[6] This jest was doubtless based on Swift’s famous poem on Vanbrugh’s
house (1704). The peculiar architectural features of Allan’s ‘goose
pie’ have been almost entirely obliterated by recent alterations. Only
the two circular upper stories remain in their original form.
[7] ‘My mother was told by those who had enjoyed his plays, that he had
a child’s puppet stage and a set of dressed dolls for actors, which
were in great favour with old and young.’—C. K. Sharpe’s note in
Wilson’s _Reminiscences_.
[8] King’s Bridge crosses King’s Stables Road, and the access from it
is Johnston Terrace.
[9] When Mrs Cockburn, author of ‘Flowers of the Forest,’ entered on
occupation of the house in 1756, it was described in the Baird titles
as ‘my lodging in the castle-hill of Edinburgh, formerly possessed by
the Duchess of Gordon.’
[10] A Board-school now occupies the site of the mansion. The doorway
referred to is rebuilt into the school-house.
[11] George, sixth Earl of Huntly, took his last illness, June 1636,
in ‘his house in the Canongate.’ George, the first duke, who had held
out the Castle at the Revolution, died December 1716, at his house in
the Citadel of Leith, where he appears to have occasionally resided for
some years. I should suppose the house on the Castle-hill to have been
inhabited by the family in the interval.
[12] Webster’s Close became Brown’s Close when the property changed
hands, and two brothers of that name occupied the house. To Brown’s
Close the recently formed Society of Antiquaries of Scotland removed in
1794 from Gosford’s Close, because the latter was too narrow to admit
of the members being carried to the place of meeting in sedan-chairs.
[13] Before the Government bounty had supplemented the poor stipends
of the Scotch Church up to £150, many of them were so small that the
widow’s allowance from this fund nearly equalled them. Such was the
case of Cranshaws, a pastoral parish among the Lammermoor Hills. A
former minister of Cranshaws having wooed a lass of humble rank, the
father of the lady, when consulted on the subject, said, ‘Tak’ him,
Jenny; he’s as gude deid as living!’ meaning, of course, that she would
be as well off as a widow as in the quality of a wife.
[14] ‘The monograms of the name of our blessed lady are formed of the
letters M. A., M. R., and A. M., and these stand respectively for
Maria, Maria Regina, and Ave Maria. The letter M. was often used by
itself to express the name of the Blessed Virgin, and became a vehicle
for the most beautiful ornament and design; the letter itself being
entirely composed of emblems, with some passage from the life of our
lady in the void spaces.’—_Pugin’s Glossary of Ecclesiastical Ornament
and Costume_, 1844.
[15] Keith’s History.
[16] The New College and Assembly Hall of the (United) Free Church.