with the Extraordinary 
 Deacons, approved, and hereby approve, of the Committee's Eeport, and 
 of the Articles and Eules before-written, in the whole Tenor and Con- 
 tents thereof ; and do hereby give their Concurrence for the Execution 
 of the said Rules and Articles contained in the said Petition ; the Desire 
 of which they granted, and by thir Presents grant, and interponit, and 
 hereby interpone their Authority thereto, for the Punctual Observation 
 of the said Rules and Articles in all Time Coming, as craved in the
 
 THE BARBEES. 
 
 161 
 
 Petition. And statute and ordained, and by thir Presents statute and 
 ordain the above Eules and Articles to be inviolably observed in all 
 Time Coming ; and granted, and hereby grants, full Power and Warrand 
 to the Petitioners, and their Successors in office to see these Eules and 
 Articles observed accordingly, whereanent thir Presents shall be a 
 Warrand." 
 
 Although the Deacon of the Barbers has no seat in the Convenery, 
 he is a Governor ex officio of the Trades Maiden Hospital. Mr George 
 R. Dickie, 120 High Street, Portobello, holds the Office at the present 
 time.
 
 THE INFERIOR TRADES OR CRAFTS. 
 
 |T will have been seen, in perusing this Work, that many 
 Members of the Inferior Crafts were at one time asso- 
 ciated together as a Company, independent altogether of 
 the chief Incorporation with which they were connected in a civic 
 capacity and otherwise. It is therefore desirable that a List of such 
 should be presented to the Reader to show in which of the fourteen 
 Incorporations each one found his place. 
 
 Armourers. — This Craft was united to the Hammermen. 
 
 Belt-makers. — This Art or Trade, being in close connection with the 
 
 Loriners, was united to the Hammermen. 
 BowYERS. — This Trade, being annexed to the Masons, formed part of Mary's 
 
 Chapel. 
 Black-smiths. — This Trade was the first of the seventeen Crafts of which 
 
 the Hammermen was constituted (at the time the Goldsmiths, 
 
 afterwards separately constituted, were connected with this 
 
 body). 
 Braziers. — This Art, being connected with the Loriners, was united to the 
 
 Hammermen. 
 Coopers. — The Fraternity of Coopers, becoming associated with the 
 
 Wrights, formed part of Mary's Chapel. 
 Copper-smiths. — This Craft, which was originally part of tlie Loriners, 
 
 was united to the Hammermen. 
 Cutlers. — This Art obtained a place among the Hammermen. 
 Founders. — This Mystery or Art, originally identified with the Loriners, 
 
 was united to the Hammermen. 
 Glaziers. — This Craft, having united with the Masons, formed part of 
 
 Mary's Chapel.
 
 INFERIOR TRADES OR CRAFTS. 163 
 
 GuN-SMiTHS.— This Trade was united to the Locksmiths, and like them 
 
 found a place among the Hammermen. 
 Hat-makers.— This Art was by a charter of the Town Council associated 
 
 with the Waulkers. 
 Listers or Dyers.— This Art was by a Charter of tlie Town Council 
 
 united with the Bonnet-makers. 
 Lock-smiths. — This Trade formed part of the Hammermen. 
 LoRiNERS. — This Craft became part of the Hammermen. 
 Painters. — This Art, having become united with the Wrights, was merged 
 
 in Mary's Chapel. 
 Pewterers. — This Trade constituted part of the Company of Hammer- 
 men. 
 Pin-makers. — This Mystery, being added to the Locksmiths, was merged in 
 
 the Hammermen. 
 Plumbers. — This Trade, being annexed to the Masons, formed part of 
 
 Mary's Chapel. 
 Saddlers, — This Craft became part of the Hammermen. 
 SiEVE-WRiGHTS. — This Art having been united to the Wrights, was merged 
 
 in Mary's Chapel. 
 Shear-smiths. — This Art formed part of the Incorporation of Hammer- 
 men. 
 Slaters. — The Fraternity, having become associated with the Wrights, 
 
 formed part of Mary's Chapel. 
 Upholsterers. — This Trade, being connected with the furnishing of houses, 
 
 found a place in Mary's Chapel. 
 Watch-makers. — This Mystery, having united with the Locksmiths, 
 
 became connected with the Hammermen. 
 White Iron-smiths. — The Tinsmiths, having become associated with the 
 
 Pewterers, found a place among the Hammermen.
 
 THE TRADES MAIDEN HOSPTrAL, EDINBURGH. 
 
 [OSSIBLY the finest outcome of the lucorjjorated Trades of 
 Edinburgh, is the existence of the Trades Maiden Hospital, 
 at Rillbank House, Meadows. This Hospital was originally 
 situated near to the subsequently formed Argyle Square, on the West 
 side of the Horse Wynd, and in continuation of what was known as 
 North College Street. All the buildings of these former days have 
 been taken down. Under the City Improvement Scheme of 1871, a 
 broad street has taken the place of the old narrow one, bearing the 
 name of " Chambers Street," in token of his fellow-citizens' approval of 
 the many services rendered to the public during his life-time by Lord 
 Provost William Chambers, LL.D. It was, however, to make room for 
 the buildino- of the Industrial Museum that the Government of the 
 day had previously purchased the house and site of the Trades Maiden 
 Hospital (erected about the year 1740). The Governors were fortunate, 
 however, to secure the more eligible situation to the south of the 
 Meadows, on which the present Hospital stands. 
 
 The circumstances under which the Hospital was founded are as 
 follow: — The Merchant Company of Edinburgh, in the year 1695, 
 projected a scheme for the erection of an Hospital for the maintenance 
 and education of poor maidens by charitable benefactions. Con- 
 siderable contributions flowed in upon them. Their chief benefactor, 
 however, was Mrs Mary Erskine, a widow gentlewoman, of pious 
 memory. Her deceased husband was James Hair, at one time a 
 Druggist in Edinburgh. That good lady purchased a handsome and
 
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 THE TRADES MAIDEN HOSPITAL. 165 
 
 convenient building, with large garden attached, and other useful 
 conditions, at an expenditure of Twelve Thousand merks Scotish, and 
 bestowed it on the Governors of the Hospital. She likewise left 
 instructions to her executors to pay over a considerable sum of money 
 at the time of her death, which served materially to increase the 
 usefulness of the Institution. The house was opened, under the name 
 of The Maiden Hospital, founded by the Company of Merchants of 
 Edinburgh, and Mary Erskine. 
 
 The Incorporations of Craftsmen (or Trades) were not long in 
 laudably following in the wake of their brethren of the Merchant 
 Company. During the year 1701 they had formed a design to erect 
 " an Hospital for the Intertainment and Education of the Daughters 
 of their poor members." The various Companies of Arts were not 
 backward in their support. It is recorded that they helped forward 
 the proposal by giving so good and desirable a work their most 
 generous support. The Town Council of the City also expressed its 
 decided approval of their pious and charitable resolution ; and, by a 
 minute of 3d May, 1704, they pledged themselves to give the 
 movement all the support in their power. 
 
 Having purchased certain Houses and Gardens on the site near 
 Horse Wynd, which has been already referred to, the Incorporation 
 fitted up one of the Houses for the purposes of the Hospital, selected 
 a Governess, Schoolmistress, and Servants for the same ; and, having 
 taken sundry poor maidens under their care, they proceeded to make a 
 Constitution and Bye-laws for the proper government of the Institution, 
 with the view of the Constitution being approved of by Parliament. 
 
 The terms of the Charter of Foundation, which were ratified by 
 Parliament during the reign of Queen Anne, are as follow : — 
 
 " At Edinburgh, the twenty-fifth day of March One thousand seven hundred and 
 seven Years, Our Sovereign Lady, with Advice and Consent of the Estates of
 
 1G6 THE TRADES MAIDEN HOSPITAL. 
 
 Parliament, considering that there is a pious and laudable Design now carrying on 
 by the Incorporations of tlie Craftsmen of Edinhuryh, and others who join with them, 
 authorised by the Town Council of the said Burgh, by their Act dated the third of 
 May, 1704 Years, for founding and erecting an Hospital for the Maintenance and 
 Education of the female children and Grand-children of decayed Craftsmen and others, 
 to be presented by Persons who give Donations thereto ; which may be of a general 
 Advantage, and especially to the City of Edinburgh. Therefore, Her Majesty, with 
 Advice and Consent foresaid, do hereby allow and authorise the said Incorporations of 
 the Craftsmen of Edinhuryh and others joining, or who shall join with them, to meet as 
 oft as occasion requires, and to make such Rules and Constitutions for the carrying 
 on and supporting of the said Hospital allenarly, as they shall find just and convenient. 
 As Also, to settle such Funds as well out of their public Boxes belonging to their 
 respective Administrations as private Estates, as they shall think fit ; and to receive 
 Mortifications or Donations from any person who shall be pleased to contribute there- 
 to ; the said Rules and Acts to be made by them, being always consistent with the 
 Laws of the Kingdom, and with the Acts and Constitutions of the City of Edinburgh. 
 And STATUTES and ordains the said Rules and Constitutions to be made by them to be 
 as valid and elfectual, to all Intents and Purposes, for the ordering and governing of 
 the Hospital above mentioned, as if they were particularly exprest and set down in this 
 Act. 
 
 Whereanent Her Majesty, with Advice and Consent aforesaid, dispenses for ever. 
 And FURTHER, Her Majesty, with Advice and Consent foresaid, ordains and declares the 
 foresaid Hospital, when set up and settled in its Constitutions and Directors and 
 Overseers, to be a free Hospital for the pious Use foresaid ; with power to the said 
 Hospital, and its Overseers and Directors, not only to administrate the Funds and 
 Rents appertaining thereto, but likewise to purchase and acquire Lands, Tenements, 
 and others, for the farther Good and Advantage thereof ; and for that End to make, 
 grant, and receive all Manner of Deeds and Writs necessary for that Effect ; and to 
 have a Seal, if they shall think needful ; and with such Inscription as they shall appoint 
 for the Confirmation of their Deeds. And, generally, to have all such Powers, 
 Liberties, and Immunities of a free Hospital for pious Uses as any other Hospital for 
 the like Uses hath, or by the Law may have, in this Kingdom. — Extracted forth of 
 the Records of Parliament, by me. Sir James Murray of Philiphaugh, one of the 
 Senators of the College of Justice, Clerk to the Parliament, and to her Majesty's 
 Councils, Registers, and Rolls, sic subscribitur, Ja. Murray, Cls. Bey.
 
 THE TEADES MAIDEN HOSPITAL. 1G7 
 
 The Trades Maiden Hospital having received the sanction of 
 Parliament, the same Mary Erskine, who was very considerate to the 
 Merchant Maiden Hospital, contributed so large a sum of money to 
 this new scheme of benevolence, as to cause the Incorporations to 
 come unanimously to the conclusion that she should be named as the 
 Joint Foundress of the Institution. This was done. It was called 
 " The Maiden Hospital, founded by the Craftsmen of Edinburgh and 
 Mary Erskine." It was also agreed that two persons of the name of 
 Erskine, to be named by her, and after her death by the representatives 
 of the Family of Mar, should be Governors of the Hospital in all time 
 coming. After her death, the two persons named by her should have 
 the right of presentation of all those girls that she herself had a right 
 to present, by reason of her generous benefaction. It was also 
 arranged that the senior of her said representatives should preside in 
 all Courts of the Governors (held on account of the Hospital) in the 
 absence of the Preses, viz. — the Deacon Convener of the Trades, and 
 that he should also possess one of the three keys of the Hospital's 
 Charter House. 
 
 Mrs Mary Erskine, therefore, nominated and appointed as her 
 two first representatives, Mr James Erskine of Grange, one of the 
 Senators of the College of Justice, and Mr David Erskine, advocate, 
 both for their natural lives. After her death, her powers of appoint- 
 ment were to devolve upon the chief representative of the Family of 
 Mar, under whatever designation it might then happen to be. The 
 successive Earls of Mar and Kellie have for generations taken an 
 intelligent and zealous interest in the affairs of the Institution. 
 
 By virtue of the before - recited Act of Parliament, and the 
 contract with Mary Erskine, the Deacon Convener, the Deacons of 
 the various Incorporations of Crafts, the Contributors, the two 
 Trades Councillors, and others, together wdth the two representatives
 
 168 THE TRADES MAIDEN HOSPITAL. 
 
 of the said Foundress, being the Governors of the said Hospital, 
 after divers Meetings, agreed to a Code of Laws or Constitution for 
 the better government of the Hospital. The model adopted by them 
 was that of George Heriot. 
 
 The constitution provided that the Deacons of the various In- 
 corporations, the Two Trades Councillors, and two of the name of 
 Erskine (as previously arranged) should be perpetual Governors of 
 the Hospital. And there was a further provision that on the second 
 Monday of October in each year other Governors should be annually 
 elected to make up the Governing body to twenty-seven. The election 
 of the Annual Governors was vested in the other Governors men- 
 tioned above, along with every donator to the extent of 2000 merks 
 to the Institution, and such donators were eligible for election as 
 Governors. Vacancies occurring during the year among the elected 
 Governors had to be filled up by the existing body of Governors. 
 
 Each Governor was required to take the following Oath : — " I do 
 faithfully swear and promise before God, that, to the best of my know- 
 ledge and power, I shall carry and demean myself in all matters which 
 concern the election of the Officers or Scholars, or anything else belong- 
 ing to the Maiden Hospital, founded by the Craftsmen of Edinburgh and 
 Mary Erskine, truly and honestly : And if 1 know any going about, 
 at any time, to defraud or prejudge the said pious work, I shall obstruct 
 it to the utmost of my power, and reveal it to the Governors for the 
 time. So help me God." 
 
 The Meetings of the Governors usually took place either in the 
 Hospital itself, or in the beautiful little Chapel of Mary Magdalene, 
 in the Cowgate. To the Governors belonged generally the manage- 
 ment of the affairs of the Hospital, the election of children who were 
 to be admitted, as well as the appointment of all the officials. Chief 
 among these was the Treasurer of the Institution, who was the Kecciver-
 
 THE TRADES MAIDEN HOSPITAL. 169 
 
 General of all rents and monies falling to the Hospital as well as the 
 Paymaster of all sums owing, and who was further required to keep a 
 correct account of the same. He had also to look after the buildings, 
 etc., being kept in a thorough state of repair. His aj^pointment might 
 be continued for two or more successive years ; and he was entitled 
 to have a vote in the aftairs of the Hospital along with the other 
 Governors. He was required to take an oath that he would faith- 
 fully, truly, and honestly discharge all the duties of his office. 
 
 The Annual Meeting for the election of Governors and the 
 Treasurer used to be held on the second Monday of October. It is 
 now changed to the second and the third Mondays of November. It 
 is the duty of the Treasurer to serve a warning notice on the Members 
 giving intimation of said Meetings. The Accounts are prepared and 
 audited up to the said date, although there is a regular monthly audit 
 throughout the year. 
 
 The duty of the Clerk is, " to keep in good order and digest all 
 the evidents and other papers belonging to the Hospital, and make and 
 keep books of a full and particular record thereof, and to attend the 
 Meetings, and form what orders and resolutions are done therein." 
 He has, like the Treasurer, to take the oath de Jideli, and he can hold 
 his office during life and good behaviour. 
 
 The same tenure of office as is given to the Clerk was also 
 granted to the Mistress or Governess ; or as she is usually styled 
 " the Matron." She is, by the laws, enjoined to " take care that the 
 scholars and servants be brought up in the fear of God, and shall 
 catechise the scholars in the principles of the Christian reformed religion, 
 and correct them for faults when occasion requires." She must be 
 an unmarried person. When she marries, her situation becomes void. 
 If negligent of duty, she is to be publicly admonished by the Governors, 
 and the fact recorded in the Minutes. She is required, before entering
 
 170 ' THE TRADES MAIDEN HOSPITAL. 
 
 oflSce, to take the following oatli : — " I (A. B.) elected Mistress and 
 Governess of the Maiden Hospital, founded by the Craftsmen of Edin- 
 burgh and Mary Erskine, do swear, and faithfully promise before God, 
 that, to the best of my power, I shall discharge all which the statutes 
 of the said Hospital require from me ; and shall do my best to see all 
 the statutes of the said Hospital observed by others whom they do 
 concern ; and do promise faithful obedience to the present Governors of 
 the said Hospital, and their successors in office. So help me God ! " 
 The rules enact as follows : — " After which she is to get possession of the 
 Mistress' lodgings by some of the Governors ; and publicly, in presence 
 of the children and servants, be declared Mistress and Governess ; " and 
 the latter are commanded to give her all obedience, under the pain of 
 being expelled from the Hospital. 
 
 There was a schoolmistress, likewise, to be provided whose tenure 
 of office was " during her life and good behaviour." Her duties were 
 thus defined : — To teach the children to read, work stockings, lace, 
 coloured and white seam, spinning, carding, washing and dressing of 
 linens, dressing of meat, cleaning of house, and all sorts of needlework, 
 and other ordinary household thrift. And, if she can, to teach the 
 girls also writing, arithmetic, and the common parts of vocal music. 
 In the event of any one being appointed who was not able to teach the 
 " whole arts and virtues above mentioned," in such case the Governors 
 retained the power to themselves, to provide an honest man, for some 
 part of the day, to come to the Hospital, at such hours as should be 
 found most convenient, and whose salary should be paid by the 
 Treasurer. The same remarks regarding marriage applied equally to 
 the Schoolmistress as to the Matron. 
 
 The Commissariot department was likewise provided for. It was 
 ordained that there shall be chosen a woman of good and honest report 
 to be Cook to the Hospital. The Cook was charged with the clean and,
 
 THE TRADES MAIDEN HOSPITAL. 171 
 
 exact dressing of the victuals ; two or three of the chiklren who were 
 educated in the Hospital were appointed by the Matron to be present 
 and assist at the dressing of the victuals, so that they might handle 
 meat neatly. To the Cook was entrusted the custody of all utensils 
 belonging to the kitchen, which were delivered to her by inventory ; she 
 had to deliver up her accounts for bread, drink, candle, and other things 
 belonging to her department to the Matron weekly, or as often as she 
 was required. She had, however, no charge in the engagement of the 
 servants of the House, a duty which originally devolved upon the 
 Governors, but has latterly fallen into the hands of the Matron. 
 
 Eegarding the recipients of the Hospital's benefits, the following 
 law (XIV.) was enacted : — 
 
 " There shall be chosen and admitted into the said Hospital, so many children as 
 the revenue of the said Hospital shall be able to maintain deductus ducendis. And 
 these girls presented by the Incorporations are to be the children or grandchildren of 
 the Freemen Craftsmen of their own Incorporation ; which failing, any other they 2)lease, 
 of whose poverty and need of the help of the Hospital, the Incorporation who presents 
 them are to be the judges ; but the Donators to the Hospital who have a right to 
 present, by giving a donation of 2000 merks, may present any girl they think fit, 
 whether Craftsman's daughter or not ; it being made appear to the Governors or their 
 Committee before-mentioned, by a declaration under the hand of the Donator who hath 
 right, and presents a girl, that she is an object of charity ; which declaration shall be 
 an instruction of poverty. For each 2000 merks' donation, the person, giver thereof, 
 during his or her life, and after their death any they shall appoint by writ, hath a title 
 to present a girl ; and as often as the presentation shall vaick (vacate), they shall have 
 the renewing thereof; and if any two persons shall jointly give. in 2000 merks of their 
 own proper means, they shall have the presenting of a child alternis vicibus, or as they 
 shall agree. The girls to be admitted to the Hospital must be wholesome and sound of 
 their body at their entry, and capable to learn, and must not be under seven years of 
 age, nor above ttvelve when they enter ; and are to continue in the Hospital until they 
 be eighteen years of age, and no longer; and each of them at their entry must be 
 decently apparelled, at the sight of the Governors and Treasurer; and when that 
 apparel is worn, their apparel afterwards is to be all of one piece, without distinction
 
 172 THE TRADES MAIDEN HOSPITAL. 
 
 of persons, and as plain as may be, and all of one colour, and with such mark as the 
 Governors shall appoint ; but, when they go out of the Hospital at eighteen years of 
 age, they are to be clad in new apparel, distinct from what they did wear in the 
 Hospital, each girl's apparel not exceeding the sum of 100 merks Scots, which is to be 
 paid by the Treasurer. The ordinary time of receiving in of the girls is to be the first 
 Monday of November yearly ; when it is to be considered by the Governors what 
 vacancies there are, and how many the estate and revenue of the Hospital is able to 
 maintain, that so many qualified, as is before expressed, be then taken in, who shall 
 liave a lodging, diet, washing, and common tires allowed to them, besides their being 
 educate and taught in manner aforesaid, and shall be comely and decently apparelled, 
 both in their clothes and linens." 
 
 It was provided that one or more rooms should be set apart for 
 sick inmates, and that every sick chihi should have a bed for herself. 
 Provision was also made for an Annual Meeting of the Governors and 
 Contributors. 
 
 These Regulations have been modified from time to time, according 
 to experience and various circumstances which emerged. The age now 
 fixed for a girl leaving the Hospital is seventeen years. 
 
 In the year 1748 the Governors of the Hospital purchased the 
 estate of Wrights' Houses, lying to the south-west of Edinburgh, which 
 they subsequently feued out, and which is now represented by the 
 large mass of buildings between Fountainbridge and Bruntsfield Place, 
 including Gillespie's Hospital, part of the Old Lochrin Distillery, the 
 works of the North British Ptubber Company, and of the Scottish 
 Vulcanite Company, Gilmore Place, and the villa and other residences 
 in the district of Viewforth. It was probably from their proprietorship 
 of these lands that the girls on the foundation, for whose benefit 
 the lands were held, and who in a beneficial sense therefore were the 
 owners of the estate, came to be known as " the Lassies of Wrights'- 
 houses." 
 
 When the Educational Endowments (Scotland) Act 1882 came
 
 THE TRADES MAIDEN HOSPITAL. 173 
 
 into operation, the Commissioners under the Act framed a Draft 
 Scheme for the administration of the fmids of the Hospital on an 
 altered footing, under which (had it been passed) the Governing Body- 
 would have been materially altered, the Incorporation's Rights of 
 Presentation would have been taken away and replaced by a reduced 
 number of mere nominations, and other important alterations on the 
 existing administration and application of the funds would have been 
 made. The Governors opposed the scheme, both on its merits, and 
 also on the ground that the endowment did not come within the 
 scope of the Act, as it consisted mainly of funds " contributed or paid 
 by the members" of the Incorporation — i.e., the several Trades Incor- 
 porations — which class of funds the Act provided should not be 
 interfered with, unless with the consent of the Governing Body of the 
 particular institution proposed to be dealt with by the Commissioners. 
 Appearance for the objectors was made before the Commissioners by 
 Counsel, who urged the legal objection to the proposed scheme so 
 forcibly that it was not proceeded with, the Act being allowed to 
 expire. The Commissioners probably felt that the legal objection to the 
 alleged application of the Act to the Hospital was well founded, and 
 also perhaps came to see that, in respect of the limited number of Girls 
 housed in the building, and their education being obtained at a Public 
 Day School along with other Girls, the life of the Foundationers was 
 not attended with those disadvantages of monastic upbringing which 
 the Act was passed to remove, and which no doubt did exist in the case 
 of some of the larger institutions. 
 
 At the opening of the Hospital, there were twenty-three inmates. 
 Now the number resident is more than double the original roll. The 
 Surgeons' Incorporation had originally the right to present two girls. 
 They have devolved their functions on the governing board. The 
 following have now the rights of presentation : —
 
 174 
 
 THE TRADES MAIDEN HOSPITAL. 
 
 Goldsmiths, 
 
 . 3 
 
 Hammermen, . 
 
 . 4 
 
 Wrights and Masons, 
 
 . 4 
 
 Skinners and Furriers, 
 
 . 4 
 
 Bakers, .... 
 
 . 4 
 
 Tailors, .... 
 
 . 3 
 
 Fleshers, .... 
 
 
 Cordiners, .... 
 
 
 Websters, .... 
 
 
 Waulkei's, .... 
 
 
 Bonnet-Makers, . 
 
 
 Barbers, .... 
 
 2 
 
 Governors, 
 
 . 4 
 
 Hammermen (White), 
 Skinners (Callender), . 
 Fleshers (Grant), 
 Bonnet-]Makers (Wardrope), 
 Learmonth of Parkhill, 
 Earl of Stair, .... 
 J. W". Murray, .... 
 C. A. Wilson (late C. H. Wilson), 
 Lady Susan Broun Boiirke, 
 Earl of Mar and Kellie, 
 John Stein of Kirktield, 
 
 Total Number of Presentations, 50 
 
 Convener Ramage is at present Cliairman of the Governing Body ; 
 Mr William Stuart Fraser, W.S., is the Clerk; Mr Edward Sawers is 
 Treasurer ; Miss Bonuar, who so faithfully discharged the duties of 
 Matron, having intimated her intention to emigrate, her position has 
 been assumed by Miss Maclntyre, who was recently elected to the 
 position. Dr James Dunsmure is the Medical Officer. 
 
 LIST OF GOVERNORS. 
 
 Governors, Convener Alexander Ramage, 
 Earl of ISIar and Kellie, Mr Erskine ; 
 the Deacons of tlie thirteen Incorpor- 
 ations, viz., Alexander Ramage (the 
 Convener), William Field, George 
 James Beattie, John Crichton, R. 
 Legget, sen., A. M'CuUagh, John 
 James Moir, Robert Gillcs{)ie Muir, 
 John B. Morham, Walter Park, 
 Robert Brown, W. Bell Mack, Bailie 
 Andrew M'Donald. 
 
 Trades- Coimcillors, Kenneth Scoon and 
 D. W. Beattie. 
 
 Society of Barbers, George R. Dickie. 
 
 Additional Governors, T. L. Sawers, Alex- 
 ander Webb, Henry B. Kirkwood, 
 Duncan M'Leod, Archibald Pollock, 
 Michael Crichton, Alfred Bryson, 
 Alexander Keir, George Morham, 
 with the Treasurer.
 
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 HISTORICAL ACCOUNT 
 
 OF THE 
 
 BLUE BLANKET.
 
 AN 
 
 Historical Account 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Blue Slanket: 
 
 OR 
 
 (^ r aft s - Me n' s Banner, 
 
 CONTAINING THE 
 
 Fundamental Principles 
 
 OF THE 
 
 GOOD-TOWN, 
 
 WITH THE 
 
 Powers and Prerogatives of the Crafts of 
 Edinburgh, &c. 
 
 By Alexander Pennecuik, Burgess and Guild-Brother of Edinburgh. 
 
 PsAL. Ix. 4. Thou hast given a Banner unto them that fear thee, that it may be displayed 
 because of the Truth. 
 
 Gen. iv. 22. Tubal Cain was an Instructer of every Artificer in Brass and Iron. 
 
