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
residence of Oliver Cromwell whilst he was in Edinburgh in 164S.
At the time of the Union it was occupied by the Earl of Seafield,
the Chancellor of Scotland, and many meetings for deliberation on
the question of the Union were held in it. A popular legend
represents the Treaty of Union as having been signed in a sum mer-
house in the garden, of which a drawing is given in some editions
of Sir Walter Scott's "Tales of a Grandfather." The house is now
occupied as a normal school in connection with the Free Church.
Grass market, &c. — In the centre of the wide street called the
Grass market, the paving stones are arranged in the form of a
small St. Andrew's cross, to mark the spot on which stood the
fatal *' gallows-tree," until 1785 ; and from this spot the spirit of
many a martyr to the cause of Presbytery has winged its way
to glory, during the persecuting period when Charles II. and
James II. attempted to enforce prelacy upon the people of Scot-
land. Here it was that Porteous, the captain of the City Guard,
was hanged by the mob in 1736, an occurrence admirably nar-
rated by Sir Walter Scott in the " Heart of Midlothian." To the
west of Candlemaker row is the cemetery of Grey friars' Church,
where, 'among many other eminent persons, George Buchanan,
Sir George Mackenzie, Alexander Henderson (the leader of the
Scottish Presbyterians in 1(338 and following years), Colin Mac-
laurin, Allan Ramsay, Adam, the architect, Robertson, the his-
torian, and Blair, whose sermons were once so popular, and
many other well known to fame, were interred. In this church-
yard many Covenanters, chiefly from the west of Scotland, were
kept prisoners for some time in 1679, with no lodging but the
bare ground and no shelter from the weather. Some were set
free, others were banished as slaves to the plantations.
DESCRIPTION OF THE CITY AND ITS INSTITUTIONS,
MONUMENTS, &c.
The city of Edinburgh consists of two parts, called the Old
Town and Che New, singularly contrasted in their aspects; the
Old Town covers the elevated ridge, sloping from the summit
of the castle, on the west, to the base of a group of
hills, at the eastern extremity, named Arthur's Seat, Salisbury
Crags, and the Calton Hill. The aspect of the Old Town is
singularly picturesque, from the great height of the buildings
which crowu the steep ridge. The New Town is built on the more
level ground, which chiefly forms a gentle and extensive declivity
towards the north, a continuous street uniting it with Leith on
the north-east. These two divisions are separated by a deep
hollow, part of which was formerly occupied by a bog or lake
called the North Loch, now drained. Through the midst of
the Princes street gardens passes one of the principal lines
of railway, connecting Edinburgh with the west and north
of Scotland. The North Bridge and the Mound cross the
hollow, and connect the Old Town with the New. To ihe
spectator, viewing the city from an eminence, the situation
appears strikingly adapted to give display to architectural beauty.
For several centuries prior to the year 1763, Edinburgh ijad made
little efforts to enlarge its boundaries ; but since that epoch in its
history, its extension has been very rapid. Provost Drummond
had the honour, on the 21st of October, 1763, of laying the first
stone of the North Bridge, the completion of which formed a
ready connection with the site which the New Town now
occupies ; the North Loch having been previously drained. In
1767 an act was passed for extending the royalty over the fields to
the north ; the New Town was immediately commenced, and the
buildings proceeded with so much rapidity, that, in 1771, St.
Andrew square, and the streets which open from it, were nearly
finished ; since which, streets, squares, places, terraces, crescents,
circuses, and public edifices have arisen in rapid succession, wholly
built of stone — an assemblage which, for regularity and beauty,
will bear comparison with the most magnificent cities of Europe.
The New Town of Edinburgh now consists of three parts. The
first of these divisions, which stands upon the low ridge of the Old
Town, is laid out in the form of a parallelogram. The principal
longitudinal streets are three— Princes street, George street, and
Queen street ; and these are intersected by others at right angles.
Princes street extends nearly in a straight line from east to west
for about a mile. It partakes of the character of a terrace, facing
the Old Town, from which it is separated by a wide valley laid
out as public gardens. These are divided into two sections by the
Mound, opposite Hanover street, on which are built the Royal
Institution and the National Gallery.
George street, one hundred and fif teenfeet broad, is distinguished
by the grandeur of its appearance, and the elegance of its
architecture. On the east it is terminated by a beautiful square,
called St. Andrew square ; on the west by another very fine square,
named Charlotte square.
Queen street, which forms the north side of the original paral-
lelogram of the New Town, consists, like Princes street, of a
single row of houses, which look northwards, and command from
their upper windows a magnificent view of the Frith of Forth and
opposite coast and hills of Fife. In front of Queen street are Queen
street gardens, northward of which is the second part of the New
Town, beginning with Abercrombie place and Heriot row, which
look toward the gardens. A central street of this part of the New-
Town is called Gt. King street, and is terminated, like George
street, by large open areas; one of these is named Drumirond
place, the other the Royal circus. A third section of the New
Town occupies the site formerly the park of the Earl of Moray,
between Charlotte square and the water of Leith, comprising
Moray place, Ainslie place, Randolph crescent, and many superb
streets. A noble bridge of four arches, called Dean bridge, cro ses
the water of Leith on the north-west of this part of the New
Town, the height of the bridge being 105 feet above the bed of
the stream, which here flows through a deep dell or ravine.
New streets and crescents have recently sprung up in the district
to which this bridge gives access.
The third or eastern part of the New Town comprehends Leith
Walk, the road connecting Leith with Edinburgh, and the build-
ings on the slopes of the Calton Hill, including the magnificent
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terraces called Regent terrace, Carlton terrace, and Royal terrace.
