Ordnance gazetteer of Scotland

EDINBURGH
realm of Deira, and extended his power over the Lothians
as far at least as the Avon. The Castle and town — the
latter, according to Simeon of Durham, being about 854
only a considerable village, on the eastern slope of the
hill — next became a possession of the Celtic kings in the
reign of Indulph (945-961), and was then called Dun-Udin,
either 'the face of a hill,' or the 'strength of Edwin.'
The name given to the Castle and the town, however,
by King Edwine proved to be the one by which it was
ever afterwards fated to be known, though it was not
till about the middle of the fifteenth century that it
came to be recognised as the capital city, being long
considered too near the English border to be a place of
safety. In 1093, on the death of Malcolm Ceannmor,
Edinburgh became the place of refuge of Queen Margaret
and her children, who were here besieged by Malcolm's
brother, Donald Bane, who claimed the throne. Mar-
garet, indeed, died in the Castle, and while the siege —
or rather blockade, for the gates only were watched —
lasted, those within, 'taught of God,' says Fordoun,
' through the merits of the holy queen, ' brought down
her body by a postern on the western side, where the
rock was thought inaccessible, and, sheltered by a friendly
mist, carried it in safety to Dunfermline. In the time
of David I. the town had become of some importance,
and was constituted a royal burgh. In the early part
of the reign of William the Lyon, who frequently resided
at the Castle, still further progress was made, which
must, however, have suffered some check during the
time (1174-1186) that it was held by the English as one
of the sureties for the payment of the ransom of the
king. After its restoration, Alexander II. held his first
parliament in Edinburgh, and in 1215 the pope's legate
here held a provincial synod. Alexander III. made it
the residence of his youthful queen, the daughter of
Henry III., and the depository of the regalia and other
valuables of the crown.
The Castle was surrendered to Edward I. in 1291, but
afterwards passed into the hands of the Scots, who held
it till 1294, when it was seized by the English, and
remained in their possession till it was recaptured by
Randolph, Earl of Moray, in 1313, and shortly after,
in pursuance of Bruce's plan to leave no strengths for
the enemy to hold, at least partially dismantled. Accord-
ing to Barbour, Randolph carried it by escalade with
only thirty followers, being guided up a secret path on
the NW side of the rock by one of his men, William
Francis or Frank, who had found out the track when
resident in the fortress some years before, and had
been in the habit of stealing out by it during the
night to visit his sweetheart in the town. In 1322
Holyrood Abbey was plundered by an army of Edward II. ;
and in 1326 we find it the meeting-place of a parlia-
ment of Robert Bruce, and again, in 1328, of another
which ratified the treaty with Edward III. which secured
the independence of Scotland. In 1334 the Castle and
town were surrendered to Edward III., who had invaded
Scotland to support the cause of Edward Baliol, and in
1336 seems to have afforded brief shelter to a body of
mercenary troops under Guy, Count of Namur, on their
way to join Edward III. at Perth. Encountered on
their march at the Boroughmuir by the Earl of Moray
and a body of Scots, the mercenaries were defeated and
driven in confusion into the town, where many of them
were slain and the rest pursued to the dismantled Castle,
where they remained one night, but being unable to
defend it, had to surrender on the following day to the
Earl, by whom they were set free on condition of never
again bearing arms against David Bruce. The Castle
was rebuilt and strongly garrisoned in 1337 by Edward
III. on his return from the N, but in 1341 it was re-
captured by Sir William Douglas. One of Douglas's
party feigning to be an English merchant, went to the
governor of the Castle and represented that he had in
his vessel, just arrived in the Forth, a cargo of wine,
beer, and other delicacies, which he wished the governor
to purchase. Samples of the wine and beer having been
found satisfactory, the price was settled, and a time
— early in the morning to avoid risk of disturbance
31
EDINBURGH
from the Scots — was fixed for the delivery of the goods.
At the hour appointed, the merchant arrived, accom-
panied by twelve resolute and well-armed followers,
habited as sailors, and the Castle gates were imme-
diately opened for their reception. On entering the
Castle, they easily contrived to overturn the waggon
on which the supposed goods were piled, and instantly
put to death the warder and the sentries. The appointed
signal being given, Douglas and a chosen band of
armed followers quiut-d their place of concealment in
the neighbourhood, and rushed into the Castle, when
the garrison, caught unawares, was after a brief struggle
overpowered, and the fortress regained for Scotland.
During the latter part of the reign of David II. Edin-
burgh was the meeting-place of numerous parliaments,
contained the mint, and was confessedly the chief town,
though not yet the actual capital, of Scotland. The
latter dignity was, however, not far off, for on the
accession of the Stewart dynasty Edinburgh became really
— though probably not officially till 1452, when it be-
came the seat of the Court of the Four Burghs — the
chief burgh of the kingdom, and its fortunes became
identified with those of that ill-fated house. Yet even
in the reign of Robert II., with whom the city was a
favourite residence, when it was visited by a body of
French knights and gentlemen, who came to give aid
to the King against the English, it is described as con-
sisting of about 4000 houses, so poor that these French
visitors could not be provided with proper accommo-
dation. In 1385 Richard II. made an incursion into
Scotland, when he spent five days burning St Giles'
Church, Holyrood Abbey, and the greater part of the
town, but was foiled in his attempt to capture the Castle.
Henry IV., in 1400, repeatedly assaulted the Castle,
but he was firmly repelled by the Duke of Rothesay,
then heir-apparent to the Scottish crown. In 1402
Edinburgh was the meeting-place of the parliament,
convened at this time to inquire into the assassination
of the Duke of Rothesay; and while James I. of Scot-
land was a prisoner in England, the city shared largely
in the general desolation which the continual struggles
of the turbulent nobles brought on the whole country.
Even after his release things went badly, for in 1431
there was a serious outbreak of pest; but the sunshine
of royal favour no doubt helped on such growth and
prosperity as enabled the young city to get over not
only its many misfortunes, but also the heavy strain
which the payment of its share of the King's ransom
(50,000 English merks) must have caused. James fre-
quently resided at Edinburgh, and it was at Holyrood
that, in 1429, he received the submission of the Lord
of the Isles, and that his son, afterwards James II., was
born. At Holyrood, too, after the sudden and terrible
tragedy of Perth — and this was the first coronation
that had taken place elsewhere than at Scone — was
the child king crowned; and during his long minority
the Castle became a frequent scene of contest and in-
trigue between the two leading men of the day, Sir
William Crichton and Sir Alexander Livingstone. In
1444, a quarrel having arisen between them, the King
was for a time detained by Crichton in the Castle in
dignified captivity. From this he was rescued by his
mother, who, announcing her intention of proceeding
on a pilgrimage to Whitekirk in East Lothian, had her
luggage put on board a vessel in Leith. Inside one of
the baskets the young King was concealed, and no sooner
had the ship on which he was with his mother got out
of Leith than it sailed up instead of down the Firth,
and he was soon safe in charge of Livingstone at Stirling.
He was immediately after again carried off by Crichton,
who seized him as he was taking his morning ride in
the royal park at Stirling, but further quarrel between
the rivals was prevented by a serious danger that seemed
to both to menace the Crown. This was the ever-in-
creasing power of the house of Douglas. The then
Earl of Douglas, a youth of only seventeen, was noted
for his pride, extravagance, and display of power. He
paid no duty at court, did no homage, and was said to
have a council of his own somewhat resembling a parlia-
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