Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 1.djvu/883

Rh EDICLIFF. 873 EDINBURGH. failing to the ancient city of Verulam, passes over a bridge near the entrance to the village, which consists of one principal street, of which the V. side is in the parish of Littlo Stanmore, or Whitchurch. Uy tlic Saxons it was called Er/gtswere, and after the Conquest was ])ossesscd by the Longspees and Lacys. The religious order of St. Jolm of Jerusalem had an establishment here, with a refectory for the refreshment of monks (in their way from Westminster to St. Alban's. In. the Augmentation Cilice is preserved an inventory of the goods, plate, c. of the monastery and church of Edgwaro at the timo of the dissolution of religious houses. In the early part of the U:th century, James Duke of Chandos, at an expense of 250,000, erected magnificent palace of Canons. Tho walls of this a were 12 feet in thickness at the base, and 9 feet thick in the upper part. Tho pillars of the hall, and the steps of the grand staircase were of polished marble ; he locks and hinges of the doors were silver. The 1 was richly embellished with paintings of the n.K'hool. After the death of the duke this noble ion was taken down, and sold piecemeal: the ( ''mums were removed to Wanstead House, of which formed the portico ; and the marble staircase was put i the Earl of Chesterfield's residence, in May-fair. A market was formerly held here ; and it is a petty sessions turn, and a polling place for the county elections. The land is chiefly meadow and pasture. In the vicinity arc many modern villas, with well-planted grounds. The living is a vie.* in the dioc. of London, val. 493. The church is a modern structure, rebuilt in 181/3 on the site of the old one, and is dedicated to St. Margaret. There are also two other churches in the parish, St. John's and St. Lawrence's. Tho parochial charities produce about 130 per annum, the principal of which is for Day's and Atkinson's almshouses. Tho Independents have a chapel. There are endowed and National schools for both sexes. A fair is held on the first Wednesday in KDICLIFF, a tnshp. in the par. of Clun, co. Salop, S miles S.W. of Bishop's Castle. EDINBURGH, a city, royal and parliamentary borough, sheriffdom, and metropolis of Scotland, exer- cising separate jurisdiction, but locally situated in the co. of Mid-Lothian, Scotland, in N. lat. .5.5 57' 23", and W. l.iig. :i 10' 30". It is distant about 2 miles from the S. shore of the Frith of Forth, and 337 miles N.N.W. of London in a straight line, or 399j by railway from King's Cross. It is the centre of a system of railways communicating with all the chief towns of England and Scotland, by means of the Edinburgh and Glasgow, North British and Edinburgh, 1'erth and Dundee lines, which are brought in by tunnels to a general railway UTinimis at North Bridge, in the valley between the old and new towns ; and by the Caledonian railway, which has its station at tho W. en'd of the city : the Dal- keith branch of the North British line has a station at the E. end, in St. Leonard's-street. The Union canal goes out from Port Hopetoun basin, W. of the city, and after a course of 3H miles, in which it passes 11 locks, joins the Forth and Clyde canal near Camelon. Although not a seaport, Edinburgh carries on a considerable traffic through the ports of Leith and Granton ; the former having been united to it by charter of James VI., in 1603. From Leith, steamers sail to Hull (24 hours), London (3G hours), and Newcastle (10 hours); besides occasion- ally to Anstruther, Dunkirk, Hamburgh, Dantzig, Copen- hagen, Rotterdam. Pillau, and Stettin ; from Granton to Ab.cid.cen (7 to 9 hours), Inverness and the Moray Frith, KirVwall (24 hours), Lerwick and Shetland (3(i hours), London (36 hours). Thurso (24 hours), and Wick (20 hours) ; and from Silloth to Dublin. Sailing packets to all the above places, with Glasgow, Liverpool, Banff, &c. Like London, Edinburgh has recently extended far beyond its original limits, taking in several distinct places subject to different jurisdictions, though united under tho Reform Act for parliamentary purposes, so that it now includes Edinhursh, Canongnie. Pnrtslmrgh, and Calton. Of these Edinburgh proper is the oldest, occupying, as its name implies, the site of the castle built by Edwin, the Saxon king of Northumbria, in the 7th century. Previous to this, its Gaelic name was Dun- moiiaiiili, " lull of the moor," which, after the building of the castle, was changed to Mutjh-dun, or Jfaidyii, "fort of the plain ;" this last being mistaken for maiden, gave rise to the monkish name of Castrnm Pucllarum. Its Saxon name Edinburc, however, prevailed, and was trans- lated into Gaelic as Dun-Edin, and into Latin by Bucha- nan as Edina. This was tho more appropriate, as, previous to 1020, Edinburgh formed no part of Scotland, but was entirely a Saxon town, in which the kings of Northum- bria frequently held their court. In 1093 the castle was the scene of Queen Margaret's death, and in 1 128 David I. raised it into a burgh, and founded Holyrood, the monks of which soon began to build Canongate. - In 1174, it was given up to the English crown, but was restored in 118G. In 1215 Alexander II. held his first parliament here, and in 1239 it was the seat of a Church council. Alexander III. selected the castle as the repository for tho regalia and archives, and occasionally held his court in it. During the wars of independence, under Bruce and Baliol, it was frequently occupied by the English, but was retaken by the Black Douglas in 1341. Previous to its being burnt by Richard II. in 1385, it was visited by Froissart, who describes it as containing 4,000 houses, but these of so mean a sort that it could not accommodate a company of French knights who had arrived on a visit to the Scotch court. It was shortly after rebuilt, but did not extend beyond the central range of hills, consisting at this time of little more than the High-street, from the castle to the Canongate. It had, however, become the seat of the court, and was walled and fortified by James II., who celebrated his marriage with Mary of Gueldres here in 1449. It now began to increase rapidly in population, and upon the draining of the South marsh, many wealthy families took up their residence in the Grass Market and Cowgate, which for several centuries continued the fashionable quarter of the town. James III. celebrated here his marriage with Margaret of Denmark in 1469, and erected the city into a sheriffdom of itself, with special privileges to the guilds or trades unions, sym- bolised by a banner called the "blue blanket," which is still preserved. His successor James IV. held his first parliament here in 1488, and five years afterwards cele- brated his marriage with the Princess Elizabeth, daughter of Henry VII. of England, with great magnificence. During his reign, the city was terribly visited by the plague, and after the fatal battle of Flodden underwent an entire renovation, the southern valley being drained and built over, and the new suburb of Cowgate enclosed within walls, having previously been entirely defence- less. James V. organised the town guard, and made Edinburgh the scat of the royal palace, of the parliament, and of the superior courts of justice, which had previously been held at Scone, where the Scottish kings were crowned. In 1548 the city and castle were occupied by a French garrison, to prevent their falling into the hands of the English, as had happened four years previously, when the city was fired by order of the Earl of Hertford, afterwards Protector Somerset. In 1 558 the city was first lighted with lamp's across the street, and the houses were rebuilt after a more substantial fashion, having pre- viously been constructed of mud and wattles. During the latter half of the century, many interesting events took place connected with the tragic fate of Queen Mary, and the early history of the Reformation. It was here that the first covenant was signed on tho 3rd of December, 1557, and the house from which John Knox used to preach is still standing, near the upper end of Canon- gate. The following year the town was occupied by the "lords of the congregation," and in 1560 the first assembly of the Reformed Kirk met here. It was successively the scene of numerous tragic events, as the murder of Darnlcy, the assassination of the Regent Murray, and the execution of Morton by the "maiden" which he had himself introduced. In 15S6 it was ravaged by the plague, and again in 1645. In 1603 James VI. took his departure from Holyrood to ascend the English
 * .il races take place in the same month.