EDGEWORTHSTOWN. 



EDINBURGH. 



862 



pronaos, or portico, of the temple, which is supported by 18 pillars, 

 six in a row, the whole height of it being about 56 feet above the 

 lowest level of the court. The intercolunmiations of the front pillars 

 are built up to more than half the height. Passing through the 

 pronaos we come to a doorway leading into a kind of hypostyle hall, 

 66 feet by 33, supported by 12 pillars, with a flat roof formed by 

 large beams of stone crossing from each pillar to the next in the same 

 row, the whole being covered with thick flat slabs. The pillars have 

 the quadrilateral two-headed capital as at Denderah. From this 

 chamber we pass into another long and narrow one, from which there 

 are two small entrances to the side galleries, wherein we see flights of 

 steps leading upwards to the roof of the sekos, or cell. Proceeding 

 onwards through the middle chamber we pass into another small one, 

 with an apartment on each side of it, probably for the use of the 

 priests. From this last-mentioned chamber we enter the holy recess 

 itself, an oblong room about 33 feet by 17, in which the figure of the 

 deity was placed. Two galleries run down on each side of it, leading 

 to a doorway at the back of it, by which the priests might walk into 

 a large but perfectly retired space all round the sanctuary, or might 

 ascend on the roof by a flight of steps to enjoy the air and light on 

 the terraced roof, for below they had no light at all, except it might 

 be from small apertures, through which the fellahs who now live on 

 the roof with their families and cattle discharge all their dirt into the 

 temple. The chambers of the sekos serve them as repositories for 

 grain and other commodities. The temple, as well as every part of 

 the wall, is covered with hieroglyphics and 6gures representing the 

 progress of the sun through the circle of the hours. The outer wall, 

 joins the two propyla and completely incloses the court and 

 nple, is 414 feet on each of its longer sides, and 154 feet on its 

 sli'ii r side at the back of the temple. The smaller temple is also 

 covered with hieroglyphics representing the birth and education of 

 Horus, the son of Kneph and Athor, who were worshipped in the 

 larger edifice. 



The temple of Edfu may be compared with that of Denderah for 

 preservation, and is superior to it in magnificence. The propylaeon is 

 the largest and most perfect of any in Egypt ; it contains several 

 apartments in the interior, which receive light by square apertures in 

 the sides. The entrance court is the only one to be seen in Egypt in 

 such perfection, though completely encumbered with Arab huts. The 

 pronaos, or portico, is magnificent ; but unfortunately above three- 

 fuurths of it are buried in rubbish. Upon the whole the temple of 

 Edfu, although built much later than many of the others (the earliest 

 part of it was erected by Ptolemseus Philometor, B.C. 181), is perhaps 

 the most complete specimen remaining of an Egyptian temple, which 

 can give a good idea of the respective proportion and distribution of 

 the different parts of their exterior appearance when entire, and the 

 strength of those formidable citadels, which while they served as a 

 protection to the town commanded the respect of the inhabitants, 

 and prevented or defeated any attempts to dispute the authority of 

 their priestly rulers. Edfu marks the site of the ancient Apollinopolis 

 Mayna ; the Coptic name is A tbo, in which is preserved the ancient 

 name (Hat) of the district round Apollinopolis. 



(Egyptian Antiquities, vol. i. ; Belzoni ; Wilkinson, General View of 



EDGEWORTHSTOWN. [LONGFORD.] 



EDGWARE. [MIDDLESEX.] 



EDINBURGH, the City of, a royal and parliamentary burgh, the 

 chief town of Edinburghshire or Mid Lothian, and the capital of 

 Scotland, is situated on the south side of the Frith of Forth, about 

 2 miles inland, in 55 57' N. lat., 3 12' W. long. ; distant 392 miles 

 N.N.W. from London by road ; 398 miles by the North- Western, 

 Lancaster and Carlisle, and Caledonian railways; and 402 miles by 

 the Great Northern and North British railways. The population of 

 the city of Edinburgh in 1851 was 66,734; of the city and suburbs, 

 which together constitute the capital and parliamentary borough, 

 160,511. The city (which is divided for municipal purposes into five 

 wards) is governed by 81 town councillors elected by the constituency, 

 a dean of guild elected by the guildry, and a convener of trades elected 

 by the representatives of the incorporated trades. The council of 

 33 thus constituted elects from its own members a lord provost, 

 4 bailies, and a treasurer, as the administrators of the municipal 

 government. The city returns two members to the Imperial 

 Parliament. 



The boundaries of the capital include, besides various districts 

 subject only to the jurisdiction of the county sheriff, the four follow- 

 ing districts, namely : 1. Edinburgh ; 2. Canongate ; 3. Portsburgh ; 

 4. Calton. 



The existence of Edinburgh as a royal burgh may be traced to the 

 middle of the 12th century. A general charter of confirmation was 

 granted by James VI. in 1603, and another charter by Charles I. in 

 1636. These charters specify Leith and Newhaven as belonging to 

 the burgh. Other grants and charters were afterwards obtained at 

 different times from the crown prior to the Union in 1707. By a 

 charter of George III. in 1794 the lord provost, who by previous 

 charters was sheriff and coroner, was constituted lord lieutenant of 

 the county of the city. By the Scotch Burgh Reform Act (3 and 4 

 William IV. c. 76) the right of election to corporate offices was 

 declared to bo in those persona who are entitled to vote for members 



of Parliament. There are eight incorporated crafts within the burgh, 

 all possessed of funds appropriated to the support of decayed mem- 

 bers or the widows of such as are deceased. From an early period 

 the property of the burgh has been administered very improvidently. 

