Scotland > 1882-1915 - Slater's Royal National Commercial Directory of Scotland > 1903, Part 2 - Slater's Royal National Commercial Directory of Scotland ... (Royal National Directory of Scotland.) With ... map, etc

IV
EDINBURGH.
[slater's
to the Old Palace quadrangle, entering at the north-east
angle. The building on the east side is the Old Palace, con-
taining the crown room, in which are kept the crown,
sceptre and sword of state for the kingdom of Scotland,
together with the lord treasurer's staff ; they are of
elegant workmanship, and in perfect preseryation. The
crown is of pure gold, highly ornamented with precious
stones ; the sceptre is of silver, double gilt, with a stem two
feet long, of hexagonal form, divided by three buttons or
knobs ; it is surmounted with a crystal globe, two inches
and a quarter in diameter ; its whole length is 34 inches.
The sword of state is five feet long, and of exquisite work-
manship ; the pommel and hilt are silver gilt, and 15
inches in length ; the traverse is 175 inches. The scabbard
is of crimson velvet, and richly ornamented. This sword
was presented by Pope Julius II. to James IV. The lord
treasurer's md of office is of silver gilt, and of beautiful exe-
cution. Besides these relics are a ruby ring, set with
diamonds, worn by Charles I. at his Scottish coronation ;
the golden collar of the Order of the G-arter, sent by Elizabeth
to James VI. ; and the badge of the Order of the Thistle,
set with diamonds, bequeathed by Cardinal York to George
IV. In a small room on the ground floor of this palace,
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. The oak panels have been renewed after their
original form, and copies of original portraits of Queen Mary
aad her son placed in it. The south side of the court yard
is occupied by the old Parliament House, restored in 1887,
and the remaining two sides are barracks. St. Margaret's
chapel was dedicated to the wife of King Malcolm Ceanmore.
The area of the rock on which the castle stands measures
about seven statute acres, and the highest point is 437 feet
above the level of the sea. Within are magazines and store-
rooms for upwards of 30,000 stand of arms, and barracks
for 2,000 men with their officers. In 1093, Malcolm III.
(Malcolm Ceanmore), 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
left 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
Margaret, Malcolm's queen, known as St. Margaret, the
sister of Edgar Atheling, 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 11 74 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 ultimately
decided in favour of the independence of Scotland by the
battle of Bannockburn.
In 1297 it was dismantled by Sir William Wallace ;
haring been repaired, it again fell into the hands of the
English, when Robert Bruce caused it, with the other re-
covered fortresses, to be demolished. It was in ruins in 1336,
when it served for a retreat to the Count of Namur's forces,
after their defeat by the Earl of Moray. It remained in ruins
till 1337, when Edward III. of England gave orders for its
being rebuilt and placed a strong garrison in it. In 1341 it
was surprised by William Douglas. In 1371 David II. died
in it. In 1400 the castle was taken by Henry IV. of England.
It was seized by the Earl of Douglas in I4i6and held by him
till 1418. 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
Grichton, the chancellor, till 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 III. was also confined
in this castle by his subjects for nine months, till he was re-
leased in the year 1482 by the Duke of Albany, who, assisted
by the citizens of Edinburgh, surprised the castle, which
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 Castle, by the faithful and heroic Kirkcaldy of
Grange, who resolutely defended it for thirty-three days.
When the fortifications were battered down, the blockhouse
on the east taken by assault, everjf supply of water exhausted
and the garrison in mutiny, he made an honourable capitu-
lation — not to the regent INIorton, but to Sir William Drury,
commander of the English forces, on a guarantee of honour-
able treatment ; but Queen EKzabeth, regardless alike of her
ganeral's hoiiour arid her own, gave the prisoners up to i'te
regent's disposal and liirkcaldy was hung. In 1650 the
castle sustained a siege of about two months by the Parlia-
mentary army, commanded by Cromwell, and at last yielded
on honourable terms. After the flight of James II. at the
close of 168S, it was long held tor hitn by the Duke of Gor-
don, with a weak and ill-provided garrison. During this
time the Viscount Dundee, better known in 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 Jacobites to surprise
this fortress ; and in 1745, although the Highlanders were
masters of tlie town, they did not venture to attack the
castle. During the war in the beginning of the present cen-
tury a number of French prisoners were confined in the
castle, but since then there have been no further memorable
events in its history.
The Argyll tower of the castle, formerly called the
"Constable tower," and built towards the end of the 14th.
century, was restored under the direction of Mr. Hippolyte
Blane, architect, who also superintended the interior renova-
tion of the guard room : and a new infirmary and isolation
ward were erected in 1898, under the immediate supervision
of Major Norris b.e.
OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH.
The present city of Edinburgh consists of two parts, called
the Old Town and the New ; the Old Town covers the
elevated ridge sloping from the summit of the castle on the
west to the foot of the Canongate on the east. The New
Town is built on the more level ground, which forms a
gentle declivity towards the north, a continuous street
uniting it with Leith on the north-east. These two divi-
sions are separated by a deep hollow, through which 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. Provost Drummond, on the 21st of October, 1763,
laid the first stone of the North Bridge, the completion of
which formed a ready connection with the New Town ; this
bridge was widened in 1S76 and in 1899 w^ replaced by a
new bridge, the foundation stone of which was laid with
Masonic honours by Lord Provost Macdonald, on 25th May,
1896, and which, as completed, consists of three arches, each
17s feet span, in place of the old one of 11 narrow arches,
thus affording means of enlarging and improving the Waver-
ley station ; the North British Railway Company contribute
towards the cost of the new bridge. In 1767 an Act was
passed for extending the royalty over the fields to the north ;
the New Town was immediately commenced and the build-
ings proceeded with so much rapidity that in 1771 St.
Andrew square and the streets which open upon it were
nearly finished ; since which, streets, squares, places, ter-
races, crescents, circuses and public edifices have arisen in
rapid succession, wholly built of stone. The principal
streets of the original parallelogram, styled the New Town,
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, 115 feet broad, which runs down
the centre of the parallelogram, is terminated by a fine
square, called St. Andrew square, on the east, and by
another named Charlotte square at its western extremity.
Queen street, which forms the north side of the parallelo-
gram, consists, like Princes street, of a single row of houses,
which look northwards, and command from their upper
windows a view of the Firth of Forth and the 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 towards the gardens. A central street of this
part of the New Town is called Great King street, and is
terminated, like George street, by large open areas ; one of
these is named Drummond place, the other the Royal circus.
A third section of the New Town occupies a 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 other streets to the west. A noble
bridge of four arches, called Dean bridge, crosses 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.
The New Town also comprehends Leith walk, the road
connecting Leith with Edinburgh, and the buildings on the
slopes of the Callon hill, including the magnificent terraces
called Regent terrace, Carlton terrace and Royal terrace.
Above these ter.aces, on the slope of the bill, are extensive