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

EDINBURGHSHIRE
EDINBURGH
SLATER'S
classes of its residents, and their expenditure, in cods*
transferred to the rival metropolis. Among other causes of regret
was the discontinuance of the popular city pageant called the
" ridiug of parliament," a grand and gorgeous procession, which
took place at the opening of the session of parliament. From the
1st of May, 1707, when the Act of Union came into operation, the
aspect of the Scottish capital became strikingly changed,
improvement ceased, and for nearly half a century little activity
or energy was displayed. In 1715, two attempts were made by
the Jacobite party to get possession of the city, both of which
failed. The remarkable tumult, known as the Porteous mob,
happened in 1736. Its particulars, including the attempted
rescue of Wilson, the smuggler ; the firing on the mob by Porteous,
the commander of the civic militia ; his trial, conviction, reprieve,
and subsequent execution by the hands of the rioters ; the arrest
of the lord provost for his want of precaution, and the_ fine of
£2,000 imposed upon the city as a compensation to the widow of
Porteous— are all fully detailed in Sir Walter Scott's " Heart of
Midlothian"; and it is not the least extraordinary circumstance
connected with this singular affair, that none of the actors in the
tragedy were ever discovered, although a large reward was
offered. The next agitating event was the surrender of the city
to Prince Charles Edward in the rebellion of 1745, followed by the
proclamation, at the Cross, of James VIII. as king of Scotland.
The battle of Prestonpans quickly succeeded, terminating in
favour of the Pretender, after a conflict of only ten minutes'
duration ; it was at this battle that the good Colonel Gardiner
fell. After an impolitic continuance in the city for six weeks,
the Chevalier departed with 6,000 troops, which, after marching
and wandering for six months, agitated alternately by hope and
appreTension,met their final overthrow on the plains of Culloden,
April 16th, 1746. Between this period and 1779, few events
occurred important enough for our brief chronicle. In 1778, the
mutiny of Lord Seaforth's Highland regiment, on account of
their being ordered to India without payment of some arrears, and
a stipulation as to the limits of their service, occasioned a consider-
able sensation. The mutineers ascended the lofty eminence of
Arthur's Seat, where they remained encamped until an adjust-
ment was effected by Lords Dunmore and Macdonald. The
French revolution caused in Scotland, as well as in the sister
kingdom, diversity of opinion and much excitement of feeling.
Those who hailed the emancipation of a great people from
vassalage formed associations for the nurture of the principles of
freedom and the diffusion of political knowledge ; these were
watched with jealousy by the British government, and a system
of espionage was established, the treacherous agents of which
incited their victims to enthusiastic imprudence, and then
betrayed them to their employers. Among those so denounced
were Messrs. Watt, Downie, Muir, Margarot, and Gerald ; the
first was convicted and hanged ; the others were transported ;
Watt had formerly been a government spy. The trials of these
gentlemen and the severity of their sentences shed no lustre upon
Sottish jurisprudence ; the judges were too plainly animated by
political feeling.
During the long war which ensued on the French revolution,
and when the country was in dread of invasion, volunteer
companies were formed in Edinburgh. Nowhere, perhaps, was
the enthusiasm which led to their formation more genuine or
more widely diffused among all classes of the people. In the
latter part of 1811, the lawless part of the population concocted a
plan for the indiscriminate plunder of the citizens, and on the
last night of the year a numerous gang of juvenile desperadoes
sallied forth with bludgeons, and knocked down everyone whose
appearance gave them the chance of booty. Resistance was
ineffectual, for the police were routed, and High street and North
Bridge street were for hours in the possession of the plunderers.
Many persons were dangerously wounded, and several mortally.
Three of the delinquents were executed in High street, after
conviction of murder. On the 15th August, 1822, George IV.
disembarksd at the landing-place of Jjeith, the first visit of the
sovereign to Scotland since the time of Charles II. Our limits
will not permit a detail of the movements of royalty, nor of the
pompous preparations which were made for the reception of the
king. From all parts of Scotland multitudes thronged to
Edinburgh. Loyalty was enthusiastic and very demonstrative.
