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Victoria or Assembly Hall, with a fine tower. We now reach the West Bow, formerly a place of note, so called from an arch or bow in the western wall of the city. James' Court, 501, was the residence of Lord Kames, David Hume, Dr Blair, and Boswell. In Boswell's house Dr Johnson resided when he visited Edinburgh in 1773. "Johnson and I," says Boswell, "walked arm-in-arm up High Street to my house in James' Court. My wife had tea ready for him, and we sat chatting until two in the morning." In Baxter's Close, No. 469, Burns resided in November 1786. His house is on the first floor of the stair on the left on entering the close. We now reach Bank Street, on the left, at the foot of which is the Bank of Scotland. On the right is the wide George IV. Bridge, which crosses the Cowgate.

[At this point we will make a brief digression. Turning to the right we enter George IV. Bridge, and proceeding one square to Victoria Street, turn down that street to the right, and reach in a moment the GRASSMARKET. In the pavement of this open place, under a spot marked by a cross on the pavement, is the socket of the gallows upon which many of the most eminent of the Covenanters were executed. It was the scene of the Porteous Riot. Here is the New Corn Exchange.

Leaving the Grassmarket on the east by Candlemaker Row, we soon reach the end of George IV. Bridge, and see, a little way farther on on the left, Old and NewGreyfriars Churches, the first opened in 1612, the other in 1721. In the Old Church, the great National Covenant was signed on March 1, 1638. Among other eminent men who have filled the pulpit of this church, was Robert

son the historian. Walter Scott attended it when he was a boy, and his father is buried in the churchyard. The churchyard was once the chief burying-ground of the city. It was used for some months in 1679 as an open-air prison for 1200 Covenanters captured at the battle of Bothwell Bridge. Here were deposited the remains of most of the Covenanters who were executed in the Grassmarket. The interesting Martyrs Monument marks the spot where many of them were buried. "From May 27, 1661, when the most noble Marquis of Argyll was beheaded, to the 17th of February 1668, were one way or other murdered or destroyed, for the same cause, about eighteen thousand, of whom were executed at Edinburgh about one hundred. The most of them lie here."]

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Retracing our steps to the corner of the Lawnmarket and Bank Street, we resume our route towards Holyrood. A little farther east, before reaching St Giles' Church, and close to the north-west corner of the Church, we see a heart-shaped figure in the pavement. marks the site of the OLD TOLBOOTH, once the meetingplace of Parliament and Courts, at last a prison. Here fixed upon spikes were exposed the head of Montrose, and later, that of the Marquis of Argyll (1661). The Old Tolbooth has been immortalized by Scott in his "Heart of Midlothian." GILES' CHURCH is a Gothic edifice with massive square tower terminating in open stone-work in the form of a crown. It is noted as the church in which John Knox preached, for the swearing of the League and Covenant, and as the place of imprisonment of Covenanters. It is 206 feet long by 76 to 129 feet in breadth and

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is divided into the High, the Old, and the New North or West St Giles' Church. In the south transept were buried the Regent Murray, Regent Morton, the Marquis of Montrose, and other celebrated men. Behind the church is PARLIAMENT SQUARE, occupying part of the site of an ancient cemetery. In the pavement, marked with a small stone, lettered I.K., JOHN KNOX WAS BURIED. Around the square are the Parliament House, Signet Library, Advocates' Library, and Exchequer Office. In the centre is a lead statue of Charles II. The Advocates' Library near by contains 200,000 volumes, and is readily accessible. The Great Hall of Parliament House, 122 feet long, 40 feet broad, and 60 feet high, is well worth a visit. The stained-glass windows are very fine. The hall is adorned with statues, busts, and portraits of distinguished statesmen and lawyers.

Passing the Royal Exchange and Police Office, we see on the pavement in front of the latter the octagonal figure which indicates the Market Cross, from which all Royal proclamations are made. The ancient City Cross, restored, stands within railings at the north-east end of St Giles' Church. Passing several closes, which were the places of residence of noted persons, we reach Tron Church, so called from the tron or public scale which once stood near by. Passing North and South Bridges we see an old timber-fronted house on the left, once the residence and place of business of Allan Ramsay, the poet and bookseller.

Blackfriars Street, is on the site of Blackfriars Close, once one of the most aristocratic quarters of the old town. Passing several closes remarkable as

having been the residences of noted persons, we reach JOHN KNOX'S HOUSE. (Open on Wednesdays and Saturdays, 10 to 4, fee 6d.). He died here in 1572. On an angle of the house, near a window from which the reformer frequently addressed the people, is a small effigy of Moses. Adjoining is the Free Church called John Knox's Church. The narrow part of the High Street from John Knox's House to Canongate is called the Nether Bow, a gateway or "Port" once stood here. The Canongate extends from this point to Holyrood. "As the main avenue from the palace to the city," says Chambers, "it has borne upon its pavement the burden of all that was beautiful, all that was gallant, all that has become historically interesting in Scotland for the last six or seven hundred years." Here, too, marched the death procession of Montrose, "the hero, seated on a hurdle, with beard untrimmed, hair disbevelled, dragged through the crowded street by the city hangman and his horses, yet proud of aspect, and flashing on his enemies on the balcony above him the fires of his disdain."

