[130] Lord Grange, whose _Diary of a Senator of the College of Justice_
was published in 1833.
[131] Lord Newton was known as ‘The Mighty.’ Lord Cockburn says it
was not uncommon for judges on the bench to provide themselves with a
bottle of port, which they consumed while listening to the case being
tried before them.
[132] This story is told of John Clerk, who afterwards sat on the bench
as Lord Eldin.
[133] It was very common for Scotch ladies of rank, even till the
middle of the last century, to wear black masks in walking abroad
or airing in a carriage; and for some gentlemen, too, who were vain
of their complexion. They were kept close to the face by means of a
string, having a button of glass or precious stone at the end, which
the lady held in her mouth. This practice, I understand, did not in the
least interrupt the flow of tittle-tattle and scandal among the fair
wearers.
We are told, in a curious paper in the _Edinburgh Magazine_ for August
1817, that at the period above mentioned, ‘though it was a disgrace for
ladies to be seen drunk, yet it was none to be a little intoxicated in
good company.’
[134] The principal oyster-parties, in old times, took place in Lucky
Middlemass’s tavern in the Cowgate (where the south pier of the
[South] bridge now stands), which was the resort of Fergusson and his
fellow-wits—as witness his own verse:
‘When big as burns the gutters rin,
If ye ha’e catched a droukit skin,
To Luckie Middlemist’s loup in,
And sit fu’ snug,
Owre oysters and a dram o’ gin,
Or haddock lug.’
At these fashionable parties, the ladies would sometimes have the
oyster-women to dance in the ball-room, though they were known to be of
the worst character. This went under the convenient name of _frolic_.
[135] The cry of ‘Gardy loo!’ at this hour was supposed to warn
pedestrians; but, as Sir Walter Scott says, ‘it was sometimes like the
shriek of the water-kelpie, rather the elegy than the warning of the
overwhelmed passenger.’
[136] This highly appropriate popular _sobriquet_ cannot be traced
beyond the reign of Charles II. Tradition assigns the following as the
origin of the phrase: An old gentleman in Fife, designated Durham of
Largo, was in the habit, at the period mentioned, of regulating the
time of evening worship by the appearance of the smoke of Edinburgh,
which he could easily see, through the clear summer twilight, from
his own door. When he observed the smoke increase in density, in
consequence of the good folk of the city preparing their supper, he
would call all the family into the house, saying: ‘It’s time now,
bairns, to tak’ the beuks, and gang to our beds, for yonder’s Auld
Reekie, I see, putting on her nicht-cap!’
[137] This gentleman, the ‘revered defender of beauteous Stuart,’ and
the surviving friend of Allan Ramsay, had an unaccountable aversion
to cheese, and not only forbade the appearance of that article upon
his table, but also its introduction into his house. His family, who
did not partake in this antipathy, sometimes smuggled a small quantity
of cheese into the house, and ate it in secret; but he almost always
discovered it by the _smell_, which was the sense it chiefly offended.
Upon scenting the object of his disgust, he would start up and run
distractedly through the house in search of it, and not compose himself
again to his studies till it was thrown out of doors. Some of his
ingenious children, by way of a joke, once got into their possession
the coat with which he usually went to the court, and ripping up the
sutures of one of its wide, old-fashioned skirts, sewed up therein a
considerable slice of double Gloster. Mr Tytler was next day surprised
when, sitting near the bar, he perceived the smell of cheese rising
around him. ‘Cheese here too!’ cried the querulous old gentleman;
‘nay, then, the whole world must be conspiring against me!’ So saying,
he rose, and ran home to tell his piteous case to Mrs Tytler and the
children, who became convinced from this that he really possessed the
singular delicacy and fastidiousness in respect of the effluvia arising
from cheese which they formerly thought to be fanciful.
[138] The dress of the Edinburgh Defensive Band was as follows: a
cocked hat, black stock, hair tied and highly powdered; dark-blue
long-tailed coat, with orange facings in honour of the Revolution,
and full lapels sloped away to show the white dimity vest; nankeen
small-clothes; white thread stockings, ribbed or plain; and short
nankeen spatterdashes. Kay has some ingenious caricatures, in
miniature, of these redoubted Bruntsfield Links and Heriot’s Green
warriors. The last two survivors were Mr John M’Niven, stationer, and
Robert Stevenson, painter, who died in 1832.