 E D I N B URG H: 
 
 Printed by John Mossman and Company, and sold by him and the Author, 
 
 M. DCC. XXII. 
 
 2a
 
 178 PENNECUIKS HISTORY OF THE 
 
 To the Worshipful 
 
 The Deacons of Crafts, 
 
 And remanent Members of the 
 
 Fourteen Incorporations in the Good Town 
 of Edinburgh. 
 
 T" Present you with an abridgment of the glorious Actions of your Pre- 
 -■- decessors ; who, by a dutiful Attachment to their Sovereigns, suffering 
 by impious Rebels, shew^'d their Hearts flam'd with Loyalty ; their Hands were 
 Thunder, and their Deeds Miracles. You enjoy the Honours and Privileges 
 which they procur'd from the Monarchs of SCOTLAND, as Rewards for 
 their Heroic Atchievements. You are, what tlie greatest Princes and Warriors 
 in Europe, triumphant in the Field of Battle, and press'd down to the Grave 
 with Laurels, have aspired to, Knights of the HOLY GHOST; your Banner 
 being call'd in Original Writs, The Banner of the Holy Ghost. Study then 
 to imitate your worthy Ancestors in their illustrious Virtues, and inviolably 
 maintain the Privileges of your MAGNA CHARTA : 'Tis a sacred Depositum, 
 which you are bound in Conscience, as well as thro' Interest, to defend. If 
 your Enemies should dare to invade your Prerogatives, granted by Kings, the 
 Fountains of Law and Honour, let the Nation's Motto be yours. 
 
 Nemo me imjpune lacesset. 
 
 Remember King David's Saying, which is very snug to the Purpose, 
 Psal. Ix. 4. " He hath given a Banner unto them tliat fear him ; that it may 
 be display 'd because of the Truth. Selah."
 
 BLUE BLANKET, OR CKAFTS-MEN's BANNER. 179 
 
 I have, with unwearied Pains, collected the materials of the ensuino- 
 
 to 
 
 History, from original authentick Manuscripts, and Historians of unquestioned 
 Veracity: And I humbly Dedicate it to you, the Crafts of EDINBURGH; 
 wishing Prosperity to You and the Good Town, whose Pillars and chief Corner- 
 stones you have always proved. May the Psalmist's Prayer for Zion be granted 
 unto her, "Peace be within her Walls, and Prosperity within her Palaces: 
 May they prosper that love her, and seek her Peace continually." May the 
 inimitable Poet's Lines become a fulfilled Prophecy, to be apply 'd to our 
 Sovereign City. 
 
 Now, like a Maiden Queen, she will behold 
 From her high Turrets hourly Suiters come : 
 The East with Incence, and the West with Gold, 
 Will stand like Suppliants to receive her Doom. 
 The Silver Forth, her own domestick Flood, 
 Shall bear her Vessels, like a sweejiing Train, 
 And often wish, as of her Mistress proud, 
 With longing Eyes to meet her Face again. 
 The vent'rous Merchant who design'd more far. 
 And touches on our Hospitable Shore, 
 Charm'd with the Splendour of this Northern Star, 
 Shall here unload him, and dejoart no more. 
 
 Drtd. Ann. Mirr. 
 
 That this may happen, and your Incorporations may flourish with Blessings 
 of the Upper and the Nether Springs, is the ardent prayer of, 
 
 Worthy Fellow-Citizens, 
 
 Your devoted humble Servant, 
 
 ALEXANDER PENNECUIK. 
 Edinburgh, 
 1st August 1722.
 
 180 PENNECUIKS HISTORY OF THE 
 
 Copy of an Epistle, from Two Crafts-Men 
 in Edinburgh, to the Author. 
 
 SIR, 
 
 " OiNCE you have put an high Respect upon us, to communicate 
 " in Manuscript your Historical Account of the Blue Blanket, and to ask our 
 " Advice about its Publication ; having carefully and with Pleasure perused 
 " it, we return you our sincere Thanks, for your elaborate Enquiry into 
 " the conceal'd Honours of the Trades : But being diffident of our Sufficiency 
 " to judge of an Historian, we laid it before the ablest of our Brethren, who 
 " earnestly sollicite you may send it abroad. You have troden in unbeaten 
 " Paths, the Subject having been overlookt by all Scottish Historians. As 
 " we question not you'll oblige the World by publishing the Honours of 
 " the Blanket, so assure your self of a Tribute of Praise from all Crafts- 
 " men, especially from, 
 
 SIR, 
 
 Your humble Servants, 
 
 Ediiihurgli, 
 Xst Sej)temher 1722. 
 
 G. H. 
 W. D.
 
 BLUE BLANKET, OR CRAFTS-MEN's BANN15R. 181 
 
 General Preface, 
 
 TOUCniNG CRAFTS-MES-, AND THE HONORARY OFFICES TUEY HAVE ENJOY'd IN 
 
 CHURCH AND STATE. 
 
 WHEN the Omnipotent Architect had built the glorious Fabrick of this 
 World ; upon a Review of his Works, he pronounced they were 
 all very good, and rested from his Labours. The Almighty could have spoke 
 the World into Being in a Moment : but out of the Depths of Inhnite Wisdom, 
 spent six Days in its Creation, that man might learn still to be usefully 
 imploy'd, copying after the example of his Lord and Lawgiver. Tho' His 
 Deputy Adam was the first and the greatest of Monarchs, whose Dominions 
 extended from Pole to Pole, in a state of Innocence, before Sin had blasted 
 the Beauty of Eden, and Nature spontaneously yielded her Fruits ; yet was 
 he not to eat the Bread of Idleness, having his daily Task assign'd him, 
 as is inimitably express'd by the matchless Milton, in his beautiful Description 
 of Adam awaking; his charming;' Eve. 
 
 Awake, the Morning Shines, and the fresh Field 
 Calls us ; we lose the Prime, to mark how spring 
 Our tender Plants, how blows the Citron Groves : 
 What drops the Myrrh, and what the Balmy Reed, 
 How Nature paints her Colours, how the Bee 
 Sits on the Bloom, extracting liquid Sweets. 
 
 His eldest Son, by Right of Primogeniture, Fiar of a fair Inheritance, 
 was educate a Plow-man, and his Brother a Grassier. The fall of Man intro- 
 duced those liberal Sciences, Divinity, Law and Physick: But tho' we had 
 continued pure, as when we dropt from the creating Fingers of our Maker
 
 182 PENNECUIKS HISTORY OF THE 
 
 Mechanick Arts had been necessary. In the Infancy of the World, before 
 the Wrano-lings of Lawyers, the Sophistry of Philosophers, and turbulent 
 Factions of Divines, had debauched Mankind, Artists were in the highest 
 Repute. Adah bare Jabal, the Father of all such as dwell in Tents, and 
 his Brother's name was Jubal, the Father of all such as handle the Harp and 
 the Oro-an, Gen. iv. Verse 20. and 22. Tubal Cain was an Instructor of every 
 Artificer in Brass and Iron. 
 
 'Tis much to the Honour of Crafts-Men, that holy Joseph, Husband to 
 the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Son of GOD, was a Carpenter, tho' 
 it lessen'd our Lord's Esteem amongst the Populace, who tauntingly cried, 
 (Mat. xiii. 35.) " Is not this the Carpenter's Son ? " And if we credit the earliest 
 Ecclesiastick Historians, the Glorious Redeemer of Mankind, before his publick 
 Entrance upon the Ministerial Office, laboured with his hands in the Shop : 
 Tho' he called St. Matthew from the Customs, to evidence the Extent and 
 conquering power of his Grace; yet the most of his Apostles and Disciples, 
 who spread the everlasting Gospel, and supplanted the Government of Satan, 
 purchased Food with the Sweat of their Brows. 
 
 GOD seems to have put a distinguishing Honour upon Trades-men, 
 that in all Ages, Men of the greatest Learning, and the Noblest Heroes, have 
 sprung from their Loins ; Porus, Monarch of the Indies, was the Son of a 
 Barber, and wrought himself as a Tinker; Braydillus, Prince of the Sclavonians, 
 Son of a CoaUier; Artagorus, Governor of the Cyconians, Son of a Cook; 
 Ao-athocles, King of Sicily, Son of a Potter. The good Arch-Bishop Villagesius, 
 Son of a Carter, for which Reason he took Wheels for his Armorial-bearing. 
 Cardinal Woolsey, Chancellor of England, was begot by a Butcher. One of 
 the greatest States-Men of this Age, Cardinal Julius Alberoni, by a Gardener ; 
 and our famous Countryman Mr Law, by a Goldsmith of Edinburgh. 
 
 As the Seed of Mechanicks have risen to the highest Dignities, so Mechan- 
 icks themselves have sway'd Scepters, proven the bravest Generals, the wisest 
 States-Men, and the greatest Monarchs : Tho' the unthinking mass of Mankind 
 may despise a person for low Birth ; the first Circumstance of Life ought to 
 have no Influence in our Judgment of a great Man ; because we cannot pretend 
 to be the Children of whom we please ; and tliat a man may owe his birth to a,
 
 BLUE BLANKET, OR CRAFTS-xMEN's BANNER. 183 
 
 Prince, whose natural Temper and Inclinations discover more Meanness of 
 Birth, than if he were the Son of a Weaver : Whereas nothing is more o-lorious, 
 than when, notwithstanding of the Defect of Education, a Man knows how to 
 rectify and elevate the Inclinations, which an obscure Birth naturally inclines 
 to be servile. 
 
 Quintus Cincinnatus, when called to the Government of Rome, was found 
 hard at Plow ; being saluted by the Name of Dictator, invested with Purple, 
 honour'd with the Fasces, and other Ensigns of Magistracy, was desired to take 
 Journey ; after a little Pause, he answered with Tears in his Eyes, Then for 
 this year, my looor Farm must be unsown: Taking Leave of his Family, 
 perform'd his Office with that Prudence and Justice, that he prov'd the Admira- 
 tion of the World : And having finished his Dictatorship, return'd again to his 
 Plow. Arsaces, from being a private Mechanick, was call'd to found the Parthian 
 Empire : And such an one was Tamberlane, the Vanquisher of Asia. Peter du 
 Brosse, Chirurgeon, was high Chamberlain of France, and Secretary to King 
 Philip III. Massianello, a Neapolitan Fisher-Man, raised an Army of 50,000, 
 7th July 1647, and trampled on the Government of Naples, till they were 
 oblig'd to yield to the Demands of the People groaning under the Burden of 
 exorbitant Taxes. The Anabaptists in Munster, choos'd John of Leyden, a 
 Taylor, for their King, A. D. 1535. Zeno, the famous Bishop of Constantia, 
 was a Weaver, who liv'd till he was past an Hundred Years of Age ; and tho' 
 he was the most eminent Bishop, and had the largest Diocese in that Country, 
 kept a Weaver's Shop, and wrought himself daily at the Loom, to clothe the 
 Naked. When the Peasants of Upper Austria rose up against P. Maximilian, 
 Elector of Bavaria, A. D. 1627, their Army consisted of 60,000; it was com- 
 manded by Stephen Tudiner, a Hatter; and after his Death, by Walmer, a 
 Shoe-Maker, kill'd by Count Papenheim. And I cann't omit to hint at the 
 beautiful Story of Mr Edmond, a Baxter, and Son of a Baxter in Stirling, who 
 shew'd such unparallel'd Valour in the Swedish Wars, under the Command of 
 that Immortal Thunderbolt of War, Gustavus Adolphus, that he became a 
 General. His swimming the Danube, and, by an artful Stratagem, carrying off 
 the General of the Imperialists, and other marvellous Actions of his Life, are 
 recorded in the Chronicles of Sweden. In his old Age, he returned to his
 
 184 
 
 PENNECUIK S HISTORY OF THE 
 
 native Country Scotland, and built a stately Manse at Stirling, which he doted 
 to the Church. 
 
 Historians, Ancient and Modern, not only record the Martial Atchievements, 
 but the singular Sanctity of Mechanicks, not to mention the Faith of a Shoe- 
 Maker, under the Reign of a King of Persia, who removed a Mountain by a 
 holy Harangue, related by Paulus Venetus, de Rebus Orientalibus, and Nazian- 
 zen Causen in his holy Court, as savouring too much of a Monkish Fable, nor 
 the known Story of Crispianus, who suffered by the Cruelty of Maximilian. 
 The Church records a noble Army of Martyrs, who died for the Protestant 
 Faith in the Reign of Henry VIII. and Mary, Sovereigns of England. 
 
 John Mace, Chirurgeoii. 
 
 Eichard Ferus, Goldsiuitli 
 
 Mr Giles, Cutler. 
 
 Eobert Hatchets Arthur,' 
 
 Thomas Bond, 
 
 John Hart, 
 
 John Curd, 
 
 John Hoys, 
 
 John Cooksbury, 
 
 John Hammond, 
 
 John Bennet, 
 
 Andrew Heuet, 
 
 John Warner, 
 
 Wm. Corberley, 
 
 George Eagles, Minister, 
 
 and 
 William Picket, 
 Thomas Cob, 
 
 Shoemakers 
 
 }- 
 
 Tanners. 
 
 -Taylors. 
 
 Butchers. 
 
 ^W 
 
 eavei's. 
 
 Stejihen Knight, Barber. 
 George Tankerfield, Cook. 
 Thomas Hudson, Glover. 
 Thomas Tomkins, 
 William Bamford, 
 Nic. Chamberland 
 John Cavell, 
 John Spence, 
 Richard Nicolas, 
 John Careless, 
 
 John Leaf, Candlemaker 
 
 Nicolas Hall, \ 
 
 John Spicers, * 
 
 John Tudson, ^ 
 
 John Went, J 
 
 John Clement, 
 
 Thomas Avington, f- Joiners. 
 
 Thomas Harland, ) 
 
 Thomas Eavendell, Currier. 
 
 Masons. 
 
 ■ Smiths. 
 
 Sanctitatis radiis, in Orbe refulsit. 
 
 Behold the Martyrs who for Truth have died. 
 Heaven's Glory now, and Britain's greatest pride. 
 No Popish Flames to them a Period give, 
 Their Memories eternally shall live.
 
 BLUE BLANKET, OR CRAFTS-MEN's BANNER. 185 
 
 Wise Princes and States have always had Mechanicks in highest Estima- 
 tion. The grand Seignior, tho' one of the greatest Princes in Europe, is always 
 educate in some Hand-craft. The Dutch, and the Czar of Muscovy, by en- 
 couraging Crafts-Men, have made their Countries flourish, and are become the 
 Terror and Envy of their Neighbours. King Charles II. was an excellent 
 Worker in Ivory : Neither the Affairs of State, nor Pleasures of his Court, could 
 divert him from his Morning Task at the Turner's Loom. Lewis the XIV. of 
 France, was so exquisitely good at making of Watches, that he was equall'd by 
 few in his Reign. 
 
 What Respect the Kings of Scotland have put upon Tradesmen, the follow- 
 ing History of the Blue Blanket, or Crafts-Mens Banner, will declare. They 
 have had the Happiness to taste the Bounty of our Princes in the Highest 
 Honours : For this Order of the Blanket, originally of Ecclesiastick Institution, 
 is confirmed by the Royal Sanction. It had its Rise about the 1200 Year of 
 GOD, when the Croisade was carried on by Pope Urban the Second ; and so 
 is older than any of the Orders of Knighthood in Europe, save that of St. 
 Andrew, or the Thistle, which had its Orirjinal about the 800, when the Kins^ of 
 Scots and Picts made War against Athelston Kino' of the West Saxons ; and 
 that of the Star, or Blessed Virgin, which, as Selden, in his Titles of Honour, 
 remarks, had its Rise in the Year 1022 : For that Order of St. George, or the 
 Garter, was not institute till the year 1345, that of St. Michael, not till 1448, 
 and that of the Golden Fleece 1429. So that I may say the Words of Doctor 
 Hellen in His Preface to his History of the English Nobility, " Kings have so 
 much of GOD in them, whose Deputies they are on Earth, as many Times, 
 where they find j\Ierit and Desert, they raise the Poor out of the Dust, that they 
 may set them with Princes, even with the Princes of the People." 
 
 2b
 
 186 pennecuik's history of the 
 
 AN 
 
 HISTORICAL ACCOUNT 
 
 OF THE 
 
 BLUE BLANKET. 
 
 oil 
 
 Crafts-Meal's Ba?iner, 
 
 CONTAINING THE 
 
 FQNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF THE GOVERNMENT OF THE GOOD TOWN, 
 POWERS AND PREROGATIVES OF THE CRAFTS OF EDINBURGH. 
 
 rilHE Metropolitan City of Scotland, by some Historians, (as Buchanan observes) 
 -L either thro' Ignorance, or ill Will, call'd, Valla Dolorosa, The doleful Valley ; 
 by the Pictish Records, Castrum Puellarum, the Maiden Castle, from its 
 Royal and Impregnable Castle, built by Cruthenus Camelon, King of the 
 Picts, where the Daughters of the Pictish Kings were kept working at their 
 Needles, till married ; which, for Strength, and Command of Prospect, may 
 challeno-e Precedency of the Best in Britain. Some of the Ancient Scots call'd 
 it, Castrum Allatum, others Dunedinum; and the latter Edinum, which 
 we render, Edinburgh. 'Tis situated on the declining of an Hill ; from whence 
 she views her tributary River Forth, encompassed about with fertile Fields, 
 spacious Pastures, and goodly Gardens, grown by Degrees, in such Magnifi-
 
 BLUE BLANKET, OR CRAFTS-MEn's BANNP:R. 187 
 
 cence of Buildings, as to stand in Competition, almost, with any in Europe ; 
 and justly merits the Encomium Dr Ai'thur Johnston bestowed upon her. 
 
 That Edinburgh may view the Heavens at will, 
 
 'Tis built upon a lofty rising Hill. 
 
 The Fields and Eivers, which her Hand-Maids be. 
 
 She thence views, and the tributary Sea : 
 
 And when the Sun displays his Morning Light, 
 
 The Palace doth present it self to Sight. 
 
 That Princely Dwelling under Arthur Seat, 
 
 Adorn'd by most ingenious Art of late ; 
 
 Towards the "West the glorious Castle stands ; 
 
 Which with its Thunder giveth loud Commands. 
 
 Each Citizen hath such a House, that it 
 
 May Peers of greatest Quality well fit. 
 
 The Threats of Foes do not make them dismay'd, 
 
 Nor need they be of their Assaults afraid. 
 
 Sure, for a Kingly City, none can wish 
 
 A Seat that's more convenient than this. 
 
 'Tis not only beautiful, but ancient, tho' the Time when it was founded 
 is not easily discovered. The Magistrates of Edinburgh, in their congratu- 
 latory Harangue to King James VI. of Scotland, and I. of England, re- 
 corded in the Muses Welcome to that Prince, assert, it was builded b}^ 
 Fergusius, the first Builder of this Kingdom, Three hundred and thirty Years 
 before the Incarnation of Christ. 
 
 In our fierce and frequent Wars with the Picts, Danes, Romans, and 
 English, this City was so often destroyed, her Monuments and Charters 
 lost, that her Original cannot well be documented. The first Charter I find 
 in her Favours, is granted by King Alexander I. sirnamed the Good, and 
 the Second by his Successor St. David. 'Tis generally agreed upon, that 
 it was made a Burgh Royal by King William I. in whose Reign a Ferveur 
 of Devotion, encourag'd by Pope Urban II. seis'd the Spirits of the Princes 
 and Cavaliers of Europe, under the Command of Godfrey of Bulloign, to 
 rescue Palestine and the City of Jerusalem out of the Hands of Saladine, 
 and to pluck the Sepulchre of Jesus from the Possession of the Infidels.
 
 PENNECUIKS HISTORY OF THE 
 
 The zealous Pontiff was afflicted, that the Holy Land, the City of God, the 
 Inheritance of Jesus, should be suUy'd by Infidels, Saracens and Turks ; who, 
 in some Measure, might be said to have driven our Lord from his Capital, 
 that the Cross, the Glor}^ and Ornament of Crown'd Heads, should be trampled 
 upon by the vilest of Adam's Posterity. Therefore he inculcated the Necessity 
 of taking Arms, and united all the Powers of Christendom ; and to whet 
 their Courage, promis'd to those that would join in this holy Service, a 
 plenary Indulgence, that is, A Remission of all Penances impos'd by Con- 
 fessors. 
 
 Vast Numbers of Scots Mechanicks having followed this holy War, taking 
 with them a Banner bearing this Inscription out of the li. Psalm, In bona 
 volmitate tua edificenter muri Jerusalem. Upon their returning Home, glory- 
 in o", that they were amongst the fortunate who placed the Christian Standard 
 of the Cross in the Place that Jesus Christ had consecrated with his Blood, 
 they dedicated this Banner, which they stil'd. The Banner of the Holy Ghost, 
 to St. Eloi's Altar in St. Giles' Church in Edinburgh ; which, from its Colour, 
 was called. The Blue Blanket. 
 
 Tho' none of our Historians mention the Original Institution of the 
 Blue Blanket, nor is there any Vouchers for it, saving old imperfect Manu- 
 scripts ; yet 'tis highly probable, it had its Rise from the Croisade, or Holy 
 War : For Monsieur Chevereau, in his History of the World, tells us, That 
 Scotland was engaged in that War, and sold or mortgaged their Estates 
 for that Expedition ; and that she was amongst the most forward Nations 
 in it. Pere Maimbourg, Histoire des Croisades, informs us. That the Knights 
 of St. Lazarus, an Order of Men educate to the holy War, were numerous 
 everywhere, but especially in Scotland and France ; as appears by the Charters 
 and Grants of Princes in their Favours ; and the distinctive Crosses they 
 wore, evince, that the Scots were as forward, gallant, and zealous in the 
 Service, as any of their Neighbours. 
 
 Our Histories bear. That a great many of the Scots went to that War, 
 under the Command of Allan, Lord great Steward of Scotland; and they, 
 with their Confederates, got Possession of Jerusalem in 1099. 
 
 When S£i,ladine prevail'd against the Christian Arms, William King
 
 BLUE BLANKET, OR CRAFTS-MEN's BANNER. 189 
 
 of Scotland assisted the War with Money, and sent Supplies of Men to the 
 meritorious Action, under the Command of David his Brother, and that 
 Five thousand Scots had their Share in the Mallheurs and Successes of 
 that unfortunate Enterprise. And if we may believe Boethius, in Vita Gull. 
 the renown'd City Ptolomais was taken by the good Conduct of Earl David, 
 Brother to the King of Scots, Anno 1091, and that the Christian Intellio-encer 
 was one Oliver, a Scots Man. 
 
 This Blue Blanket, whose Original I have endeavour'd to discover, was, 
 in the dark Times of Popery, held in such religious Veneration, that when- 
 ever Mechanicks were artfully wrought upon by the Clergy, to display their 
 holy Colours, it served for many Uses, and they never fail'd of Success in 
 their Attempts. Which is not to be wondered at; for, as the learned and 
 judicious Doctor Abercromby observes in the Life of St. David, King of Scot- 
 land, speaking of the Battle of the Standard, " So good a Use have Churchmen 
 " in all Ages been known to make of Keligious Pageantries, and so nmch have 
 " the Vulgar been misled into the Belief of Heavenly Protection, by the Legerde- 
 " main Tricks of spiritual Guides, who, while they have no other View but to 
 " gratify their private Passions, muster the deluded People into Rebellion." 
 
 Having thus accounted for the Original of the Order of the Blue Blanket, 
 I may fairly infer. That 'tis as Ancient, and more Honourable than the English 
 Order of the Garter, the Institution whereof some ascribe to a Garter falling 
 occasionally from the Countess of Salisbury, tho' others affirm, the Garter was 
 given in Testimony of that Bond of Love whereof the Knights and Fellows 
 of it were to be tied to one another, and all of them to the King. And others 
 made it yet more Ancient, giving it the same Original with the Blue Blanket, 
 relating. That when King Richard L of England was at War against the Turks 
 and Saracens in the Holy Land, the Tediousness whereof began to discourage 
 his Souldiers, he, to quicken their Courage, tied about the Legs of several 
 choice Knights a Garter, or small Thong of Leather, the only Stuff he had 
 at Hand, that as the Romans used to bestow Crowns and Garlands for En- 
 couragement, so this might provoke them to stand together, and fight valiantly 
 for their King. 
 
 The Crafts of Edinburgh having this Order of the Blanket to glory in,
 
 190 PENNECUIKS HISTORY OF THE 
 
 may justly take upon them the Title of Knights of the Blanket, or, Chevaliers 
 of Arms : For, as the learned Skene, De Verhorum Signiflcatione, in his Title, 
 Banrents, observes, That Banrents are called, Chevaliers of Arms, or Knights, 
 who, obtaining great Honours and Dignities, have power and Privileges granted 
 to them by the King, to raise and lift up a Banner, with a Company of Men of 
 Weir, either Horse or Foot ; which cannot be done by any save Banrents, with- 
 out the King's special Licence, as Pasquiers, Lib. 2. des Rechercheres de la France, 
 Ch. 9. Fol. 100. by sundry Arguments proves, and Dr. Smith, in his Treatise 
 of the Common Wealth of England, Lib. 1. Ch. 17. informs us, That Knights 
 Banrents are allow'd to display their Arms on a Banner in the King's Host. 
 
 As the Knights of St. George have their Meeting at Windsor-Castle, and 
 those of the Thistle in the Royal Palace of Holyrood-House, so the Knights of the 
 Blanket have theirs at St. Eloi, who was a French Bishop and their Guardian, 
 his Altar, to which they mortify considerable Sums for the maintenance of a 
 Chaplain, and Reparation of the Ornaments of the Chapel ; as appears from 
 the Craftsmen's Seal of Cause.* 
 
 The Trades having been confirmed in their Privileges by the Royal Sanction, 
 gave such extraordinary Proofs of Loyalty, that they established themselves in 
 the Grace and Favour of their Princes ; and their loyal Actions I shall trace, 
 beginning with the Reign of 
 
 King Robert Bruce. 
 
 For many eminent Services performed by the Crafts, and other Citizens 
 of Edinburgh, contained in an Charter granted by the said King Robert, dated 
 at Cardross, in the 24th Year of his Reign : He Dispones to the Provost, Baillies, 
 Council and communities of the said Burgh, and their Successors, the Haven 
 of Leith, Mills, and other Pertinents thereof, to be holden of His Majesty, and 
 Successors, als freely, and with the same Liberties and Commodities, as the 
 same were enjoyed in the Time of King Alexander his Predecessor, of happy 
 Memory, for Payment of 52 Merks. Nor was Edinburgh, by her loyal Deport- 
 ment, less in Favour with his Successor, 
 
 *Here is quoted the original Seal of Cause to the Hammeriuan, etc., vide pages 11, 12,
 
 BLUE BLANKET, OR CRAFTS-MEn's BANNER. 191 
 
 King Robert II. 
 
