Old and New Edinburgh

Old and New Edinburgh

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Vol. 1 p. 173 (Rel. 1.75)

Vol. 5 p. 160 (Rel. 1.73)

Vol. 3 p. 121 (Rel. 1.21)

Vol. 2 p. 289 (Rel. 1.11)

Vol. 3 p. 140 (Rel. 1.08)

Vol. 1 p. 171 (Rel. 1.07)

Vol. 6 p. 336 (Rel. 1.06)

Vol. 3 p. 50 (Rel. 1.05)

Vol. 4 p. 380 (Rel. 0.99)

Vol. 4 p. 337 (Rel. 0.98)

Vol. 5 p. 127 (Rel. 0.98)

Vol. 4 p. 348 (Rel. 0.97)

THE FREE CHURCH COLLEGE. 97 The Mound]
one persons ;61,ooo each, a sum which more than
sufficed to purchase the site of the college-the
old Guise Palace, with its adjacent closes-and to
erect the edifice, while others were built at
Glasgow and Aberdeen.
Plans by W. H. Playfair, architect, were prepared
and adopted, after a public competition had
been resorted to, and the new buildings were at
once proceeded with. The foundation stone was
iaid on the 4th of June, 1846, by Dr. Chalmers,
~ The stairs on the south side of the quadrangle
lead to the Free Assembly Hall, on the exact site
of the Guise Palace. It was erected from designs
by David Bryce, at a cost of A7,000, which was
collected by ladies alone belonging to the Free
Church throughout Scotland.
The structure was four years in completion, and
was opened on the 6th of November, 1850,under the
sanction of the Commission of the Free General
Assembly, by their moderator, Dr. N. Paterson,
LIBRARY OF THE FREE CHURCH COLLEGE. (Fwm o P/wtozm#h by G. W. Wi&on and Co.)
exactly one year previous to the day which saw his
remains consigned to the tomb. The ultimate cost
was ;646,506 8s. Iod., including the price of the
ground, Ero,ooo.
The buildings are in the English collegiate style,
combining the common Tudor with somd of the later
Gothic They form an open quadrangle (entered
by a handsome groined archway), 165 feet from
east to west and 177 from south to north, including
on the east the Free High Church. The edifice
has two square towers (having each four crocketed
pinnacles), IZI feet in height, buttressed at the
corners from base to summit. There is a third
tower, 95 feet in height. The college contains
seven great class-rooms, a senate hall, a students'
hall, and a library, the latter adorned with a
statue of Dr, Chalmers as Principal, by Steel
61
who delivered a sermon and also a special address
to the professors and students. Subsequently, this
inaugural sermon and the introductory lectures
delivered on the same occasion to their several
classes by Professors Cunningham, Buchanan,
Bannerman, Duncan, Black, Macdougal, Fraser,
and Fleming, were published in a volume, as a
record of that event.
The constitution of this college is the same as
that of the Free Church colleges elsewhere. The
Acts of Assembly provide for vesting college
property and funds, for the election of professors,
and for the general management and superintendence
of college business. The college buildings
are vested in trustees appointed by the Church.
A select committee is also appointed bp the
j General Assembly, consisting of " eleven ministers

... Black, Macdougal, Fraser, and Fleming, were published in a volume , as a record of that event. The constitution ...

Vol. 3 p. 97 (Rel. 0.94)

Vol. 4 p. 305 (Rel. 0.93)

Vol. 2 p. 224 (Rel. 0.81)

Vol. 5 p. 55 (Rel. 0.65)

Vol. 1 p. 123 (Rel. 0.63)

Vol. 6 p. 322 (Rel. 0.63)

Vol. 5 p. 99 (Rel. 0.62)

Vol. 3 p. 2 (Rel. 0.62)

Vol. 4 p. 303 (Rel. 0.62)

