Gazetteer of Scotland > Volume 1

o!6
EDINB U R G H.
where on the one hand the picturesque ir-
regularity of the old town, surmounted by its
venerable and majestic Acropolis, and on the
other the elegance and splendour of the new
town, with the Calton Hill in front, terraced
with human beings, burst upon the view, his
Majesty was charmed with the scene, then en-
livened by every accompaniment that could
heighten the feeling of admiration, and waving
his hat, exclaimed, " How superb." About
two o'clock his Majesty reached the palace of
Holyroodhouse, and his arrival was announced
by salutes fired from the castle, and from the
guns placed on the Calton Hill and Salisbury
Crags. After receiving the congratulations
of the magistrates and other authorities, his
Majesty set out in his private carriage for Dal-
keith House. Fire works were exhibited in
the evening, while a beacon blazed on the
summit of Arthur's Seat ; and the night fol-
lowing there was a general illumination. On
the 17th his Majesty held a levee in Holy-
roodhouse, which was most numerously and
splendidly attended ; on the 19th he received
the addresses of the Commission of the Gen-
eral Assembly of the Church of Scotland, of
the four universities and of other public bodies ;
and on the 20th he held a drawing room, which
was graced by about five hundred ladies, the
most distinguished for rank, beauty, and fashion
which Scotland could boast of. On the 22d,
his Majesty went in procession from Holy-
roodhouse to the castle, which would have
proved a gorgeous pageant had not the effect
of the spectacle been impaired by almost in-
cessant rain. On the following day, he re-
viewed a body of about 3000 cavalry, chiefly
yeomanry, on Portobello sands ; and the same
evening attended a splendid ball given in honour
of the royal visit by the peers of Scotland.
On the 24th a splendid banquet was given to
his Majesty m the great hall of the Parliament
House, by the lord provost, magistrates, and
town-council, on which occasion his Majesty
honoured the city by creating the lord provost
a baronet ; and the following day, being Sunday,
he attended divine service in the High Church,
Dr. Lamont, moderator of the General As-
sembly, officiating on the occasion. A ball
given by the Caledonian Hunt was attended
by his Majesty on the 26th ; and on the 27th
he made his last appearance before his Scot-
tish subjects in a visit to the theatre, where,
with his accustomed good taste, he had com-
manded the national play of " Rob Roy" to
be performed, and where, both at his entrance
and departure, he was hailed with long-conti-
nued and enthusiastic acclamations from all
parts of the house. On the 29th his Majesty,
after partaking of a splendid repast prepared
at Hopetoun House, embarked on board the
Royal Yacht at Port Edgar, near Queensferry,
amidst the cheers and cordial adieus of a vast
body of spectators assembled from all parts of
the adjacent country."
The last great event which marks the history
of Edinburgh, was the series of conflagrations
which occurred in 1824, and destroyed the
private dwellings of the Parliament Square,
part of the High Street, and several closes.
The first of these memorable fires occurred on
the night of the 24th of June. It broke out
in a low tippling house at the head of the
Royal Bank Close, (first below St. Giles',)
and after burning the whole tenement in
which it commenced, communicated with the
adjacent house to the westward, and did not
stop till it had devastated a portion of the east-
ern division of the Parliament Square. The
houses which were thus destroyed were popu-
larly styled " the Pillars," from having an open
arcade below, and since their destruction there
has been nothing of a similar kind in Edin-
burgh.
This fire was comparatively trifling in com-
parison with what followed five months later.
On the evening of Monday the 15th of No-
vember, at a little before ten o'clock, the flames
were discovered issuing from the second floor
of a house at the head of the Old Assembly
Close, and, about eleven o'clock, the whole
house, consisting of six floors, was in a blaze.
From thence the fire communicated to the te-
nement on the west, partly occupied by the
Courant Office, which was also soon wrapt in
flames. While the fire was raging in front,
the conflagration spread down the narrow closes
behind, and the whole, nearly to the Cowgate,
was soon in a uniform blaze. The extent of
this alarming fire, the fearful rapidity of its
progress, the contiguity to the buildings de-
stroyed in June, and a feeling of general
alarm, more universally excited than was
ever before witnessed, drew great crowds
to the High Street, on the morning of
Tuesday, to view the extent of the devas-
tation. About 1 1 o'clock of the forenoon of
this day, the upper part of the steeple of the