The feeling was national, and all classes shared in it. The king's
entrance into Edinburgh was a triumphal procession. He took
up his abode at Dalkeith House, as the guest of the Duke of
Buccleuch ; held a levee at Holyrood, and attended public worship
on Sunday in the High Church, On the 26th the king was
present at the ball of the Caledonian Hunt, and next evening he
saw " Rob Roy " performed at the theatre. A splendid banquet
wis prepared for His Majesty in i he great hall of the parliament
house by the lord provost, magistrates, and town council. The
lord provost received a baronetcy. On the 29th, after partaking
of a repast at Hopetoun House, the king embarked on board the
royal yacht at Po t Edgar, near Queensferry, aniid the cheering
acclamations of assembled thousands ; and thus c'osed a spectacle
which will long live in recollection. We pass over a period of
twenty years, and arrive atasimfrar occasion of excitement in the
Scottish metropolis.
On Monday, the 29th of August, 1342, Her Majesty Queen
Victoria, with her royal consort, Prince Albert, and suite,
embarked at Woolwich, to visit the Scottish capital ; on Thurso's -
morning the approach of the royal squadron iced by
the firing of two guns from the castle ; at eig I
at Granton Pier, and in little more than an boi rafJ .1
party landed on the platform erected fur bh< occasion. Her
Majesty was received with the utmost enthusla n,
arrangements on this occasion in Edinburgh were- upon a scale
unequalled in the annals of Scotland. On Tuesday morning, the
6th of September, Her Majesty took her departure' 1 1
and sh*-' and licr royal consort were received w it h every express] â– 
of joy ami loyalty wherever they went. On Monday, the
Septei. .''en again passed through Edinl
way* i Dalfe iil i, to embark at Granton. Since that- I
Majesty has frequently visited Edinburgh, sometimes apt a
night at Holyrood, in going to or returning from Balmoral; but
although public feeling has, always been ready to display itself
warmly, no particular preparations have been made upon any
O' '"ion. except in the month of August, 1876, when Her Majesty
a Edinburgh, and upon that occasion unveiled the
u _m he late Prince Consort, a descrij^tion of which will
be f«- ubsequent column.
•JERESTING RELICS OF ANTIQUITY.
Edikb m Castle is situated on the western and rugged
extremity of the central hill, on which the ancient part of the
city is built. It is of great antiquity ; the rock is supposed to have
be' n first fortified about the year 617 by Edwin, son of J311a, king
of NorthumbrL . The area of the rock on which the castle stands
measures about seven statute acres; its highest point is â– 1-17
feet above the level of the sea, and it is accessible only on the
eastern side, the others being nearly perpendicular. Within are
several batteries, magazines, storerooms, and arsenals for upwards
of thirty thousand stand of arms, barracks, containing lodging for
two thousand men with their officers, and every other requisite
('or the mustering and accommodation of a numerous garrison.
In 1093, Malcolm III. (Malcolm Canmore) having fallen in battle
at Alnwick, the castle of Edinburgh was besieged by Donald Bane,
his brother, who aspired to the crown, to which the old Scottish
customs gave him a right to pretend, although Malcolm had lelt
children. The castle fell into the hands of the besiegers, the
garrison escaping by a postern, under shelter of a thick fog, and
carrying with them to Dunfermline the body of -Margatet,
Malcolm's queen, known as St. Margaret, the sister of Edgar I
Atheliug, whom the Saxons of England sought to elevate to the ,
throne after the battle of Hastings. William the Lion occasionally
resided in the castle of Edinburgh, and in 1174 it was delivered up
to the English, pledged for his ransom when taken prisoner at the
battle of Alnwick, but shortly after restored on his marriage with
the sister of Viscount Beaumont. In 1239, the daughter of Henry ! •
III. of England marrying Alexander III. had this castle assigned
for her residence. During the contest between Bruce and Baliol,
in 1296, the castle was besieged and taken by the English. It was
several times taken and retaken during the struggle which then
began, and which was decided in favour of the independence of
Scotland by the battle of Bannockburn.
