Topographical, statistical, and historical gazetteer of Scotland > Volume 1

EDINBURGH.
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terposition of Elizabeth of England — formally pardon-
ed the tumult, and drank with the provost and magis-
trates in token of reconciliation. In 1599 the king
came once more into collision with the ministers of
Edinburgh, he having invited to the city a company
of English players, and the presbytery denouncing
histrionic performances as positively sinful. This
company of actors was the first who appeared on a
Scottish stage after the Reformation, and is supposed
to have included _Shakspeare. In 1600 Robert Bruce,
the favourite minister of the city, and four of his
clerical brethren, were banished by proclamation at
the cross, and forbidden, on pain of death, to preach
or to come within 10 miles of the king's residence,
for the crime of being sceptical as to the .reality of
the Gowrie conspiracy; and the dead bodies of the
Earl of Gowrie and his brother were brought from
Perth to Edinburgh, and hung up at the market-
cross as the bodies of traitors.
James having succeeded to the crown of England
by the demise of Elizabeth, on the 24th March, 1603,
many persons hastened from London to Edinburgh
with the welcome news. On the 31st March the
nobility and the Lyon King-at-arms proclaimed the
event at the cross. On the Sabbath previous to his
departure for England, he attended public worship in
St. Giles', and, at the close of the sermon, delivered
a formal valedictory address. At this period, and
during some subsequent years, Edinburgh, in com-
mon with other Scottish towns, severely suffered by
frequent visitations of plague. In 1608 James em-
powered the magistrates to wear gowns, and to have
a sword of state carried before them in their proces-
sions. In 1616 the king, in fulfilment of a promise
made at his departure, paid a visit to Edinburgh.
Arriving at the West Port, he was received by the
magistrates in their robes, and some citizens in velvet
habits ; and was treated to an oration by the town-
clerk, abounding in the most fulsome and rhapsodical
flattery. The citizens afterwards entertained him
with a sumptuous banquet, and presented him with
10,000 merks of double golden angels, in a silver
bason. In June 1617 James convened his 22d par-
liament in Edinburgh, and sanctioned, or rather in-
stigated, its passing decrees for the resuscitation of
prelacy, and the improved support of the Castle.
After presiding at a scholastic disputation of the
professors of the university, he departed in Septem.
ber 1617 for London. News of his death, in Mareh
1625, having arrived, the ministers of the city praised
him, in funeral sermons, as a most peaceable and re-
ligious prinee.
On the 31st March, 1625, Charles I. was proclaimed
at the cross ; and the town-council agreed to advance
to him the assessment of the city, and to contribute
to the maintenance of 10,000 men ; and they, at the
same time, provided for the city-guard, and for the
discipline of all the citizens. On the 12th June, 1633,
Charles visited Edinburgh, to be crowned king of
Scotland. He was received at the West Port by the
magistrates in red furred gowns, and 60 councillors
in velvet dresses; and conducted along the streets
with a display of pageantry more gorgeous than had
graced the public entry of his father, and indicating
an increase in eivic wealth. On the 18th he was
crowned in the Abbey church of Holy-rood with un-
wonted splendour; and on the 20th he assembled his
first Scottish parliament, mainly for the purpose, as
would appear, of carrying out his projects in favour
of prelacy, and the introduction of a liturgy. By
the acts of this parliament, and by the erection of
the bishopric of Edinburgh, his brief residence,
though hailed at the moment with demonstrations
of delight, ignited a smouldering, and far-spreading,
and fierce fire of discontent. Scarcely had he re-
turned to London when the hidden fire burst forth
into a blaze. When the liturgy, which was chiefly
copied from that of England, was read in St. Giles - ,
a tumult ensued. In October 1637 a great concourse
of persons of every rank resorted to Edinburgh to
avow their discontent, and declare their opposition.
A proclamation, commanding them to disperse, only
produced a new tumult. The withdrawal of the
privy-council and the court of session to Linlith-
gow was followed by increased uproar and confusion.
During 1638 discontent was animated into organized
insurrection. A convocation assembled in Edinburgh
to oppose the liturgy, and adopted the strong mea-
sure of renewing the Covenant. The magistrates
now ordered the citizens to prepare for war; and the
Covenanters, on their side, drew to arms. On the
22d September proclamation was made — but at too
late a date, and in too exacerbated a condition of
the popular feeling — that the liturgy was abandoned.
In December the Covenanters beleagured the Castle,
and were aided by the town-council with a force of
500 men, and a subsidy of .£50,000 Scotch. But a
pacification taking place in May 1639, at Berwick,
the Castle was delivered to the Marquis of Hamilton
as the King's officer. A parliament, which sat in
Edinburgh in December 1639, broke up amid mutual
criminations of unconstitutional conduct. In 1640
fresh preparations were begun for determined war.
The magistrates appointed a night-guard, exercised
the citizens in arms, and raised fortifications to de-
fend the town against the Castle. Ruthven, the
governor of the Castle, fired upon the city ; but
being invested by Lesley, the general of the Cove-
nanters, was forced to surrender. The treaty of Ripon
put an end to hostilities. In August 1641 Charles
revisited Edinburgh, and pardoned and conciliated
the insurgents. Having been well-received by the
magistrates, and sumptuously entertained at the cost
of £12,000 Scotch, he departed in November. The
magistrates still adhered to the Covenant, and raised
for its support a regiment of 1,200 men, at the ex-
pense of ±'60,000 Scotch. In October 1643 the
Solemn League and Covenant was sworn in St. Giles'.
In Mareh 1645 a plague again desolated the city;
but happily was the last with which it has been
afflicted.
After the execution of Charles I. Edinburgh joined
in the national engagement in favour of Charles II.,
and engaged to contribute a quota of 1,200 men.
But, in lieu of the men, the town-council afterwards
offered to pay £40,000 Scotch ; yet, in consequence
of impoverishment by plague and civil war, they were
in so disastrous a predicament that they first thought
of borrowing the money, and next pleaded ex-
emption from paying it, on the ground that it had
been promised in an unlawful cause. In May 1650
the Marquis of Montrose was brought a prisoner into
the city, conveyed along the streets in ignominious
parade, tried and condemned by the parliament, and
publicly executed at the cross. Having obtained the
consent of the exiled Charles II. to be their king, the
magistrates, in July 1650, proclaimed him at the
cross. Lesley, the eommander of the Scottish
troops, having been subdued at Dunbar, on the 3d
September, by Cromwell, who had crossed the
Tweed and menaced the metropolis, Edinburgh
was abandoned to its own fears, and left by the
magistrates without a government. On the 7th
September Cromwell took possession of the city,
and three months later forced the Castle to capi-
tulate. In December 1651 the magistrates returned
and resumed the government. Commissioners from
Cromwell for ruling Scotland having arrived, in Jan-
uary 1652, at Dalkeith, the citizens of Edinburgh
were so humbled that they felt obliged to ask their