 In the Beginning of his Reign, Edinburgh, to speak properly, was not 
 the Capital City of Scotland, being only a small Burgh (which made Walsino-- 
 hame, and other Historians of these Times, call it a Village) the Houses of 
 which, because they were so often expos'd to Incursions from England, 
 being thatch'd for the most Part, with Straw and Turf; and then burnt, 
 or demolish'd, were with no great Difficulty repair'd : For in ancient Times, 
 the Highlands was properly the Scots Kings Territories, till the Picts were 
 expell'd, who had Edinburgh, and the Lothians in Possession, in the Reign 
 of King Kenneth II. Anno 839 : But the Loyalty of the Citizens, impregnable 
 Strength of the Castle, and the Conveniency of the Abbay of Holy Rood- 
 House, in the Royal Chappel whereof his Corps is interr'd, invited the 
 King to dwell, and hold his Parliament there. From this proceeded a great 
 Concourse of People, who were of Course obliged to resort to it, and 
 occasioned these magnificent, but too costly Structures, with which it 
 is since crowded. But the Loyalty of this City of Edinburgh, was more 
 remarkable in the Reign of 
 
 King James III. 
 
 who having offended his Nobles, for advancing Robert Cochran, a Mason, 
 to the Dignity of Secretary of State, and creating him Earl of ]\Iar, James 
 Hommel, a Taylor, and one Leonard, a Smith, to extraordinary Favour, and 
 Places of Trust, so incens'd the ancient Peerage, for ennobling these Mush- 
 rooms, sprung from the Dreg of the People, quarrelling the King's arbi- 
 trary Power, in dispensing these Honours, and marshalling those Persons 
 whom he had advanced to these high Dignities, that in an impetus of 
 Passion, they hang'd Cochran, Earl of Mar, over the bridge of Lauder, 
 and rais'd such violent Emotions in the State, that His Majesty, for Security 
 of his Royal Person, was forc'd to shelter himself in Edinburgh Castle. 
 During his Confinement there, the English, with whom he was at War, 
 having march'd to Edinburgh; and there being a Treaty betwixt the Scots 
 and them, of the 2d August 1482; the next Day after this Cessation,
 
 192 pennecuik's history of the 
 
 Alexander Duke of Albany, the King's Brother, importun'd by the Prayers 
 and Tears of the Queen, for the King's Liberty, by the Assistance of 
 William Bartrem, Provost of Edinburgh,* and with him the whole com- 
 munity, and Incorporations of Crafts-Men, intirely loving their King, and 
 devoted to his Service, loyally, and generously oblig'd themselves to re- 
 pay to the King the Sums of Money depurs'd by him in View of the 
 Marriage betwixt the Duke of Rothesay and his Daughter the Lady Cecil : 
 Or if the King did yet incline that the Marriage should be completed, 
 they undertook for their Sovereign Lord, the King of Scotland, that he 
 should concur, conform to his former Obligation, providing that tlieir 
 said Sovereign Lord, or the Lords of his Council, or the said Provost 
 and Burghers, were informed of the Kins;' of Enojland's Pleasure and 
 Election upon the Matter, by the First of All Saints next to come. And 
 the saids Citizens surpriz'd and storm'd the Castle of Edinburgh ; and to 
 the great Dissatisfaction of the rebellious Nobles, set their Sovereign at 
 Liberty. These surprizing Instances of Loyalty and Valour, for which 
 they shall be had in everlasting Remembrance, procur'd from the King a 
 Grant of many new Privileges, contain'd in a Patent, which they call their 
 Golden Charter, dated 1482 ; particularly, the Magistrates are made heret- 
 able Sheriffs within the said Burgh, and Liberties of the same. And 
 another Charter from their said Sovereign Lord, in Favours of the said 
 Provost, Baillies, Council and Communities of the said Burgh, and their 
 Successors for ever, of all the Customs of the Haven of Leith, and Road 
 of the same, dated 16th November 1482 ; and a confirmation of a Charter 
 and Infeftment granted by Sir Robert Logan of Restalrig, to them, of all 
 the Passages and Ways leading to the Haven and Harbour of Leith, and 
 from the same ; containing divers Liberties and Immunities. 
 
 Indeed they very well deserved the Favours bestowed on them : For 'tis 
 certain, that upon the King of England's sending his Servant, the Garter King 
 at Arms, to let them know, that for several great Causes and Considerations, 
 
 *Foed. Aug. torn. xii. p. 161. Godscraft's History of the Douglasses. Abercromhy's 
 Martial Atchievements. Hauthernden's Hist.
 
 BLUE BLANKET, OR CRAFTS-MEN's BANNER. 193 
 
 he had intirely refus'd to comply with the Marriage betwixt the Duke of 
 Rothesay and his Daughter, they repaid all the Money, amounting to 6000 
 Merks, which he depurs'd on that Account. 
 
 Having trac'd the Blue Blanket to the Origine of the Croisade, from 
 whence it undoubtedly had its Rise, I cannot pass over in Silence the Honour 
 put upon it by this Monarch, who was the first that gave it the Civil Sanction, 
 not thinking the above Donatives a sufficient Reward to the Loyal Crafts, 
 confirmed to them all the Privileges of the Blue Blanket, which they claiin'd 
 by Prescription, or an immemorial Possession, and ordain'd it to be call'd in 
 all Time coming. The Standard of the Grafts luithin Burgh : For that King, 
 full of the Spirit that warms the Blood of absolute Monarchs, highly resented 
 the Treatment Robert Cochran, Mason, by him created Earl of Mar, had met 
 with by his factious Nobles, would needs confer this Dignity upon the Trades, 
 in whom he plac'd his special Confidence. The Trades thus honour'd, renewed 
 their Banner ; or, to speak in the Language of Heraulds, their Ensign, by Way 
 of Pennon, and the Queen with her own Hands painted upon it a Saltire, or 
 St. Andrew's Cross, a Thistle, an Imperial Crown, and an Hammer, with the 
 following Inscription : 
 
 " Fear GOD, and honour the King, 
 With a long Life, and prosperous Eeigu, 
 And we the Trades shall ever pray." 
 
 The Crafts having now not only the Cross, but the Crown on their Ensign, 
 were as firmly perswaded of Success in all their publick Actings, as Con- 
 stantine the Great, the first Christian Emperor, in the Year 306, of defeating 
 the Tyrant Maxentius, when at Noon-Day he saw a luminous Cross in the 
 Air, with these Words in Greek, 
 
 " In hoc Signo vinces." 
 
 The old Nobility and Gentry were exceedingly nettled at the Proceedings 
 of the King to re-establish his Authority, but in the Judgment of wise and 
 loyal Men, very unjustly ; for the Foundation of all Obedience to Superiors, 
 are Rewards and Punishments, and Royalty is an Invention of Divine Wisdom, 
 for the Happiness of Subjects ; and Kings being common Fathers to their 
 
 2c
 
 194 PENNECUIKS HISTORY OF THE 
 
 People, are to reward Virtue wherever they find it ; 'tis their Duty to do it, 
 and the Promise of the King of Kings that they shall do it. " He will take 
 " their Daughters, and make tliem Apothecaries, Cooks, and Bakers ; and he 
 " will take their Sons, and appoint them to his Chariots, and to be his 
 " Horsemen, and he will make them Captains over Thousands. As the Wrath 
 " of a King is like the Roaring of a Lion : So in the light of his Countenance 
 " is Life, and his Favour as the latter Rain." 
 
 As the Crafts of Edinburgh, in the Reign of his Successors, made a very 
 crrateful and prudent Use of the Blue Blanket, with respect to Government ; 
 so they never failed, with this Standard, to chastise all who in the least 
 infringed their Rights and Privileges, which King James VI. takes notice of in 
 his BasUicon Doron, or. Advice to his Son and apparent Successor, Henry 
 Prince of Wales, Page 164. " The Crafts-men think we should be content 
 " with their Work, how bad soever it be ; and if in any Thing they be controul'd, 
 " up goes the Blew Blanket." 
 
 As they flourished in the Favours of their Sovereign King James III. so 
 did they in the Reign of that couragious and pious Prince his Successor, 
 
 King James IV. 
 
 Crown'd at Edinburgh 1489 ; who, for singular Acts of Loyalty perform'd by 
 the City of Edinburgh, by his Charter of Confirmation under the great Seal, 
 to the said Provost, Baillies, Council, and Communities of the said Burgh, 
 ratified and confirmed the two above Charters granted by King James III. 
 and Charter granted by Sir Robert Logan of Restalrig ; which Charter of 
 Confirmation is dated at Stirling the 9th day of March 1510. And, by 
 another Charter, disponed to them the Lands and Haven of Newhaven, with 
 the Haven, Silver, and all other Profits, Duties, Liberties, and Immunities 
 pertaining thereto, dated at Stirling the said 9th March 1510. Thus far was 
 the City of Edinburgh honoured and privileged in the Reign of King James 
 the IV. and were no less so, during the Government of his Son and Successor, 
 
 King James the V. 
 For during the Wars 'twixt him and the Earl of Northumberland, John Arm-
 
 BLUE BLANKET, OR CRAFTS-MEN's BANNER. 195 
 
 Strang, Chief of a Gang of Thieves, was entic'd by the King's OflBcers to have 
 recourse to the King, who had written a Letter to liim with his Royal Hand, 
 to attend him at his Palace of Hally Rood-House. The King hearino- a 
 distinct Account of the Crimes he was guilty of, ordained him to be committed 
 to Goal, and suffer, with his Accomplices, according to Law. This notorious 
 Highwayman, with the Assistance of his Followers, drew upon the King in 
 his Chamber of Audience, who was, with much Difficulty, rescued by the 
 Courtiers and their Attendants, and continued in their Hostilities, desiirnino- 
 to have murdered every Soul in the Royal Palace, till it was nois'd in the City 
 of Edinburgh that the King was in eminent Danger of being cut off by the 
 Hands of bloody Ruffians, the Crafts of the City rose, and slew every one of 
 the Assassins. The Story is preserv'd in Memory, not so much by our 
 Historians, who gave but a faint Account of it, as a Balland compil'd by one 
 of the greatest Poets of that Age. 
 
 " There dwelt a Man in fair Westmorland, 
 John Armstrang Men did him call. 
 He had neither Lands nor Eents coming in. 
 Yet he kept eightscore Men in his Hall, &c. 
 The King he wrote an a Letter then, 
 A Letter which was large and long, 
 He sign'd it with his own Hand, 
 And he promised to do him no Wrong. 
 When this Letter came John him till, 
 His Heart was as blyth as Birds on a Tree ; 
 Never was I sent for before any King, 
 My Father, my Grandfather, nor none but me, &c. 
 By the Morrow Morning at ten of the Clock, 
 Toward Edinborrow gone was he, 
 And with him all his eightscore of Men, 
 Good Lord, an it was a goodly Sight to see. 
 When John came before the King, 
 He fell down low upon his Knee, 
 O pardon, my Sovereign Liege, he said, 
 O pardon my eightscore Men and me. 
 Thou shalt have no pardon thou Traytor strong,
 
 196 pennecuik's history of the 
 
 Nae for thy eiglitscore Men and thee ; 
 
 For to Morrow Morning by ten of the Clock, 
 
 Both thou and them shall hang on the Gallow Tree. 
 
 Then John looked over his left Shoulder, 
 Good Lord what a grievous Look looked he ! 
 Said, " I have asked Grace at a graceless Face, 
 Why, there is nane for ye nor me." 
 But John had a bright Sword by his Side, 
 And it was made of Mettal so free, 
 That had not the King stept his foot aside. 
 He had smitten his Head from his fair Bodie, 
 Saying, " Fight on my merry Men all. 
 And see that none of you be tane ; 
 For rather than Men should say we were hang'd, 
 Let them report that we were slain." 
 God wot, the Trades of Edinburgh rose. 
 And so beset poor John round, 
 That Fourscore and and ten of John's best Men, 
 Lay gasping all upon the ground," &c. 
 
 Having trac'd the loyal Actions of the Citizens, especially the Crafts of 
 Edinburgh, thro' the Reigns of several Sovereigns, before I proceed to the 
 Reign of Queen Mary, I must take notice of the pious donations of an eminent 
 Citizen of Edinburgh, Michael Macquhan and his Spouse, in favours of the 
 Hammermen, (who dedicated and consecrated the Blue Blanket to St Eloi's 
 Altar in St Giles' Church) for founding of the Magdalen Chapel, where they 
 now meet, which is contain'd in the following Charter. 
 
 ' 'T^O all and sundry, to whois Knowledge thir Presents sail come, and be seen, I, Jonet 
 ' liyne. Relict, Executrix, and only Introniissatrix with the Goods and Gear of umquhil 
 ' Michael M'Qulian, Burges of Edinburgh, wishing Peace in our Lord, makes known by thir 
 ' Presents, That when the said Michael was greatly troubled with an heavy disea.se, and 
 ' oppressed with Age, zit mindful of Eternal Life, he esteemed it ane good Way to obtain 
 ' Eternal Life, to erect some Christian Work, for ever to remain and endure, he left Seven 
 * hundred Pound, to be employed for the Supplement of the Edifice of the Magdalen Chapell, 
 ' and to the other Edifices for Foundation of the Chapell, and Sustentation of several poor 
 ' Men, who .should continually there put furth their Prayers to God Almighty ; for there was 
 ' raiiuy others that had promised to mortifye some Portion of their Goods for perfoiting and
 
 BLUE BLANKET, OR CRAFTS-MEN's BANNER. 197 
 
 absolveing of the said Wark, but they failzied, and withdrew from such ane holly and 
 religious Work, and altogether refused thereupon to confer the samen. Quhilk Thing I 
 taking heavyly, and pondering it in my Heart, what in such ane deficle Business sould be 
 done ; at last, I thought Night and Day upon the fulfilling of my Husband's Will, and took 
 upon me the Burden of the haill Wark, and added two thousand Pound to the 700^. left 
 be my Husband : And I did put furth these Soumes wholly, after his Death, upon the 
 Edification of that Chapel), Ornaments thereof, and Building of the Edifice for the Habit- 
 ation of the Chaplane, and seven poor Men, and for buying of Land, as well Field Land as 
 Burgh Land, and yearly Annualrents, for the Nourishment, Sustentation, and cloathing of 
 them as hereafter mair largely set down. Therefore wit ye me, To the Praise and honour 
 of Almighty God, and of his Mother the Blissed Virgine Mary, and of Mary Magdallen, and 
 of the haill Celestial Court, to have erected and edified ane certan Chapell and Hospital 
 House, lyeing in the Burgh of Edinburgh, upon the South Side of the King's high Street, 
 called the Cowgate, for Habitation of the foresaid Chaplain and Poor, and that from the 
 Foundation thereof ; and has dedicate the samen to the Name of Mary Magdallen, and has 
 foundit the said Chaplain, and seven Poor, for to give furth their continual Prayers unto 
 God for the Salvation of the Soul of our most illustrious Mary Queen of Scots, and for the 
 Salvation of my said umquhil Husband's Soul and mine : And also, for the Salvation of the 
 Souls of my Fathers and Mothers, and for the Salvation of all the Souls of those that shall 
 put to their helping Hand, or sail give any Thing to this Work : As also, for the Patrons 
 of the said Chaple : And also, for the Souls of all those of whom we have had any Thing 
 whilk we have not restor'd, and for the whilk we have not given Satisfaction ; to have 
 given and granted, and by this my present Charter in poor and perpetual Alms, and to have 
 confirm'd in Mortification : As also, to give and grant, and by this present Charter, gives 
 in poor Alms and Mortification, to confirm to Almighty God, with the Blessed Virgin Mary, 
 the said Chapell and Chapell House, for the Sustentation of ane secular Cliaijlain, and seven 
 poor Men, and for Chaplain, and four poor Brethren, to have their Food, and perpetual 
 Sustentation within the said Hospital, and for buying of their Habits every twa Year once, 
 I mortify these Annualrents under-written ; to wit, Ane yearly Annualrent of aughtscore 
 and aught Merks Money of Scotland, out of that Annualrent of threescore Pounds yearly, 
 to be uplifted and tane at twa Terms yearly, Whitsunday and Martiumass in Winter, be 
 equall Portions, out of all and haill the Barony of Carnwath Miln, and Pertinents thereof, 
 and the other two Merks of the said Annualrent of threescore Pound, to be apply'd and used 
 for my Use, during my Lifetime, and after my Decease, to the poor Bretln-en under-written : 
 As also, for the Dyet and Sustentation of other three poor ones, and buying of their Habites 
 ilk twa Year, after the Decease of me the said Jonet, reserving to me my Liferent during 
 my Lifetime, viz. The foresaid Annualrent of twa Merks of the said Annualrent of three- 
 score Pounds yearly, to be uplifted out of the Lands of Carnwath : As also, another yearly 
 Annualrent of twenty Merks Money of Scotland, yearly to be uplifted, as said is, out of all
 
 198 pennecuik's histoey of the 
 
 and haill the Lands pertaining to Kathrine Gillespie and John Cockburu her Spouse, lyand 
 in the Burgh of Edinburgh, upon the south side of the High Street thereof, betwixt the 
 Trans of the Vennel called Hair's CIoss, and the Trans of the Vennel called Borthwick's 
 Closs : As also, ane other yearly Annualrent of ten Merks, out of the Tenement of umquhile 
 Andrew. Harly, lying upon the North part of the King's High Street : And alse, ane other 
 Annualrent of 12 Merks, out of the Tenement of Land pertaining to umwhile James Young : 
 And als, another Annualrent of xiii sh. iiii. d. out of the Tenement of Land pertaining to 
 Edward Thomson Baxter, lyeiug in the said Burgh in Peebles- Wynd. Whilk Chaplain and 
 his Successors, shall have for their yearly Sustentation Twenty Four Merks Money of 
 Scotland, out of the foresaid yearly Annualrent of aughtscore and aught Merks, dureing 
 Jonet Kynd's Lifetime, and after her Decease, out of all the foresaid yearly Annualrents, 
 to be taken up be himself at Whitsunday, and Martinmass in Winter, evry Year in all 
 Time comeing, be equal Portions. Whilk Chaplain shall have the Care, Government and 
 Administration of the foresaid Hospital, and of the foresaid poor Brethren, and of all other 
 poor Brethren that shall, in any Time thereafter, be put thereintill, and shall, three Times 
 in the Year, provide to them the Ecclesiastical Sacraments, provideing they be found meet 
 and apt for receaving thereof ; to wit, the Feast of Pasch, Pentecost, and Nativity of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ. Whilk Chaplane alse shall see, that in the foresaids Feasts, and other 
 convenient Times, chiefly when they shall be sick of any heavie Infirmity, how the foresaid 
 Poor shall be worthyly disposed for receaving of the Sacrament ; and for that Effect, he 
 shall exhort them, and shall charitably move them, and shall hear their confessions. And 
 the said Chaplain shall be obliged every Feriat Time of the week, if it be not ane Feast Day, 
 to make ane Mess of Eest, with ane Psalm direct to the LOED, for the foresaid Souls, 
 Neither shall it be leisome to the said Chaplain to have any Substitute under him, to serve 
 in the said Hospital for him, except in the Time of Infirmity and weakness allenerly ; to the 
 whilk Mess the foresaid seven Pooi', and any others to be found thereintil to be present, and to 
 interceed at God for the foresaid Souls, and he sail have ane Care, that the foresaid Poor shall 
 diligently observe the whole Foundation and Articles as is herein sett down. And farder, 
 We will and ordain, that the said Chaplane and his Successors for the Time, at the first 
 term of their Entry and Admission in the said Hospital, shall find sufficient Caution to 
 the Patrons of the said Hosjjital, for the well Preservation of all the Jewells, Ornaments, 
 and others whatsomever, whilk sail belong to the said HosjDital, to be delivered be them to 
 the Patrons under an Inventar ; and that he shall not sell, nor put away any of the said 
 Ornaments, neither shall it be leisume to the said Chaplane to embrace any other Chaplanrie 
 or Ecclesiastick Office ; whilk if he doe, his Chaplanrie shall Vaik without any Declarator 
 of any Judge, and it shall be leisume to the Patrons to confer the sameu upon ane other. 
 And if he be found incontinent of his Body, either be Lunury, Adultery, Incest, Drunken- 
 ness, Dissentions, or of any other nottor or manifest Crimes, and found culpable by the 
 Patrones, or most Pairt of them, before ane Not tar and faithfull Witnesses, shall be three
 
 BLUE BLANKET, OR CRAFTS-MEN's BANNER. 199 
 
 Times adraouislit to desist frae them, and after ane full Year outrun, he be found incor- 
 rigible, it shall be conferr'd be the Patrons upon ane able Chaplane. And farder, the said 
 Chaplain, every Year, once in the Year, for the said Michael and Jonet, sail make Suffrages, 
 which is, "/ am pleased, and direct me LORD, with an Mess of Rest, being naked, he 
 cloathed me:" with two Wax Candles burning on the Altar. To the whilk Suffra^^es and 
 Mess, he shall cause ring the Chappell Bell the space of aue Quarter of ane Hour, and that 
 all the foresaid Poor, and others that shall be thereintil, shall be present at the foresaid 
 Mess with their Habites, requesting all these that shall come in to hear the said Mess to 
 pray for the said Souls. And farder. Every Day of the blessed Mary Magdallen, Patron of 
 the foresaid Hospital, and the Day of the Indulgences of the said Hospital, and every other 
 Day of the Year, the said Chaplane shall offer up all the Oblations, and for every Oblation 
 shall have twa Wax Candles upon the Altar, and twa at the Foot of the Images of the 
 Patron in twa Brazen Candlesticks, and twa Wax Torches on the Feast of the Nativity of 
 our Saviour, Pasch, and Whitsunday, of the Days of Mary Magdallen, and of the Days of 
 the Indulgences granted to the said Hospital, and doubleing at other great Feasts, with 
 twa Wax Candles allenerly. And likewayes, he sail preserve the Alter in the Ornaments 
 thereof, and he sail preserve the Jewells and Ornaments of the said Alter clean and tight, 
 and he sail be obliged and resticted to furnish Bread, Wine and Wax to the said Hospital, 
 for the haill Year. As also, the said Chaplaiii shall be obliged, at his entry, before he be 
 admitted to the said Hospital, to give his great Oath, by touching the sacred Evangile, Tiiat 
 he shall neither, directly nor indirectly, by whatsomever Pretence or Collor, seek the De- 
 rogation of this Foundation, in haill or in Part, neither be himself, nor be any other Party ; 
 neither shall he have any Dispensation or Derogation from ony other the Time of his 
 Admission ; neither shall he be put into the said Chaplanry be any other, but shall only 
 have his Admission from the said Patrons, to the Effect, that if he derogate any Thing from 
 the said Hospital, and sail not fulfil the haill Articles and Clauses thereof, he sail be the 
 same Patrons be removed, and another able Chaplain put in his Place. And also, We will and 
 declare. That the foresaid Seven poor Men, and likewise any other of that Kind that shall 
 be foundit or put thereintill be any others, that they shall give Obedience to the said 
 Chaplain in all honest and leisome Things, as their undoubted and lawful Master of the 
 said Hospital ; and that none be admitted amongst the said poor Brethren of the said 
 Hospital, but such as are not married, and not stained with an Concubine, or with any 
 other notorious Crime, and that none be admitted, except he be passed, before his Admission, 
 Threescore Years, except they be impotent and miserable Persons, who otherwise are not 
 able to get their daily Bread. And that no Woman, howsoever miserable or impotent, be 
 any ways received or admitted in the said Hospital ; and that no Woman shall frequent 
 this House of Hospital at no Time, and chiefly in the Night-time ; and that one of the saiil 
 seven poor Men, Weekly, in his own Turn, shall be Janitor, who shall open and steik the 
 Gates thereof, and shall make clean the said Chapel and common House thereof every Day,
 
 200 
 
 PENNECUIKS HISTORY OF THE 
 
 ' and keep it honest from all Filth. And if it chance that the said Janitor be sick for the Time, 
 ' that he cannot do it, then ane other of the said i^oor Brethren, in his Turn, most able and 
 ' meet, by the Discretion of tlie said Chaplain, shall be appointed. And the .said Janitor, 
 ' every Day from Pasch to the Feast of St. Jude, from Half Six in the Morning, he shall open 
 ' tlie Gates, and Close them again at Aught Hours at Night : and the rest of the Year he 
 ' shall open at Seven Hours in the Morning, and close them again at Seven at Night, and 
 ' shall ring the Bell of the said Chapel for the space of a Quarter of an Ho\ir, immediately 
 ' after the opening, and a little before the Closing : And that the said seven Poor, and every 
 ' one of them, shall immediately, after ringing of the Bell, repeat the Lord's Prayer Five Times, 
 ' and the Angelical Salutation Fifty Times, and the Belief of the Apostles once in the Day : 
 ' and they shall repeat the twa P.salms that are called the blessed Virgin's, before the compleat- 
 ' iug of their Dinner, and Reflection at Twelve Hours. And the Dinner being done, the fore- 
 ' said haill Poor, within the said Hospital for the Time, shall conveen before the great Altar, 
 ' and there, with their bowed Knees, give Five Pater Nosters, Fifty Ave Maria's, and ane 
 ' Creed,' &c. 
 
 The Hospital wa.s Founded by Michael M'Quhan, Anno 1508 ; but the 
 Charter by the Relict, Anno 1545. 
 
 This Chapel is adorned with the Arms of the Good Town of Edin- 
 burgh, being Argent, a Castle triple Tower'd Sable, marshalled of the first, 
 surmounted with Thanes Gules, supported on the Dexter by a Virgen Lady, 
 on the Sinister with a Deer, and Accolee : Behind the Shield the Sword of 
 Honour, and Mace Ensigned with an Imperial Crown ; Below in a Compart- 
 ment, iY/>S7 DO MINUS FRUSTRA. 
 
 Round this Atchievement are the Armorial Ensigns * of the followino- Incor- 
 porations, according to their Precedency. 
 
 Tlie Armorial Ensigns of the Incorponitions will be found at the end of each Chapter,
 
 BLUE BLANKET, OR CRAFTS-MEN's BANNER. 201 
 
 In the first Oval 
 
 I. Chirurgeons.— ^0. on a Fess. Ar. a naked Man Fess-Ways proper, 
 'twixt a dexter Hand palmed, and in its Palm an Eye proper, issuino- from 
 the Chief. In the dexter Canton a Saltire Ar. under an Imperial Crown Or, 
 or proper, surmounted of a Thistle proper, or Vert, and in Base a Castle Ar. 
 masoned Sab. all within a Border Or, charged with the several Instruments 
 suitable to the Society. 
 
