After this, Queen Mary was never at Craigmillar again, and there is
little historic interest connected with the castle in later days.
The chapel, which lies to the east of the main building, is now
roofless and ruinous. It was built by Sir John Gilmour, who obtained
special permission from James VII. for the purpose. The Gilmours
added to Craigmillar, and continued living there, till well into the
18th century, its last inhabitants being two old ladies, daughters
of Sir John Gilmour. Since their death, it has been forsaken, but
fortunately the castle is in good hands, and the present owner
preserves the ruins with the greatest care. The lifelong friendship
that subsisted between the late Mr. Little Gilmour and Mr. Stirling
Crawford was the origin of the latter's St. Leger winner of 1875
being named Craigmillar.
We now go westwards along a steep and narrow lane at the back of the
castle, and join the high road at a spot still called "Petty France."
It was here that some of Queen Mary's French attendants lived, while
their mistress held her court in the castle above. A few yards
farther south, we pass a venerable plane-tree, one of the largest in
the country, which has always been known as "Queen Mary's Tree," from
the tradition that she planted it herself.
We are now once more on the old Dalkeith road, which was formerly
a much more important thoroughfare than now, as it was one of the
main coach-roads to London, running south over Soultra and through
Coldstream and Wooler to Newcastle. The gate of Edmonstone stands at
the top of the steep hill before us, and, as our way turns to the
left very soon after passing the lodge and crossing the brow of the
hill, we skirt its park-wall for some way.
This place originally belonged to the Edmonstones of that Ilk, who
are now represented by the Edmonstones of Duntreath. They were near
neighbours and hereditary enemies of the Wauchopes of Niddrie, and
many were the frays that occurred between them. We find a curious
mention of Edmonstone in the witch-trials which took place before
James VI. in 1590. Agnes Sampson, "the Wyse Wyfe of Keyth" (whom
Archbishop Spottiswoode describes as "a most remarkable woman, not
of the base and ignorant sort of witches, but matron-like, grave and
settled in her answers"), confessed, amongst other things, that,
having been sent for to heal the old Lady Edmonstone, she told the
gentlewomen her daughters that she would disclose to them that night
whether their mother would recover or not. She bade them meet her
in the garden after supper, between five and six. Having gone into
the garden herself, she summoned the devil to appear, calling him
by the name of "Elva." Thereupon he leaped over the stone wall in
the likeness of a dog, and came so near her that she was afraid, and
charged him "By the law he lived under, not to come nearer, but to
answer her." She then asked if the lady would live or not; and, he
said "No." In his turn he asked where the gentlewomen, the lady's
daughters, were; and, being informed they were to meet Agnes in the
garden, said he would have one of them. "It shall not be so," said
the Wyse Wyfe; and he retired howling, and hid himself in the well.
There he remained till after supper. When the young gentlewomen
descended to the garden, the dog appeared suddenly out of the well
and terrified them. He seized the Lady Torsenze, and tried to drag
her into the well, and would have drowned her, had not Agnes and the
other ladies caught hold of her firmly, and with all their might
drawn her away. Then with a howl the dog disappeared, and Agnes told
the gentlewomen that she could not help the lady, "in respect that
her prayer stopped, and that she was sorry for it."[36] For this, and
for other things which she confessed, Agnes Sampson was condemned to
be hanged and burnt in 1592.
[36] Pitcairn's _Criminal Trials_, vol. i. part iii. p. 235.
In 1626, Edmonstone was sold to James Rait, whose grand-daughter and
heiress married John Wauchope, second son of the Laird of Niddrie.
Charles I. was in Scotland, and happened to be present at this John
Wauchope's christening in 1633. He took a beautiful gold and enamel
chain from his neck and put it round that of the child; and it is
still carefully preserved at Edmonstone. Sir John Don Wauchope, the
present possessor of the property, is a direct descendant of John
Wauchope and Miss Rait. Parts of the house are known to be at least
four hundred years old, but at the end of the last century it was
partly burnt, and afterwards restored and added to. In throwing out
a window in the library, the workmen came on a niche containing the
skeleton of a man. The shoes of the figure appeared to be perfect
when the niche was opened, but on exposure to the air, they crumbled
into dust.
