Scotland > 1837 - Pigot and Co.'s national commercial directory for the whole of Scotland and of the Isle of Man

UBivtctot^*
EDINBURGH.
mtiinf}Vixg^^titt^
upon the previous darkness of his inexplicable con-
duct; the corporation of Edinburgh was compelled to
pay the money. The suspension of the test soon dis-
closed the intentions of the king; and, early in 1686,
every printer and bookseller in Edinburgh was for-
bidden by the privy council to print or sell any book
animadverting on the Romish faith ; but when the of-
ficer of the privy council waited upon James Glen with
bis prohibiiion, Glen said he had 'one book in bis
shop which was all against popery, but which he would
sell in spite of the mandate.' 'What book is it?'
inquired the officer. * It is the Bible,' answered
Glen — ' the worst enemy the church of Rome ever
fought against.'
Tumults HOW became rife. The chancellor's lady,
and other persons of distinction, were insulted as they
were returning from the celebration of mass ; this led
to an order from the privy council that one of the riot-
ers, a journeyman baker, should be whipped through
the Canongate : the populace rushed to the rescue of
their martyr, beat the executioner, and continued tu-
multuous during the night; the king's foot-guards,
and soldiers from the castle, fired upon them, and a
woman and two men were killed ; next day several
of the captive rioters were ordered to be whipped —
the council, however, took care to have musketeers
and pikemen in attendance, to prevent the repetition
of a rescue. A drummer was shot, for having said
he could find in his heart to run his sword through
some papists ; and a fencing-master was hanged at
the Cross, merely for having drank 'confusion to pa-
pists,' and having likewise expressed his good will
towards the rioters. Such were the measures of the
city magistracy, in defiance of the murmurs and dis-
gust of the citizens; and shortly afterwards we find
these servile minions assuring the king that they were
'ready-with their lives and fortnnes to stand by his
sacred person upon all occasions, and praying the con-
tinuance of his princely goodness and care towards
the city.' This fawning was rewarded by the surrender
to them of the impost upon ale, of which the corpora-
tion had for some time been robbed by the treasury.
So zealous, indeed, were the magistrates in the papal
cause, that one Watson, a popish printer, liavingbeen
distrained upon for rent, the articles seized were for-
cibly taken from the officer, and these, with theii
owner, conveyed to the sanctuary of Holyi'ood ; Wat-
son was afterwards made king's printer, which ap-
pointment was continued to his son in the reign of
Queen Anne. From the records of Fountain Hall we
find that, *on the 23d of November, 1686, the king's
yacht arrived at Leith, with the altar, vestments,
images, priests and tlieir appurtenances, for the popish
chapel in the abbey of Holyrood. On St. Andrew's
day the chapel was consecrated bv holy water, and a
sermon from Wederington. On the 8th of Febiuary,
1688, Ogstoun, the bookseller, was threatened for
selling Archbishop Usher's sermons against the
papists, and the history of the French persecu-
tions ; and all the copies were taken from him.
On the 22d March, the rules of the popish college
in the abbey of Holyrood were published, inviting
children to be educated gratis. But the landing of
the Prince of Orange in England changed the scenes
of this jiautomime. The presbyterians now poured
into Edinburg h, and the papists rushed out — and
all was uproar: the Earl of Perth, the chancellor,
fled the city, and the government fell into the hands
of the revolutionists. The populace assembled at
beat of drum in multitudes; the abbey was attacked
—the assailants were fired upon, and a dozen were
killed and thrice as many wounded ; this caused
their retieat; but they quickly reappeared, beaded
by the magistrates, town guard, train-band, and
heralds: another skirmish ensued, in which Wal-
lace and his men were defeated ; the abbey church
and chapel were ransacked, the college ot Jesuits de-
stroyed, and the houses of the Roman catholics plun-
dered ; in short, every symbol of the scorned religion
existing in the city was extirpated with a fierceness
approaching to frenzy — even the wynds and closes
were explored, and many religions houses therein were
entered and sacked : the only class that remained true
to the popish cause was the clergy, and they were the
chief sufferers by the change. The privy council and
magistrates veered with the shifting wind ; these men,
who so lately were ready with their lives and fortunes
to stand by King James, with a baseness unmatched,
were the first in ' offering their services to the Prince
of Oiange,' and the loudest in their complaints of the
'hellish attempts of Romish incendiaries!'