[139] One of the panes is now (1847) destroyed, the other cracked. [The
tavern is now out of existence.]
[140] Souters’ clods and other forms of bread fascinating to
youngsters, as well as penny pies of high reputation, were to be had
at a shop which all old Edinburgh people speak of with extreme regard
and affection—the _Baijen Hole_—situated immediately to the east of
Forrester’s Wynd and opposite to the Old Tolbooth. The name—a mystery
to later generations—seems to bear reference to the Baijens or Baijen
Class, a term bestowed in former days upon the junior students in the
college. _Bajan_ or _bejan_ is the French _bejaune_, ‘_bec jaune_,’
‘greenbill,’ ‘greenhorn,’ ‘freshman.’
[141] The fullest account yet published of this extraordinary coterie
is that of Mr H. A. Cockburn in _The Book of the Old Edinburgh Club_,
vol. iii. Creech refers to it in ironical terms as ‘the virtuous, the
venerable and dignified Wig who so much to their own honour and kind
attention always inform the public of their meetings.’ The reputation
of the club was very different.
[142] The following were other eighteenth century Edinburgh clubs:
THE POKER CLUB originated in a combination of gentlemen favourable to
the establishment of militia in Scotland, and its name, happily hit
on by Professor Adam Ferguson, was selected to avoid giving offence
to the Government. A history of the club is given in Dugald Stewart’s
Life, and also in Carlyle’s _Autobiography_, where he says: ‘Dinner was
on the table soon after two o’clock, at one shilling a head, the wine
to be confined to sherry and claret, and the reckoning called at six
o’clock.’ The minutes of this interesting club are preserved in the
University Library.
THE MIRROR CLUB, formed by the contributors to the periodical of that
name. It had really existed before under the name of ‘The Tabernacle.’
‘The Tabernacle,’ or ‘The Feast of Tabernacles,’ as Ramsay of
Ochtertyre calls it, was a company of friends and admirers of Henry
Dundas, first Viscount Melville.
THE EASY CLUB, founded by Allan Ramsay the poet, consisted of twelve
members, each of whom was required to assume the name of some Scottish
poet. Ramsay took that of Gawin Douglas.
THE CAPILLAIRE CLUB was ‘composed of all who were inclined to be witty
and joyous.’
THE FACER CLUB, which met in Lucky Wood’s tavern in the Canongate, was
perhaps not of a high order. If a member did not drain his measure of
liquor, he had to throw it at his own face.
THE GRISKIN CLUB also met in the Canongate. Dr Carlyle and those
who took part with him in the production of Home’s _Douglas_ at the
Canongate playhouse formed this club, and gave it its name from the
pork griskins which was their favourite supper dish.
THE RUFFIAN CLUB, ‘composed of men whose hearts were milder than their
manners, and their principles more correct than their habits of life.’
THE WAGERING CLUB, instituted in 1775, still meets annually. An account
of this club is given in _The Book of the Old Edinburgh Club_, vol. ii.
Others may be mentioned by name only: THE DIVERSORIUM, THE HAVERAL, THE
WHIN BUSH, THE SKULL, THE SIX FOOT, THE ASSEMBLY OF BIRDS, THE CARD,
THE BORACHED, THE HUMDRUM, THE APICIAN, THE BLAST AND QUAFF, THE OCEAN,
THE PIPE, THE KNIGHTS OF THE CAP AND FEATHER, THE REVOLUTIONARY, THE
STOIC, and THE CLUB, referred to in Lockhart’s _Life of Scott_.
Of a later period than those mentioned above were THE GOWKS CLUB; THE
RIGHT AND WRONG, of which James Hogg gives a short account; and THE
FRIDAY CLUB, instituted by Lord Cockburn, who also wrote an interesting
history of it, recently printed by Mr H. A. Cockburn, in vol. iii. of
_The Book of the Old Edinburgh Club_.