We now find ourselves on the steep ridge known as Edmonstone Edge,
on which the Scots pitched their camp before the battle of Pinkie
in 1547. To our right lies Woolmet, now only a farm, but once the
property of the Edmonstones of Woolmet, cadets of the Edmonstones
of that Ilk. After descending the hill we see to our left one of
the oldest and most interesting places in Midlothian. The old
house of Niddrie Marischal is hidden among the trees, and beyond
it stretches a wilderness of shady walks, high holly hedges, and
velvety bowling-greens, through which wanders the Burdiehouse burn,
here full of trout, which have been the sport and amusement of
many generations. The Wauchopes are undoubtedly the oldest family
in the county. It is not known when they acquired Niddrie, and the
difficulty of tracing their origin is aggravated by the loss of their
more ancient muniments. "The family of Niddrie Marischal," say the
MS. notes written by William Wauchope in 1700, "was forfaulted in
James II.'s time, for making an inroad into England, so that by that
means most of the old charters and evidents were lost." The house
was burnt in Queen Mary's time, and the few charters that survived
that disaster were mostly destroyed when the English came to Scotland
in Cromwell's time. The tradition in the family is that Niddrie[37]
was granted to the Wauchopes by Malcolm Canmore. Mackenzie, in his
_Lives of Eminent Scotsmen_, says they came from France in his reign
about the year 1062. The first to whom a charter appears is Gilbert
Wauchope, who had a charter of "the lands of Niddery" from Robert
III. (1390-1406). From him the present laird, Colonel Wauchope of the
Black Watch, is the seventeenth in direct succession.
[37] Various derivations have been given of the name of Niddrie
Marischal. It is said to have been originally a hunting-seat of the
king's, and therefore called _Nid-du-Roy_. The Rev. Mr. Whyte--the
historian of Liberton parish--derives it from the Gaelic _Niadh_ and
_Ri_, "the King's Champion." The addition of Merschell, Marischal,
or Marshal, as it is variously spelt, and which distinguishes it
from Niddrie Seton in West Lothian, arose, say Sir George Mackenzie,
Nesbit, and others, from "the heads of this family of Wauchope of
Niddrie having been hereditary Bailies to Keith Lords Marischal,
and Marischal-Deputes in Midlothian; from the Lords Marischal they
had the lands of Niddry designed Niddry Marischal." The Rev. Mr.
Whyte repeats this statement, with the verbal confirmation of Lord
Hailes--no mean authority; but we must confess we have not met with
anything like proof of the fact. (_History and Genealogy of the
Family of Wauchope._)
Always a true and loyal race, the Wauchopes remained faithful to
the old religion, and supported Queen Mary's cause to the end.
The sad fate of young Niddrie, and the circumstances which led to
the destruction of the ancient castle in 1596 by the Edmonstones,
hereditary enemies of the Wauchopes, are well-known.[38] Nearly a
hundred years later, the adherence of the family to the cause of
James VII. proved the ruin of the chapel, which had been founded by
Archibald Wauchope in 1502, and dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, and,
as we have elsewhere said, was subordinate to the church of Liberton.
A mob from Edinburgh first wrecked the Chapel-Royal of Holyrood, and
then came out to Niddrie, and demolished this chapel also.
[38] "The estate was again forfaulted in Archibald's time, father
to Francis, my great-grandfather, because he followed Queen Mary;
and possibly having some power at that time, satisfied his own bold
humour in disobliging his neighbours. He mutilated the Laird of
Woolmet, and never rid without a great following of horsemen, whom
he maintained, and gave to every man a piece of land as a gratuity,
which continued during their service. The house at that time was of
long standing, capable to lodge a hundred strangers, and lay most
eastwards from the place it now stands in. It was then burnt by his
neighbours, after he broke his neck in Skinner's Close (Edinburgh),
being alarmed by his man, and thinking to save himself out of a storm
window, while his enemies were already in great number at his door,
with design to murder or take him prisoner." (_MS. Notes by William
Wauchope_, 1700.)
There seems to have been a hereditary friendship between the Bothwell
family and the Wauchopes. Robert Wauchope is the "young Niddrie"
mentioned in the following lines, as riding with James, Earl of
Bothwell, to intercept the queen and carry her off to Dunbar--
Hay, bid the trumpet sound the march,
Go, Bolton, to the van;
Young Niddrie follows with the rear.
Set forward, every man!