Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 1.djvu/885

Rh EDINBURGH. 875 EDINBURGH. the distance of 900 yards from the commencement of the Canongate. Between these two points several important streets branch off, as Bank-street, Blair-street, the West Bow, and George IV.'s Bridge ; this last, though really a bridge consisting of three open double arches, with seven concealed arches at the ends, wears every appear- ance of a street, being lined on either side with houses and public buildings. Immediately E. from this bridge High-street commences, with its busy traffic and hand- some shops, crossed by the great thoroughfare from North Bridge to Newington. The houses in the High 'Street and Canongato are from ten to thirteen stories high, let out in flats after the French style, and some- times inhabited by as many as 100 or 150 individuals. Behind this line of street, and nearly parallel to it, is a long narrow street, extending from llolyrood to the Grass Market, and designated at its lower end " the South Back of Canongate ; " and towards the "West Cowgate, in the rear of these streets, to the right and left, are lofty ranges of buildings, separated only by dark narrow closes or wynds. Although the traveller's greatest enthusiasm cannot now gild the misery that too obviously dwells in this portion of the town, there was a time, only one or two centuries back, when this and the adjoining district of Canongate were the abode of aristocracy; and many of the ancient houses, built in the reigns of Mary and James VI., still testify, by their richness of internal decoration, to the luxury of their former occupiers. Continuous with Cowgate, but suddenly expanding into a spacious rectangular area, is the Grass Market, famous in Scottish history as the scene of the sufferings of so many fervent Presbyterians, who, under the Stuarts, here sealed their faith with their blood, but now, as in ancient times, the rendezvous of farmers, graziers, and corn-dealers, who resort to the new Corn Exchange, which stands on the S. side of the rectangle. Besides the ancient portion of the city sur- rounding the High-street, the Old Town now includes many spacious streets, lined with commodious and ele- gant shops, leading to the extensive suburbs of Newing- ton and Laurieston ; of these the principal are Montague- street, St. Leonard' s-street (near which is the Edinburgh and Dalkeith railway for goods traffic,) the Pleasance, Jlinto-street, Clerk-street, Nieholson-stroct, South I Bridge-street, in which the college is situated, and North Bridge-street, which last, forming the commencement of i the lofty roadway of the North Bridge, is built for half its length upon vaults or closed arches, supported by strong buttresses and counter forts. These arches, as they approach the centre of the North Loch Valley, gradu- ally expand into regular arches, the three central ones measuring 11 feet wide by 68 in height, from the bottom of the ravine to the top of the parapet. The road-way tlu-y support is 40 feet wide, by 310 feet long, and run- ning into Prince's-street at (right angles, thus unites the Old and New Towns. Beside the North Bridge, |the Waverley Bridge also spans the intervening ravine which separates the Old from the New Town. It is a low bridge of recent construction, with descending approaches serving chiefly for the traffic connected with the rail- way termini, which centre at this point, occupying part of the North Loch Valley to the W. of the North Bridge. Other parts of this valley, formerly covered with water, but now drained, are occupied by the meat and vegetable markets, and by spacious public gardens, tastefully planted. But the grandest ornament of this lovely valley is the huge causeway called the Mound, consisting of a mass of earth, 300 feet broad by 100 high, connecting the Old and New Towns, and bearing aloft on its summit tlic Royal Institution and National Gallery. On the northern side of this ravine, and occupying the summit of the most northerly of the three longitudinal and parallel hills on which Edinburgh is built, is the vast expanse of tin: New Town, stretching away as far as the eye can reach beyond the W. face of the Castle Hill, and ex- tending towards the picturesque shores of the Forth, which is visible in {he distance. For the greater facility of description we must divide the New Town into four sections, viz. South, North, West, and East ; of these the South occupies the heights facing the Old Town, and consists chiefly of the principal parallel lines of street, viz. Queen-street on the N., George- street in the centre, and Princo's-street on the S. The first of these streets still retains its original construction, the houses all being of one figure and elevation, and looking down upon the tastefully laid out public gardens, with the northern New Town beyond, and the shores of the Forth in the distance. The second, George-street, is extremely spacious, being 115 feet broad, and lined on either side with handsome and well-built houses, includ- ing, towards the eastern end, some of the finest public buildings of the city, interspersed with its most ambi- tious shops and warehouses. At either end of this street, which runs as straight as an arrow from W. to E., are the superb squares called Charlotte-square and St. Andrew's -square, with the lofty fluted column of Lord Melville rising from the centre of the latter. This square, which has recently been transmuted from its original character of a place of opulent dwelling-houses to a place of commercial stir, contains some of the first banks, insurance-offices, hotels, and warehouses in the city. The third-named street, Prince's-street, is the principal thoroughfare of the New Town, by means of the North Bridge conducting the commerce from the old city to the opulent neighbourhoods of the New Town and Calton Hill. Its architectural appear- ance has undergone a complete transmutation in the last thirty years from a street of elegant and com- modious dwelling-houses, built with remarkable uni- formity and regularity, to a bustling thoroughfare, lined with hotels, club-rooms, public offices, warehouses, and shops, each distinguished by separate devices or archi- tectural adornments, irrespective of the neighbouring edifices, and often grotesquely characterising the pic- turesque irregularities of the Old Town, which faces the houses on the N. side of the street, the S. side remaining unbuilt. Intersecting these principal longitudinal streets are several cross streets, as St. Andrew's-street on the E., St. David's, Hanover, Frederick, Castle, Charlotte, and Hope streets, the last forming the extreme W. Beyond this southern portion of the New Town, and separated by the area of the Queen-street Gardens, is the magnificent range of streets constituting the North New Town. These streets, like those of the S. part, run in longitudinal and parallel lines, and are named Great King-street, Northumberland-street, and Cumberland- street, with the magnificently edificed areas of Drum- mond-place on the E., and the Royal Circus on the W. Further to the N., and lying in the valley of the Water of Leith, is the large suburb of Stoekbridge, with the adjoining districts of Canonmills, Tanfield, and Inver- leith ; joining on the E. the old suburb of Canonmills, with its mean-looking streets and houses in strange contrast to the palatial edifices crowning the heights above. Adjoining the N. and S. towns on the W. are the magnificent streets and squares forming the West New Town, built upon the lands of Coates, and surpassing in superbness of their architecture all other parts of the New city. Commencing from the W. end of Heriot-row, Darnaway-street leads direct into Moray- place, the glory of Edinburgh, with its magnificent con- glomeration of Doric palaces, arranged in the form of a dodecagon. These were constructed after designs by Gillespie Graham, and exhibit probably the finest speci- mens of domestic architecture in Europe. From this centre of attraction to all visitors, Great Stuart-street branches off to the S.W., extending over a distance of 320 yards, and expanding in the centre into a double crescent called Ainslic-place ; farther on it cuts Randolph-cres- cent, and sends off Queensferry-street to the S.E., con- necting the W. end of Prince's-street, and by another line of street to the N.W., called Lynedoch - place, approaches Dean Bridge, which here spans the romantic ravine of the Water of Leith, forming the great thorough- fare to Perth and the North by way of Queensferry. The view from this bridge is extremely pleasing, embracing the rustic village of the Water of Leith, with its mills and picturesque houses at the bottom of the dell ; while sur-