270 OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Leith.
under distinguished patronage has in no way
altered.
In 1763, on the 28th February, a thirty-guinea
purse was run for by Cartouch, a chestnut horse,
belonging to Lord Aberdour, Colonel of the old
Scots 17th Light Dragoons, a bay colt, belonging to
Francis Charteris of Amisfield, and a mare, belonging
to Macdowal of Castlesemple. The colt won.
In the following month, His Majesty's plate of a
hundred guineas, was won, against several other
horses, by Dunce, a chestnut, belonging to Charteris
bf Amisfield.
On the 4th March, the city purse of thirty
guineas was won by a bay colt, belonging to the
latter, against two English horses.
'' List of horses booked for His Majesty's purse
of IOO guineas, to be run for over the sands of
Leith, 1st July, 1771 . . . 29th June, appeared
William Sowerby, servant to Major Lawrie, and
entered a bay horse called 'Young Mirza ;' rider,
said Wm. ; livery crimson; and produced certificate,
dated at Lowther Hall, signed by Edward Halls,
dated 24th May, 1770, bearing the said horse to
be no more than four years old last grass. . .. ,
Appeared the Right Hon. the Earl of Kellie, entered
' Lightfoot.' Appeaed Sir Archibald Hope,
Bart. (of Pinkie), entered ' Monkey.' " Mirza won
For the race advertised for a pool of A60 and
upwards, the Duke of Buccleuch, who signed the
articles, marked Ago, to be paid in money, not
plate. '' Cornpeared, Mr. James Rannie, merchant
in Leith, and entered a bay horse, ' Cockspur,' belonging
toHis Grace the Dukeof Buccleuch." Itwon.
The Duke of Hamilton and the Earl of Eglinton
repeatedly entered horses (says Robertson) ;
and in I 7 7 7 the former gave the I 00 guineas won
to aid in the construction of the Observatory on
the Calton Hill.
In the ScatsMagazine for 1774 we find noted
the appearance at these races of the Count de
Fernanunez, " attended by the Chevalier Comanc,"
then on a tour through Scotland.
In 1816 the races were transferred to the Links
of Musselburgh permanently, for the sake of the
ground, which should be smooth turf; and though
attempts were made in 1839 and 1840 to revive
them again at Leith, they proved abortive.
the purse. '09-
CHAPTER XXXI.
LE I T H-T HE HA R B 0 U R
Thc Admiral and Bailie Courts-The Leith Science (Navigation) School-The Harbour of Leith-The Ekr-The Wooden Piers-Early Improve.
ments of the Harbour-Erection of Beacons-The Custom House Quay-The Bridges-Rennie's Report on the required Docks-The
Mortons' Building-yard-The F'resent Piers-The Martello Tower.
THOUGH the Right Hon. the Lord Provost of
Edinburgh is'Admira1 of the Firth of Forth, the
Provost of Leith is Admiral of the port thereof,
and his four bailies are admirals-depute. These,
With the clerk, two advocates as joint assessors,
and an officer, constitute the Admiral and Bailie
Courts of Leith.
There is also a society of solicitors before this
court, having a preses and secretary.
For the development of nautical. talent here,
there is the Leith Science (Navigation) School, in
Eonnection with the Department of Science and Art,
With local managers-the provost and others, ex
o#&, the senior bailie, master and assistant-master
of the Trinity House, chairman of the Chamber of
Commerce, etc.
The harbour of Leith is formed by the little
estuary of the river into the Firth of Forth, and is
entirely tidal, and was of old, with the exception
of being traversed by the shallow and unimportant
stream which takes its rise at the western base of
the Pentlands, quite dry at low water, and even I the channel towards the side streams of the Firth."
yet its depth is trifling. As the Water of Leith
has to make its way seaward, across the very broad
and flat shore called the Sands of Leith, alternately
flooded by the tide and left nearly dry, the
channel, in its natural state, was subject to much
fluctuation, according to the setting in of the tides.
A bar, too-such as is thrown up at the entrance
of almost every river mouth-lies across
its entrance, formed at that point where the antagonistic
currents of the river and tide bring
each other into stagnation or equipoise, and then
deposit whatever silt they contain. Thus, says a
writer, '' the river constantly, and to an important
amount, varies both the depth of the harbour and
the height of the position of the bar, according
to the fluctuations which occur in the volume of its
~ water or the rapidity of its discharge; for in a
season of drought it leaves everything open to the
invasion of sediments from the tide, at other times
it scours away lodgments made on its bed, drives
seaward and diminishes in bulk the bar, and deepens

... height of the position of the bar, according to the fluctuations which occur in the volume of its ~ water or ...

Vol. 6 p. 270 (Rel. 0.62)

Vol. 3 p. 11 (Rel. 0.61)

Vol. 6 p. 274 (Rel. 0.61)

Vol. 1 p. 174 (Rel. 0.61)

Vol. 2 p. 282 (Rel. 0.6)

Vol. 2 p. 339 (Rel. 0.6)

Vol. 5 p. 192 (Rel. 0.6)

Vol. 2 p. 322 (Rel. 0.6)

Vol. 2 p. 210 (Rel. 0.6)

Vol. 5 p. 114 (Rel. 0.59)

Vol. 6 p. 254 (Rel. 0.59)

Vol. 6 p. 271 (Rel. 0.59)

Vol. 3 p. 78 (Rel. 0.59)

Vol. 4 p. 295 (Rel. 0.59)

Vol. 5 p. 135 (Rel. 0.59)

Vol. 3 p. 191 (Rel. 0.59)

Vol. 5 p. 124 (Rel. 0.59)

Vol. 3 p. 167 (Rel. 0.59)

Vol. 5 p. 38 (Rel. 0.59)

Vol. 4 p. 206 (Rel. 0.58)

Vol. 4 p. 207 (Rel. 0.58)

Vol. 5 p. 59 (Rel. 0.58)

Vol. 6 p. 335 (Rel. 0.57)

Vol. 5 p. 123 (Rel. 0.57)

Vol. 3 p. 174 (Rel. 0.57)

Vol. 3 p. 163 (Rel. 0.57)

Vol. 4 p. 250 (Rel. 0.57)

Vol. 4 p. 318 (Rel. 0.57)

Vol. 4 p. 193 (Rel. 0.56)