A little beyond Playhouse Close, No. 196, is a ring on the pavement which indicates the old boundary of the city on the east, and here Charles I. in his entry into Edinburgh (1633) knighted the provost. A little farther on the right, entered through an archway, is St John Street, where lived Ballantyne the publisher of Scott's Novels; and here Scott was a frequent visitor. A little farther on, on the same side, is Moray House, with a gateway at the side. Here Cromwell lived in 1648, and in 1650. It is now a Normal School. little farther east, on the left, is the Canongate

Tolbooth, or borough jail, with a large clock projecting over the street. Beyond is Canongate Church, in the burying-ground of which lie Ferguson the poet, Dugald Stewart, and Adam Smith.

Farther on, on the right, is QUEENSBERRY HOUSE, once the house of the Duke of Queensberry. It is now a House of Refuge for the Destitute. A little farther on, on the left, is White Horse Close and the White Horse Inn, once a fashionable resort. Near this is the Abbey Court House and Sanctuary for debtors. The territory in which they are privileged from arrest for debt extends from this point for a considerable distance beyond the Abbey of Holyrood. We now emerge into the open space in front of Holyrood Palace, in the centre of which is the elaborate fountain erected by the late Prince Consort as a memorial of his temporary residence at Holyrood.

HOLYROOD PALACE was originally a convent, and owes its origin to David I. The legend runs that the king, in the year 1128, was hunting near the spot, and being attacked by a wounded stag and thrown down, a cross was mysteriously interposed between him and the stag, and the animal, being frightened, fled. The king founded near the spot the Church of the Holy Rood, and the Abbey became one of the wealthiest in Scotland. James IV. resided here, and James V. built the part of the palace where the apartments of Queen Mary are. In 1544 the whole Abbey and the royal apartments were burned by the English, who landed a force at Leith. They were again partly destroyed at the close of the Civil War. The present palace was erected by Charles II. The Duke of York, afterwards James II. of England, resided here. It was once the

residence of the exiled Count d'Artois, afterwards Charles X. of France. George IV. used to reside temporarily here, and Queen Victoria has occasionally resided here for a short time. On entering the palace (open every week-day, 1 to 6, admission 6d.), turning to the left and ascending the stairway, the first door leads to the long Picture Gallery. It contains portraits (imaginary) of reputed kings of Scotland painted by a Dutch artist, and without interest. In this room the election of the Scottish representative peers is held.

On leaving the Picture Gallery, the next rooms visited are those which Lord Darnley used to occupy, in which are portraits, amongst which is one of Darnley himself and his brother, and some fine specimens of ancient tapestry. From these the visitor ascends the staircase to QUEEN MARY'S APARTMENTS, on the third floor, the most interesting portion of the palace buildings. An attendant conducts strangers through the rooms. The first apartment is the audience-chamber, a room 24 feet by 22, with the roof divided into panelled compartments, embellished with the initials and armorial bearings of royal personages, and the walls of which are hung with ancient tapestry. Here are some embroidered chairs, and a state bed, said to have been used by Charles I. while resident in Holyrood; by Prince Charles Edward, before and after the battle of Prestonpans, in September 1745. The next apartment to this is the bed-chamber, the roof of which is divided into panels, adorned with various initials and coats of arms. Here are shown the queen's bed, the hangings of which are of crimson damask, with green silk fringes and tassels; some pieces

of tapestry; and portraits of Queen Mary herself, Henry VIII., and Queen Elizabeth.

At the south-west corner of this chamber a door leads to the dressing-room, some ten feet square. On the north side is a small door, which opens on the private staircase by which the assassins of Rizzio ascended to the royal apartments; and close to this door is the entrance to the supper-room or closet, where, on the night of the 9th of March 1566, Rizzio was dragged from the presence of the queen, and was finally despatched. "Darnley, who headed the conspirators, entered first, and casting his arm fondly round the queen's waist, seated himself beside her at table. Lord Ruthven followed in complete armour, looking pale and ghastly, as one scarcely recovered from long sickness. Others crowded in after them, till the closet was full of armed men. While the queen demanded the purpose of their coming, Rizzio, who saw that his life was aimed at, got behind her and clasped the folds of her gown, that the respect due to her person might protect him. The assassins threw down the table and seized on the unfortunate object of their vengeance, while Darnley himself took hold of the queen, and forced Rizzio and her asunder. It was their intention, doubtless, to have dragged Rizzio out of Mary's presence, and to have killed him elsewhere; but their fierce impatience hurried them into instant murder." Some dark stains, said to have been made by the blood of the ill-starred Italian, are still pointed out at the head of the stair. In this little room is a block of marble, which is part of the step on which Queen Mary and Darnley knelt at their marriage.