On March 14th, 1689, assembled the convention of
estates — the most momentous meeting that Edinburgh
ever witnessed. It resolved that, James having for-
feited the crown, it should be offered to William and
Mary; a second result of their deliberations was the
memorable ' claim of rights ;' a new election of muni-
cipal officers was advised, by poll of the burgesses
paying watching and warding, and liable for other
public claims ; several ministers were deprived of their
pulpits for refusing to pray for the new sovereigns;
the convention became a parliament, and the esta-
blished religion was declared presbyterian. The pre-
dicament of Edinburgh at this moment was singularly
critical : on the one hand was the convention, sur-
rounded by the masses of its supporters, armed and
unarmed, iucludini; 6,000 Cameronians from the west;
on the other was the castle, in the'hands of the Duke
of Gordon, the partisan of James, and who could, if
he willed it, make the city a ruin ; numerous violent
royalists also paraded the streets, with Lord Balcarras
and the reckless Dundee at their head — the latter, in-
deed, will) a party of fifty horse waiting his signal for
mischief. Yet no explosion took place : Dundee quit-
ted the city tor Perthshire, first clambering up the
western side of the castle rock to commune with the
governor. The death of this daring foe on the 17th of
July, and the surrender of the castle on the 13th of
June previous, secured the permanency of the salutary
changes.
During the reign of King William, Edinburgh re-
posed in comparative peace ; but the new civic govern-
ment became jealous of the college of justice, whose
members it disarmed : the gaol was filled with the
disaffected, — among the number were the Lords Bal-
carras and Kilsyth, and the atrocious Earl of Perth,
and many acts were perpetrated by the new authori-
ties, which required more ingenuity than candour
commonly possesses to defend. Towards the close of
William's reign a trading speculation to the Isthmus
of Darien caused six ships to sail out of the Frith of
Forth, amid the acclamations of multitudes ; and when
its failure was communicated in March, 1699, the rage
of the people was ungovernable, as the miscarriage of
the enterprise was attributed to the influence of the
king; the prisons were broken open, and manyact<s
of violence perpetrated before the popular effervescence
subsided.
The reign of Queen Anne was signalized by the event
so momentous to Scotland, the ' act of union.' Alarm-
ing were the disturbances which manifested the un-
popularity of the measure, and the period between
January 11th, 1705, and January 16th, 1707, during
which it was discussed, was one ot clamour and out-
rage. The parliament and commissioners were com-
pelled to seek the protection of the military during the
ratification of the articles ; many of the prognostica-
tions of the adversaries of the union were realized ;
the capital was soon deserted by the higher class of
its residents, and their expenditure, in consequence,
transferred to the rival metropolis ; and among other
causes of regret was the discontinuance of the popular
city pageant called, the ' riding of parliament,' which
was a grand and gorgeous procession. From the 1st
of Rlay, 1707, when the act of union came into opera-
tion, the aspect of the Scottish capital became strik-
ingly changed, the city ceased to improve, and its in-
habitants to be joyous ; for nearly half a century, with
only three interruptions, Edinburgh reposed listlessly
and inanimate on its lofty site, as if exhausted by the
violence of its former excitements. The first distur-
bance of this slumber occurred in 1715, when two at-
tempts were made by the Jacobite party to get posses-
sion of the city, both of which failed. The remarkable
tumult, known by the appellation of the Porteoua
mob, was the second, and happened in 1736 : its par-
ticulars, including the attempted rescue of Wilson,
the smuggler; the firing upon the mob by Porteous,
the commander of the civic militia ; his trial, convict
lion, leprieve, and subsequent execution by the hands
17