Chronicle of the Royal Burgess Golfing Society of Edinburgh, 1735-1935

74.
THEROYALBURGESSGOLFINGSOCIETYOFEDINBURGH
145
6
;somesayitwasestablishedin
13
99,"
butas
Dr.MoirBrycepointsoutinhiswork,
TheBurghMuir
ofEdinburgb,l
thisisacompletemistake.Inthebegin-
ning
of
the
eighteenth
century
the
ground
on
which
the
present
Wright's
Houses
stand
was
merely
a
bare
patchofwasteland,butin
1716
JamesBrownhillgota
feu
from
the
Magistrates
of
a
quarter
of
an
acre
there,
immediately
opposite
the
village
of
Wright's
Houses
and
the
old
mansion
of
that
name
west
of
the
present
road—a
mansion
which
subsequently
became
Gillespie's
Hospital—from
whence
the
present
name
of
Wright's
Housesoriginated.In
1717
Brownhillbuiltthefirst
house
to
be
erected
on
the
Links,
and
called
it
"
Golf-
hall."
At
this
date
the
Town
Council
had
the
right
to
levy
a
duty
on
wines,
etc.
;
but
excepted
the
impost
on
such
wines
as
should
be
sold
and
consumed
in
the
house
on
Bruntsfield
Links,
built
in
the
"
current
year
by
James
Brownhill
called
Golfhall."
This
was
the
earliest
tavern
on
Bruntsfield
Links,
and
the
relief
from
the
wine
impost
may
have
been,
and
probably
was,
granted
as
a
concession
to
the
golfers.
At
Brownhill's
death
his
properties
at
Wright's
Houses
became
the
subjectoflitigation,andin
176o
thereisaCharterof
Adjudication
showing
that
one
of
his
successors
was
"
Thomas
Comb,
Clubmaker
in
Wrightshouses,"
who
had
acquired
Brownhill's
property,
described
as
a
"
great
house
with
the
court,
bowling-green
and
garden
called
Foxtoun."
This
must
have
been
the
"
Golfhall
"
of
older
days,
and
the
meeting-place
of
the
early
Burgess
members.
It
is
well
known
that
the
Burgess
Society
was
the
great
defender
of
the
citizens
in
their
use
of
the
Links
during
the
latter
part
of
the
eighteenth
and
beginning
of
the
nineteenth
centuries,
and
many
references
are
found
in
the
minutes
and
documents
of
the
Society,
as
well
as
in
the
Edinburgh
Town
Council
records,
show-
ing
the
gallant
fights
waged
in
defence
of
the
right
to
1
OldEdinburghClubPublications,vol.
X.
P.
244•
0