 II.— Gold-Smiths.— Quarterly Gu. and Az. on the 1. a Leopard's Head 
 Or, 2d, a cover'd Cup, and in Chief 2 Annulets Or, 3 as 2, and 4 as 1. 
 
 III. Ski'SNERS.— Parted per cheveron. Gu. and Arg. 3 Stags passant, 
 mantled proper. 
 
 IV. Furriers. — Ermine on a chief Gu. 3 Imperial Crowns Or. 
 
 V. Hammer-Men. — Az. a Hamraer proper, ensign'd with an Imperial 
 Crown. 
 
 VI. Wrights. — Az. a Square and Compass Or. 
 
 VII. Masons. — Az. on a Cheveron betwixt 3 Toiuers embattelled Sab. a 
 Compass Or. 
 
 VIII. Taylors. — Az. Scissars expanded Or. 
 
 IX. Baxters.— Az. 3 Garhs Or. from the Chief waved, a Hand issuing, 
 holding a pair of Ballances extending to the Base. 
 
 X. Fleshers. — Ar. 3 Slaughter Axes proper Saltire-ways, accompanied 
 with 3 Coius Heads couped Sab. 2 in Flank, and 1 in Base, and on a Chief Az. 
 a Boars Head couped 'twixt 2 Garbs Or. 
 
 XI. CoRDiNERS. — Az. their Cutting-Knife in Pale, and in Chief, a Ducal 
 Crown Or. 
 
 XII. Websters. — Ar. on a Chev. Az. 'twixt 3 Leopards' Heads of the same, 
 holding in their Mouths a Spool or Shuttle of Yarn Or, as many Roses Gu. 
 
 XIII. Hatters and Wakers. — Parted per Pale Gu, and Ar. on the 1st, a 
 Chev. of the last, 'twixt 2 Hat-string Bands in Chief, and in Base a Thistle Or, 
 on the 2d, a sinister Hand palmed proper, erected in Pale 'twixt 2 Hat-Strings 
 Sab. and in Chief a Hat of the last. 
 
 XIV. Bonnet-Makers and Litsters.— Ar. a Fess 'twixt 2 Bonnets Az. or 
 proper, tufted Gu. impal'd with Or, a Chev. Gu. betwixt 3 Cushions Az. 
 
 2d
 
 202 pennecuik's history of the 
 
 And round the Hammer-Men s Arms, in a second Oval, the Ensigns 
 
 of the following Arts. 
 
 XV. Black- Smiths. — Az. a Chev. betwixt 3 Hammers, each ensigned with 
 JJucal Crowns Or. 
 
 XVI. Cutlers. — Gn. 6 Daggers plac'd Saltire-ways, 2 and 2, proper, 
 handled Or. 
 
 XVII. Saddlers. — Az. a Chev. betwixt 3 Saddles Or. 
 
 XVIII. Lock-Smiths. — Az. a Key impaled Or. 
 
 XIX. LoRiMERS. — Az, a Cheveron betwixt 3 Horse-Bridle Bitts Ar. 
 
 XX. Armourers. — Arg. on a Chev. Gu. 4 Sivords Saltire-ways, 2'>^'0j)er, 
 handled Or, and on a Chief of the second, 2 Helmets of the same. 
 
 XXI. Peutherers. — Az on a Chev. Ar. betwixt 3 Forcidlices Or, as many 
 Thistles vert, and flowered Gules. 
 
 XXII. Shear-Smiths. — Gu. Wool-shears impaled Az. 
 
 Placed above these Arms, are the imperial Arms of Scotland, thus 
 
 blazoned, viz. 
 
 Or, a Lion ramip. Gu. arin'd and lingued Az. within a doidjle Tressure, 
 flower'd and counter-flowcr'd, with Flower de Lisses of the 2d, encircled with 
 the Order of Scotland, the same being composed of Rue and Thistles, having 
 the Image of St Andrev), with his Cross on his Breast, above the Shield a 
 Helmet, answerable to His Majesty's high Quality and Jurisdiction, with a 
 Mantle Or, doubled Ermine, adorned with an Imperial Crown, beautified with 
 Crosses Pattee, and Flower de Lisses, surmounted on the Top, for His ^Majesty's 
 Crest, with a Lion Sejeant, full-faced, Gu. crown'd Or, holding in his dexter 
 Paw a naked Sword proper, and in the sinister, a Scepter, both erected pale- 
 ways, supported by two Unicorns Argent, crowned with Iinpericd, and gorged 
 with open Crowns, to the last Chains affiix'd, passing 'twixt their Fore-legs, and 
 reflexed over their Backs Or, He on the Dexter imbracing and bearing up a 
 Banner of Cloth of Gold, charg'd with the Royal Arms of Scotland; on the 
 Sinister, another Banner Azure, charged with the St Andreufs Cross Argent, both 
 standing on a Copartmcnt placed on a Copartment placed underneath, from
 
 BLUE BLANKET, OR CRAFTS-MEn's BANKER. 203 
 
 which Issues two Thistles, one towards each Side of the Escutcheon : and for 
 Motto in an Escrol above all, In Defence; under the Table of the Compartment. 
 Nemo me irtii^une lacesset. 
 
 The Hammermen's Seal, is the Effigies of St Eloi in his Apostolical 
 Vestments proper, standing in a Church Porch, a Porch adom'd with live 
 Pyramid Steeples engraven, each surmounted with a plain Cross, holding in his 
 Dexter a Hammer Bar-ways, and in the Sinister a key bend-ways. Eound the 
 Effigies, are these Words, Sigillum commune Artis Tudiatorum. 
 
 The above fundamental Charter, in Favours of the Magdalen Hospital, is 
 swell'd with the Popish Doctrine of Merit, and gives us a true Representation of 
 the Chicanry of Romish Priests, who, to fill their Coffers, and make their 
 Kitchen smoak, set Heaven it self to Sale. The Avarice of Church-men, in 
 these dark Times, as the learned Sir George M'Kenzie in his printed Pleadings 
 observes, was so extravagant, that the Legislature in Germany, Denmark, and 
 other Countries, tax'd the Quotas of pious Donations, lest the People, decoy 'd 
 by their Priests to purchase Heaven, should have starved themselves upon 
 Earth. 
 
 The Crafts, who behav'd so loyally before they were incorporate, and 
 form'd into Societies, continued to flourish in their Sovereign's Favours, 
 and were warm'd with Beams from the Throne ; a signal instance of their 
 Fidelity to King James Y., I cannot miss to relate. The Crown being Debitor 
 to the Town of Edinburgh in vast Sums, for which she had not only the 
 Security of the Government, but the Personal Obligations of the Monarch ; 
 wearied with Disappointments, and the Merchants murmuring for want of 
 Payment from the Town, to whom they had given considerable Loans, for 
 the Behoof of the Publick ; the Magistrates, and Merchants in Concert, raised 
 a Mob, and gave Directions to the Ring-leaders, what, and how far to act, 
 to insult the King as he was passing the Streets to the Parliament House; 
 who, after a Scuffle with his Guards, violently seiz'd upon his Sacred Majesty ; 
 and thrust him within the Walls of their common Goal : Some of His 
 Majesty's Retinue having alarm'd the Deacons of Crafts with what had 
 happen'd, the Trades instantly conveen'd, and unanimously agreed, that their
 
 204 pennecuik's history of the 
 
 Ensign should be displayed, for convocating the Lieges, to rescue their cap- 
 tive Monarch ; which was accordingly done, and soon procur'd him to be 
 liberate, and safely convey 'd to His Royal Palace of Holy Rood-House. The 
 Magistrates, who had hounded out the Mob, dreading the Consequence of 
 their trayterous Actings, and knowing the weak Side of Cuthbert the Deacon 
 Conveener, who headed the Trades, brib'd him by a lusty Purse of Gold, to 
 betray his Trust. 
 
 The King next Morning sent for Cuthbert, (whom he call'd his faithful 
 General) and told him, He had a grateful Remembrance of the Loyalty and 
 Valour of his faithful Subjects the Trades of Edinburgh, and was resolv'd 
 to confer some remarkable token of Favour upon them. 
 
 Cuthbert, well instructed by the Magistracy and Merchant Council how 
 to behave. Answered, 
 
 May it jjlease your Excellent Majesty, We your obliged and devoted Ser- 
 vants the Trades of Edinburgh, did nothing but ivhat luas our bounden 
 Duty : But since your Majesty is graciously i^leasd not only to remember 
 but reward our dutiful Behaviour, I presume in name of my Bretltren to 
 beseech your Sacred Majesty, to make your most faithful and loyal Servants 
 the Trades of Edinburgh, in all Time coming free of that toilsome Affair 
 of being Magistrcdes of the Burgh, and let the disloyal Merchants be henceforth 
 loaded tvitJt tlte Office. 
 
 The King surpriz'd with the Supplication, gave a Smile, and said, Cuth- 
 bert, It shall be done. 
 
 The Man's Treachery was soon blown about, to the Amazement of the 
 Incorporations, who found, that their Loyalty, which they justly expected 
 would have advanced their Interest, as it did their Honour, had turn'd to 
 their real Detriment : And therefore they applied to the Courtiers, to repre- 
 sent to His Majesty, how villainously they had been betray 'd. As soon 
 as the King was inform'd, he commanded the Crafts to lay their Demands 
 before him, which they accordingly did in a short Memorial, craving His 
 Majesty would be pleased to confirm all their ancient Privileges of the Blue 
 Blanket. His Majesty graciously received tlicir Petition ; and not only 
 granted their Request, corroborating all former grants, and Privileges by
 
 BLUE BLANKET, OR CRAFTS-MEN's BANNER. 205 
 
 immemorial Possession; but considerably enlarged its Authority, declaring, 
 That whenever they display 'd their Ensign of the Blue Blanket, either in 
 Defence of the Crown, or Crafts, all Crafts-men in Scotland, and Souldiers 
 in the King's Pay, who had been educate in a Trade, should repair to that 
 Standard, and tight under the Command of their General. Thus did tiiat 
 excellent Monarch reward Loyalty, and the treacherous Conveeuer was 
 murder'd at the North Loch near a Well, yet known by the Name of 
 Cuthbert's Well. 
 
 This was certainly the highest Honour the King could put upon the 
 Crafts : For a Standard hath been esteemed so in all Ages. Hence the Scrip- 
 ture expresses the Strength and Power of the Church by a Standard, Cant. 
 6. 4. " Thou art beautiful, my Love, as Tirzah, comely as Jerusalem, 
 " terrible as an Army with Banners," and the Love and Favour of God, 
 Cant. 2. 4. " He brought me into the Banquetting-House, and his Banner 
 " over me was Love." Cant. v. 10. According to the Hebrew Text, " My 
 " Beloved is the Standard-Bearer among Ten thousand," which our Trans- 
 lators very defectively render, " The Chief among Ten thousand." And the 
 Antiquity and Honour of the Standard is more plainly express'd in the 
 Book of Numbers ii. 2, &c. " Every Man of the Tribe of Israel shall pitch 
 " by his own Standard, with the Ensign of their Father's House, far oft', 
 '• about the Tabernacle of the Congregation shall they pitch, and on the 
 " East Side, toward the rising of the Sun shall they of the Standard of 
 " the Camp of Judah pitch throughout their Armies, and Naashon the Son 
 " of Amminadab shall be Captain of the Children of Judah. On the "West 
 " Side shall be the Standard of the Camp of Ephraim according to their 
 " Armies, and the Captain of the Sons of Ephraim shall be Elishama the 
 " Son of Auimihud. The Standard of the Camp of Dan shall be on the 
 " North Side, by their Armies," &c. 
 
 As the Almighty has compar'd the Power of his Church to, and honoured 
 his Saints with a Standard ; so hath it been the Custom in all ages of the 
 World, for generous Princes, in rewarding Valour and Noble Atchievements. 
 to confer a Standard, as Guillim in his display of Herauldry observes, 
 Hungus King of Picts gave to his Warriors, an Ensign, bearing the Figure
 
 206 pennecuik's history of the 
 
 of a Cross, in the Fashion of a Saltire. Philip King of France (or as Favin 
 would have it) Baldwin tlie First, King of Jerusalem, gave to his Followers 
 an Ensign, with two red Crosses united unto one : and to the Christian 
 Merchants of Naples, who fought against the Saracens for the Christian 
 Keligion, whom he made Knights of Rhodes, now of Malta, a white Cross, 
 to be worn on their left Shoulder. Reme Duke of Anjou, King of Jeru- 
 salem and Sicily, gave to his Warriors an Ensign of Crimson Velvet, with 
 a Golden Crescent, and enamell'd red, because they had been long dy'd 
 in Blood. Arthur King of the Britains (as Segur remarks) Founder of 
 the Order of the round Table, instituted the Fraternity of the Knights of 
 the Table, in token of brotherly Love, gave them a round Table, which 
 yet hangs in their Castle : And to give no more Instances, Sir John Smith 
 got from King Charles I. the Royal Standard which he carried off at 
 the Battle of Edgehill, and was knighted under it. 
 
 Since Kings in all ages have bestowed the Ensign upon well deserving 
 Persons, we need not wonder that the Kings of Scotland, to whose Blood 
 Generosity is congenial, bestowed this standard of the Blue Blanket upon 
 Tradesmen, who rendered themselves noble by their Actions. As Diogenes 
 says, Nobleness of Blood is a Cloak of Sloath, and a Vizard of Cowardice, 
 but immortal is their Fame upon whom Princes confer Honours, according to 
 their Deserts, for defending the Holy Church, King or Country. And what 
 Reason can be assign'd, why Tradesmen should not be advanc'd as well as 
 others, since the greatest Princes on Earth have been Artists. Henry Peacham 
 tells, That Solyman the Magnificent, his Trade was making of Arrows. In 
 Venice, every Artificer is a Magnifico. In the low Countries, Mechanicks are 
 declared Gentlemen, by a Grant from King Charles V. in Consideration of their 
 Services, during his Wars. And to all those who contemn Mechanicks, who 
 raise themselves by their Valour, I must give the memorable Answer of 
 Verduge a Spaniard, and a General in Friezland, to some Persons of Quality, 
 who resented his taking the Head of the Table at a Publick Entertainment. 
 Gentlemen, question not my Birth, (tho' I be the Son of a Hangman) for I am 
 the Son of my own Desert and Fortune. If any Man do as much as I have 
 done, let him take the Table Head with all my heart,
 
 BLUE BLANKET, OR CRAFTS-MEN's BANNER. 207 
 
 Thus far have I trac'd the Loyalty of the Crafts of Edinburgh, and shall 
 now proceed to the Reign of 
 
 Mary Queen of Scots, 
 
 During whose Minority, a Controversy being betwixt the Magistrates of Edin- 
 burgh and the Deacons of Crafts, for breaking in upon the Legal Privileges 
 of the Incorporations ; which so inflam'd the Deacons of the Trades with a 
 keen Resentment, that in the Tolbooth of Edinburgh, where the Courts of 
 Justice then sat, they drew their Swords, demanding Justice; and if they 
 had not been restrained by the King's Forces then in the City, Mdiom the 
 Magistrates call'd to their Assistance, they had been kill'd on the Bench. 
 
 Being thus reliev'd, they committed the Assassines, as they termed them, 
 Prisoners to the Castle of Edinburgh, where they remain'd in close Con- 
 finement, till the several Incorporations having met in the Absence of their 
 Deacons, and concluded to relieve them, after the never failing Method of 
 displaying the Blue Blanket, which they did, and thereby convocated Thou- 
 sands of the King's Lieges in a very few Hours. 
 
 The extraordinary Concourse of People alarm'd the Government so, that 
 the King's Privy Council met upon the extraordinary Emergent, and re- 
 solved. That the Earl of Arran should interpose his Royal Authority, and 
 stop Procedure of the Lords of Justiciary, before whom was a Criminal 
 Process intented at the Instance of the saids Magistrates of Edinburgh, 
 against the Deacons of Crafts, and to importune the Differences betwixt 
 them to be submitted to him. The wise Regent comply 'd with the Advice, 
 and publish'd the following Edict. 
 
 GUBERNATOR, 
 
 ' TusTicE and Justice-Clerk, and zoiir Deputis, We greit zow weille, FORSAEMEIKLLEAS, 
 ' William Smebert, Robert Hutchiesoune, James Forres, Tliomas Scliort, Archibald 
 
 ' Dewar, Andro Edgar, George Eicliardsone, Thomas Eamsay, James Downwieke, William 
 ' Purdie, William Quhite 
 
 ' being in Warde within the Castle of Edinburgh, for alleadged drawing of Quhin- 
 
 ' zearis in the Tolbnitli of Edinburgh, in Presence of the Provost and Baillies thairof, the xi. 
 ' Day of August instant, and furth-bringing in the Blew Banner of the Blew Blankett iu our
 
 2 08 pennecuik's history of the 
 
 ' Presence, callit, the Halli/ Guist, has fiindin Suretie to underlye the Law for the Samyne, and 
 ' for all otheris Crymes that can be impute to them the x. Day of October nixt to cum, as the 
 ' Act of Adjournal maid thairupou beirs : Howbeit, as we are informit, the saidis Persouis are 
 ' innocent of the saidis alleagit Crimis. OUR WILL IS HEREFORE, and for certain uthiris 
 ' reasonable Causes and Coiisiderationis moveing us, We charge zow strictly and commandis, 
 ' That incontinent, efter the sicht hereof, ze desist and seiss frae all Preceeding against the 
 ' saids Persons, or ony othiris Craftismen of the said Burgh, for the saidis allegett Crymes, 
 ' till the Day above-written ; or for ony othiris Actionis, Transgressionis, Crymis, or Offencess 
 ' quhatsomever, comitit or done be tliarae, or ony of thame, in ony Time bygane unto the Day 
 ' of the Date hereof ; but continowe the samyn to the third Day of the Air. Dischargeing 
 ' zow othirwayes theirof, and of zour Offices in that Parte in the mene Tyme be thir Presentis, 
 ' Notwithstanding ony Writtingis gevin, or to be givene in the contraii-e, or ouy Pains con- 
 ' tenit therein, as ze will answer to us theiruj^on. Subscrivit with our Hand, and geven under 
 our Signet at Halyrudehouse, the first Day of September, the Zeir of God One thousand five 
 ' hundred and forty three Zeirs. Jamis G.' 
 
 Thus, the Crafts defended the Rights and Liberties of the Blanket to 
 the exposing of their Lives; for they could not bruik the unjust Proceed- 
 ings of the Magistrates, and therefore determined to keep them intire, which 
 they had obtained by an infinite Multitude of Great Actions. 
 
 I must here take Occasion to remove a common Objection against the 
 Authority of the Blue Blanket, That it never had any legal privileges : For, 
 had not the Regent known that tlie Crafts were warranted to display their 
 Colours when the Privileges of their Incorporations were violate, he would 
 surely have done Justice to the Magistrates in punishing these Crafts as a 
 seditious Rabble, and with the Power of the Queen's Forces reduced them to 
 Obedience, especially the Deacons, by whose Authority the Lieges were con- 
 vocate, who were Prisoners within the Kinor's Garrison : But it is remarkable 
 tho' the Banner was displayed in his own Presence, as his Edict relates, he did 
 not punish them for a Trespass against Law, but was forc'd to have a Recourse 
 to Policy, to stop the Effusion of Christian Blood, by interpelling the Judges of 
 Justiciary from proceeding against them for their Riot, in assaulting the 
 Magistracy in their Court of Justice with Weapons ; for doing of which they 
 were certainly culpable, and therefore he obliged them to find Biiill as to that. 
 We must undoubtedly conclude they justified their Actings in displaying the
 
 BLUE BLANKET, OR CRAPTS-MEN's BANNER. 209 
 
 Blanket, otherwise there had certainly been a Law enacted prohibitino- them 
 from that Practice for the Future, under the Pain of High Treason. 
 
 Tho' the Crafts and other Citizens of Edinburgh made a bold Stand for 
 the Glorious Reformation (which was carried on in the Reign of this beautiful, 
 learn'd, but unfortunate Lady, Queen Mary, who tenaciously adhear'd to the 
 Interest of the Romish Church) in a more tumultuary way than in Eno-knd, 
 and other Reformed Countries : Yet had they a just Sense of their Obedience 
 to Cfesar, and acted under the Influence of that Christian Maxim,* ' That it is 
 ' the Duty of the people to pray for Magistrates, to honour their Persons, pay 
 ' them Tribute, obey their lawful Commands, to be subject to their Authority 
 ' for Conscience sake ; and that Infidelity and Difference in Religion doth not 
 ' make void the Magistrates' just and legal Right, nor free the People from due 
 ' Obedience to them.' So that their Actions during this Reign, when tur- 
 bulent Factions were bandying one another, show'd a venerable Decorum. 
 And the Queen was sensible of their Loyalty, as is evident from the Preamble 
 of a Charter granted by her, and Henry her Husband, under her Great-Seal, 
 to the Provost, Council, and Communities of the said Burgh and their Suc- 
 cessors, ' Of all and haill the Superiority of the Village of Leith, with the 
 ' Pertinents and Superiority of the Inhabitants and Indwellers of the sameu, 
 ' as of the Houses, Tenements, Annual rents. Links, Orchards, Profits, Duties, 
 ' Services, Tenants, Tenandries, Services of Free-Tenants, &c.' As is at more 
 Length exprest in the said Infeftment, dated the 4th Day of October 1565, 
 and the 1st and 23d Years of their Reign. Which Superiority of Leith the 
 Magistrates of Edinburgh, by a Letter of Reversion, dispon'd back to the said 
 Queen Mary, under Reversion of 10,000 Merks usual Money of Scotland. This 
 Superiority of Leith was thereafter, by her Son and Successor King James VI., 
 assigned to his beloved Counsellor Sir John Maitland of Thirleston, his 
 Chancellor and Secretary, his Heirs and Assignies, dated the 7th of July 1587, 
 ratified and approven by the States of Parliament, the 29th Day of the Month 
 and Year foresaid ; which Reversion, is renounc'd by John Lord Thirleston, 
 Son and Heir to the said Sir John Maitland, with Advice and Consent of Sir 
 
 * Westminster Confession of Faith, Chap. 23, Sect 4. 
 
 2e
 
 ;10 PENNECUIK's HISTORY OF THE 
 
 John Cockburn of Clairiugtouu, his Tutor-Testamentor, in Favours of the 
 Provost, Baillies, Council, Deacons of Crafts, and Community of the said 
 Buro-h of Edinburgh, as is at length contain'd in the saids Letters of Renun- 
 ciation of the Date the 28th of December 1607, and ratified by the said John, 
 Lord Thirleston, to the saids Provost, Baillies, Council, Deacons of Crafts, and 
 Community of the said Burgh, the 24th of November 1614. 
 
 The loyal Crafts of Edinburgh gave surprising Evidences of their Loyalty 
 to their King, and Gratitude for the Privileges of the Blue Blanket during the 
 lono- and peaceful Reign of the first Protestant King of Scotland (who with 
 Learning and Eloquence defended the Reformation against Cardinal Robert 
 Bellarmine, one of the stoutest Pillars of the Romish Hierarchy, and show'd 
 how well he merited the Royal Title, Defender of the Faith). 
 
 But before I proceed to this Reign, I must relate two remarkable Passages 
 relating to the Crafts, which I had almost omitted. 
 
 When Faction and Tumult possessed an absolute and unlimited Sway, 
 during this Queen's Reign, the Loyalty of the Crafts was not at all diminish'd : 
 For when the Queen had Recourse to Arms to oppose the Earl of Murray and 
 his Associates, who, under Pretence of bringing the Earl of Bothwel, her 
 husband, to a fair Trial, as accessory to the late King Henry's Murder, had, 
 Anno 1567, raised an Army against her, and made her Prisoner at Carberry 
 Hill ; she was brought to Edinburgh, where, in stead of allowing her the Use 
 of her Palace, she was shut up in the Provost's House. As she enter'd the 
 City, cover'd with Tears and Dust, and in a Garb far below her Birth and 
 Merit, and insulted by the Mob, who cried, " Burn the Whore, Burn the 
 " Parricide." * This she bore with Fortitude of Mind, becoming a Christian 
 and a Queen ; but next Morning, when she open'd the Windows, and beheld 
 not only strong Guards plac'd before the Entry to the House, but a Banner 
 display 'd on the Street, on which was painted her dead Husband, King Henry, 
 beneath the shade of a Tree, with the young Prince by his side, and the Motto, 
 " Judge and revenge my Cause, O LORD," she burst into Tears, and complain'd 
 acrainst the Affronts she received, begging the People to compassionate her, 
 
 * Crawford's Memoirs, p. 38, and Melvill's Memoirs, p. 84.
 
 BLUE BLANKET, OR CRAFTS-MEn's BANNER. 21 
 
 now become a Captive. The honest Crafts, join'd with other loyal Citizens, 
 pierc'd with Pity to see their Sovereign thus us'd, and their Ensign display 'd, 
 where the Ensign of the Blue Blanket us'd to be erected in the Cause of 
 Loyalty, crowded to the Place, and compell'd the Conspirators to restore her 
 to the Palace of Holy Rood-house. 
 
 I must indeed, as a faithful Historiographer, relate that, Anno 1571, when 
 the Associators against the Queen held a Parliament in the Canono-ate, the 
 City of Edinburgh being possess'd by the Loyalists Troops, the Crafts, who 
 believ'd their Religion to be in eminent danger, display'd the Blue Blanket 
 (which, in ancient Times, they were in Use to do, for Defence of Religion) at 
 the Town of Leith, as Mr Crawford, Historiographer to Queen Anne, relates it 
 in his Memoirs of the Affairs of Scotland, during the Reign of Queen Mary, 
 P. 210. ' The Citizens, who either lik'd not the Queen or the new Magistrates, 
 ' went off in an intire Body to Leith, and set up their own Standard, upon 
 ' which was written in Golden Letters, "For GOD and the King," and 
 ' vanquished the Loyalists.' 
 
 I now proceed to the Reign of King James VI. of Scotland and I. of 
 England. 
 
 The City of Edinburgh gave the highest Testimonies of their Love and 
 Loyalty to their Infant Sovereign that they were capable of, and oppos'd the 
 Earl of Morton, Regent, who rul'd the Roast, and overaw'd the young King's 
 Inclinations to Mercy. Morton, to gain the Affections of the Citizens of Edin- 
 burgh, Anno 1579, caused summon a Parliament to meet at Edinburgh, and the 
 King to leave Stirling, where formerly Parliaments were held. When his 
 Majesty, upon his Journey to the Capital City, came near the West-Port, ho 
 alighted from his Horse and a stately Conopy of Purple coloured Velvet being 
 held over his Head, he received the Magistrates of the City, who came Bare- 
 headed all the Way without the Gate ; within the Gate stood Solomon, with a 
 numerous Train in Jewish Habits, with the two Women contending for the 
 Child, as is recorded, 1 Kings iii. 
 
