Scotland > 1882-1915 - Slater's Royal National Commercial Directory of Scotland > 1886 - Slater's (late Pigot and Co's) Royal national commercial directory and topography of Scotland

DIRECTORY
EDINBURGH
EDINBURGHSHIRE
possession of Edinburgh and its castle, but the magistrates had
fled to Stirling, the headquarters of Charles, leaving the city to be
go* iied by thirty chosen citizens. The battle of Worcester
ha? ig placed Scotland completely in the power of Cromwell,
cn.n'nissioners were sent by him from England to rule the
kingdom, who arrived at Dalkeith in January, 1652 ; and from
tb lm the humble citizens were obliged to obtain consent ere they
cOt-ld elect new magistrates. Under the sway of Cr unwell,
Ei inburghand Leith enjoyed repose; but so greatly were they
impoverished by so many years of strife, that very few of the
inhabitants were in a condition to pay their debts, and the
m ,nistrates were served with a charge of homing for £550,000
Salts, £43,833 6s. 8d. sterling, which, with difficulty, they
BBamed time to pay. .
During the period of the Commonwealth there was a virtual
union between England and Scotland, .ml much salutary reform
was introduced in the municipal regulations. The restorition of
"lurles in 1660 was hailed with joy by the Town Council, who, in
i Jurn fo- a donation of £l,000made to his Majesty, received per-
1 jJ ssio " to levy a tax upon the citizens of one-third of a penny on
Mm h pint of ale, and twopence on each pint of wine consumed in
in. city ; indeed, at this epoch, botn loyalty and disaffection were
JBide pretexts for amercing the citizens, in the one case by a tax,
"jBd in the other a fine, Adam Woodcock, at this period, was
Hense ' hy the Town Council to run a coach between Edinburgh
mi Leith, the fare to be fourpence each person ; and the baron
Wlie of Broughton had a grant made to him of the goods and
^Battels of all women condemned for witchcraft.
jftn August, 1660, the English tribunals gave place to the ancient
forms of government, and the first parliament, in 1661, rescinded
?E acts passed during the last twenty-three years, and restored
â– Mjscopacy. Severities towards the Presbyterians followed, and
SC'Uuid.'in consequence, during the succeeding twenty-seven
attars, was in a state of i' surrection and anarchy; the lawn of
â– Me prelate was stained with the blood of the Presbyterian, and
'â– Be slaughtered bodies of the covenanters were strewn thickly on
file land, until at last the mantle of Knox proved more invincible
Hftan the mail of the cavalier. The covenanters of the west and
lOTutti rose in arms. Dispirited bv the desertion of more than
Ktpie-balf of their numbers, which never much exceeded five
Kfiousand, and fatigued by their long march, they reached l he
BJentland Hills on the 28th November, 1666, where they were over-
â– mken by General Dalziel, with a body of cavalry. Though now
â– firlucecl to eight hundred, they bravely repulsed several attacks
â– Y their assailants, but were at length overpowered and dispersed.
â– Cbout fifty w-re killed, and one hundred and fifty taken prisoners
â– f-twenty of these were executed at Edinburgh, thirty-five were
â– ftanged in the country before their own doors, and others were
â– frievously tortured. The magistracy, by bribes and entertain-
ments, entailed a debt upon the city which to this hour is a
â– jexatioua burden to its inhabitants. The Duke of Lauderdale
â– Hipears to have been a prime recipient of the corporation money
Hftme curious specimens of the trifling of the municipal function
â– Vies occur at this period. Women were forbidden to wear plaids
KA their heads on pain of seizure. The charges made at " tenuy
â– weddines" were solemnly moderated, and one James Michael
â– fbilo, physician, was authorised to erect a stage in Edinburgh, on
L hich to practice his profession, but discharged from any perfor-
â–  lance of rape dancing until his claim had been examined by ' he
I master of the revells." In 167S, it appears from a " list of the
. b. '1 possessors(of houses) in the different parishes," taken under
at 'lority of the magistrates, that there were at this time within
tt royalty, 3,333 families, so that, taking five as the average
ppj iiiber of each, the population amounted to 16,665. /
j&iin the year 1679, James, Duke of York, took up hisrjbo'iie hi
Holvrood House, and won the affections of the citfzens by the
'Jfei tty of his court, and by his conformity to their predilections ;
Si s j lrK i masquerades were got up by the ladies in his suite, and
^| novel beverage tea was introduced to their parties. To the
D) darity acquired by James in this visit, may be, in some
di ee, ascribed th"t zeal for the Stuart cause which was niani-
fe d in 1715 and 1745. In January, 1685, an equestrian statue of
â– Ki es II. was ordered to be erected in Parliament close, now
t anient square; and on the 15th February following the
ions original was as cold and lifeless as the statue. A few
' , JH afterwards a stage was erected at the Cross, from which the
L; King at Arms, attended by all the great functionaries, pro-
ol. led King James, and swore unto him allegiance and fealty;
til pulpits became rostrums for adulation; and Viscount
M >rt, one of the secretaries of state, was presented by the ob-
/afiquions Town Council with a jewel worth £500 sterling, for the
>' iSauy services he had rendered the city, and three days afterwards
with £300 in cash, for delivering the city address to the king. A
" few months afterthe accession of James, the citizens beheld the
' unfortunate Earl of Argyll led ignominiously to the same gallows
on which Montrose had suffered, he having attempted to raise
;ffle standard of rebellion in Scotland in concert with the Duke of
Monmouth, and in support of his attempt in England. The Earl
w ^Kviiig been indebted to Heriot's Hospital to the amount of
J Jftsvbt? 10s. Scots, the corporation of Edinburgh was compelled to
pav the money.' The suspension of the test soon disclosed the
intentions of the King. Early in 1686, every printer and
bookseller in Edinburgh was forbid! a by the privy council to
print or sell any book animadvert : n^- on the Romish faith ; but
when the officer of the privy cod icll waited upon James Glen
■with his prohibition, Glen said heM'.d "< ,r l„. ,k j n his shop which
was all against popery, but whi ' in spite of the
mandate" " What book is it ? " inquired the officer. " it is the
Bible," answered Glen, " the v : Church of Rome
ever fought against." Tumu very frequent. The
chancellor's lady and other A-sons of distinction were insured
as* they were returning frn . of mass. This led to
ail order from the priv* ne of the rioters, a
journeyman baker, shout v ugh the Canongate ;
the populace rushed to . of their martyr, beat the
executioner, and eontin u u during the night; the
king's foot guards and so : e . is , ! iired 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 papists," and having likewise expressed his
good will towards the rioters.
