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

DIRECTORY.]
EDINBUEGH.
Vll
aisle, was added c. 1883, and incorporates a fine recessed
doorway of 1387, originally belonging to a porch, but shifted
in 1829 : south of the Preston aisle and adjoining the tran-
sept is the chapel erected and endowed in 1513 by Walter
Chapman, who, in 1507, introduced the art of printing into
Scotland, and was here buried in 1532 ; the Caithness or
Moray aisle on the west side of this transept was reduced to
its present dimensions in 1829 : the tower dates from be-
tween 1485 and 1495, and is 30 feet square, the height to the
top of the open stonework being 142^ feet, or to the apex of
the spirelet 161 feet ; it rises two stages above the roof and
has a quatrefoiled crested parapet, from within which rise a
number of pinnacled buttresses, carrying a series of eight
stone ribs converging to a centre and supporting a mass of
stone ornamented with canopies and finished with a spirelet
and vane : in 1571 the tower was fortified and cannon
mounted upon it, and in 1600 was used as a prison ; it now
contains a clock with four dials, lu 1560, on the establish-
ment of Protestantism, the interior was *' purged" or dis-
mantled, the altars and everything deemed superstitious
removed, and the relics dispersed or sold ; but in 1633, on
its being made a cathedral, the episcopal form of worship
was renewed, and continued until the abolition of the see in
1689 : in the i8th century the various portions of the church
were partitioned off ; the choir was used as the high kirk
and the south transept as the old kirk, and two other con-
gregations also worshipped within the building ; the nave,
at the same time, was constituted an assembly hall, and the
north transept became a court house and police office.
During the year 1829 a sum of ^^20,000 was expended in
repairs .and alterations, under the superintendence of Mr.
Burn, architect, some of which were of a purely destructive
character ; but the real restoration, stimulated by the mu-
nificence of Dr. William Chambers, was begun in 1872, under
the direction of Messrs. Hay and Henderson, arehitects,in the
course of which all the various partitions were removed,
the nave piers, renewed, and a new west doorway erected,
superseding and incorporating that created by Mr. Burn ;
the galleries and pews were wholly removed, the piers they
concealed or defaced were carefully repaired, and the old
fittings and furniture taken away ; the work was extended
in 1879 to the south side of the church and included the
thorough renovation of the Preston, Moray and Chepman
aisles : the east window, presented by Sir James Falshaw hart.
(Lord Provost 1874-7), and others in the choir are stained :
the reredos of stone consists of a series of triangular-headed
canopied niches, fianked by and alternating with crocketed
pinnacles ; below it is a range of seven stalls for the
royal chaplains, and fronting these stands the commu-
nion table : the pulpit, which stands in the choir, is of Caen
Btone, exquisitely carved, and was executed by Jlr. John
Rhind, sculptor, of Edinburgh : the royal sittings in the
Preston aisle have been entirely renewed and include a cano-
pied throne tor the sovereign, with five stalls on either side,
and in front and below is a range of ten stalls for the suite :
the throne is of oak, panelled and finely carved and adorned
at the back with the royal arms of Scotland and supporters ;
the canopy, 14 feet in height, is polygonal, elaborately groined
and ornamented with pinnacles supporting cusped arches ;
the desk in front of the throne is also of oak, elaborately
wrought and relieved with open tracery, and the whole is
raised on a dais, 32 feet long by 8| feet wide, and 4 feet above
the level of the floor : the large window behind the royal pew
was in 1896 filled with stained glass, as a commemorative
window to those noblemen who had held the office of Lord
High Commissioner to the General Assembly during the reign
of Her late Majesty Queen Victoria : the window consists of
ten lights with tracery above and the upper portion has
already been filled in with the arms of the respective peers ;
these at present include John, 2nd Marquess of Bute, who
held office in the memorable year of the secession of the Free
church, which took place 18 May, 1843 ; he died 18 March,
184S ; Robert, Lord Bclhaven and Stenton k.t. d. 22 Dec.