 As his ]\Iajesty ascended the West Bow, there hung down from the Arch of 
 the old Port, a large Globe of polished Brass, out of which a little Boy, cloathed
 
 212 PENNECUIKS HISTORY OF THE 
 
 like a Cupid, descended in a Machine, and presented him with the Keys of the 
 City, all made of massy Silver, and very artificially wrought, an excellent 
 Consort of Musick all the while accompanying the Action. 
 
 AYhen he came down the High Street as far as the Tolbooth, Peace, Plenty, 
 and Justice, met him, and Harangu'd him in the Greek, Latin, and Scottish 
 Languages. Opposite to the Great Church stood Religion, who addressed him 
 in the Hebrew Tongue : Upon which he was pleased to enter the Church, where 
 Mr Lawson, a Presbyterian Divine, made a Learn'd Discourse in behalf of these 
 of the Reformed Relioion. 
 
 When his Majesty came out, Bacchus sat mounted on a gilded Hogshead at 
 the Market-Cross, distributing Wine in large Bumpers, the Trumpets all the 
 while sounding, and the People crying, " G OD save the King." At the East 
 Gate was erected his Majesty's Nativitj^ and above that the Genealogies of all 
 the Scots Kings from Fergus I. All the Windows were hung with Pictures 
 and rich Tapestry, the Streets strowed with Flowers, and the Cannon firing 
 from the Castle, till his Majesty reached his Palace. 
 
 Nothwithstanding all this Pomp and Ceremony, which exprest the Love 
 and Reverence both clergy and Laity bore to his sacred Majesty, there was a 
 sudden Change of Afiairs. For, 
 
 Presbyterian Government being establish'd in the Church of Scotland, 
 Anno 1592,* which, 'tis probable, the wise King would not have altered, had 
 not the English Clergy influenced him to admit Thoughts of Episcopacy, which 
 the Scotch Clergy perceiving, strove to oppose his Purpose, and strengthen their 
 own Interest. New Debates arising grew to that Height, that in the Year 
 1596, some Noblemen, Barons, and Ministers, being assembled at Edinburgh, and 
 perceiving that the Process laid against Mr David Black, who was prosecute 
 before the Privy Council for seditious Sermons, as stirring the People up to 
 Rebellion, wrong'd the Privileges of their Ecclesiastick Discipline, and withal, 
 being displeased at the Clemency shown to the Popish Lords, plotted Resentment. 
 
 The King having dissolv'd the Commission of the General Assembly by 
 his Royal Proclamation.f declaring it an unlawful convocation. The Commission 
 
 • Bishop duthry's Memoirs, f Spotiswood's Church History.
 
 BLUE BLANKET, OR CRAFTS-MEN's BANNER. 213 
 
 resolved, "That since they were conven'd by CHRIST'S Warrant to see into 
 " the Good of the Church, Et ne quid Ecdesia detrimenti caperet, they should 
 " continue." And sent some of their Number to the Octavians, (that was the 
 Title commonly given to the Eight Counsellors that were trusted with the 
 King's Aftairs), to advertise them of the Church's Troubles, proceeding from 
 their Counsels, and thereafter petition'd the King himself, which was rejected 
 and a Protestation enter'd against the Refusal ; but some Noblemen, with Mr 
 Robert Bruce, having procur'd Access to his Majesty, Mr Robert said, " They 
 " were sent by the Noblemen and Barons to bemoan the Dangers threatened 
 " to Religion, by the King's Dealings against the true Professors." " What 
 " Dangers do you discover ? " said the King. " Undercomoning," said the other, 
 " our best affected People, that tender Religion, are discharg'd the Town." The 
 King ask'd, " Who they were that durst conveen against his Proclamation ? " 
 The Lord Lindsay reply 'd, " They durst do more than so, and that they would 
 " not suffer Religion to be overthrown." Numbers of People were, by this Time, 
 thronging unmannerly into the Room ; whereupon the King, not making any 
 answer, arose, and went where the Judges sate, commanding the Doors to be 
 shut. They that were sent to the King, returning to the Church, told, " That 
 " they were not heard ; and that therefore they were to think of some other 
 " Course." " No Course," said the Lord Lindsay, " but let us stay together who 
 " are here, to stand fast to one another, and advertise our Friends and Favourers 
 " of Religion to come into us ; for it shall be either theirs or ours." Li 
 Consequence of this Concert, they pitched upon the Lord Claud Hamilton 
 to be their Head, and dispatch'd a Letter to him by Mr Robert Bruce, and Mr 
 Walter Balcanqual, to come with Diligence and accept the Charge. But the 
 Fury of the Multitude who attended that Meeting, heated by the Lord 
 Lindsay's unhappy Expression, did not suffer them to wait upon the General's 
 coming, but presently they leapt to Arms. Some cry'd, " Bring out Haman ; " 
 others cry'd, " The Sword of the LORD and of Gideon, the Day shall be theirs 
 " or ours." And so great was the Zeal of the unwary Populace, that taking their 
 March, they went straight towards the Tol booth of Edinburgh, where the 
 King and his Council were sitting, and would have forc'd open the Doors, 
 which, upon the Noise of the Tumult, were shut, had not his Majesty's
 
 214 pennecuik's history of the 
 
 Standard-Bearer, John Wat, Deacon-Conveener of the Trades, drawn up his Lads 
 the Souldiers of the Blue Blanket, and kept the Rabble back till their fever 
 cool'd, and the Earl of Mar, from the Castle, sent a Company of Musqueteers to 
 guard the King, which his Lieutenant quickly brought down the Castle-Bank 
 to the Grass-Market, and from thence march'd to the Foot of Forrester's-Wynd, 
 and entering by the Back-Stairs, came where the King w^as ; then the King- 
 commanded to open the Doors, and advanced to the Street. Upon Notice 
 whereof, Sir Alexander Home of North-Berwick Provost of Edinburgh, with 
 the Crafts, convoy'd the King to his Royal Palace at Holy Rood-House ; from 
 whence, next Morning, he went to Linlithgow, wdiere he swore, ' Had it not 
 ' been for the Loyalty of the Crafts, he would have burnt the Town of 
 ' Edinburgh, and salted it with Salt.' 
 
 By the stedfast Adherence of the Crafts to their Sovereign, even when 
 they did not approve of, but were sorry for his Actings, our Capital City was 
 prescrv'd from Destruction, as by their Behaviour afterwards, it flourished in 
 his Favours. 
 
 On the last of that Month of December, the King came to Leith, and 
 staid there all Night, giving Orders for his Entry into the Town of Edinburgh 
 next Morning, which he did, and call'd for the Magistrates, to hear what they 
 had to say for the late Tumult ; which indeed was not owing to them, but 
 to the Hocus of the Clergy and seditious Nobles, who practised upon the 
 well-meaning People, making them believe, they were fighting the Battles of 
 the LORD : So true is the Maxim. 
 
 Fallere IHehemJlnge Deum,. 
 
 Sir Alexander Home Provost, Rodger M'Math, George Todrick, Patrick 
 Cochran, and Alexander Hunter Baillies, with a Number of the Town Council, 
 falling down on their Knees before the King, presented the following Offers. 
 
 'That for pacifying His Majesty's Wrath, and satisfying the Lords of Council, they 
 ' should, upon their Oath, purge themselves of all Knowledge, or partaking in the said 
 ' Tumult ; and as they had already made a diligent Search to find out the Authors ; so they 
 ' should not cease, until they had brought the Trial to the utmost Point : Or, if his Majesty 
 ' and Council should think fit to take the Examination, they should willingly resign their 
 ' Place to such as his Higliness would appoint, and assist him according to their Power : And
 
 BLUE BLANKET, OR CRAFTS-MEN's BANNER. 215 
 
 ' because his Majesty had taken that Tumult to proceed from certain Sermons preach'd by 
 ' their Ministers, they should be expell'd the City, never to return, without his Majesty's 
 ' Warrant.' Upon which, the King was reconciled to them. 
 
 Thus the Crafts behav'd as loyally at this Juncture, as they did during tlie 
 Troubles occasioned by the Earl of B )thwel, when the King was assaulted in 
 his Palace of Holy-Rood-House, which obliged him to cry aloud from tlie 
 Windows, Treason, Treason. 
 
 The Report of the Accident going to the City of Edinburgh, the Citizens 
 went to Arms, and made towards the Palace to give the King Relief, who show'd 
 himself from a Window to the People, gave them Thanks for their Readiness, 
 and desir'd them to return to their Dwellings. As the Citizens gave repeated 
 Instances of their Valour and Loyalty to the King, while he resided amongst us 
 so after his Accession to the Throne of England, and when he return'd to his 
 Native Country Scotland, and made his Entry into Edinburgh, 16. of May 1G17, 
 Joy appear 'd in every one of their Countenances : they were ready to cry out in 
 the Words of Ben-Johnston's Magnetich Lady, 
 
 "Now let our longing Eyes enjoy their Feast, 
 And Fill of thee, our fair shap'd God-like man. 
 Thou art a Banquet unto all our Senses ; 
 Tliy Form doth feast our Eyes, thy Voice our Ears, 
 As if we felt it ductile thi'o' our Blood." 
 
 This passionate Love is gracefully exprest by the famous Poet and Orator, 
 William Drummond of Hawthornden, in his Speech to the King, in Name of 
 the Town of Edinburgh, 
 
 ^lE, if Nature could suffer Eocks to move, and abandon their natural Places, this Town, 
 founded on the Strength of Eocks, (now by the clearing Eays of your Majesty's 
 Presence, taking not only Motion but Life) had, with her Castle, Temples, and Houses, 
 mov'd towards You, and beseech'd You to have acknowledg'd her Your's, and lier ludwellers 
 Your most humble and affectionate Subjects ; and to believe, how many Souls are within her 
 Circuits, so many Lives are devoted to Yovir sacred Person and Crown. And here, SIE, she 
 offers, by me, to the Altar of Your Glory, whole Hecatombs of most hearty Desires, praying 
 all things may prove prosperous to You, That every Virtue and heroick Grace which make a 
 Prince eminent, may with a long and blessed Government, attend You ; Your Kingdoms 
 flourishing abroad with Bays, at home with Olives. Presenting You, SIR, who art the 
 strong Key of this little World of Britain, with these Keys, which cast up the Gates of her
 
 216 PENNECUIKS HISTORY OF THE 
 
 Affection, and design You Fower to open all the Springs of the Hearts of those her most 
 loyal Citizens : Yet this almost were not necessary : For as the Eose, at the fair Appi'oach of 
 the Morning Sun, displays and spreads her Purples ; so, at the very Noise of Your happy 
 Eeturn to this Your Native Country, their Hearts, if they could have shin'd through their 
 Breasts, were, with Joy and fair Hopes, made spacious, nor did they ever, in all Parts, feel 
 a more comfortable Heat, than the Glory of Your Presence at this Time darts upon them. 
 
 ' The Old f(;rget their Age, and look fresh and young, at the Appearance of so gracious a 
 Prince ; the Young bear a Part in Your "Welcome, desiring many Years of Life, that they 
 may serve You long. All have more Joys than Tongues : For as the Words of other Nations 
 far go beyond, and surpass the Affections of their Hearts ; so, in this Nation, the Affection 
 of their Hearts is far above all they can express by Words. Deign then, SIE, from the 
 highest of Majesty, to look down on their Lowness, and embrace it, accept the Homage of 
 their humble Minds, accept their grateful Zeal ; and for Deeds, accept their great good Will, 
 which they have ever carried to the high Deserts of Your Ancestors, and shall ever to your 
 own, and Your Eoyal Eace, whilst these Eocks shall be overshadowed with Buildings, 
 Buildings inhabited by Men ; and while Men may be indued either with Counsel or Courage, 
 or enjoy any Piece of Eeason, Sense, or Life.' 
 
 This Speech was followed by another delivered at the West Port of Edin- 
 burgh, when His Majesty entered, by Mr John Hay, Town-Clerk Depute. 
 
 :b! 
 
 'OW joyful your Majesties Eeturn (gracious and dread Sovereign) is to this your native 
 Town, from that Kingdom, due to your Sacred Person, by Eoyal Descent, the Counten- 
 ' ances and Eyes of your Majesties Loyal Subjects speak for their Hearts. This is that happy 
 ' Dav of our new Birth, ever to be retain'd in fresh Memory, with Consideration of the Good- 
 ' ness of Almighty GOD considered, with the Acknowledgment of the same, acknowledged 
 ' with Admiration, admir'd with Love, and lov'd with Joy ; wherein our Eyes behold the 
 ' (rreatest humane Felicity our Hearts could wish, which is to feed upon the Eoyal Counten- 
 ' ance of our true Phoenix, the bright Star of our Northern Firmament, the Ornament of our 
 ' Afe, wherein we are refresh'd and reviv'd with the Heat, and bright Beams of our Sun, (the 
 ' powerful Adamant of our Wealth) by whose removing from our Hemisphere, we were darkened, 
 ' deep Sorrow and Fear possessing our Hearts, (without envying of your Majesty's Happiness 
 ' and Felicity) our Places of Solace ever giving a new Heat to the Fever of the languishing 
 ' Eemembrance of our Happiness ; the very Hills and Groves, accustomed of before to be 
 ' refresh'd with the Dew of your Majesties Presence, not putting on their wonted Apparel, 
 ' but with pale Looks representing their Miserie for the Departure of their Eoyal King. 
 
 ' I most humbly beg Pardon of your most sacred Majesty, who, most unworthy, and 
 ' ungarnish'd by Art or Nature with Ehetorical Colours, have presum'd to deliver your Sacred 
 ' Majesty, form'd by Nature, and fram'd by Art and Education to the Perfection of all
 
 BLUE BLANKET, OR CRAFTS-MEn's BANNER. 217 
 
 Eloquence, the publick Message of your Majesties loyal Subjects here conveen'd, on the 
 Knees of my Heart, beseeching your Sacred Majesty, that my Obedience to rayne Superior's 
 Commands, may be a Sacrifice acceptable to expiate my Presumption, your Majesties wonted 
 Clemency may give Strength and Vigour to my distrustful Spirits, in gracious Acceptance 
 of that which shall be delivered, and pardon my Escapes. Eeceive then, dread Sovereif^n, 
 from your Majesties faithful and loyal Subjects the Magistrates and Citizens of your 
 Highness's Good Town of Edinburgh, such Welcome as is due from these, who, with thankful 
 Hearts, do acknowledge the Infinite Blessings plenteously flowing to them from the Paradise 
 of your Majesty's unspotted Goodness and Virtue, wishing your Majesties Eyes might pierce 
 into their very Hearts, to behold the excessive Joy inwai'dly conceiv'd of the first Messeno'er. 
 Your Majesties Princely Eesolution to visit your Majesties Good Town, encreas'd by your 
 Majesties Countenance, in prosecuting what was so happily intended, and now accomplished 
 by your Majesties fortunate and safe Eeturn, which no Tongue, how liberal soever, is capable 
 to express. Who shall consider with an impartial Eye, the continual Carefulness your 
 Majesty had over us from your tender Years, the settled Temper of your Majesties Govern- 
 ment, wherein the nicest Eye could find no Spot ; yourself, as the Life of the Country, the 
 Father of the People, instructing not so much by Precept, as Example ; your Majesty's Court 
 the Marriage Place of Wisdom and Godliness, without Impiety, cannot refuse to avouch : 
 But as your Prudence has won the Prize from all Kings and Emperors, that stand in the 
 Degree of Comparison ; so hath your Majesty's Government been such, that every Man's Eye 
 may be a Messenger to his Mind, that your Majesty stands the Quintessence of ruling Skill 
 of all prosperous and peaceable Government, much wisht by our Forefathers, but most 
 abundantly enjoy'd by us, praised be GOD, under your sacred Majestie. For if we shall, in 
 a View, lay before us the Times bypast, even since the first Foundation of the Kingdom, and 
 therein consider their Majesties most noble Progenitors, they were indeed all Princes 
 renown'd for their Virtues, not inferior to any Kings or Emperors of their Time, they 
 maintain'd and deliver'd their Virgine Scepters unconquer'd, from Age to Age, from the 
 Foundation of the most violent Floods of conquering Swords, which overwhelm'd the rest of 
 the whole Earth, and carry'd the Crowns of all other Kings of this Terrestrial Ball unto 
 Thraldom ; but far short of your Majesties Nature, having plac'd in your Sacred Person 
 alone, what in every one of them was excellent, the Senate-House of the Planets being, as it 
 were, conveen'd at your Majesties Birth, for decreeing of all Perfections in your Eoyal 
 Person, the Heavens and Earth witnessing your Heroical Frame, no Influence whatsoever 
 being able to bring the same to a higher Degree. If we shall bring to Mind the tumultuous 
 Days of your Majesties more tender Years, and tlierein your Majesties Prudence, Wisdom 
 and Constancy, in uniting the disjointed Members of the Common Wealth, who will not, 
 with the Queen of Sheba, confess he has seen more Wisdom in your Eoyal Person, than 
 Eeport hath brought to foreign Ears ; and there is not of any Estate or Age within this 
 Kingdom, who has not had particular Experience of the same, and sensibly felt the Fruits 
 
 2F
 
 218 PENNECUIKS HISTORY OF THE 
 
 * thereof ; the Fire of civil Discord, which, as a Flame, devoured us, was thereby quench'd, 
 ' every Man possess'd his own in Peace, reaping that which he had sown, and enjoying the 
 ' Fruits of his own Labours, your Majesties great Vigilance and Godly Zeal in propagating 
 ' the Gospel, and defacing the Monuments of Idolatry, banishing that Roman Antichristian 
 ' Hierarchy, and establishing our Church, repairing the Ruins thereof, protecting us from 
 ' foreign Invasion, the rich Trophies of your Majesties Victories more powerfully atchieved 
 ' by your Sacred Wisdom, deserves more worthily than those of the Csesars, so much extoll'd 
 ' by the Ancients. All Ages shall record, and Posterity bless Almighty GOD, for giving to us 
 ' their Fore-fathers a King, in heart upright as David, wise as Solomon, and Godly as Josias. 
 
 ' And who can better witness your Majesties Royal Favour and Beneficence, than this 
 ' your Good Town of Edinburgh, which being founded in the Days of that worthy King 
 ' Fergus I. the first Builder of the Kingdom, and famous for her unspotted Fidelity to your 
 ' Majesties most noble Progenitors, was by them enrich'd with many Freedoms, Priviledges 
 ' and Dignities ; all which your Majesty not only confirm'd, but also, with Accession of many 
 ' more enlarg'd ; beaatify'd her with a new erected College, famous for Profession of all liberal 
 ' Sciences, so that she justly doth acknowledge your Majesty the Author and Conserver of 
 ' her Peace, her Sacred Physician, who binds up the Wounds of her disti'acted Common 
 ' Wealth, the only Magnes of her Prosperity, and the true Fountain, from whence, under 
 ' GOD, all her Happiness and Felicity floweth, and doth in all Humility record your Majesties 
 ' Royal Favour extended to her at all Times. 
 
 * Neither hath the Ocean of your Majesties Virtues contain'd it self within the Precinct of 
 ' this Isle : What Ear is so barbourous, that hath not heard of tlie Fame of your Majesty ? 
 ' What foreign Prince is not indebted to your Sacred Wisdom ? What reformed Church doth 
 ' not bless your Majesties Birth Day, is not protected under the Wings of your Sacred 
 ' Authority from Antichristian Locusts, whose Walls, by the Sacred Wisdom wherewith your 
 ' Sacred Person is endow'd, hath been batter'd and shaken more than did the Goths and 
 ' Vandals the old Frame of the same by the Sword : And for your Sacred Virtue, your 
 ' Majesty deserves to be Monarch of the World : So for your Piety and unfeigned Zeal, in 
 ' propagating and maintaining the Gospel does^ of due, appertain to your Majestie, the Titles 
 ' of most Christian and Catholick King. 
 
 ' For all which, your Majesties most Royal Favours, having nothing to render but that 
 ' which is due, we, your Majesties most humble Subjects, prostrate at your Sacred Feet, lay 
 ' down our Lives, Goods, Liberties, and every Thing that is dear to us, vowing to keep to your 
 ' Sacred Majesty, unspotted Loyalty and Subjection, and ever to be ready to consecrate and 
 < sacrifice our selves for Maintenance of your Royal Person and Estate, praying to the Eternal, 
 ' our GOD, that Peace may be within your Majesties Walls, and Prosperity within your 
 ' Palaces, length of Days to your Sacred Person ; that from your Majesties Loins may never 
 ' be wanting one to sway the Scepter of these your Kingdoms, and that Mercy may be to your 
 self and your Seed for ever.'
 
 BLUE BLANKET, OR ORAFTS-MEN's BANNER. 219 
 
 After the Delivery of this Speech, His Majesty went to the great Church 
 and there having heard Sermon from the Arch-Bishop of St. Andrews, Primate 
 of all Scotland, proceeded on His March to His Palace of Holy Rood-House. At 
 the Gate of the Inner Court was presented to His Royal Hands, a Book in 
 Manuscript, of curious and learned Verses in Greek and Latin, entituled 
 Academics Edinburgensis Congratulatio, and a Speech made in Name of that 
 University by Mr Patrick Nisbet. Next Day, His Majesty was pleas'd to 
 honour the University with His Presence at a Philosophical Disputation in the 
 Oriental Languages, by the Professors of Philosophy, Mr John Adamson, Mi- 
 James Fairly, Mr Patrick Sands, Mr Andrew Young, Mr James Reid, and Mr 
 William King. When the Exercise was over, His Majesty was pleas'd to com- 
 pliment the Disputants in the following Poem, which by them was variously 
 paraphrased in Latin. 
 
 "As Adam was the first of Men, whence all beginning take, 
 So Adam-son was President, and first Man of this Act. 
 The Thesis Fair-lie did defend, which tho' they lies contain ; 
 Yet were fair Lies, and he the same right fairly did maintain. 
 The Field first entered Mr Sands, and there he made me see, 
 That not all Sands are barren Sands, but that some fertile be. 
 Then Mr Young most subtily the Theses did imjaugn, 
 And kythed old in Aristotle, altho' his Name be Young. 
 To him succeeded Mr Reid, who tho' Red be his Name, 
 Need neither for his Dispute blush, nor of his Speech think Shame. 
 Last enter'd Mr King the Lists, and dispute like a King, 
 How Reason reigning like a Queen, should Anger underbring. 
 To their deserved Praise have I thus played upon their Names, 
 And wills this College hence be call'd the College of King James. 
 
 Manifold Honours the King put upon this his Good Town of Edinburgh, 
 in the Castle whereof he was born ; as appears by the Inscription yet remaining 
 in the Room, where his mother. Queen Mary, was delivered of him, which 
 runs thus : — 
 
 " Jesu Lord, who crownit was with thorn, 
 Preserve the Birth whais Badgie here is born, 
 And grant, O LOED, that whatever of her proceed, 
 May be unto they honour and Glory. Soe beid."
 
 220 pennecuik's history of the 
 
 His Majesty, by a Charter under his great Seal, dispones to the Provost, 
 Baillies, Town Council, and Community of the Burgh of Edinburgh, the 
 Jurisdiction, Haven, and Harbour of Leith, and makes and constitutes them 
 Judges amongst the Skippers, Masters and Mariners in Leith, and all other 
 Skippers, Masters, and Sailors, as well his Subjects as Foreigners, being for 
 the Time with their Ships, Boats, or Barks within the same Village of Leith, 
 and Harbour of the same, in all Sea-fareing Actions and Causes whatsomever, 
 with Power to them to make Acts and Statutes for the Increase of Sailing. 
 And dispones to them the prime Gilt to be uplifted for sustaining of poor 
 indigent Sea-Men within the said Village of Leith, forth of the Freight of 
 every Tun of Goods, in manner specified in the said Charter, to be applied to 
 the Use of the said Poor. This Charter is dated at Whitehall, 3d April 161G. 
 
 By another Charter under the great Seal, he confirms to the Magistrates, 
 Town Council, Crafts, and Community of the said Burgh, and their Successors, 
 all former Infeftments granted to them by his Predecessors, of the heretable 
 Offices of SheriflT-ship, Crownry, which contains a new Gift of the Sheriff'-ship 
 and Crownry within the said Burgh, common Mills thereof, common Muir, 
 Marish, Loch, Parts, Streets, common Ways, Passages, and Loanings, leading to 
 and from the same ; and especially the Passage leading to Leith upon both 
 Sides of the Water thereof, and to the said Village of Leith, Haven of the samen, 
 and within the Harbour and Village of Newhaven, and Village of Leith, Havens, 
 Boads, Harbours, and Bulwarks thereof, and within the Lands of common 
 Closets, Burshoilf, Passages, and other Bounds whatsoever, lying within the 
 Liberty of the said Burgh of Edinburgh. Dated at Whitehall, 3d April IGIG. 
 
 By a Gift under his Great Seal, grants to the said Provost, Baillies, and 
 Council, the Power of having the Sword carried before them. Riding of the 
 Marches or Bounds thereof, and of the Office of Justice of Peace, in manner 
 therein-contaiu'd. Dated at Whitehall, 10th November 1G09. 
 
 By another Gift, he enlarges their Powers as Justices of Peace, in which 
 they are infeft. Dated at Hamptoun Court, 25th September 1G12. 
 
 By another Gift and Infeftment, grants to them all Fines and Amniercia- 
 ments belonging to the Office of Sheriff-ship and Justiciaries of Peace. Dated 
 at Whitehall, 17th September 1613.
 
 BLUE BLANKET, OR CRAFTS-MEN's BANNER. 221 
 
 By another Charter under the Great Seal, dispones to them the Custom 
 or Excise (and to their Successors) of Four Pounds Scots, forth of every Tun of 
 Wine to be retailed and vented in Smalls within the said Burgh, Liberties, and 
 Jurisdiction of the same, to be uplifted by their Treasurers, Collectors, and 
 others in their names, from the Retailers, Vinters, Tapsters, and Sellers of the 
 same, in all Time coming-. Dated at Whitehall, 10th November 1609. 
 
 By a Ratification of the said Gift, and new Disposition, he dispones the 
 foresaid Custom and Excise of Four Pound, forth of every Tun retailed within 
 the Village of Leith, in all Parts within the same upon the South side of the 
 Water of Leith. Dated at Hampton, 25th September 1612. 
 
 By another under the Great Seal, Power to them and their Successors 
 to erect a Weigh-house at the Over-Tron of the said Burgh, with divers 
 Liberties, Duties, and Lnmunities therein contained. Dated at Ro_ystoii, 9th 
 December 1611. 
 
 By a Charter under his Great Seal, dispones that Part of the Lands 
 of Highrigs, containing 10 acres of Land or thereby. Dated at Edinburgh, 
 30th July 1618. 
 