Vol. 5 p. 151 (Rel. 0.56)

70 OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [The Water of Leith.
of Badajoz is extolled by Napier, and who died
fort major of Edinburgh Castle. On the opposite
side of the path, a modest stone marks the spot
where lies Captain John Grant, the last survivor
of the old Peninsula Gordon Highlanders, who
covered the retreat at Alba de Tormes, and was
the last officer to quit the town.
Near it is the grave of Captain Charles Gray of
the Royal Marines, the genial author of so many
Scottish songs ; and perhaps one of the most interesting
interments of recent years was that of Lieutenant
John Irving, R.N. (son of John Irving, W.S.,
the schoolfellow and intimate friend of Sir Walter
Scott), one of the officers of the ill-fated Franklin
expedition, who died in 1848 or 1849, and whose
remains were sent home by Lieutenant Sohwatka,
of the United States Navy, and laid in the Dean
Cemetery in January, 1881, after a grand naval and
military funeral, in accordance with his rank as
Lieutenant of the Royal Navy."
CHAPTER VII.
VALLEY OF THE WATER OF LEITH (continlced).
The Dean Bridge-Landslips at Stockbridge-Stone Coffins-Floods in the Leith-Population in 174a-St. Bemard's Estate-Ross's Tower
-I' Christopher North" in Anne Street-De Quincey there-%. Bernard's Well-Cave at Randolph Cliff-Veitch's Square-Chuiches in.
the Localit$-Sir Henry Raebm-Old Deanhiugh-House.
ABOUT a hundred yards west by north of Randolph
Crescent this deep valley is spanned by a stately
bridge, built in 1832, after designs by Telford.
This bridge was erected almost solely at the expense
of the Lord Provost Learmonth of Dean,
to form a direct communication with his property,
with a view to the future feuing of the latter.
It was when an excavation was made for its northern
pier that the Roman urn was found of which
an engraving will be seen on page 10 of the first
volume of this work. Over the bridge, the roadway
passes at the great height of 106 feet above the
rocky bed of the stream. The arches are four in
number, and each is ninety-six feet in span. The
total length is 447 feet, the breadth thirty-nine feet
between the parapets, from which a noble view of
the old Leith village, with its waterfall, is had to
the westward, while on the east the eye travels
along the valley to the distant spires of the seaport.
That portion of it adjoining Stockbridge is still
very beautiful and picturesque, but was far more
so in other days, when, instead of the plain back
Views of Moray Place and Ainslie Place, the steep
green bank was crowned by the stately trees of
Drumsheugh Park, and tangled brakes of bramble
and sweet-smelling hawthorn overhung the water
of the stream, which was then pure, and in some
places abounded with trout. Unconfined by stone
walls, 'the long extent of the mill-lade here was
then conveyed in great wooden ducts, raised upon
posts. These ducts were generally leaky, and
being patched and mended from time to time, and
covered with emerald-green moss and garlands of
creepers and water-plants, added to the rural
aspect of the glen. Between the bridge and the
mineral well, a great saugh tree, shown in one of;
Ewbank's views, overhung the lade and footpath,.
imparting fresh beauty to the landscape.
'' At Stockbridge," says the Edinburgh Advertiser
for 1823, '' we cannot but regret that the rage for
building is fast destroying the delightful scenery
between it and the neighbouring village of the:
Water of Leith, which had so long been a prominent
ornament in the envGons of our ancient
city."
At the southern end of the bridge, where
Randolph Cliff starts abruptly up, dangerous landslips
have more than once occurred ; one notably
so in March, 1881, when a mass of rock and earth
fell down, and completely choked up the lade which
drives the Greenland, Stockbridge, and Canonmills,
flour-mills.
At the north-westem end of the bridge is the
Trinity Episcopal Church, built in 1838, from a.
design by John Henderson, in the later English
style, with nave, aisles, and a square tower. To the
north-eastward an elegant suburb extends away
down the slope until it joins Stockbridge, comprising
crescents, terraces, and streets, built between
1850 and 1877.
The following is a detailed explanation of the woodcut on the
previous page :-I, View looking along the West Wall, showing, on the
right, the monument to Buchanan, founder of the Buchanan Institute,
Glasgow, and on the extreme left, the grave of Mr. Ritchie, of Tlu
Smlmruz (the pyramid at further end of walk is Lord Rutherford's
tomb, and Lord Cockbum's is near to it); z, Sir Archibald Alison's
gave (the larger of the Gothic mural tablets in white marble): 3,
Grave of George Combe ; 1, Monument to Alexander Russel, Editor
>f T/u Scoismm; 5, Tomb, on extreme left, of Lord Rutherford, next
to it that of Lord Jeffrey, the Runic Cross in the path is erected to.
Lieut. Irving of the Franklin Expedition; 6, Grave of Prof. W%on
:obelisk under tree), and of Prof. Aytoun (marble pedestal with crose
>U top).

... found of which an engraving will be seen on page 10 of the first volume of this work. Over the bridge, the ...

Vol. 5 p. 70 (Rel. 0.55)

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