PICTURE

OF

EDINBURGH.

HISTORY.

THE origin of Edinburgh, like that of most

other ancient cities, is involved in much obscurity. Without adverting to the fabulous accounts given by authors of the derivation of its name, or their conjectures about its first posses- sors, it may be remarked, that it is situated in that part of the country which formed, in the days of Agricola, the Roman province of Valentia; though it does not appear that there existed, at that time, any fort or town on the spot where Edinburgh now stands. On the departure of the Ro

A

mans from Britain, this district fell into the hands of the Saxon invaders, under their leaders Octa and Ebusa, in the year 452; and it continued in their possession till the defeat of Egfrid, king of Northumberland, by the Picts, in 685. The Saxon kings of Northumberland re-conquered it in the ninth century; and it was retained by their suc◄ cessor's till about the year 956, when it was given up to Indulphus king of Scotland.

The natural situation of Edinburgh, on the ridge of a steep hill, terminated at one end by an inaccessible rock, must early have marked it out as a fit place, either for security or defence, in a barbarous age. Many of the most ancient forts in Scotland are in situations such as this; and it is not to be supposed, that a spot so easily rendered imprègnable as the site of Edinburgh castle, would be long unoccupied by a fortress of some kind or other, in a district of country so often exposed to predatory incursions. An ancient writer (Simeon of Durham) mentions the town of Edwinesburch as existing in the middle of the eighth century. Without resorting, therefore, to Celtic derivations, it is probable, that this city may have received its first foundation and name from the Northumbrian prince Edwin, during the possession of this part of Scotland by the Saxon invaders,

By what prince Edinburgh was constituted into a royal borough is uncertain. It appears, however, to have early enjoyed that privilege; for David I, in his charter of foundation of the abbey of Holyroodhouse, in the year 1128, mentions the town by the title of "burgo meo de Edwinesburg." As this prince, however, is generally supposed to have been the first who erected royal boroughs in Scotland, it is more than probable that Edinburgh is to him indebted for this distinction. By the charter of erection of the abbey above -mentioned, David I. granted to the canons forty shillings yearly out of the revenues of the town; forty-eight shillings more from the same, in case of the failure of certain duties payable from the king's revenue; the church or chapel of its castle; "the tithes of its mills; one half of the tallow, lard, and hides of the beasts killed in the city; and a spot or piece of ground in his town of Edwinesburg.

For a long time after this period Edinburgh seems to have been a place of but little note. Situated on the southern side of the Frith of Forth, in a country so much exposed to the inroads of the English, the inducements to reside in it in those unsettled times must have been few, and the pos❤ session of property in it very insecure. In the reign of Ålexander II, (anno 1215), a parliament

was held in this city for the first time; but it was not till after the year 1456, when parliaments continued to be held in it regularly, that Edin burgh was looked upon as the capital of Scotland.

Owing to the want of written records, little is known of the history of the city before this period. The oldest charter in the archives of the town is one granted by king Robert I, May 28, 1329, in which he bestows upon Edinburgh the town of Leith, with its harbour and mills; and his grandson, John earl of Carrick, who afterwards ascended the throne by the name of Robert III, conferred upon the burgesses the singu lar privilege of erecting houses in the Castle, upon the sole condition of their being persons of good fame.

In the year 1461, a considerable privilege was conferred on the city by Henry VI. of England. That prince had been expelled his kingdom, and obliged to take refuge in Scotland. The inhabitants of Edinburgh, during his residence in the city, treated him with a kindness and hospitality which does honour to the age; and Henry, grateful for the favours he received, granted them liberty, by his letters patent, to trade to all the English ports, on the same terms with his subjects the citizens of London. As, however, this unfor