 By a Gift un-ler his Great Seal, gives and grants the Jedgry of Salmon 
 Herrings, and White Fish, packed and peill'd within the Kingdom of Scotland. 
 Dated at Royston, 19th October 1618. 
 
 By another Gift under his Great Seal, the Power of being Overseers and 
 Visiters of all Measurers and Sellers of Cloath, Stuffs, and Stockings made in the 
 said Village of Leith, and Sheriftclom of Edinburgh. Dated at Whitehall, 
 8th March 1621. 
 
 By a Charter under his Great Seal, dated at Stirling, 14th April 1582. 
 ratifying a Charter made by Queen Mary under her Great Seal, dated 
 13th March 1566, of the Lands, Tenements, Houses and Biggings, Churches, 
 Chaplainries, Altarages, and Prebendaries, in whatsoever Churches, Cliapels, 
 or Colleges, within the Liberty of the said Burgh, founded by whatsoever 
 Person, whereof the said Chaplain and Prebends were in Possession, with the 
 Yards, Orchards, Annualrents, Teinds, Services, Profits, Duties, Emoluments 
 which pertained thereto, and of all Lands which pertained to the Black Friars 
 and Gray Friars.
 
 222 PENNEOUIKS HISTORY OF THE 
 
 By another Charter he ratifies and approves the Demission and Ratifica- 
 tion made by John Gib, in Favours of the said Burgh of the Provostry of the 
 Kirkfield, haill Lands and Biggings belonging to the same. And dispones 
 the Liberty of a College, and repairing sufficient Houses for accommodating 
 the Professors of Philosophy, Humanity and Languages, Theology, Medicine, 
 Law, and all other Sciences; and electing sufficient Professors for teaching 
 the said Professions; and for that Effect, disponed to them the Provostry 
 of Kirkfield, with the Tenements, Fruits, Possessions, Rents and Duties 
 thereof. 
 
 By another Charter under his Great Seal, 4th April 1584, considering, 
 That the Burgh of Edinburgh had been at great Expenses in erecting the said 
 College, and had gifted great Sums for sustaining the Professors for instructing 
 the Youth, he disponed to the Good Town, for the Use of the said College, and 
 for Maintenance of the Principal and Regents, the Arch-deanry of Lothian, 
 containing the Parsonage of Curry, with the Manse, Glebe, and Kirk Lands, 
 Teinds and Duties of the same. 
 
 By another Charter under his Great Seal, 2Gth May 1587, for the great 
 Expences wared out by the Good Town, in erecting an Hospital for maintaining 
 their Ministers, disponed to the Town the Provostry of the Trinity College, 
 House-Rents, Kirk-Teinds, and Fruits thereto pertaining. 
 
 By another Charter under his Great Seal, 29th July 1587, Ratifies the 
 Infeftments granted by himself and Queen Mary, his Mother, of the said Kirk- 
 Lands, Trinity College, Provostry of Kirkfield, and Arch-deanry of Lothian, 
 for the Use of the Ministers, College, and Poor. 
 
 By another Charter under the Great Seal, dated at Bearboar Castle, 
 1612, Ratifies all former Grants of the said Kirk-Lands, Provostries of 
 Kirkfield, and Trinity-College, and Arch-deanry of Lothian, with a new Gift 
 of the saids haill Kirk-Lands, for maintaining the Ministers, College, and Poor. 
 
 Thus did that just and gracious Prince show his Beneficence to our 
 Metropolis, as the wise King Solomon, in his Book of Ethicks, remarks, 
 " When the Righteous are in Authority, the City rejoyceth ; but when tlie 
 " Wicked bear Rule, the People mourn." And being a peaceful Prince as 
 well as generous, he poured Oil into the Wounds of his People, and healed
 
 BLUE BLANKET, OR CRAFTS-MEN S BANNER. 223 
 
 the growing Contentions betwixt the Merchants and Trades, by the sub- 
 sequent Decreet- Arbitral. 
 
 A T Halyruidhouse, the Twenty twa Day of Apryl, the Yeir of GOD One 
 
 thousand five hundred fourscore three Years ; We Robert Fairhe of Braid, 
 
 Sir Archibald Naper of Edinbellie Knight, and James Johnstoun of Elphind- 
 
 stoun, Judges Arbitrators, chosen for the Part of Mr Michael Cliisolme, 
 
 Andrew Sclater, John Adamsone, and William Fairlie Baillies of Edinburgh, 
 
 Mr John Prestoun Dean of Gild, Mungo Russel Thesaurer, John Johnstoun, 
 
 Robert Ker Younger, Henry Charters, John Morisone, William Maul, John 
 
 Harwoud, John Robertsone, William Inglis, Alexander Naper, William Nesbet, 
 
 Merchants ; being on the Counsel of the said Burgh, for themselves, and in 
 
 Name and Behalf, and as Commissioners for the hail Merchants Indwellers 
 
 of the said Burgh, on the ane Part, and John Cockburn of Ormestoun, Mr 
 
 Robert Pont Provost of the Trinity-Colledge, and Mr David Lindsey Minister 
 
 of Leith, Judges Arbitrators chosen for the Part of James Fergusone Bower, 
 
 John Bairnsfather Tailyeour, twa of the Crafts-men, being on the Counsel 
 
 of the said Burgh ; Gilbert Prymrose Deaken of the Chirurgiaus, John Watt 
 
 Deaken of the Hammermen, William Hoppringle Deaken of the Tailyeours, 
 
 Edward Gilbraith Deaken of the Skinners, Edward Hairb Deaken of the 
 
 Gold-Smiths, Adam Newtoun Deaken of the Baxters, Thomas Dicksone 
 
 Deaken of the Furriers, Andrew Williamsone Deaken of the Wrights, William 
 
 Bickertoun Deaken of the Maissons, James Ker Deaken of the Fleshers, 
 
 William Weir Deaken of the Cordiners, Thomas Wright Deaken of the 
 
 Websters, William Cowtts Deaken of the Wakers, and William Somer Deaken 
 
 of the Bonnet-makers ; for themselves, and in Name and behalf, and as 
 
 Commissioners for the hail Crafts-men, Indwellers of the said Brugh, on the 
 
 uther part: And the right potent and illustrious Piince, JAMES be the 
 
 Grace of GOD, King of Scots, our Soveraign Lord, Ods-man and Oversman, 
 
 commonly chosen be Advice and Consent of baith the saids Parties, anent 
 
 the removing of all Questions, Differences and Controversies, quhilks are, or hes 
 
 been betwixt the said Merchants, concerning whatsomever Cause or Occasion 
 
 whereupon Debate or Question did arise in any Time betwixt them. And
 
 224 pennecuik's history of the 
 
 thereupon baith the saids Parties being Bund, Oblist, and Sworn, to stand, abide 
 underly, and fulfil the Decreet- Arbitral and Deliverance of us the saids Judges 
 and Overs-man, but Appellation, Reclamation, or Contradiction, as at length is 
 contained in ane Submission made thereupon, baith the saids Parties Clames 
 and Griefs given in be them, v^ith the Answers made thereto, and their Rights, 
 Reasons, and Alledgances being heard, seen, and considered be us, and we there- 
 with beino- ryply advysit, after many sundry Conventions and Meetings, with 
 lano- Travels tane hereanent, hes all in ane Voice accordit, decernit, and con- 
 cludit, upon the Heads and Articles following. 
 
 Fir.'^f, To take away all Differences quhilk hes been heretofore, concerning 
 the Persons who had the Government of the Town, their Number, Power, 
 or Authority, and Manner of their Election ; It is finally accordit and decernit 
 thereupon as follows : — 
 
 Magistrats. 
 
 The Magistrats, sic as Provest, Baillies, Dean of Gild, and Thesaurer, to be in 
 all Tymes coming of the Estait and Calling of Merchants, conforme to the Acts 
 of Parliament; and if any Crafts-man Exerceand Merchandize, sail for his guid 
 Qualities be promovit theirto, in that Caise he sail leive his Craft, and not 
 occupy the same be himself nor his Servants during the Tyme of his Office, 
 and sail not return theirto at any Tyme theireafter, quhill he obtein special 
 Licence of the Provest, Baillies and Counsel to that Effect. 
 
 Counsel. 
 
 The Counsel to consist of Ten Merchants, to wit, The auld Provest, Four auld 
 Baillies, Dean of Gild and Thesaurer of the nixt Year preceiding, and Three 
 Merchants to be chosen to them, and als to consist of Eight Craftsmen theirof, 
 Sex Deakens and Twa uther Crafts-men, makand in the hail the said Counsel 
 Eighteen Persons, and this by the Office-men of that Year, to wit, the Provost, 
 Baillies, Dean of Gild, and Thesaurer.
 
 BLUE BLANKET, OR CRAFTS-MEN S BANNER. 225 
 
 Election. 
 
 And as to the Manner of their Election, It is first generally accordit and agrict, 
 That na manner of Person be chosen Provost, Baillies, Dean of Gild, or 
 Theasurer, suppose they be Burgesses of the Burgh, and able therefore, without 
 they have been ane Year or Twa upon the Counsel of before. And anent the 
 Counsel, the auld Maner of giving in of Tickets be the Deakens, out of the 
 quhilk the Twa Urafts-men were Yearly chosen, to be abrogat, cease and 
 expyre in all Tymes coming, swa that the saids Twa Crafts-raen shall be chosen 
 Yearly without any Ingiving of Tickets indifferently, of the best and worthiest 
 of the Crafts, be the saids Provest, Baillies, Dean of Gild, Theasurer and 
 Counsel allanerly, and nane to be on the Counsel above Twa Year together, 
 except they be OfBce-men, or be Vertue of their Offices be on the Counsel. 
 Sicklike, anent the Lytts to be Baillies, they sail not be dividet nor casten in 
 Four Ranks, Three to every Rank, as they were wont to be ; bot to be chosen 
 indifferently, Ane out of the Twclff Lytts, Ane uther out of Eleven Lytts, the 
 Third out of Ten, and the Fourt out of Nyne Lytts. Anent the Deakens, 
 That nane be electit Deaken, except he that hes been an Maister of his Craft 
 twa Year at the least : and that nane of them be continued in their Offices of 
 Deakenship above twa Year togidder. Last in general, That nane have Vote 
 in Lytting, Voiting, Electing of the Provest, Baillies, Counsel, Deakens, Dean 
 of Gild, or Theasurer, but the Persons hereafter following, in manner after 
 specifiet. 
 
 Election in special of Deakens. 
 
 And to proceid to the said Election ; It is found guid to begin at the choosing 
 of the Deakens of Crafts, quhilks are Fourteen in Number, to wit, Chirurgeans, 
 Goldsymths, Skynners, Furriers, Hammermen, Wrights, Masons, Tailyeours, 
 Baxters, Fleshers, Cordiners, Websters, Wakers, Bonnet-makers; Swa the 
 Deakens now present shall stand and continue quhil the third Counsel-day 
 of before the auld Time of Election of the new Counsel, quhilk was on the 
 Wednesday next preceding the Feast of Michaelmass ; upon the quhilk third 
 
 2g
 
 226 PENNECUIK S HISTORY OF THE 
 
 Counsel-day, the Provest, Baillies, and Counsel now standand, extending to 
 Nineteen Persons, and fra thence furth Yearly, and ilk Year, the Provest, 
 Baillies and Counsel, constitute of the said Twenty Five Persons, sail call 
 in before them the saids Deakens of Crafts, every ane severally, and inquire 
 their Opinion and Judgement of the best and worthiest of their Crafts ; 
 Thereafter, the saids Provest, Baillies and Counsel, shall Nominat and Lytt 
 three Persons of the maist Discreet, Godly, and Qualified Persons of every 
 ane of the saids Fourteen Crafts, maist expert Hand-labourers of their awen 
 Craft, Burgesses and Freemen of the Burgh of Edinburgh, whereof the auld 
 Deaken shall be ane, and cause deliver their Names to the Deakens, every 
 ane according to their Craft. Quhilk Deakens, on the Morn thereafter, sail 
 assemble and convein their Crafts, and every Craft be themselves, furth of 
 thir Names shall elect ane Person wha sail be their Deaken for that Year; 
 and, upon the next Counsel-day after the said Election, the auld Deakens, with 
 some of the Masters of their Crafts, sail present the new Deakens to the 
 Counsel, quha sail authorise them in their Offices. 
 
 New Counsel of Deakens. 
 
 Next, To proceed to the Election of the New Counsel. The said Day of 
 presenting of the new Deakens, the Provest, Baillies, and Counsel now standand 
 of Nineteen Persons, and fra then furth, the said Day yearly ; The Provest, 
 Baillies and Counsell, of Twenty five Persons, sail chose furth of the saids 
 fourteen Deakens, Sex Persons to be adjoined with the new Counsel for 
 the Year to come, and to have special Vote in lytting and choosing of the 
 Provest, Baillies and Counsel ; and the same Day, the auld Sex Deakens 
 quhilk was upon the Counsel the Year preceeding, to be removed, and have 
 an farther Vote for that Year, except some of them be of the Number of 
 the new elected Deakens. 
 
 New Counsel of Merchants and Crafts. 
 
 Thereafter, Upon the Wednesday next, preceding Michaelmas ilk Year, the 
 Provest, Baillies, Dean of Gild, Thesaurer, and Ten Merchants of the Counsel
 
 BLUE BLANKET, OR CRAFTS-MEN's BANNER. 227 
 
 and the said Sex Deakens, and twa Crafts-men, and in the hail Twenty-five 
 Persons, and Twenty-sex Votes, be Reason of the Provest's twa Votes ordinarly 
 staudand at all Tymes, sail eonveen and choose the new Counsel, to the 
 Number of Eighteen Persons, to wit, the auld Provest, Baillies, Dean of Gild 
 and Thesaurer of that Year, and the said Sex Deacons, to make Thirteen 
 Persons thereof, and to them to be chosen Three Merchants, and Twa Crafts- 
 men, and thir Persons to be callit the New Counsel ; and if any Person of the 
 Merchants chosen upon the New Counsel, happens to be put on tlie Lytte of 
 ane uther Ofice, and promovit thereto, an uther shall be chosen in his Room 
 be the saids Provest, Baillies, and Counsel. 
 
 Lytts of Magistrats. 
 
 Thirdly, To proceid to the choosing of the Lytts to the Magistrats and Office- 
 men, sic as Provest, Baillies, Dean of Gild and Theasurer, upon the Friday nixt 
 thereafter, there sail eonveen the said New Counsel of Eighteen Persons, and 
 the Auld Counsel constitute of Twelff Persons, viz., Ten Merchants, and Twa 
 Crafts-men, and in the hail Thretty Persons to the Provest's odd Vote ; quhilks 
 Persons so solemnatly protesting before GOD, that they sail choose the Persons 
 whom they find maist meet, without Favour, Hatred, or any kind of Collusion ; 
 then sail begin and choose the Lytts to the said Magistrats and Office-men, to 
 every ane of them three Lytts ; that is to say, to the Provest, twa Lytts with 
 himself ; to the four Baillies, every ane of them three Lytts, the auld Baillies 
 not beand ane, except they be new chosen thereto ; to the Dean of Gild, twa 
 Lytts with himself; and to the Theasurer, twa Lytts with himself: Quhilks 
 hail Lytts sail be of the Order and Calling of Merchants, as said is. 
 
 Election of Magistrats. 
 
 Fourthly, To proceed to the electing and choosing of the said Magistrats and 
 Office-men; Upon the Tuesday nixt after Michaelmass yearly, there sail 
 eonveen the saids Thretty Persons, of new and auld Counsel, and with them
 
 228 pennecuik's history of the 
 
 the rest of the Deakens of Crafts quhilks are not of the Counsel, extending 
 
 to Eight Persons: the hail Persons swa conveenand, extending to Thretty- 
 
 eight Persons by the Provest's odde Vote, whereof Twenty Merchants, and 
 
 Eighteen Crafts-men ; quhilks Persons sail begin at the Lytts of the Provest 
 
 and every ane in their awen Rank, give their Votes to sic as they find meet 
 
 for the Weill of the Town, according to their Conscience and Knawledge, but 
 
 feid or Favour ; and on whom the greatest Number of Votes sail fall, that he 
 
 be sworn, receivit and admittit Provest for that Year ; and swa to proceed 
 
 throw the Lytts of the .Baillies, Dean of Gild, and Thesaurer, quhilk the 
 
 said Election be compleatly endit. The saids Provest, Baillies, Dean of Gild, 
 
 Theasurer, and Counsel, electit, as said is, makand in the hail Twenty-five 
 
 Persons ; they only, and nae uthers, sail have the full Government and 
 
 Administration of the hail Common-weal of this Brugh, in all Things, as the 
 
 Provest, Baillies, and Counsel thereof, or of any uther Brugh had of before, 
 
 or may have hereafter, be the Laws or Consuetude of this Realm, Infeftments, 
 
 and Priviledges grantit to this Town be Our Sovereign Lord's maist Noble 
 
 Progenitors, exceptand always thir Causes following, in the quhilks the hail 
 
 Fourteen Deakens of Crafts sail be callit and adjoined with them, to give their 
 
 special Vote and Consultation thereinto, to wit. In Election of the Provest, 
 
 Baillies, Dean of Gild, and Thesaurer, as said is, In setting of Fews, or any 
 
 manner of Tacks, attour the yearly Rowping, on Martinmass Even, In giving 
 
 of Benefices, and uther Ofiices in Burgh, In granting of Extents, Contributions, 
 
 Emprimits, and sicklike bigging of common Warks, and in disponing of the 
 
 Common Good, above the Sum of Twenty Pound togidder. 
 
 Wairniiig of the Deakens and Counsel. 
 
 Providing nevertheless, that the Deakens not of the Counsel, or any of them, 
 beand personally warned to that Effect, and absenting themself, swa oft the 
 last Deaken, or any uther that was in Lytt with him that Yeir, shall supplie their 
 Room ; and they beand personally warned, and absent, the rest compearand sail 
 have Power to proceed. If .any of the Provest, Baillies, and Counsel be absent,
 
 BLUE BLANKET, OR CRAFTS-MEN's BANNER. 229 
 
 the rest wha are present sail choose an uther in their Room. And to avoid all 
 Suspicioun that hes risen in Times past, through the particular Aseemblies and 
 Conventiouns, contrair to the Acts of Parliaments, and to the Trouble of the 
 Quyet Estait of this Brugh. 
 
 CONVENTIOUNS. 
 
 It is agreit and concludit, that nather the Merchants amang themselfs, nathcr 
 the Crafts and their Deakens, or Visitors, sail have, or make any particular 
 or general Conven tions, as Deakens with Deakens, Deakens with their Crafts, 
 or Crafts amang themselfs, far less to make privat Laws, or Statutes, Poynd, 
 and Distrenzie at their awen Hands for Trangressions, by the Advice and 
 Consent of the Provest, Baillies, and Counsel. 
 
 Dean of Gild may conveen his Counsel. 
 
 ExcEPTAND always, that the Dean of Gild may assemble his Brethren and 
 Counsel in their Gild Court, conform to their ancient Lawes of the Gildrie, and 
 Priviledges thereof: And that any ane Craft may conveen together amang 
 themselfs, for the choosing of their Deakens at the Tyme appointit thereto, and 
 in manner before exprest ; making of Masters and trying of their Handie-wark 
 allanerly. And if any Brethren, or Deakens of Crafts, sail find out, or devyse 
 any good Heids, that may tend to the Weill of their Craft, they sail propone 
 the same to the Magistrates, wha sail set forward an Act or Statute thairupon. 
 
 Commissioners. 
 
 Item. As tuitching the Commissioners in Parliament, General Counsel, and 
 Commissioners in Conventioun of Burrows, it is thought guid be the Commis- 
 sioners, that in all Tymes coming, the ane of the saids Commissioners for the 
 Brugh of Edinburgh, sail be chosen be the said Provost and Baillies, furth of 
 the Number and Calling of the Crafts-men, and that Person to be ane Burgess 
 and Gild-Brother of the Brugh, of the best, expert and wise, and of Honest 
 Conversation.
 
 230 PENNECUIKS HISTORY OF THE 
 
 Auditors. 
 
 Itein. It is agreed, that the Auditors of all the Towns Compts sail hereafter 
 be chosen of equal Number of Merchants and Crafts-men, be the Provest, 
 Baillies, and Counsel. 
 
 Gtldrie. 
 
 Item, Toward the long Controversies for the Gildrie, it is finally, with 
 common Consent appointit, agreit and concludit, That als weill Crafts-men, as 
 Merchants, sail be received and admitted Gild-Brether, and the ane not to be 
 refuisit, or secludit therefrae mair nor the uther, they being burgesses of the 
 Burgh, als meit and qualified thairfore ; and that Gild-Brether have Liberty to 
 use Merchandice. Their Admission, and Tryal of their Qualificatioun, to be in 
 the Power and Hands of the Provest, Baillies, Thesaurer, and Counsel, with the 
 Dean of Gild, and his Counsel, quhilk sail consist in equal Number of Merchants 
 and Crafts-men, Gild-Brether, not exceiding the Number of sex Persons, by 
 the Dean of Gild himself ; and that no Person, of what Faculty soever he be, 
 sail bruik the Benefit of an Gild-Brother, without he be receivit and admittit 
 thereto, as said is. 
 
 Burgesses, Crafts. 
 
 Item. That ua manner of Person be sufFerit to use Merchandise, or occupy 
 the Handie-wark of ane free Crafts-man within this Burgh, or yet to exerce 
 the Liberty and Priviledge of the said Burgh, without he be Burgess and Free- 
 man of the same. 
 
 Extents. 
 
 Item. Because the Merchants and Crafts-men of this Burgh, are now to be 
 Incorporat in ane Society, and to make an haill Town, and an Common-weill, it 
 is thought guid and expedient, and concludit, to abrogat the former Custome of 
 dividing and setting of Extents, wherein the ]\Ierchants payit Four Pairts, and 
 the Crafts the Fift Part. And therefore it is agried, that as they watch and 
 waird together : Swa in all Extents, Emprimits, Contributions, and the like 
 Subsidies to be imposit upon the Brugh, Merchants and Crafts-men to bear the
 
 BLUE BLANKET, OR CRAFTS-MEn's BANNER. 231 
 
 Burden and charge thereof indifferently overheid, according to their Ability and 
 Substance, throw the haill Quarters of the Town, without Division of the Rolls 
 in ]\Ierchants and Craftsmen in any Tyme coming ; the Extentours sail be of 
 equal Number of Merchants and Crafts-men, eight Persons of the ane Calling, 
 and eight Persons of the uther, to be electit sworn and receivit be the Provest 
 Baillies, and Counsel, out of the maist Discreit and Skilful of all the Town, void 
 of all partial Affectioun and Hatred : And that nae Person usand the Trade of 
 Merchant or Crafts-man, and occupyand the friedome of the Brugh, and able to 
 pay any Extent, not beirand the Office of Provest or Baillies in the mean Time, 
 sail be any wayis exemit frae the real and actual Payment thereof. 
 
 COLLECTIOUN. 
 
 Item, As the hail Body of the Town, consistand of Merchants and Crafts- 
 men, does beir an common Burden of Watching, Wairding, Extenting, and of 
 the like Publick Charges, having an Commoun Good proper to nane, swa neidful 
 it is for making an equal Unity, and charitable Concord, that there be in the 
 hail Town but an Collectioun, and an Purse, not peculiar to any, bot common 
 to all, of the haill Duties and Casualities, callit the Entres Silver of Prenteisses, 
 Upsetts, Owkly Pennies, Unlaw, and sicklike, to be collected in all Tyme 
 coming, and received baith of Merchants and Crafts-men, and put in an Com- 
 mon Purse, and to that Effect the ^Merchants to take and have Prentices, als 
 Weill as Crafts-men, and to be astrictit and obliest theirto, and na Prentice 
 alwayes to be received of ather of them, for shorter Tyme nor the Space of fy ve 
 Yeirs compleit. And for the better Knowledge to be had heirof, and for 
 observing an good Ordour in Collectioun of the same, that there be an 
 commoun Book made, keipit be the commoun Clerk of this Brugh present, and to 
 come, wherein the Names of all Prentices to Merchants, and Craftsmen, the 
 Name of their Master, Day of their Entreis, and Space of their Penticeship, sail 
 be insert and bookit : For the quhilk, the Clerk sail have at their Bulking of ilk 
 Person, sex Pennies, and for the Out-draught Twelff Pennies ; quhilk Bulk sail 
 be to the Prentice an sufficient Probation of his Entres, and an Charge to the 
 Collectors of the said Dewties. If any man be an Prenteis heirafter, and not
 
 232 pennecuik's history of the 
 
 put in the said Buik, his Prenteiship sail be to him of na Effect. Alswa, be 
 Reason every Industry is not of like Valour and Substance, it is declarit what 
 ilk Rank or Degree of Prenteisses sail Pay, to wit, the Merchant Prenteis, and 
 sic Kind of People as were wont to extent with them, and are not under an of 
 the said Fourteen Crafts, to pay at his Entres the Day of his Bulking, to the 
 said Collection Thirtie Shilling, and at his Upsett, or End of his Prenteiship 
 fyve Pund. The Prenteis to an Skinner, Chirurgean, Gold-Smyth, Flesher, 
 Cordiner, Tailyeour, Baxter, and Hammer-man, at their Entry and Bulking, to 
 the said Collectioun Twenty Shilling, and for their Upsett fy ve Pund : The 
 Prenteis to an Masoun and Wright, at his Entrie thretteen Shilling four Pennies, 
 and his Up-sett, three Pund sex Shilling eight Pennies. The Prenteis to an 
 Webster, Waker, Bonnet-Maker, Furrier, at his Entry, ten Shilling, and for his 
 Up'Sett fyftie Shilling ; and thir Dewties to be tane by their owkly Pennies, 
 and Dewties of their Burgeships. And to cause all Persons to be mair willing 
 to enter themselfs in Prentiship with the Burgesses and Friemen of the Brugh, 
 this Priviledge is grantit to the saids Prenteises, That they sail pay nae mair for 
 their Burgcship to the Dean of Gild, but fyve Punds by the Dewties foirsaids : 
 And in Augmentatioun of the said Collectioun, when any Persons sail happen to 
 be made Burgesses of this Brugh, wha was na Prenteis to an Merchant, or 
 Craftsman, frie Burgess of the said Brugh, or hes not compleit his Prenteiship, 
 sail pay to the said Collectioun, at his Admission, the double of the haill 
 Prenteis or Entres-Silver, Up-sett and Bulking, by the Dewty paid to the Dean 
 of Gild for his Burgeship, or Gildrie, quhilk is twenty Punds for his Burgeship, 
 and forty Pund for his Gildrie, the Priviledge always of the Bairns of Burgesses 
 and Gild-Brether not being prejudged heirby, quha sail pay the auld and accus- 
 tomed Dewty to the Dean of Gild allanerly. Thir Dewties and CoUectiouns, or 
 Casualities of Entres-Silver, Up-setts, owkly Pennies, Un-laws, and sik-like, to 
 be received in all Times coming, of all Merchants and Crafts-men indifferently 
 put in the said common Purse, and imploit be the Advice and Command of the 
 Provest, Baillies and Counsel, for Support and Relief of the failyiet and decayet 
 Burgesses and Craftsmen, their Wyfes, Bairns, and auld Servants, and uther 
 poor Indwellers of the Town. The Provest, Baillies, Counsel, and hail Deakens 
 every Yeir after Electioun of the Magistrates, sail choose the Collectors of the
 
 BLUE BLANKET, OR CRAFTS-MEN's BANNER. 233 
 
 said Dewties and Casualities, of equal Number of Merchants and Crafts-men, 
 and to devyse and set down sic good Ordour as they sail find meet and 
 expedient for the perfyte and readie In-bringing thereof. And last, the said 
 Collectors sail make yeirly Compts of their Intromissioun therewith, at the 
 Tyme of making of the Town's Compts, and sail find suifficient Cautioun at their 
 Admissioun, for Compt, Reckoning and Payment. Item, It is ordained, that 
 baith the saids Parties, Merchant and Crafts-men now present, and their 
 Successors, sail inviolably observe, keip, and fulfill this present Appointment 
 and Decreit Arbitral, and every Held, Clause, and Article conteinit therein. 
 Likeas, His Majesty, and the saids Judges, wills and ordains them, with willing 
 Hearts, to put in Oblivion all bypast Enormities, imbrace and intertein Love 
 and Amity, and as they are of ane City, swa to be of ane Mind ; then sail they 
 be acceptit of GOD, stop the Mouths of them quhilk tuik Occasion be their 
 Division to slander the Truth ; then sail they be mair able to do our Sovereign 
 Lord acceptable Service, and have ane standing and flourishing Common- Weall. 
 And finally, His Majesty and the saids Judges will esteem their lang Travels 
 fruitfully bestowit. 
 
