n 



EDMONTON. 



1841 wa* 7092. The town in situated t the mouth and on the right 

 of the river E*k. which flow, between it and the Tillage of 

 rrow. On the Link*, or Common, between the town and the 

 her* of the Frith of Forth, the Edinburgh race* generally Uke place. 

 MiiMplburgh i* connected with FUherrow by thrre bridge! ; the erec- 

 tion of the oldest of these bridge* (now nnlj used for foot pawengen) 

 ha* been attributed in a Roman colony that settled on Inveredt Hill 

 immediately behind the town. Numerou* Roman remain*, trace* of 

 baths, Ice., hare from time to time been discovered at Inveresk. 

 Muaselborgh i* generally well but irreguhuly built It u clean, 

 lighted with gas, and u well supplied with chop* and markets. The 

 parish church, built in 1804, will accommodate 8000 Bitten. There 

 are a Free church, an Epiacopal chapel, and several chapels for United 

 Presbyterian* and Independent*. The tolbootb, or jail, which in in 

 the High-street, wa* built in 1590 of material* derived from a chapel 

 dedicated to our Lady of Loretto, which bad exiited in the town from 

 a very early period. The town-hall adjoin* the jail. The chief bridge 

 b an elegant and *ub*tantial structure. Tanning and leather-dressing, 

 anil the manufacture of nail-cloth are carried on ; a wit-work is in 

 the immediate neighbourhood ; hone-hair cloth and fishing-net* are 

 manufactured. The market-garden* supply vegetables for Edinburgh. 

 There are a caving* bank and two libraries in the town. The Grammar 

 achool of the burgh and two other schools are partly endowed. A 

 few coasting vessels and (mall vessels from the north of Europe 

 bringing timber, oil-cake, bone-dust, bark, hides, &c., visit the port 

 Slate*, bone-manure, grain, and other commodities are imported from 

 the adjoining coast*. Coals are the chief export At the east end of 

 the burgh i Pinkie House, not far from which wns fought the battle 

 of Pinkie. The Marquis of Hamilton, on behalf of Charles I., in 1638 

 met the Covenanters on the Links. In 1650 Cromwell's infantry 

 encamped there. The inhabitant* of the village of Fisherrow derive 

 their subsistence from the sale of fish at Edinburgh. 



Portobrllo, about 3 mile* E. from Edinburgh, population 3497 in 

 1851, unite* with Leith and Musselburgh in returning one member to 

 the Imperial Parliament It is much resorted to in summer by the 

 inhabitant* of Edinburgh for sea-bathing. There are hot and cold 

 baths. The town has some good street* ; a few of the older streets 

 are narrow. There are several churches and chapels, and a good 

 market-place. The town i* lighted with ga*. It is connected with 

 the capital by the North British railway. Brick and tile-works, a flint- 

 glass manufactory, and a paper-mill, give employment to many of the 

 inhabitant* ; and there are salt-works near Joppa, a small village east- 

 ward of the town, but within the boundaries of the burgh of Portobello. 



The following villages, with the parish population in 1851, and a 

 few other particulars, may be mentioned : 



Barihmck, population 1614, about 12 mile* S.E. from Edinburgh. 

 The caatle, built in 1430, is in the form of a double tower, of great 

 height, and a magnificent hall, with a vaulted roof. It was here that 

 Queen Mary retired with Bothwell after their marriage, and from this 

 oaatkj she fled in disguise to Dunbar. The castle was greatly injured 

 by a cannonade from Cromwell. The house* of Borthwick village are 

 clustered round the base of the castle. Colder (Mid), population 

 1474, on the right bank of the Almond Water, 12 mile* 8.W. from 

 Edinburgh, posse**** an ancient gothic church and a chapel for United 

 Presbyterian*. In the vicinity i* Calder House, the seat of Lord 

 Torphichen. In Calder House is a portrait of John Knox, which is 

 said to be the only authentic portrait of the Reformer. Knox 

 preached at Calder House. C'ramond, at the mouth of the Almond 

 Water, contains between 40 and 50 house* ; the pariah is partly in 

 Linlithgowahire. C'ramond i* said to have been a Roman station ; 

