Her

Scotland the benefit of the mature sagacity of Robert II.—did not save Robert III. from a death of grief— procured, perhaps, the assassination of James I.instigated James IV. to successful rebellion against his father, whose violent death was expiated by his own. Its dignity was proudly increased by James V., who was yet more unfortunate perhaps, in his end, than a long list of unfortunate predecessors. It was worn by the devoted head of Mary, who found it the occasion of woes and calamities unnumbered and unexampled. It was placed upon the infant brow of her son, to the exclusion of herself from all its glories and advantages, but not the conclusion of the distresses in which it had involved her. unfortunate grandson, for its sake, visited Scotland, and had it placed upon his head with magnificent ceremonies but the nation whose sovereignty it gave him was the first to rebel against his authority, and work his destruction. The Presbyterian solemnity with which it was given to Charles II. was only a preface to the disasters of Worcester; and afterwards it was remembered by this monarch, little to the advantage of Scotland, that it had been placed upon his head, with conditions and restrictions which wounded at once his pride and his conscience. It was worn by no other monarch; and the period of its disuse seems to have been the epoch from which we may reckon the happiness of our monarchs, and the revival of our national prosperity."* Along with the insignia of royalty is also shown the Lord Treasurer's Rod of Office, * CHAMBERS' Walks in Edinburgh, p. 49.

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found deposited in the same strong oak chest in which the Regalia were discovered. The room where Queen Mary gave birth to James VI., in whom the crowns of England and Scotland were united, will be an object of interest to many strangers. The gigantic piece of artillery, called MONS MEG, which one tradition avers to have been cast at Mons in Flanders, and another in the Isle of Thrave, is mounted on an elegant carriage on the Bomb Battery. Recent research has shewn that the latter tradition is alone entitled to credit-that the gun was constructed by Scottish artisans, by command of James II., and called Mollance or Mons after the blacksmith who cast it, and Meg after his wife, whose voice is said to have rivalled that of her namesake. The proper maintenance of Meg (the gun, not the wife) is a frequent item in the public accounts of olden times, where charges are made for grease to grease Meg's mouth withal (to increase the loudness of the report), ribands to deck her carriage, and pipes to play before her when going on warlike service. It was employed at the siege of Norham, and afterwards burst when firing a salute to the Duke of York in 1682, since which time it has never been repaired. On the north side of the esplanade stands the Statue of the late Duke of York, erected to commemorate his services as Commander-in-Chief of the Forces. A cannon-ball, said to have been shot from the castle in 1745, may be seen sticking in the gable wall of the house on the south side of the entrance to the esplanade.

In returning from the Castle, an opening upon

the left, immediately upon leaving the esplanade, conducts to the house of Allan Ramsay, the author of "The Gentle Shepherd," a pastoral drama of charming simplicity, and still highly popular among the rural population of Scotland.

which spans the Cowgate, and forms an important feature in the modern improvements of the city. At its northern end is the WEST Bow, now named Bow STREET, which, before the erection of this bridge, presented an aspect highly interesting to the lover of antique buildings. Although now a place of small consideration, it is not 100 years since the

Assembly Rooms of Edinburgh were situate within its precincts. Before the erection of the North and South Bridges, it was also the principal avenue by which wheel cariages reached the more elevated streets of the city. It has been ascended by Anne of Denmark, James I., and Charles I., by Oliver Cromwell, Charles II., and James II. How different the avenue by which George IV. entered the city!"* But the West Bow has also been the scene of many more mournful processions. Previous to the year 1785, criminals were conducted through the Bow to the place of execution in the Grassmarket, and the murderers of Porteous, after securing their victim, hurried him down this street to meet the fate they had destined for him.†

The

* CHAMBERS' Traditions of Edinburgh, vol. i. p. 140. †The murder of Captain Porteous forms an event so memorable, not only in the annals of the city, but in what may be termed the philosophy of mobs, that a brief account of the event may not be unacceptable. We need hardly remind our readers that it forms one of the most striking incidents in the Heart of Mid-Lothian.

John Porteous was the son of a tailor in Edinburgh; his father intended to breed him up to his own trade, but the youthful profligacy of the son defeated the parent's prudent intention, and he enlisted into the Scotch corps at that time in the service of the States of Holland. Here he learned military discipline, and upon returning to his own country in 1715, his services were engaged by the magistrates of Edinburgh to discipline the City Guard. For such a task he was eminently qualified, not only by his military education, but by his natural activity and resolution; and, in spite of the profligacy of his character, he received a captain's commission in the corps.

The duty of the Edinburgh City Guard was to preserve the public peace when any tumult was apprehended. They consisted principally of discharged veterans, who, when off duty, worked at their respective trades. To the rabble they were objects of

HOUSE OF MAJOR WEIR, the celebrated necromancer, who, along with his sister, suffered death

mingled derision and dislike, and the numerous indignities they suffered rendered them somewhat morose and austere in temper. At public executions they generally surrounded the scaffold, and it was on an occasion of this kind that Porteous, their captain, committed the outrage for which he paid the penalty of his life.

The criminal, on the occasion in question, had excited the commiseration of the populace by the disinterested courage he displayed in achieving the escape of his accomplice. At this time it was customary to conduct prisoners under sentence of death to attend divine service in the Tolbooth Church. Wilson, the criminal above alluded to, and Robertson, his companion in crime, had reached the church, guarded by four soldiers, when Wilson suddenly seized one of the guards in each hand, and a third with his teeth, and shouted to his accomplice to fly for his life. Robertson immediately fled, and effected his escape. This circumstance naturally excited a strong feeling of sympathy for Wilson; and the magistrates, fearing an attempt at rescue, had requested the presence of a detachment of infantry in a street adjoining that where the execution was to take place, for the purpose of intimidating the populace. The introduction of another military force than his own into a quarter of the city where no drums but his were ever beat, highly incensed Captain Porteous, and aggravated the ferocity of a temper naturally surly and brutal. Contrary to the apprehension of the authorities, the execution was allowed to pass undisturbed; but the dead body had hung only a short time upon the gibbet when a tumult arose among the multitude-stones and other missiles were thrown at Porteous and his men- and one of the populace, more adventurous than the rest, sprung upon the scaffold, and cut the rope by which the criminal was suspended.

Porteous was exasperated to frenzy by this outrage on his authority, and leaping from the scaffold, he seized the musket of one of the guards, gave the word to fire, and, discharging his piece, shot the man dead upon the spot. Several of his soldiers also having obeyed his order to fire, six or seven persons were killed, and many others wounded. The mob still continuing their attack, another volley was fired upon them, by which several others fell, and the scene of violence only closed when Porteous and his soldiers reached the guard-house in the High Street.