Such were the measures of the city magistracy, in defiance of
the murmurs and disgust of the citizens; and shortly afterwards
we find these servile minions assuring tbe king that they were
" ready with their lives and fortunes to stand by his sacred person
upon all occasions, and praying the continuance 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
corporation had for sometime been robbed by the treasury. So
zealous, indeed, were the magistrates in the Papal cause, that one
Watson, a popish printer, having been distrained upon for rent,
the articles seized were forcibly taken from the officer, and these,
with their owner, were conveyed to the sanctuary of Holyrood.
Watson was afterwards made king's printer, which appointment
was continued to his son in the reign of Queen Anne. Prom the
records of Fountain-hall, we find that, on tbe 23rd November,
1686, the king's yacht arrived at Leith, with the altar, vestments
images, priests/and their appurtenances, for the popish chapel
in the abbev of Holyrood. On St. Andrew's day the chapel
was consecrated by holy water, and a sermon by Wederington.
On the Sth of February, 1688, Ogstoun. a bookseller, was threat-
ened for selling Archbishop Usher's sermon against the papists
and the history of the French persecutions, and all the copies were
taken from him. On the 22nd March the rules of the popish
college iu the abbey of Holyrood were published, inviting childr n
to be educited gratis. But the landing of the Prince of Orange in
England changed the Bcene. The Presbyterians now poured into
Edinburgh, and the papists rushed out. All was uproar ; the
Earl of Perth, the chancellor, fled Irom the city, and the govern-
ment 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 retreat, but they quickly
reappeared, he ided by the magistrates, town-guard, train band,
and heralds ; another skirmish ensued, in which the revolutionists
were successful ; the abbey church and chapel were ransacked,
the college of toe Jesuits destroyed, and the houses of the Roman
Catholics plundered ; in short, every symbol of the hated religion
existing in the city was extirpated with a fierceness
approached to frenzy— even the wynds and closes were explored,
and many religious houses therein were entered and sacked ; the
o dy class that remained true to the popish cause were 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 hy King James, with a baseness unmatched, were the first
in " offering their services to the Prince of Orange," ami the
loudest in their complaints of the "hellish attempts of Romish
incendiaries."
On the 14th of March, 1689, assembled the convention pf estates, _
—the most momentous meeting that Edinburgh _ev.eS w'tiwHseoV,
It resolved, that James having forfeited i'u >-: )wn, itshoaid be
offered to William and Mary*: a second re"auft of their deliberations
was the memarfbii"'. "Siaim oillghts ;"- a new election of municipal
officers was advise*?., oy- poll of the burgesses paying, watching,
and warding, and l.ftule for other public claims ; several ministers
were deprived of toeir pulpits for refusing to pray for the new
Sovereigns ; the convention became a parliament, and the
established religion was declared Presbyteriau. The pre-
dicament of Edinburgh at this moment was singularly critical :
on the one hand was the convention surrounded by the masses of
its supporters, armed and unarmed, including six thousand
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 Balcarres and the
reckless Dundee at their head— the latter, indeed, with a party of
fifty horse, waiting his signal for mischief. Yet no explosion
took place; Dundee quitted the city for Perthshire, first
clambering up the western side of the castle to commune with the
Governor. The death of this darine foe on the 17th of July, 1689,
and the surrender of the castle on the 13th of June, 1690, secured
the permanency of the salutary changes.
During the reign of King William, Edinburgh reposed in com-
parative peace ; but the new civic government became jealous of
the college of justice, whose members it disarmed : the gaol was
filled with the disaffected, among whom were the Lords Balcarres
and Kilsyth, and the atrocious Earl of Perth. Many of the acts
of the new authorities were arbitrary and severe. Towards the
close of William's reign, six ships sailed from the Firth of Forth,
amid the acclamations of multitudes, to p'ant a colony on the
Isthmus of Darien ; and when the failure of this scheme became
known 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 many acts of
violence perpetrated before the popular effervescence subsided.
On Saturdav, the 3rd of February. 1700, a dreadful conflagration
broke out on the south side of Parliament square, which destroyed
an extensive pile of buildings, including the Advocates' Library
and' the Bank of Scotland, and dislodging nearly two hundred
families from their dwellings.
The reign of Queen Anne was signalized by the event so momen-
tous to Scotland, the "Act of Union." Alarming were the
disturbances which manifested the unpopularity of the measure,
and-the period between January 11th, 1705, and- January 16th,
1707,' during which it was discussed, was one of clamour and
outrage. The parliament and commissioners were compelled to
9ee > t'lepretection of the military during the ratification of the
art aire of the prognostications of the adversaries of the
tun ' realized: the capital was soon deserted hy the higher