 many Roman antiquities have been found here. The mouth of the 

 river afford* at high tide a small natural harbour. There are iron- 

 work* a little way up the stream. Duddingiton, at the south-eastern 

 base of Arthur 1 * Seat, about 2 miles &E. from Edinburgh, population 

 of the village, 636. The parish church in the village is of great 

 antiquity. An iron collar hangs at the church gate, a remnant illus- 

 trative of ancient ecclesiastical discipline. Gilmertan, about 4 mil 

 8.E. from Edinburgh. Coal has been wrought here, it is said, for 300 

 year* ; and the lime-quarries are supposed to be the oldest in Scotland. 

 There are a chapel of ease, a Free church, and n partially endowed 

 school Granton, on the Frith of Forth, 2 mile* W. from Leith, and 

 8 mile* N.W. from Edinburgh, has a good pier, 1700 feet long and 

 180 feet broad, and an hotel, erected by the Duke of Buccleuch ; also 

 the terminus, on the south side of tho Forth, of the Edinburgh, 

 Dundee, Perth, and Cupar railway. The ferry-steamer carries the 

 train on iU deck from Granton to Burntisland, on the opposite shore 

 of the Frith. Steamers ply regularly between London and Granton, 

 which divides with Leith the duties connected with the port of Edin- 

 burgh. On the pier are several warehouse*, with cranes, slips, jetties, 

 Ac. Several handsome house* have Ix-en built on the *horo. fnrtretl; 

 6( mile* E. from Edinburgh by the North British railway, is beauti- 

 fully situated on a rising ground behind the town of Musselburgh, and 

 watered by the Esk. It contain* many handsome houses, and is well 

 wooded. In this parish are exteniive coal-work*. Lauwndt, about 

 mile* 8.K. from Edinburgh, population of the paruh 5821, i* much 

 frequented a* a dimmer residence by the inhabitant* of Edinburgh. 

 The |ri*h church i* handsome. Besides that of the parish, there are 

 two Endowed ccbooU. On the Esk are two corn-mills ; but the paper- 



mills and carpet-manufactories are the chief source* of employment 

 A small fragment of the old catle of Hawthornden, the residence of 

 the poet Dmmmond, itill exist* in the neighbourhood of the modern 

 mansion. Under the house are extensive caves, said to have served 

 as places of concealment in tho wars with England. A'rvAaim, on the 

 shore of the Forth, half a mile W. from the town of Leith, is inhabited 

 by the fishermen who supply Edinburgh. There i* an old pier for 

 the fishing-boat* and some of the steamers of the river. Here, and at 

 Trinity chain-pier, already mentioned, numerous villa* have been 

 erected. Pmnytiride, or Pennirvil; 10 mile* S. from Edinburgh, 

 population of the parish 3003, contain* extensive paper-mills. 

 Ratlin, 8 miles S. from Edinburgh. Here i* the most extensive 

 manufactory of gunpowder in Scotland. There are also a paper- 

 mill and a bleach-field. Koslin chapel and castle will be noticed 

 presently. 



Ilutu'ry, Antii/uUitt, <tc. Mid-Lothian was in early times inhabited 

 by the Ottadini and Gadeui, British tribes. The names of various 

 streams, hills, and villages in the county are of British extraction. 

 The Romans, who held possession of the county for about 400 yean, 

 included this district in their province Valenti*. Anglo-Saxon* from 

 the north of England appear to have succeeded the Roman*, and in 

 ancient charter* many names, evidently of Saxon origin, are found. 

