St. Roque--The Grange--Blackford--Liberton--St.
Catherine's Well--Gilmerton--The Burnt Grange--The
Drum--Moredun--The Inch.
We begin to-day's walk at the bottom of the Whitehouse Loan, turning
to the left into the ancient thoroughfare which led of old from the
Linton Road to St. Giles's Grange, and is still called the Grange
Loan. A villa bearing the name of St. Roque, which we pass on the
right, recalls memories of the chapel which once stood here.[19]
It was of great antiquity, and it is uncertain when exactly, or by
whom, it was founded, but from early days it was a dependency of St.
Cuthbert's. Being dedicated to the saint whose help was implored
for protection from the plague, a cemetery gradually grew round it,
where those who died of that dreadful malady were buried. In 1532 we
find that the Provost and bailies, "moved by devotion for the honour
of God, and his Blessed Mother Virgin Marie, and the holy confessor
Sanct Rok," granted four acres of land in the Boroughmuir to Sir
John Young, the then chaplain, so that he and his successors might
offer prayers for the souls of those who lay buried round, and that
they might also keep the walls and windows in repair.[20] After the
Reformation the performance of divine service was left off, and the
building, with the land attached to it, granted to private persons;
but for some time longer people continued to be buried there. The
fanaticism of the time spared the chapel, and, though gradually
mouldering to decay, its ruins remained safe and unharmed till the
beginning of this century, when they were swept away by the vandalism
of a retired tradesman, who thought they encumbered the grounds of
his villa!
[19]
Thus the Lindesay spoke,
Thus clamour still the war-notes when
The King to mass his way has ta'en,
Or to St. Katharine's of Sienne,
Or Chapel of Saint Rocque.