 In 1819 the debts of the city were stated to amount to 497,101?., 

 including 264,258?. incurred on account of the Leith Docks : in 1833 

 the amount of debts and obligations of the city were 425,194?., 

 exclusive of engagements on account of the Leith Docks. The 

 revenue of the city amounted then to 27,524?., and its annual current 

 expenditure to upwards of 33,000?. Under these circumstances the 

 city was declared insolvent, and an Act was passed in August 1833 

 conveying its properties and revenues to trustees for its creditors. 

 Canongate is a parish and burgh of barony, of which the royal burgh 

 of Edinburgh is the feudal superior. It is governed by a baron-bailie 

 nominated by the town council, and two bailies elected by the inha- 

 bitants of the burgh of Canongate. Its revenue, which is of small 

 amount, is derived from petty customs levied at the Watergate, or 

 exit to Leith. Portsburgh, or more accurately the Easter and Wester 

 Portsburghs, form a burgh of barony the jurisdiction of which is on 

 each side of the grounds of Heriot's Hospital. A baron-bailie and 

 two resident bailies are appointed by the corporation, the feudal 

 superior. The burgh offices are merely nominal. Calton is a district 

 lying in the hollow betwixt the Calton Hill, Canongate, and the New 

 Town. It was annexed to the city in 1725. A bailie is appointed, 

 but no duties are attached to the office. 



Site, Aspect, <tc. Edinburgh is built upon a series of hills, which, 

 with three intervening valleys, give to the streets a remarkably undu- 

 lating character. Salisbury Crag and Arthur's Seat, two high hills 

 beyond the precincts of the city on the east, greatly enhance the 

 grandeur of its characteristic features. The central hill, on the sum- 

 mit of which the castle is built, slopes gradually down, forming the 

 High-street and Canongate ; Holyrood Palace, about a mile from the 

 castle, being placed in the valley at the base of the hill. This ridge 

 lies nearly east and west. The west or castle end is a rock, bare and 

 inaccessible on the west, and with slopes of almost impracticable 

 ascent on the north and south. Southward of this central hill is 

 another but smaller elevation ; northward the elevation on which a 

 portion of the New Town is built, rises by a gentle slope from the 

 north valley, and then declines towards the shores of the Forth at 

 Leith and Qranton. Westward of the Castle Hill the ground is gene- 

 rally level. Eastward of the northern ridge, and separated from it 

 by a valley, is Calton Hill ; eastward of the hill on the south side of 

 the city, and separated from it by a portion of the King's Park, is 

 Salisbury Crag. Arthur's Seat is still farther east. 



Civil History. In the 7th century the southern part of Scotland 

 belonged to the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria ; and Edwin, 

 king of Northumbria, is said to have built a fort on the site of the 

 present castle, the name of which was Edwinsburgh. Some anti- 

 quaries assign an earlier date to the castle. In 1215 the first parlia- 

 ment held by Alexander II. met at Edinburgh ; and 20 years afterwards 

 the Pope's legate held here a provincial synod. Robert Bruce bestowed 

 on the burgh the harbour and mills of Leith. By this time Edinburgh 

 had become the chief town, though not nominally the capital, of Scot- 

 land ; parliaments were frequently held in it, and a mint was established. 

 In 1436 Edinburgh became in name what it had long been virtually 

 the capital of the country. About the middle of the 15th century, on 

 the representations of the provost and community, James II. granted 

 the citizens licence to inclose and fortify the city. His successor 

 erected the city into a sheriffdom within itself, and presented td the 

 incorporated trades a banner or standard, which has since been known 

 by the name of the ' Blue Blanket,' and is still preserved. King 

 James IV. patronised the erection of its first printing-press ; and in 

 the succeeding reign it became the seat of the royal palace, of the 

 parliament, and of the superior courts of justice. 



The wall built in 1450 included very little more than the present 

 High-street, from the castle to the Canongate ; but by the year 1513 

 the city walls inclosed the southern valley, called the Cowgate, and 

 portkns of the slopes extending upwards on each side of that valley. 

 The Canongate had a separate origin. The abbey of Holyrood was 

 founded by David I. in the 12th century, in the low ground lying east 

 of the city. The abbot and monks, in order to connect themselves 

 with Edinburgh, formed a line of street from their abbey up the slope 

 of the hill, till it joined the High-street of Edinburgh ; this street 

 received the name of the Canongate, and the burgh of Canongate was 

 constituted distinct from Edinburgh. 



Up till the middle of last century the boundary of the city was not 

 much enlarged ; the additional accommodation required for the pro- 

 gressive increase of the population having been met by building houses 

 of great height, and affording on each floor residences for one or more 

 families. Some additional space was obtained by the draining of a 

 morass on the southern side of the city, and on the drained land were 

 formed the Cowgate and the Grassmarket, which had for their earlier 

 occupants the wealthier classes of the city. After the Union of Scot- 

 land with England in 1707, and the transference of the parliament 

 and the privy council to London, many of the nobility removed 

 thither, and the Canongate became deserted. In 1753 an Act of Par- 

 liament was obtained, and the work of renovation and extension of 

 the city was commenced. The Royal Exchange, in the High-street, 