 Certification of the Sett. 
 
 Attour, His Majesty and the saids Judges, Ordains the Practice and Execution 
 of this present Appointment and Decreet to be and begin after the Day and 
 Date hereof, and to continue, and be observit and kepit as ane perpetual Law 
 in Tyme coming; and whasoever contraveius the samen, sail be repute and 
 halden ane Troubler of the quiet Estate of the Common-weal, incurre the Note 
 of Infamy, and forfault and tyne their Freedome for ever, and otherways to be 
 perse wit and punisht as seditious Persons, conform to the Laws of the Realm, 
 with all Rigor and Extremity ; and ordains thir Presents to be Ratifiet and 
 Approvit in his Highness next Parliament ; and in the mean Tyme, the same 
 to be Actit and Registrat in the Bulks of Counsel and Session, and to have the 
 Strength of Acts and Decreets of the Lords thereof, and that their Authority 
 be interponit thereto, and Letters and Executorials to pass thereupon in Form 
 
 2h
 
 234 PENNECUIKS HISTORY OF THE 
 
 as eflfeirs ; and for acting and registrating of the samen, Makes and constituts 
 M^'^ John Sharp, John Prestoun, Thomas Craig, and John Skeen, our Pro- 
 curators, conjunctly and severally, in uheriore forma Promittendo de rato. 
 In Witness whereof, the saids Judges and Oversman, togidder with the saids 
 Commissioners, in Token of their Consents and Acceptation of the Premisses, 
 has subscrivit thir Presents with their Hands, Day, Year, and Place foresaids. 
 
 James R. &c. 
 
 All the Charters and Donations in favours of the Town of Edinburgh, 
 granted before and since the Union of the Two Crowns of Scotland and 
 England, were confirmed by the succeeding Monarch Charles I. Whose 
 Charter of Confirmation narrates, ' That calling to his Royal Memory, and 
 ' perfectly understanding the many good, notable, and thankful Services 
 ' perform'd by the Magistrates and Inhabitants of Edinburgh, the chief City 
 ' and Burgh of the Ancient Kingdom of Scotland, not only to himself since 
 ' his happy Accession to the Kingdom, but also to his dearest Father of 
 ' Eternal Memory, and his other most Famous Progenitors, the particular and 
 ' notable Expressions whereof, are contained in the ancient Infeftments 
 * granted to them by his Predecessors of Eternal Memory, which remain to 
 ' Posterity as Signs of their Fidelity, and great and egregious Services done 
 ' and performed by them, for the Good and Honour of the Kingdom : There- 
 ' fore, confirmed,' &c. And did grant to the Magistrates of the said Town 
 and Successors, the presenting and nominating of Ministers for serving the 
 Cures in the haill Churches built, or to be built within the said Town, with 
 the Right of patronage of the said haill Kirks in all Time coming. As also 
 confirmed to them the said City, Town- Walls, Ditches, Ports, Streets, Passages, 
 Paths, Lands, Territories, and Community of the same, with the common 
 Lands called the Common Muir, Easter and Wester, and common Mire thereof; 
 together with the South Loch, called the Burrow Loch, and the Loch of the 
 said City called the North Loch, with the Lands of old called the Greenside, 
 with the Leper-house and Yard situate on the same, arable Lands, Banks, 
 and Marishes thereof, for the present occupied by the Lepers of the said 
 House. And granted to the said Burgh the sole Liberty of Merchandice per-
 
 BLUE BLANKET, OR CRAFTS-MEN's BANNER. 235 
 
 taining to a Free Eoyal Burgh, within the Bounds of the Sheriffdom of 
 Edinburgh, and the Privileges of Weekly Markets every Monday, Wednesday, 
 and Friday, or any Three Days of the Week that they shall appoint, with 
 two Yearly Fairs, viz., Hallow-Fair and Trinity-Fair, with the haill small 
 Customs, according to Use and Wont, especially the Sheriff Fee and Sheriff 
 Glaves. And thereby enacted the Village of Leith into a Burgh of Barony, 
 with Power to the Magistrates of Edinburgh to choice Baillies and Officers 
 therein, and making laws for governing thereof. Which Charter is dated at 
 Newmarket, 23d October 1636, and 12th Year of his Reign, before Witnesses, 
 the most Reverend Father in Christ, and his well-beloved Counsellor, John, by 
 the Mercy of GOD, Archbishop of St. Andrews, &c., Primate and Metropolitan 
 of the Kingdom of Scotland, &c., his Chancellor, his well-beloved Cousin and 
 Counsellor, James, Marquess of Hamilton, Earl of Arran and Cambridge, Lord 
 Aven and Innerdale, &c., Thomas, Earl of Haddington, Lord Binning and 
 Byris, Keeper of the Privy Seal ; William, Earl of Stirling, Viscount of 
 Canada, Lord Alexander of Tullibody, &c., his Secretary, his well-beloved 
 familiar Counsellor, Sir John Hay of Barro, Clerk to his Council, Registers, 
 and Rolls ; John Hamiltoun of Orbistoun, Justice-Clerk ; and John Scott of 
 Scotstarvit, Director to his Chancellary, Knights. 
 
 These Charters shew the pious Care and Compassion of our Sovereigns 
 for the Poor ; And here, I were very unjust to our Mother City, as well as to 
 the Memory of that Great, Good Man, George Heriot, Burgess and Gold- 
 smith of Edinburgh, Jeweller to the Two Renown'd Princes, JAMES VL, and 
 this King CHARLES ; if I should forget his pious Mortification to the Poor, 
 and the magnificent Fabrick which he erected for their Hospital, Anno 1627. 
 The Mortifications I have formerly mentioned relating to St. Eloi and St. 
 Mungo's Altars flowed rather from Self-interest than Charity, the Patrons 
 believing, by their Donations, to merit Heaven, as the Charity expresses it 
 (such is the blindness of Popery), and claimed it as purchas'd and paid for : 
 But this Protestant Founder was a Stranger to the uncouth doctrine of Merit. 
 He knew that Salvation is the Gift of GOD thro' CHRIST JESUS ; That 
 good Works are the Fruit and natural Result of Faith ; That rich Men are the 
 Stewards of GOD'S Goodness, the Messengers of His Favours, the Conduit-
 
 236 pennecuik's history of the 
 
 pipes of his Liberality ; and, therefore, in the Statutes of the Hospital, Cajput 
 de Fimdatore Hospitali, Statutes, That on the first Monday of June every 
 year, Thanks be given to GOD in the Gray-Friar's Church, for the charitable 
 ISIaintenance which the Poor maintained in the Hospital, receive by the 
 Bounty of the Founder ; and that the preacher exhort all Men of Ability to 
 follow his Example, to urge the Necessity of good Works for the Testimony of 
 their Faith ; and to clear the Doctrine of our Church from the Reproaches of 
 Adversaries, who give us out to be the Impugners of good Works. 
 
 The Fundamental Institutions of this Hospital were, at the Desire of the 
 Founder, compil'd by the Reverend Doctor "Walter Balcanquhall, Dean of 
 Rochester, who left considerably to it himself. 
 
 If GOD Records Bezaleel and Aholiah, two Goldsmiths and Jewellers, 
 Exod. xxxi. for their curious Workmanship in the Tabernacle, we ought 
 certainly to Record a Goldsmith and Jeweller, who not only excell'd in 
 Architecture, Sculpture, and Engraving ; but Dedicated a Palace, and Prince's 
 Revenues to the LORD, Psal. cxii. 9. " He hath dispersed, he hath given to 
 the Poor, his Righteousness endureth for ever, his Horn shall be exalted with 
 Honour." 
 
 The greatest Part of this stately Edifice is Gothick Work ; but the Frontis- 
 piece is adorn'd with stately Pillars of the Corinthian and Dorick Order, 
 with various Groops of Figures, two of which are very curious, a Company of 
 School Boys, in the Habits appointed by the Founder, under the Ferula of 
 their Preceptors, with this Motto, extending to the Face of the Teachers, Sic 
 vos deus, ut vos eos ; and the other, the Scholars round the Table at Dinner, 
 this Inscription above their Heads, out of the Poet Virgil, Deus nobis hwc otia 
 fecit. Above this, the Arms of the Founder; within the Porch above the 
 Entry, in a Nich, the Statute of the Patron, above his Head this Motto, alluding 
 as well to the Building, as to the Builder : Gorjporis hcec, Anhni est hoc Opus 
 Effigies. 
 
 The Entry of the Chapel beautify'd with Pillars of the Teutonick Order, 
 and a large Bible engraven in Stone, above which is this Inscription. 
 
 Awrijici dederat mihi vis Divina perennem, <b facere in Terris, in Coalo 
 
 (& Ferre
 
 BLUE BLANKET, OR CRAFTS-MEN S BANNER. 237 
 
 Below an artificial Crown, which supplies the Word Coronam, the Sentence 
 being design'd for an ^Enigma. 
 
 Thus far have I trac'd the Loyalty of the Citizens, and shall proceed 
 no further ; but draw a Vail of Silence over the Behaviour of the City of 
 Edinburgh, during the rest of the Reign of this unfortunate Prince. Since, 
 the Crafts hitherto loyal, folded up their Ensign the Banner, or Blue Blanket 
 of the Holy Ghost, when factious Sectaries were triumphant, and Majesty was 
 in Misery, falling a Victim to the Cruelty of then Sectarians, by whose impious 
 Hands he was brought to the Block. 
 
 i s^
 
 WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR. 
 
 RECENTLY PUBLISHED, Price 12s. 6cl. (Crown 4to, 1887). 
 
 The Guildry of Edinburgh: 
 
 Is it ail hicorporation ? 
 
 With Introductory Remarks concerning " Gilds," 
 
 And an Appendix. 
 
 By JAMES COLSTON. 
 
 Edinburgh : Richard Cameron, and other Booksellers. 
 
 OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 
 
 From the "SATURDAY REVIEW." 
 
 The author of this volume has discussed the origin and history of several Scottish gilds or guilds ; but 
 his main object is to prove that tlie Guildry of Edinburgh is a corporate boily. It seems that the Town- 
 Clerk and the Town Cnuncil have persistently denied that the Edinburgh Guild has been properly incor- 
 porated, and Mr Colston is determined to show to the world that it has. As far back as 1817 this 
 highly-interesting question occupied the attention of a Select Committee of the House of Commons for 
 twenty-four sittings, under the chairmanship of Lord Archibald Hamilton, the second son of the ninth 
 Duke of that name. It was made clear to the Committee that the Guildry of Edinburt^h had existed as 
 and was really a corporation, and that the Dean of Guild and his Council had enjoyed the privile>'e of 
 admitting members to the same in perpetual succession — a power of co-optation or election which of itself 
 
 argued the existence of a corporate body. Unluckily the Guild was then at issue with another body 
 
 the Town Council — of which the Dean of Guild was a member. The Town Coimcil, if we may believe 
 the statement made by Lord Cockburn in his Memorials of his own Time, was a packed body, " silent, 
 mysterious, and irresponsible." It had somehow got control of the funds. It allow^ed no free discussion. 
 It was under the rule of the Dean of Guild, who paid no attention to the complaints or remonstrances of 
 his Guild brethren, and stoutly refused to call a meeting to consider any proposals of inquiry and reform. 
 
 The tide of ill-luck still setting against the Guild, the case was given against them by the Lord 
 Ordinary, Cringletie, who came to the conclusion that the term Guildry applied originally to the mer- 
 chants of the whole kingdom, and that those of Edinburgh had never been formed into a Corporation. 
 The judgment, which is given at length, and is termed "Copy, Note, and Interlocutor," does not appear 
 to us lucid or conclusive ; while to crown the series of mischances the case was never carried to the Inner 
 House. Mr Colston quotes an epigram not very favourable to the judicial character of the Lord Ordinary, 
 which may bear reproduction : — 
 
 Necessitie and Cringletie 
 
 Tally to a tittle, 
 
 Necessitie has nae law. 
 
 And Cringletie as little. 
 
 This epigram is attributed to John Clerk, known to Scotch lawyers as Lord Ellin. He was the eldest 
 son of John Clerk of that ilk, and the brother of William Clerk, so often mentioned in Lockhart's Life of 
 Scott. John Clerk, the elder, having a fervent enthusiasm for antiquities, was often played upon by his 
 eldest son, who, having a great turn for art, used, so Lockhart tells us, "to manufacture mutilated lieads, 
 which were buried in the ground," and then, after an accidental discovery, "were received by the Laird 
 as valuable accessories to his museum." The amusing scene in the Antiquary, where Edie Ochiltree 
 ridicules the Praetorium of Oldbuck, had its origin in an incident of this kind at the residence of the Clerk 
 family. 
 
 Several details regarding the Constitution of Scottish Guilds are likely to be more interesting to 
 antiquaries and scholars than the question whether the judicial decision we have referred to was right or
 
 WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR. 
 
 wrono'. Mr Colston finds a Danish origin for the term Gilde or Gild. It means first a feast or banquet, 
 and then, by an easy transition, a guild or corporation. Writers on this subject divide guilds into four 
 
 classes the family, the religious, the mercantile, and the trades. Scotland was behind England in date 
 
 in setting up these societies ; and by common consent the first guild was established, with its statutes, at 
 Berwick^ou-Tweed. Trade by itself never became a guild in Scotland. There was always, if we can 
 credit Mr Colston, a clear distinction between merchants and tradesmen or craftsmen. And it is easy to 
 understand that the relative privileges of these classes led to much acrimonious discussion and to actions 
 at law. At the peace of 1815, after Harry Dundas had ceased to rule political elections and the affairs of 
 Scotland generally with his rod of iron, there were no less than sixty Royal burghs in Scotland, and in 
 each of these the Town Council chose its own successors. It was owing to the aggression and usurpation 
 of this latter body over the Guilds that the privileges of guild brethren fell into abeyance, and that the 
 Lord Ordinary, actmg on imperfect information, ruled them out of existence. 
 
 Some fifty pages of this work are taken up with the Guild disbursements from the year 1554 to the 
 middle of the" last century. Mr Colston was fully justified in printing them in cxtenso. They appear to 
 have been copies of the original accounts which were laid before Lord Archibald Hamilton's Committee. 
 The Dean and his colleagues discharged functions which are now divided between the Guardians of the 
 poor and the members of divers Benevolent Societies. They relieved decayed burgesses, their wives, bairns, 
 and servants, and "uther poor in-dvvellers of the town." There are repeated entries of money, clothes 
 and supplies bestowed on the needy and the sick. Pensions were allotted to the most deserving cases. 
 Funeral charges were defrayed. A preacher of the gospel in the Skinner's HaU received £25 " for several 
 great and weighty reasons" ; an expression which seems to cloak an amiable piece of mild jobbery. One 
 Andrew Sands, who had lately captured a pirate on the high seas, was rewarded with money, and " his 
 offences, which are great, are remitted." This was in 1574. Piracy seems to have been a common offence 
 then, for an embassy or deputation was sent to Queen Elizabeth for remedy and relief. Betty Balingaul 
 was rriven the sum of £18 on condition of her giving no more trouble to the city, and sums were advanced 
 to various individuals to enable them to emigrate to Ireland, London, and even to Virginia. In the 
 matter of James Eoord, merchant, it was very prudently ruled that the sum of £1, 10s. sterling, to defray 
 his expense to London, was not to be paid until he was actually going on board of his ship. The pensions 
 of two women were not unreasonably rescinded ; of one because she married, and the other because she 
 went into hospital. We conclude the extracts by noting the exact sum of £45, 3s. 8d. paid to the surgeons 
 for curing the persons wounded in the "Grass Mercat" on the 14th of April 1736, at the execution of 
 Andrew Wilson. This can only be the occasion when Jock Porteous ordered his men to fire on the mob. 
 And in the very next year we find an entry of £3 paid to " Isoble Gordon, relict of Capt. John Porteous." 
 Readers of Scott and of Lord Stanhope's History of England (vol. ii. p. 298) may remember that, in 
 addition to the above trifling relief, the old cook — for that had been Mrs Porteous's original calling — 
 received the sum of £2000 from a fine imposed on the good city of Edinburgh. An extract from the 
 writings of Lord Kames on the Government of the Royal Burghs closes a volume which does credit to the 
 research, judgment, and industry of the author. 
 
 From the "SCOTSMAN." 
 
 This handsomely appointed volume contains an interesting contribution to that department of literature, 
 the creation of quite modern times, which is made up of works investigating the origin and history of 
 municipal institutions. Only in comparatively recent years has the development of the institutions of free 
 government, apart from the general progress of the State, become a subject of study for others than anti- 
 quarians. Perhaps to Dr Brentano, the learned historian of Guilds and Trade Unions, is due the acknow- 
 ledgment, now general, that light can be shed upon the principles of self-government, and a valuable aid 
 derived in their application to the practical problems of municipal economy from the study of past 
 organisations of craftsmen possessing corporate privileges and peculiar rights as compared with the 
 community at large. Be that as it may, this field of history has of late been extensively and profitably 
 cultivated, and there can be little doubt that such publications as those of the Scottish Burgli Records 
 Society provide material for setting the history of municipal institutions upon a broader basis of fact than 
 that upon which it has hitherto rested. Councillor Colston's work, though similar in subject, and drawing 
 largely upon such sources of information, is of a different kind. It is rather an argument on a set thesis 
 than a historical essay. But the proofs adduced in the course of his discussion, and more particularly 
 the documents printed in his copious Appendix, have a direct bearing upon the municipal history of Edin- 
 burgh, and for this reason the book will be set upon the shelf alongside of the works belonging to the class 
 referred to.
 
 OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 
 
 The author explains the nature of the work in describing the circumstances which led to its produc- 
 tion. He says : — "The farce annually acted by the Town-Clerk of recording in the minutes of the T(;wn 
 Council that 'there was no incorporation of the Guildry' seemed to be so unnecessary, and so unlikely to 
 lead to any good result, that I thought it might be interesting to the Members of the Council, and the 
 public generally, to have placed before them information on the subject in a handy form." He accord- 
 ingly addresses himself to the discu-^sion of the question stated on his title page. But before doing so, he 
 sketches in an introductory chapter the history of Gilds upnn the Continent, and in this country, from 
 their origin as family gilds down to the form of municipalities, which they have assumed in modern 
 times. These preliminary observations review in broad and general terms the progress of the principles 
 of free, popular, civic administration from the infancy of society to the present day. The work then pro- 
 ceeds to deal with the municipal history of this city. After discussing the evidence as to the original 
 incorporation of the burgh, and explaining its early constitution, it goes on to consider its special subject, 
 the position of the Guildry as a body independent of the municipality and possessing a separate identity. 
 It is sliown tliat the Guildry of Edinburgli originally possessed privileges and exercised functions which 
 are usually characteristic of a corporation. The precise nature of the Guildry after the sixteenth century, 
 however, seems to be lost in obscurity. When in the early part of this present century the question of its 
 constitution and privileges became matter of legal judgment and inquiry by a Special Committee of 
 Parliament, the Court decided against its right to the enjoyment of the privileges it claimed, while the 
 Committee reported in terms inconclusive of the issue raised in these pages. Councillor Colston inter- 
 prets the Committee's report as favouring the claims of the Guildry, and goes on to say : — 
 
 " We need not say that with so divergent opinions as were at that time propounded in Parliament on 
 the one hand, and the Outer House of the Court of Session in Scotland on the other, it becomes us at 
 once to pause and say — 
 
 Look here upon this picture and on this. 
 
 We have no hesitation whatever in accepting the former, and rejecting the latter. The former was based 
 on a full inquiry, not only in reference to the affairs of Edinburgh and its Guildry, but also after a minute 
 investigation into those of Aberdeen, Dundee, and Dunfermline. The latter can only be described as a 
 hash of special historic or legal extracts, culled at random, ' fearfully and wonderfully ' intermixed with a 
 large amount of judicial imagination. It reminds us very much of the statement of the Irishman, who 
 undertook to prove from the New Testament that suicide got encouragement from the sacred canon. 
 When called upon for his proof, it was as follows : — (1 ) Have you not seen in one place that ' Judas went 
 and hanged himself ? ' and (2) Have you not seen in another place—' Go, thou, and do likewise ? ' Sub- 
 sequent investigation into the Burgh Records has only tended to strengthen the soundness of the judgment 
 of Conmiittee, while the decision of Lord Cringletie has been found to be inaccurate in history, in anti- 
 quarian research, as well as in good logic and in good law." 
 
 Accordingly, Councillor Colston does not hesitate to give an affirmative answer to the question pro- 
 pounded by him at the outset of the discussion. Doubts will still exist, however, as to whether he has 
 proved his case. But he has supported it by an argument forcibly stated and based upon a study of recon- 
 dite authorities. Apart from his considerations on the main question, his pages contain many mterestmg 
 passages of comment on the state of the Town Council at various periods of its history. In the large 
 Appendix at the end of the work are printed the Laws of the Guild of Berwick, with a translation mto 
 English ; selections from the Guildry Records of Aberdeen ; and a long series of extracts from the 
 accounts of the Dean of Guild of Edinburgh. These documents increase the value of the work, and will 
 commend it to the attention of all students of municipal economy. 
 
 From the " SCOTTISH LEADER." 
 
 In the preface to this volume, Mr Colston explains that he was induced to undertake the investigations 
 of which it embodies the result, by what he rather sharply stigmatises as " the farce annually acted 
 by the Town-Clerk " of Edinburgh in pioLesting, when the Lord Dean of Guild takes his seat m the 
 Town Council, on the ground that there is no incorporation of the Guildry, and making a record to that 
 effect in the minutes of the Council. In one sense, no doubt, the protest is a farce because the Lord 
 Dean of Guild is never deterred by it from exercising all the privileges and powers of a member of the 
 Council. But though the action of the Town-Clerk thus has no practical effect, we are not sure that there 
 is any particular reason for desiring that it should be discontinued. It is a kind of annual memento o a 
 municipal dispute, which is of some importance in the local annals o Edinburgh ^ha it is not « lolly 
 unproductive of results, Mr Colston's volume is itself a tangible proo because wihout the To^^r.-Ck k s 
 protest we should not have had the book. Eurthermore, while we think Mr Colston has at all e^ents 
 
 2i
 
 WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR, ETC. 
 
 succeeded in amassing a strong body of testimony in support of his contention that the Guildry is not 
 only a corporation, but was incorporated long before the Tovvai Council itself, he also shows that there has 
 been a difference of legal opinion on the subject, and that there is actually a judicial decision — probably 
 not worth much, but never actually reversed — on the other side ; and since this is the case, the Town- 
 Clerk has some show of reason for the contention that his annual protest is a matter of simple official duty. 
 The real question at issue, as our readers will probably be aware, is not whether the Lord Dean of 
 Guild has a right to a seat in the Council — this he enjoys by prescription— but whether or not he has a 
 right to take that seat without going through the form of election by the Council. In this is, of course, 
 involved the question whether there exists an incorporation of the Guildry— a body which legally, as well 
 as by sufferance or usage, can give to its elected head, the Lord Dean of Guild, the official status he 
 actually enjoys ? In the researches he has made for the settlement of this point, Mr Colston has been 
 led into a line of general inquiry as to the history and position of GuiLJs throughout Great Britain and 
 Europe, of which he sums up the fruits in some " Introductory Remarks concerning Gilds." The 
 subject is one that has engaged the attention of antiquarians and archaeologists for a long time, and it 
 cannot be affirmed that our author throws any new light upon it ; but he brings together within small 
 compass a great number of facts collected from divers sources not ordinarily accessible, and traces very 
 clearly the circumstances of origin of the Mercantile Gilds, the manner in which they assumed the 
 responsibilities of municipal Government, and the rise of the Crafts' Guilds in opposition to their exclusive 
 pretensions. He observes that " the Berwick Gild Statutes are, by common consent, admitted to he the 
 foundation on which civic government in the Royal Burghs of Scotland mainly rested." Coming to the 
 special subject of his work, he cites documents to show that prior to 1469 the Magistracy and Common 
 Council of Edinburgh were practically identical with the governing body of the Gild as defined by the 
 Berwick Statutes. In the year mentioned, however, the Scottish Parliament, " at the instance of the 
 nobility," passed an Act practically destroying freedom of election on the part of the community, for it 
 " provided that no officer or Council should continue longer than one year, and it further enacted that the 
 old Council should choose the new ; and that the new and the old Coinicil together, together with the 
 deacons of crafts, should annually choose all officers pertaining to the town." Meantime, those engaged 
 in the various branches of commerce and crafts in Edinburgh were incorporated by different charters, 
 and an Act of the Scottish Parliament of 1593 confirmed the jurisdiction of the Dean of Guild ; while 
 the Golden Charter, granted by King James VI. to the City of Edinburgh in 1603, sets forth that "we 
 are for ever to have, enjoy, and possess, in the aforesaid town and liberties, a Mercantile Gild, with its 
 court, council, members, jurisdictions, liberties, and privileges belonging to the same ; and in all 
 things as freely as is granted by us and our predecessors to the aforesaid town, or to any other royal free 
 burgh within our kingdom." This Golden Charter, as Mr Colston mentions, confirms twenty-four 
 previous charters. Here, surely, there is a distinct incorporation of the Guildry ; and that it preceded 
 the Town Council as the municipal authority, was formally acknowledged by that body itself in 1778, for, 
 in an " answer " given in the course of an action in the Court of Session, it was explicitly stated that 
 " the Town Council of Edinburgh originally consisted of the Magistrates and Merchants of the Guildry." 
 In 1584, however, the Town Council asserted the right of electing the Dean of Guild and his court, and 
 this was ratified by an Act of the Scottish Parliament in 1593 ; while the Council also acquired the control 
 of the Guildry funds. For more than two hundred years everything like free municipal institutions 
 remained extinct in Scotland, and in Edinburgh, as elsewhere, the Town Council was a self-elected close 
 corporation. In 1817, however, the question as to whether there was not an independent incorporation of 
 the Guildry began to be strongly agitated among the more liberal-minded of the merchant guild brethren 
 of the city. Mr Alexander Henderson, at that time Lord Dean of Guild, made common cause with the 
 Town Council against the agitators. Lord Archibald Hamilton's Committee of the House of Commons 
 reported in 1819, after careful inquiry, that there was " abundant evidence of the original existence of the 
 Guildry of Edinburgh as a corporation," and that it still possessed jjowers which the committee could not 
 suppose to exist save in a corporation. But an action was raised in the Court of Session to determine the 
 relative position of the Guildry and the corporation, and a decision was given in favour of the latter by 
 
 the Lord Ordinary (Cringletie), while the case was unfortunately never carried to the Inner House 
 
 Whether Lord Cringletie's decision was right or wrong, however, the fact remains that there is a judicial 
 award in sujiport of the attitude now taken up 1)y our Town-Clerk, and none on the other side. But the 
 Municiiml Reform Act of 1833 gave back to the members of the Guildry the right to elect their own 
 Dean — a claim of which they had been deprived since 1594 ; and thereby it practically admitted their 
 right to be regarded as an incorporation. Mr Colston's contention is that " the Common Council and 
 its popularly elective constitution flowed out of the Statuta Gildie. For the T(nvn Council, therefore 
 to deny the Guildry as having a corporate existence, is like the son lawfully begotten to deny his own 
 paternity ; " and on the whole, he seems to have fairly proved his case.
 