Descending to the inner court,

and proceeding eastward, we reach the ruins of the CHAPEL ROYAL, the only portion remaining of the Abbey of Holyrood. The only part now standing consists of the remains of the nave of the ancient building, originally 148 feet long and 66 feet broad. In the interior of the chapel, the two piers at the north-east end are all that remain of the seven that originally divided the nave from the aisles. The east window, 34 feet high by 20 feet broad, is of comparatively modern origin, and was blown out in a violent storm in 1795, but was restored in 1816. The most ancient portion of the present edifice is a small Norman doorway, now built up, at the back of the mass of masonry above the royal vault.

Almost all the west front, with its great tower and richly ornamented doorway, is part of the original edifice, and a beautiful specimen of the mixed Norman and early English style. In this chapel Charles I. was crowned, and James II., James III., James IV., and Queen Mary and Darnley were married; and here, in the royal vault, at the south-east end, lie the remains of David II., James II., Mary of Gueldres, James V., the queen and second son of James V., the Duke of Albany, Lord Darnley, and many others of lesser note. In the north-west tower is the tomb of Lord Viscount Belhaven, councillor to Charles I., and one of the most remarkable men of his day, who died at Edinburgh on the 12th of January 1639. The monument is of Italian marble.

Having visited Holyrood, the tourist should take a carriage and make the circuit of Arthur's Seat and Salisbury Crags by the beautiful road called THE QUEEN'S

DRIVE. It is best to go up on the left or north side. Nearly

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opposite the southern entrance gate of the Palace is St Margaret's Well, a small gothic building of great antiquity, with a groined roof, supported in the centre by a decorated pillar, from which the water flows through gargoils. Continuing the Drive, we see the ruins of St Anthony's Chapel on the rising ground to the right. This chapel was a hermitage of the Carmelite Friars. A little below the chapel is St Anthony's Well, a spring that flows from the rock into a stone basin, and then into the lake below. A small sheet of water, called St Margaret's Lock, lies at the base of the hill. At the bend of the road we see Dunsappie Loch, on the slopes to the east of which the army of Prince Charles Edward encamped both before and after the battle of Prestonpans. (The ascent of Arthur's Seat is made easily from this point, as the hill is less abrupt here than on any of its other sides. The summit is 822 feet above the level of the sea, and the magnificent view to be had from it will well repay the labour of the ascent.) Our drive now overlooks the village of Duddingston, with its loch, and its quaint church, and we see on the rising ground beyond the imposing ruins of Craigmillar Castle, where Mary Queen of Scots often resided. The road now descends a valley, and winds round the base of Salisbury Crags; but the higher road, on the right, a pathway cut in the face of the Crags-the highest elevation of which is the central cavity of the Cat Nick, about 570 feet above the level of the sea-is the one most frequently taken by pedes trians, as its elevated platform affords a series of magnificent views of Edinburgh, the Firth of Forth, and the coast of Fife. It was a favourite walk of David Hume, the historian, and of Sir

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Walter Scott, who says, "It used to be my favourite evening and morning resort when engaged with a favourite author, or new subject of study." The road in this direction is overhung by a range of greenstone columns of a pentagonal or hexagonal form, from 50 to 60 feet in length, and 5 in diameter, called Samson's Ribs.

The valley which divides Salisbury Crags from Arthur's Seat is called the Hunter's Bog. Farther on, near the park keeper's lodge at St Leonard's Hill, the cottage of Jeanie Deans may still be seen.

Having completed our visits to Calton Hill, Princes Street, and the Castle; having made the interesting journey from the Castle to Holyrood, and round Arthur's Seat and the Salisbury Crags, there remain some interesting objects to be seen in the New Town. Passing down Princes Street, about opposite the centre of West Princes Street Gardens, we reach Castle Street, turning to the right, into which street we soon reach No. 39 on the east side.

In this house Sir Walter Scott resided for twenty-six years (1800-1826). His attachment to this residence is shown in the following extract from his diary:

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So fare

"March 15th, 1826. This morning I leave No. 39 Castle Street. "The cabin was convenient,' and habit had made it agreeable to me. well, poor No. 39! What a portion of my life has been spent there! It has sheltered me from the prime of life to its decline, and now I must bid good-bye to it." The house is close to the wide and beautiful George Street. Looking toward the east up George Street, we see the monument to the first Viscount Melville, in the style of the column of Trajan at Rome. In the centre of the street is also

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