 Then followed on influx of Scoto-Iri*b, it is said, from the west From 

 the time of Malcolm Canmore the hiitory of Edinburgh, then becoming 

 a place of importance, is closely connected with that of the district 

 generally, though many portion* of the county have been the scene 

 of events of national as well as of local interest 



Besides the Roman remains already referred to, traces of Roman 

 camps exist in the parishes of Crichton, Mid Calder, West Calder, and 

 Stow. Roman coins and many implements of domestic use have 

 been found in several part* of the county. Feudal and ecclesiastical 

 antiquities are numerous in this county. The finest is Roslin chnpel, 

 built in 1446, by William St Clair, earl of Orkney and lord of 

 Roslin ; which, after remaining perfect for nearly two centuries and 

 a half, was much injured towards the close of the 17th century. The 

 architecture is of a very florid and somewhat |>euuliar style. The 

 pillars and arches of the nave are especially elaborate, one of them 

 in p.-irticular, which is designated the ' 'Prentice's Pillar.' The castle 

 of Hoslin, not far from the chapel, is a mere ruin, almost inaccessible 

 from the surrounding ground, except by a small bridge over a deep 

 valley. Many fortalices are scattered over the face of the county, 

 each possessing it* own history of local, if not of general interest 

 Crichton Castle, a large quadrangular mass of ruins on the bonks of the 

 small river Tyne, a little way north-east from Borthwick Castle, is finely 

 described in the note* to ' Marmion.' Craigmillar Castle, standing on 

 an eminence, separated by a valley from Arthur's Seat, is a place of 

 great antiquity, though a considerable portion of the present building 

 was erected after the destruction of the old castle by tho English after 

 the battle of Pinkie. 



Mid- Lothian, as the metropolitan county, has from the earliest times 

 contained the residence* of many powerful families ; it now contains 

 perhaps a much greater number of modern residence* than it did place* 

 of strength in feudal times. The Earl of Stair has a seat, Oxenfonl 

 Castle, in Cranston parish ; Eldin House, near Lasftwade, belonged to 

 Lord Eldiu ; Arnistmi House, on the bank of the South Esk, in 

 Borthwick parish, is the seat of the family of Dundas. 



Industry, <tc. The more important branches of industry carried on 

 in this county have been already referred to in connection with the 

 ililli rent villages. Coal works and stone and lime quarries occupy 

 the inhabitants residing in the great mineral field of the county; 

 grazing employs the highland farmers, and agriculture those occupying 

 the low and rich land of the districts on each side of the Pent lauds, 

 and on the shore of the Forth around Edinburgh. The ale of Edin- 

 burgh has long been celebrated. There are breweries near Mussel- 

 burgh, and distilleries there, near Edinburgh, and at Itatho. Paper 

 and gunpowder are manufactured to a considerable extent ; and there 

 are several bleach-fields and corn and other mills on the banks of the 

 rivers Esk and the Water of Leith. In 1851 there were saving bank* 

 at H.ilki itli. Edinburgh, and Leith ; the total amount due to depositor* 

 on the 211th November 1851 was 357.161/. 17*. 8rf. 



EDMONTON, Middlesex, an extensive village, and the seat of a 

 Poor-Law Union in the parish and hundred of Edmonton, is situated 

 in 51 37' N. lat, 3' W. long., distant 7 miles N. by E. from 

 London by road, and 104 miles by the Eastern Counties railway. The 

 population of the parish of Edmonton in 1851 wa* 9708. The living 

 is a vicarage in the archdeaconry of Middlesex and diocese of London. 

 Edmonton Poor- Law Union contains 6 parishes, with an area of 47,880 

 acres, and a population in 1851 of 45,352. 



The name of the place is given in Domesday Book as Adelmcton ; 

 it appears to have been first called Edmonton about the beginning of 

 the 16th century. The parish church, a commodious edifice, was iu 

 great part rebuilt in 1772 : the embattled tower at the west end, and 

 some other part* of the building, are ancient In the churchyard 

 Charles Lamb lies interred. The Quakers, Independents, and Wesleyan 

 Methodists have places of wornhip. V.ti"iul and Infant schools, 

 several Endowed schools, aud tho Children's Establishment for tho 

 West London Poor-Law Union aro iu tin- pm-Mi. Kdni'iiiUm contain* 

 many excellent villas, chiefly the residences of London merchant*. 