 THE 
 
 Edinburgh and District Water Supply: 
 A Historical Sketch. 
 
 By JAMES COLSTON. 
 
 Printed for Private Circulation at the request of the EDINBURGH AND District 
 Water Trustees. (Crown 4to, 1890.) 
 
 From the " SCOTSMAN," April 28, 1890. 
 
 Than the historian of the Royal High School, no better selection could well have been made to write 
 the history of the Edinburgh Water Supply from the earliest times to the present date. The author 
 has long been identified with the municipal life of the city, and is thus familiar with every phase 
 of its modern affairs ; while his interest in remoter, if perhaps more romantic, events associated with 
 the history of Edinburgh has been shown from time to time, as the fruit of antiquarian researches, 
 by valuable contributions to these columns. It was in the Scotsman, too, that the more historical 
 portion of the present handsome volume first appeared, Councillor Colston explaining that his object 
 in so publishing it " was to get the benefit of a wide criticism, wherein I might find information, 
 which I did not at the time possess, for the perfecting of my work. In this I have not been disap- 
 pointed." With comparatively little official data available bearing upon the earlier history of the 
 water supply, Councillor Colston has been compelled to turn to the history of the period, as it could 
 be gathered from the newspapers of the day, from Parliamentary papers on the subject, and from 
 pamphlets and reports published from time to time. That he has been eminently successful in giving 
 a "bird's-eye view" of the actual state of society and of the water supply, as he has thus been able 
 to gather them from such sources or from the memory of persons who could recount the difficulties 
 and hardships experienced by the householders, at a time when the supply was quite inade(]uate 
 to the necessities of the population, will be frankly acknowledged by all who have the good fortune 
 to become possessed of one of the four hundred copies to which the " impression " of this finely 
 got-up work is limited. Water, like figures, is not a subject that lends itself to fascinating writing ; 
 but, nevertheless, in sketching its somewliat eventful history in Edinburgh, Councillor Colston has con- 
 trived to make it alike attractive and interesting. He begins by tracing the history of the water supply 
 from the time of public or private pump-wells ; recalling the fact, incredible though it may appear in 
 these days, that a proposal was once actually made to have recourse to Duddingston Loch ; and mention- 
 ing that it was in 1672 the Town Council first resolved to bring into the city a good water supply from a 
 distance. This was obtained from the Comiston springs. With the growth of the city these springs be- 
 came insufficient for the requirements of the population — especially during the great drought of 1755 — and 
 the Lord Provost and Magistrates next acquired (after much legal contention) springs originating on the 
 estate of Swanston, from which, we are told, " the water was conducted into the city by means of wooden 
 pipes, pieces of which have of late frequently turned up in the process of excavation in several districts of 
 Edinburgh." These wooden pipes. Councillor Colston explains, were removed in 1790, when 7-inch iron 
 pipes took their place, and still exist. In 1789 the Bonaly springs were added to the supply, and two 
 reservoirs were formed. But, with the introduction of the Crawley water (first mooted as the result of 
 the alarming scarcity of water in the autumn of ISIO), the Bonaly springs were abandoned, though the 
 reservoirs were afterwards reconstructed as one reservoir, and now form part of the existing water supply. 
 As is well known, the introduction of the Crawley water was due to the incorporation of the Edinburgh 
 Joint-Stock Water Company. The circumstances of that Company's formation, the unlooked-for diffi- 
 culties it encountered in carrying out one of the most important gravitation works of the period, and the 
 immense relief afforded to the citizens by the introduction of this fresh supply of water, are all succinctly 
 narrated. At the time of the introduction of the Crawley springs, it was thought the supply thus ob- 
 tained would be suSicient for "several generations ;" but many years did not elapse before the cry was 
 anew raised for more water. What followed upon this renewed agitation— how the Water Company
 
 6 WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR. 
 
 came to be superseded by the Edinburgh and District "Water Trustees ; how the latter hastily and heed- 
 lessly embarked on the St Mary's Loch project ; how that scheme was defeated after one of the bitterest 
 and keenest local and Parliamentary contests of modern times ; and how the Moorfoot Water Works came 
 into existence, is sketched with as much candour and impartiality as is almost possible by a writer of 
 contemporary history, with which he has himself, to some extent, been prominently identified. Councillor 
 Colston, in summing up the results of his research and labour of love, says : — 
 
 "The practical outcome of the operations of the Trustees has been that, in this year of grace, the 
 domestic water rate is three-halfpence cheaper than it was during the Water Company's term of office, and 
 the trade rate has been reduced one-third, while there has never been any general complaint on the part of 
 the community, such as frequently occurred in former days— that the water supply was inadequate. The 
 Water Trustees were at all times ready to help the neighbouring districts with a good wholesome water 
 supply on the lowest possible terms. The Tmst acted on the principle of good old George Heriot— ' I dis- 
 tribute cheerfully.' The advantages of the increased water supply which the inhabitants of Edinburgh, 
 Leith. and Portobello now enjoy have been shared in by nearly all the towns and villages and hamlets, as 
 well as mansion-houses and farm-houses, in proximity to Edinburgh and the surrounding districts. . . ._ • 
 Fortunately for us in the present day, it may be truly remarked that the ' lines have fallen unto us in 
 pleasant places.' And whatever may be said of our supply of bread, we may feel the utmost confidence 
 that at least ' Our water shall be sure.' " 
 
 Well and wisely as Councillor Colston has done his work — for he has not only written it judiciously, 
 but printed it admirably— the value of the volume is greatly enlianced by a series of exquisite etchings 
 and wood-engravings illustrative of the letterpress, the list of etchings including Lord Provost Boyd (in 
 his robes of office) and other (present or late) well-known members of the Trust, together with those of 
 deceased eno-ineers who have had to do with the introduction of the more notable of our water schemes. 
 
 From tlie "SCOTTISH LEADER," April 29, 1890. 
 
 Councillor Colston, like a certain well-known figure of modern comedy, "has his faults ; " but never- 
 theless he has done yeoman service for Edinburgli in more tlum one department, and has fully established 
 his ri^ht to a place, and not a low place, on the roll of the city worthies. It may be doubted whether, 
 since Mr Duncan M'Laren is dead, there is any other citizen of Edinburgh who possesses so intimate a 
 knowledge as Mr Colston of our municipal history, or of the details of municipal business, during the past 
 quarter of a century ; and he has always displayed a commendable willingness to place his knowledge and 
 experience at the service of his fellow-townsmen. The historical sketch of the Edinburgh and District 
 Water Supply which he has just prepared at the request of the trustees is by no means his only contri- 
 bution to thu local annals, but it is in some respects the most important and interesting, and tlie hand 
 some volume in which it is embodied will, unless we are greatly mistaken, come in course of time to have 
 much value in the ej'es of book-collectors. Just at present, however, the worth of the work is mainly 
 practical and utilitarian. The question of the water supply of the district, which has at brief intervals 
 agitated the community for more than two centuries, and which has been the cause of more than one of 
 the bitterest conflicts that ever convulsed the city, is likely before very long to come again to the front. 
 In these circumstances it is well that the public should be furnished with the means of taking a compre- 
 hensive view of the whole subject, and of understanding how and why there arose the dissensions — 
 between citizens who may all be credited with a desire to promote the welfare of the whole community — 
 which have been so costly to Edinburgh in the past. Such means are supplied in Councillor Colston's 
 volume, for it gives a straightforward narrative of every effort made to improve the local water supply 
 for more than four hundred years past. The tone and spirit of the book are entirely praiseworthy. The 
 author, it is notorious, can be on occasion a keen partisan, but no trace of his partisanship is discernible 
 in his pages, even when he is dealing with that angriest of all the water ctrnflicts, the battle over the St 
 Mary's Loch scheme. 
 
 From its earliest existence down to the close of the sixteenth century, Edinburgh was exclusively 
 dependent for its water on street and private wells within the city limits, and the supply from these 
 sources was both insufficient, as the city increased in po|)ulation, and also inevitably became impure. In 
 1598, the Magistrates sought to relieve the dearth by bringing the waters of the South Loch — which 
 occupied the area now covered by the East and West Meadows — to various places within the walls. But 
 this expedient was merely temporary and wholly insufficient, and in 1621 the Town Council obtained 
 powers from the Scots Parliament to bring in "sweet waters from tlie country." These powers were not, 
 however, acted upon until 1072, when the water of tlie Comiston springs was introduced in leaden pipes,
 
 OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 
 
 and conveyed to five cisterns or wells in different parts of the High Street. In the early years of the 
 eighteenth century further works were executed for increasing the supply from Comiston, under the 
 superintendence of a French engineer named Desagulier and a German contractor named Covey. These 
 works were completed in 1720, and for more than forty years the inhabitants had to be content with the 
 amount of water they provided, though it became increasingly insuificient for their requirements, and the 
 direct supply of water into private houses by service pipes was not dreamt of till many years later. In 
 1760, after a good deal of litigation with Mr Trotter of Mortonhall, the proprietor, the water of the 
 Swanston springs was brought into the city in wooden pipes, but they only went a very little way in 
 supplementing the existing supply. In 1785 another Act of Parliament was obtained, and two reservoirs 
 constructed at Bonaly. Afterwards they were abandoned, but subsequently converted into a single 
 reservoir, which forms part of the existing system. Twenty years later, the water-famine had once more 
 become of almost annual recurrence, and as the citizens placed no confidence in the unreformed and self- 
 elected Town Council — one of the closest and most corrupt of close corporations — they formed a Joint- 
 Stock Water Company, acquired for a substantial consideration the works and plant of the municipality, 
 and themselves brought in the waters of the Crawley springs, which had been found after research to be 
 the best and largest available supply within what was then considered a reasonable distance. 
 
 The benefits conferred on Edinburgh by the undertaking of the Water Company were very real and 
 substantial, but the rapid growth of the city soon made the service inadequate to the needs of the 
 inhabitants. Then followed a prolonged period of strife, in and out of Parliament, during which the 
 company obtained repeated enlargements of its powers for the extension of its undertaking, and had to 
 encounter the rivalry of dissatisfied citizens who were anxious for a still larger water supply, and also 
 complained of the charges and policy of the company which had entire command of tiie field. Into the 
 details of these struggles — minutely enough related by Councillor Colston — it is unnecessary here to 
 enter, because the Water Company and its privileges have long been things of the past. The sweeping 
 reform of the municipal corporations in 1835 had made the Edinburgh Town Council at last really 
 representative of the inhabitants, and watchful over their interests ; and a feeling began to manifest 
 itself that the important function of supplying the city and district with water should be in the hands of 
 a public body. This feeling became intensified through the failure of the company to adopt a bold and 
 liberal policy, and the disposition it showed to rely more on the restriction of waste and the strict 
 regulation of consumption than on the utilisation of new sources for the maintenance of an adequate 
 service. After some preliminary sparring, a Joint Committee of the Town Councils of Edinburgh, Leith, 
 and Portobello was formed in 1868, with a view of instituting a thorough inquiry into the whole subject. 
 A report, prepared by Mr J. W. Stewart, C.E., on the instruction of this joint-committee, contained the 
 first mention of St Mary's Loch as a possible Fource of an inexhaustible water supply. In the following 
 year a Parliamentary struggle ended in the formation of the Edinburgh and District Water Trust, and 
 the transfer to that body of the undertakings and powers of the Water Company ; and in 1870 the Trust 
 began their preparations for getting Parliamentary sanction to the St Mary's Loch scheme. The struggle 
 that followed belongs to recent, if not contemporary, history. It is related by Councillor Colston with 
 commendable impartiality ; but his narrative establishes, we think, two facts— that the opposition to the 
 scheme was based on inadequate, and to some extent on fictitious grounds, and ought not to have 
 succeeded ; and that it would have been far better for the people of Edinburgh and the surrounding 
 district if this comprehensive project had been adopted. What is now evident is, that no more water can 
 be obtained from the Pentlands ; that the supply from the Moorfoots is also fully ab-^orbed ; and that, 
 unless the Trust are prepared, in the face of a rapidly increasing population dependent on their under- 
 takings, to confront the possibility of a water dearth in any dry season, they will soon be compelled to 
 devise means for an enlargement of their system. The question which the citizens of Edinburgh wdl ere 
 long have to consider is, whether they will give or refuse their sanction to a scheme that would ensure an 
 abmidant water supply to the district for many generations at least. The party who brought about the 
 defeat of the St Mary's Loch Bill are again showing some signs of activity- doubtless nioved by 
 unwillingness to recognise, or allow the community to recognise, the magnitude of the blunder they made 
 in 1871.° They are advocating a repetition of the short-sighted policy pursued by the old Water Company 
 in endeavouring to buttress an insufficient service by rigid economy of distribution and consumption. It 
 is sincerely to be hoped that, when the issue is next raised, the ratepayers wdl not agam allow theiiise ves 
 to be misled or befooled. Meanwhile, the study of Councillor Colston's volume may he recommended to 
 citizens of every shade of opinion, as well as to those who have not yet formed any opunon at all. It is 
 not, as we have said, the work of a partisan ; but it brings all the essential facts of the case into reason- 
 able compass, and presents them in a very readable form.
 
 WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR. 
 
 From the " GLASGOW HERALD," May 10, 1890. 
 
 Requested more than two years since by the District Water Trustees to write a history of the water 
 supplies of Edinburgh, from the earliest times, ex-Bailie Colston has just sent out the result of his 
 labours iu the form of a privately printed quarto volume, not more to be commended for its outside and 
 textual magnificence than for the completeness of its details and the orderly informing manner in which 
 they are submitted to the reader. Fulness, if not perfection, was to be expected, since no one knows 
 the subject better than the ex-Bailie, or took a keener interest in the somewhat bitter strife regarding 
 the more recent supplies or proposed supplies from the Pentlands and Moorfoots, from Crosswood and 
 St Mary's Loch. Before drawing the attention of our readers to the main contents of the 
 book, it may be as well to state at once briefly that the duty of providing water, which was in 
 the hands of the Corporation down to the year 1819, was then by Act of Parliament transferred 
 to the Edinburgh Water Company, a joint-stock undertaking, which at that time received the 
 support and co-operation of the leading citizens of Edinburgh. This continued till 1869, when a public 
 Water Trust was created, which took over all the assets, powers, and privileges of the company.^ 
 It thus came about that the primitive supply of Provost Drummond's time by men and women "caddies" 
 gave place to something like a regular domestic indoor supply. Long as the leap is between King 
 Hezekiah's watercourse of Gihon and the utilisation of Crawley streams, Mr Colston never flinches in 
 his curious and often interesting history of early water supplies in eastern as well as western countri.-s. 
 But probably the most attractive portion for readers on of as well as within Edinburgh will be the transi- 
 tion period between the origin of the " caddie " and the beginning of sujjply by gravitation. From Mr 
 Colston's narrative it may be readily gathered that towards the close of last century, Edinburgh, then 
 rapidly extending in the New Town through the erection of the North Bridge, had to bear with much 
 suffering from a" deficient water supply. The chief sources were some half-a-dozen public wells— the 
 Cross, the Netherbow or Fountain, otherwise known as The Well ; Carrubber's Close, and foot of Canon- 
 gate. ' These supplied the city from west to east. For north and south residents depended on the wells 
 at the West Bow, the Cowgate, Potter Bow, and the Calton, The supply unhappily was at all times 
 intermittent and never abundant. When water, it is said, was expected, persons of all ages, men and 
 women, boys and girls, had to take up their position in rotation, the rule of the water-line being that, 
 with the exception of the water carriers or "caddies," the supply should be taken strictly in the order in 
 which their respective vessels were placed. An array of vessels might be seen extending in a line for 
 many hundreds of yards from the well. Domestic utensils of all kinds were in use, but the favourite 
 was the wooden " stoup," circular, broad at the bottom, and about twenty-four inches high, a wooden 
 handle, and girded by four iron hoops. With a pair of these and a " girr" round the person to prevent 
 spilling, the "water-carrier or domestic servant felt their outfit complete. Nor does Mr Colston fail 
 to record that wht-n wedding presents \vere not so common or costly as now, a pair of water stoups 
 was frequently given by the groomsman to the bride, and the process of " weetting the stoups " was 
 reckcmed to be the last act performed by the bridegroom at a farewell meeting with his bachelor 
 friends. With modern competing schemes and Parliamentary proceedings connected therewith our 
 space will not permit us to deal, filling as they ought to do a very large portion of Mr Colston's admirable 
 volume. But it may be worth while just mentioning that in the present year the domestic water 
 rate levied by the Trustees is three-halfpence less than it was during the Water Company's terms of 
 office ; the trade rate has been reduced a third, while no complaint is made of deficient supply. _Mr 
 Colston's beiutiful and very deserving volume is profusely illustrated by excellent hologlyphic drawings 
 of Corpuriition dignitaries, engineers, and localities associated with the Edinburgh and District Water 
 Supply. There are also several character sketches by George Hay and the hiimitable Geikie. 
 
 From the " SCOTS (now NATIONAL) OBSERVER," May 17, 1890. 
 
 The historiographer of the Edinburgh water supply traces back its annals to the time wlien good King 
 Hezekiah made a pool and a conduit, and brought water straight down to the City of David. He does 
 not appear to be aware of the circumstance that about the time when he began gathering his material 
 some Hebrew boys, while bathing in the Pool of Siloam, discovered the inscription recording the comple- 
 tion of the original .Jerusalem gravitation water supply. For ages after Hezekiah the duty of the local 
 authority of pioviding an ample supply of wholesome water, and by consequence the practice of bathing
 
 OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 
 
 and washing among the inhabitants, were sadly neglected, hoth in Jerusalem atul in Edinburgh ; and 
 cleanliness was esteemed in inverse ratio to godliness. In the latter city the first awakening of tlic'civic 
 rulers to the need of supjilementing the town wells and the South Loch from outside sources seems to have 
 been in 1621, when the magistrates obtained from the Scottish Parliament powers to bring in swett waters 
 from the country, and to cast "sheuchs and ditches" for conveying it through the intervening lands ; and, 
 havmg got their powers, they waited for fifty-one years before beginning to jmt them into execution. It 
 was a half-century in which the clash of cold steel and the babble of discordant tongues were more in the 
 ears and thoughts of Edinburgh citizens than the murmur of cleansing waters. The one project to which 
 it gave birth seems to have been a scheme for drawing the city water from Duddingston Loch. 
 
 _ The beginning of improvement may be said to date from the tapping of the Comistou sweet-water 
 springs for the use of the town. Almost unknown to itself, Edinburgh continues to this day to refresh 
 itself from the " Tod's Well " and the " Owl," the " Lapwing " and the " Hare " springs. The original 
 credit of the idea belongs to "Mr John Sinclare, schoolmaster at Leith," the author of Sata7i's Invlxilde 
 World Discovered, who would seem to have invoked mystical as well as mathematical knowledge in dis- 
 covering the " well-spring of happiness to the good town," and in setting on foot a work whicli, as he 
 truly prophesied, " will be extant among the annals and chronicles of the city, of things df)ne from year to 
 year to all generations, which is the glory also of succeeding magistrates." He died, "leaving nothing 
 but an honest name." With the aid of a bribe of the best silk gown that could be bought for a Lady of 
 Comiston, who appears to have held successive lairds in thrall, the Corporation, fifty years later, sup|)le- 
 mented its supply from the same quarter. Covey, a German, was the contractor, and the Lord Provost 
 and Council and prominent citizens of the day assembled at the reservoir on the Castle Hill to see him, as 
 master of ceremonies, turn on the new supply. He opened the valve, but no water came. Mounting a 
 fleet horse, he rode to the fountain-head, and finding there no explanation of the mystery, the uuhapjiy man 
 turned rein and fled to Berwick. The hydraulic science of the day had not discovered that in a pipe with 
 undulations air accumulates, and may temporarily imjjede the flow of water. 
 
 Leaping with Councillor Colston another chasm of forty years, we come to 1760, and the introduction 
 of the water from the Swanston spi-ings in rough wooden pipes, which are still from time to time exhumed 
 in and around the city. A hundred years ago the Bonaly springs were collected and added to the draught 
 of cold water which the city drew from the Pentlands. For the next thirty years the national energies 
 were absorbed in the work of foreign fighting, and sanitary progress was paralysed by the burden of 
 taxation and the corruption of unreformed corporations. All the while the thirst of the Scottish capital 
 and the need of purifying the local bodies, in the literal and in the figurative sense, increased w-ith the 
 population. In 1819, nearly two centuries after the date when the town first looked up towards the hills 
 outside for aid, the water management was taken over from the Council by an incorporated compan)', 
 which straightway set about bringing in a supply that was sujjposed at the time to be sufficient for an 
 indefinite period to come, by laying hands on the abundant Crawley springs in the Glencorse valley. 
 
 This epoch may be regarded as the end of the ancient and the beginning of the modern history of 
 the Edinburgh water supply. Though neither drought nor corruption came suddenly to an end — though 
 both of them are still possibly liable to return — the Crawley water washed away the venerable occupation 
 of the "water-caddie." There are old residenters who remember the water-carriers waiting with stoups 
 and barrels in a long queue beside the West Bow and other public wells, and the tottering limbs and 
 strident voices of the " caddies," male and female, as they staggered up the long stairs with the family 
 supplies of the precious liquid. All of them went careering down the stream of time tow^ards oblivion 
 when the new tap was turned on behind the first fold of the Pentlands ; and " stoup and gird " and 
 bilged water-keg are as much antiquities as Hezekiah's cistern. But it is a law of modern human nature 
 that the more water people have the more they want. The Water Company had interests of their own 
 that did not always jump on all-fours with the interests of the public. They were tardy in meeting the 
 demand for more to drink, in which Edinburgh was now joined by Leith and the neighbouring towns. 
 They scoured the Pentland Hills in quest of fresh springs and drainage basins, and brought in successively 
 the waters of Bavelaw and Listonshiels, of Harperrig and Colzium. But it was always on compu^ion and 
 in answer to loud outcry and complaint : and the ingenuity of their manager was partly expended in 
 devising a movable "constriction " m the water pipes limiting the freedom of the flow, which some day 
 may find its proper place among ancient instruments of torture. 
 
 With the stormy times of the formation of the Water Trust and the promotion of the St Mary's Loch 
 scheme, Mr Colston plunges into " contemporary history ; " and there comes upon his pen the .>-tress^ of 
 his self-appointed task of "holding the balance as equally as possible between contending parties"— 
 admittedly a difficult thing when the writer himself has been in the thickest of the fray. It must be said 
 for the Water Trust historian that his pages bear testimony of a striving to be fair, and more, perh.aps, 
 ought not to be expected of man. But in telling the story of furious battles carried from the hill-tops to
 
 10 WORKS BY THE 5A3IE ATTHOK, ETC. 
 
 the C-oanc'-l Chaitber, from the Council Chamber to the Parliamentarr Committee-rooins, and from Parlia- 
 m^t to the law courts, there surges up now and then a certain bitter something that gives at least a 
 coloor and a flavour of its own to what might have been an insipid record of the promotion of rival water 
 schemes. Xot all the multitudinous sjHings of Pendand, or all the impotmded waters of Moorfoot, can 
 wash away the hankering in the minds of certain old "Water Trustees to " fesh in the Loch," or can drown 
 the minsled loathing and ra^e which seizes them at the mention of the redoubtable water-flea — the 
 Daphnia Pules — ^that, by devouring their scheme, savei half a mfllion of money to the ratepayers. The 
 prosress of the city during the last thirty years in the use and enjoyment of a water supply is set forth 
 by Councillor Cotton in a table which shows that while the population provided for has increased by 
 12-3,500, the supplv for domestic purp>o;es has risen from 20'4 to 25 '3 gallons per head a day. and the 
 quantity employed for trade and sanitary purposes from SS2,i'00 gallons to 4,600,000 gallons. The water 
 revenue has nearly doubled, the domestic water-rate hiis been lowered three-halfpence per £1, and the 
 trade rate has been reduced to one-third of what it was in 1S70-71. Also the capital liabilities have been 
 doubled. There will be water quarrels, as there have been ever since the days when the herdsmen of 
 Gerar fought with the herdsmen of I?aac over their respective water rights : there wiU be blunders, and 
 there may be "pickings" and intrigues. But the citizens, with ilr Colston's history before them, may 
 see reason to congratulate themselves that retrospect and prospect are not worse than they are. 
 
 COLSTOX A>'D CuMPAXr, PKISTERS, EDIXBL'RGH.
 
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