104 SCOTLAND ILLUSTRATED. • 



" brazen bull" made the first experiment upon that new and ingenious instru- 

 ment of torture, in his own person. 



The Canongate, as familiar in ancient records as in modern romance, and 

 comprising that quarter where the ancient nobility and officers of the court 

 resided, abounds in antiquarian subjects, and in every thing that illustrates 

 most forcibly the transmuting influence of political change. As the great avenue 

 between the Castle and Holyrood, it has been, in turn, the scene of triumphal 

 procession, and popular commotion ; the hot-bed of faction, and the scene oi 

 national festivity ; the field of secret treasons, and the sanctuary of loyalty ; the 

 theatre where the demagogue has incited the populace to rebellion, and the 

 disciples of Calvin launched the thunders of the Reformation. From yonder 

 antiquated, projecting window, the eloquence of KJnox has rivetted the by-standers, 

 and, by the pungency of his argument, made converts of those who had come 

 only to scoff at the " new creed." Here, every passion that could dignify or 

 debase the character of man has been called into action, and found abettors. 

 There, the gallant Montrose — a nobleman whose romantic genius approached 

 nearest to that of the ancient heroes of Greece and Rome — perished on the 

 scaffold ;* and here the less noble felon was burnt at the stake.f But here, too, 

 let it be remembered, exiled sovereigns have found shelter — the injured, prompt 

 redress — and the friendless stranger, a generous hospitahty. 



The union of the two kingdoms proved fatal to this ancient suburb. It 

 removed the royal court, the native nobility and foreign ambassadors, whose 

 stately mansions and habitual residence had hitherto maintained it in continued 

 prosperity. Their dilapidated dwellings are now occupied by a very different 

 class o£ tenants, and the house that could once accommodate a lord of session, 

 is now transmuted into a barber's shop.:}: These changes were followed by 

 others, which, by throwing the Canongate out of the Leith road, completed 

 its degradation. 



After passing the Nether-Bow, once the finest entrance into Edinburgh, thp 

 street suddenly narrows, and the ancient features of the Canongate crowd 

 thickly upon the eye. Many of the private mansions, still bearing the names of 

 their ov\-ners, were partly of wood, hevm from the stately oak forest which 



• See his character, hy Cardinal de Retz. f Birrel's Diary, p. 49. 



X Like the hotels of the old French noblesse, Lothian House, Quecnsberry House, and others belonging 

 to the Scottish nobility, had an insulated character, very distinct from those of the wealthy citizens. But 

 so striking- were tlic changes in the last century, that the house of a former Lord-Justice-Clerk was pos- 

 sessed in 1783 by a teacher of French; Lord President Craigie's, by a saleswoman of old furniture; and 

 Lord Dromorc's was left by a chairman for want of accommodation I — Statist. 