Above these terraces, on the slope of the hill, are extensive
gardens, whilst the summit of the Calton Hill is crowned with
monuments, and ita northern slope are open to the public. In a j
line with Princes street is a grand approach to the city from the
east by the Regent's bridge, which passes over the unsightly
district called ihe Low Calton. The act of parliament authorising
the erection of this bridge ana the formation of the road, the
greatest and most useful of the architectural improvements of
Edinburgh, was passed in 1814 ; the bridge was finished in March,
1819. The arch over the Low Calton is fifty feet wide, forty-five
feet in height on the north side, and fifty-four on the south ; the
roadway is formed of reversed arches, which support the rocky
materials of which it is composed ; the bridge is ornamented at its
centre by Corinthian pillars and open arches, surmounted by
entablatures, in the line of the ' adjoining buildings, called
Waterloo place.
The Old Town of Edinburgh extends over a comparatively small
area to the northward and southward ol tbe central ridge occupied
by the High street. The High street itself is prolonged up the
acclivity westward, under the names of Lawn market and Castle
hill, to the gate of the castle; eastward it assumes the name of
Canongate, and terminates at Holyrood Palace. Canongate was
tormerly a separate burgh, but it is now municipally, as well as
for parliamentary representation, incorporated with Edinburgh.
Many of the nobles oi Scotland once had residences in the Canon-
gate, but it is now chiefly inhabited by the poorer classes. Here
also are numerous public works. The old burgh of Portsbm-gh to
the south-west of the Old Town is now also incorporated with the
extended city.
The Old Town as well as the New Town is entirely built of stone ;
but the grand and venerable appearance which it presents on a
general view, or in its principal streets, is exchanged for an
aspect of squalor and misery in many of its narrow closes or alleys,
particularly those which descend in parallel lines fr <m the High
street and Canongate on both sides where the population is still
extr. mely dense; and the great height and crowding of the
buildings, in which many families dwell under one roof, prevents
the free entrance of light, and air. The comprehensive scheme of.
improvement, calculated in 1867 to have cost the citizens about
£3U0,000, which was proposed and manured by the late Lord
Provost, Dr. William Chambers, of Glenormistou, has been nearly
completed. The operations consist in opening up new and wide
streets, widening some of the closes, and leaving open spaces
where were many of the old houses unlit for human habitation.
Several of the formerly crowded and squalid districts have been
cleared out, new streets formed, and new houses erected, greatly
to the sanitary and moral improvement of the localities. Up to
tne year 1884 about £520,000 had been expended in acquiring and
removing old buildings and interest on capital, and there have been
derived from the sale of sites in the new streets £140,000, and from
the improvement rate £&32,00O, together £472,Oi u, and ample
means exist for liquida'ing the unrecovered outlay of £48,000.
Besides carrying out these beneficial improvements tbe Town
Council has in many other ways done much in recent y-ars to
promote the public health and the amenity of the city.
The Cowgate is a narrow street of the Old Town, to the south of
the High street, and nearly parallel to it, at the bottom of the
ridge. The closes are more filthy and wretched than
even those of the High street. Of the streets leading southwaids
from the High streeL, the two principal ones are carried over the
Cowgate by bridges. South Bridge street is the chief outlet from
the city to the south. Its prolongation receives the name of
Nicolson street, Clerk street, &c, and terminates in tberosd to
Penicuik and Peebles. It is a street of good houses and shops,
and in it are the University, Surgeons' Hall, and other fine
buildings
About the time (towards the close of t 1 e last century) that
Edinburgh began to extend to the north, and the New Town to be
built, an extension to the south took place, which, however, was
soon arrested, and of which the chief evidence is to be found in
George square, closely adjacent to the dense! j- -populated parts of
the Old Town, but still the resideoce of some of the higher classes.
For many yeard the town has been extending in every direction
to the south. Newington, on the Penicuik road, is a pleasant
suburb, with many fine houses ; the village of Morningside, more
to the west, is incorporated with the town, and between Newing-
ton and Morningside is the well-built Grange district, while to the
west the district of Merchiston is covered with villa residences.
These quarters have a milder climate than the New Town, being
sheltered from the cold and harsh easterly winds; and the view
of thePentland Hills, and of the country to the south and to the
west, is very delightful. In like manner, but rather in connection
with tbe New Town, the city has recently extended westward,
on the Glasgow road, where Murrayfield, at first a cluster of
villas, at some distance from the city, may now be regarded as a
suburb. Towards the north, also, the New Town is completely
connected by groups of villas with Granton, Trinity, Newhaven,
and Leith. There is now, indeed, to the mere visitor no perceptible
line of demarcation between Edinburgh and Leith. .
Monuments.— The monument to Lord Nelson, which stands on
the highest rocky eminence, the Calton Hill, is a circular towert,
in stages gradually diminishing, 100 feet high : its base is 356 feet
above the level of the sea ; visitors are permitted to ascend it.
This is a conspicuous object from many parts of the city. Monu-
ments to Professor Playfair and Professor Dugald Stewart are
placed close together on the Gal ton Hill. There is also, on the
southern side of the bill, near the High School, a monument of
Burns ; and in Ihe Calton burying ground, a little to the west, is
amonumentto David Hume. The most striking feature of the
Calton Hill, however, is the national monument of Scotland,
which was commenced in 1822, to commemorate our victories
during the then late war, but was abandoned for want of funds ; the
twelve columns which decorate the summit of the Calton Hill
bearing the semblance of a ruin, are all there is to show for an ex-
penditure of £13.000— more than £1,000 a column. It is very
generally regarded as a monument of national folly. The founds-