1868 ; David, 7th Earl of Airlie k.t. (High Commissioner
1872-3), d. 25 Sept. 1881 ; John, 7th Earl of Aberdeen
G.C.M.G., P.C., F.s.A. (High Commissioner 1881-5) ; John
Adrian, 7th Earl of Hopetoan g.c.m.g., p.c. (High
Commissioner 1887-9) ; and Gavin, ist Marquess of Breadal-
bane k.g., p.c. (High Commissioner 1893-4) : these blazons
of arms were contributed by the peers themselves or their
representatives, save in the case of Lord Belhaven, whose
achievement M'as placed at the cost of the Marquesses
of Bute and Breadalbane, Sir John Watson bart. of
Earnock, and R. K. Inches esq. : the Chepman aisle
contains a font of Caen stone, executed by Rhind,
after a model by Thorwaldsen, at Copenhagen, and
presented by the Very Rev. J. Cameron Lees d.d. : the or-
gan is placed in the south transept : there are aumbries at
the east end of both aisles of the choir, and in the wall of
the north aisle an arched recess ; in the same bay, but on
the outside, is a monument to John Napier, Baron of Mer-
chistoun, the inventor of logarithms, d. 3 April, 1617 : oii
the east wall of the Chepman aisle is the splendid monument,
erected about 1890, at a cost of ;f 1,000, defrayed chiefly by
the clan Graham, to James Graham, ist Marquess of Mont-
rose, the distinguished Royalist Captain General in Scotland
during the Civil war ; he was executed at Edinburgh 21 May,
1650, but his remains, buried under the gallows, were here
re-interred in state by Charles II. in 1661 ; the monument,
designed in the Renaissance style by Dr. Rowland Anderson,
architect, and 16 feet in height by 9 wide, consists of a
deeply recessed arch, flanked by advanced columns support-
ing a frieze and pediment, and enclosing an altar tomb, on
which lies a recumbent effigy of the marquess in white
marble ; the work was executed by Mr. Rhind : at the east
end of the Preston aisle is an elegant mural monument in
the Jacobean style to the Rt. Hon. John Inglis, of Glen-
corse, Lord Justice General and Lord President of the
Court of Session, d. 20 Aug. 1891, and in tlie Moray aisle
is a monument to James Stewart, Earl of Moray and
Regent of Scotland, assassinated at Linlithgow 21 Jan. 1569-
70 ; and a flat pointed recessed arch, enriched with cusps
and crocketing, and perhaps once a shrine : in the Albany
aisle is another arched recess. The Argyll chapel at the
west end formerly belonged to the Guild of Hammermen of
the city, and the arms of the Guild still remain in the centre
of the floor : on the west side of the chapel is now placed a
handsome monument of white and coloured marbles, erected
as a memorial to Archibald, 8th Earl and 1st Marquess of
Argyll, who was beheaded at the Market cross, near the
cathedral, 27 May, 1661 : the monument includes a recum-
bent efiigy of the marquess in white alabaster, one hand
being placed on the breast, and holding a sword, with a
blade of fine steel and a richly gilt handle ; two large jasper
stones and numerous agates used in the ornamental portions
of the work we-e collected by H.R.H. the Princess Louise,
Duchess of Argyll, during a stay at Oban, and there are
also inscriptions. The Chambers' chapel, also on the west,
contains a brass to ^Villiam Chambers, of Glenmoriston
LL.D. lord provost of Edinburgh 1865-9, '^^^^ who, as pre-
viously stated, was the chief contributor to the restoration
of the cathedral ; here also are two stained windows, one of
which is a memorial to William and Robert Chambers.
The cathedral has been the scene of several occurrences of
historical interest ; here John Knox preached, and in 1572
was buried in the cemetery then adjoining ; the spot, now
in the road on the south side, is indicated by a plate of metal
bearing the initials " J.K." ; here also James VI. took leave
of his Scottish subjects on his accession to the throne of
England, and it was within the cathidral, 23 July, 1637,
that Jenny Geddes hurled her stool at the dean, on his at-
tempting to read the English liturgy : Charles I. frequently
attended service here, and in 1822 George IV. on his visit to
thecitj', Aug. 25, occupied the roj-al pew : the cathedral is
somewhat over 200 feet in length, the width being about 76
feet, or througli the transepts 129 feet ; the external ap-
pearance, owing largely to the squat pinnacles and low roofs,
is heavy and sombre, and is only relieved by the open work
of the spire, Avhich, especially in the distance, has a fine
effect.
New and Old Greyfriars Churches. — The Old Greytriars
Church, which is situated not far from the Grassmarket, was
founded in the year 1612, on the site of a monastery of the
Franciscans or Greyfriars : in 1650 the interior of the church
was burned by Cromwell's soldiers, and on 7th May, 1718,
the spire, which was used as a powder magazine, was un-
fortunately destroyed by an explosion. New Greyfriars
Church was built by the magistrates at the western end of
the old one in 1721, at an expense of ;^3,045. The original
or Old church was in 1845 burnt, in consequence of the over-
heating of a fine, and rebuilt in the same style as the annexed
New Greyfriars church, both standing in a large grave-
yard made from the garden of the old monastery. It was
in Old Greyfriars church, and in the churchyard adjacent
that the National Covenant was signed in 1638.
Tile Tron Church, so called from a trun or weighing
machine which at one time stood near it, and to which, in
former times, it was customary to uail false notaries and
other malefactors by the ears, is situated in the High street,
at the corner of South Bridge street. An inscription on the
doorway states that it was formerly called Christ Church,
and consecrated in 1647. The original steeple was destroyed
by fire in 1 824, and the present ornamental one was erected
in 1828. The front towards the High street consists of a
lofty tower and octagonal steeple flanked by two flatheaded
doorways, surmounted by -niudows in the Decorated style,
and in the base of the tower a centre doorway with buttresses
marking the tower angles, there being also four more
buttresses, two on each side, beyond the windows.
Lady Tester's Church, in Infirmary street, was originally
founded in 1647, principally by Margaret Kerr, Lady Yester,
but it was taken down in 1803, and the present elegant
Gothic building was erected ofi its si^e,