In 1297 it was dismantled by Sir William Wallace ; having been
repaired, it again fell into the hands of the English, when Robi-rt
Bruce caused it, with the other recovered fortresses, to be 1
demolished. It was in ruins in 1336, when it served for a retreat
to Count Namur's forces, defeated by the Earl of Moray. It
remained in ruins till 1337, when Edwarn III. of England gave
orders for its being rebuilt, and £>laced a strong garrison in 't. In
1341 it was surprised by William Douglas. In 1371 David II. died
in it. During the reign of Robert III. the burgesses of Edinburgh
had the singular privilege conferred upon them of erecting
dwellings within the castle, subject to no other limitation than
that they should be persons of good fame. In 1400 the castle was
taken by Henry IV. of England. It was seized by the Earl of
Douglas in 1416, and held by him till Lll8. The condition of
Scotland at this time, when James I. was a prisoner in England,
was one of nearly complete anarchy.
After the murder of James I., at Perth, 1436, his queen and the -
royal family took refuge in the castle. James II.. in the year
1438, was detained here by Sir William Crichton, the chancellor,
in a sort of honourable durance, till, by a stratagem of the queen
mother, he was conveyed, with his own consent, out of the castle
in a wardrobe chest. Here, too, William, sixth earl of Douglas,
and his brother David, were, in 1440, basely murdered by
Crichton, who envied the earl's riches and dreaded his power,
James Hf. was also confined in this castle by his subjects for nine
months, till he was released in the year 1482, by the Duke of
Albany, who, assisted by the citizens of Edinburgh, surprised the
castle. It was converted into a state prison for James V. and_ his
brother, while infants. In 1573 this fortress was held for the .
unfortunate Queen Mary, at that time a prisoner in Fotheringay i
Castle, by the faithul and heroic Kirkcaldy of Grange, who
resolutely defended it, for thirty-three days, against the united
efforts of the Scots and English. When the fortifications were
battered down, the blockhouse on the east taken by assault, every
supply of water exhausted, and the garrison in mutiny, he made
an honourable capitulation— not to the regent Morton, but to ,
Sir William Drury, commander of the English forces ; but 1
Queen Elizabeth, regardless alike of her general's h mour and her
own, gave the prisoners up to the regent's disposal. In IroO the }
castle sustained a siege of above two months against the parlia-
mentary army, commanded by Cromwell, and at last yielded on
honourable terms, Cromwell remarking that " if it had not come as
it did, it would have cost very much blood."
After the flight of James II. , at the close of 1688, it was long
held for him by the Duke of Gordon, with a weak and ill-provided
garrison. During this time, the Viscount Dundee, better know n
m Scottish history and tradition as Graham of Claverhouse,
clambered up the precipice to hold a conference with Gordon,
before he raised an army in the highlands on behalf of James.
In 1715, an unsuccessful attempt was made by the rebels to
surprise this fortress ; and in 1745, although the Highlanders were
masters of the town, they did not venture to attack this post.
During the war in the beginning of the present century, a
number of French prisoners were confined in the castle, but there
have been no further memorable events in its history. In a small
room on the ground floor of the castle, Mary Queen of Scots gave
birth on the 19th of June, 1556, to her only son, James VI. of
Scotland, afterwards James I. of England, in whom were united
the crowns of the two kingdoms. The oak panels have been
renewed after their origins I form, and copies of original portraits
of Queen Mary and h â– â– â– din it.
In the castle is to be seen >ns piece of ancient ordnance,
cilled "Mons Meg, i udinal bars of hammered
iron, girt with iron hob] ' nieen feet in length, and
twenty inches in ealibre, were fired from it, and
some of them lie b' side it . It is supposed to have been made at