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diff --git a/old/61947-0.txt b/old/61947-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 3de8ed4..0000000 --- a/old/61947-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,1571 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Edinburgh Papers. Edinburgh Merchants and -Merchandise in Old Times, by Robert Chambers - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Edinburgh Papers. Edinburgh Merchants and Merchandise in Old Times - -Author: Robert Chambers - -Release Date: April 26, 2020 [EBook #61947] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EDINBURGH PAPERS *** - - - - -Produced by Susan Skinner and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - - - - - - - - -EDINBURGH PAPERS - -BY - -ROBERT CHAMBERS, F.R.S.E., -F.S.A.Sc., F.G.S., F.L.S., &c. - -AUTHOR OF ‘TRADITIONS OF EDINBURGH.’ - - -EDINBURGH MERCHANTS - -AND - -MERCHANDISE IN OLD TIMES - -[Illustration] - -WILLIAM AND ROBERT CHAMBERS, -LONDON AND EDINBURGH. -1859. - - - - -EDINBURGH -MERCHANTS AND MERCHANDISE -IN OLD TIMES. - - - - - TO THE - MERCHANT COMPANY OF EDINBURGH, - THIS LECTURE, DELIVERED AT THEIR REQUEST, - FEBRUARY 14, 1859, - IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED. - - - - -EDINBURGH MERCHANTS AND MERCHANDISE IN OLD TIMES. - - -I do not propose, on this occasion, to carry your minds back to a very -remote period, for, truth to tell, Scotland was not distinguished for -commerce at an early date. You will not be surprised if I briefly -remark that we hear nothing of trade in Leith harbour till the reign -of Bruce, and have reason to believe that it hardly had an existence -for a century later. Dr Nicolas West, an emissary of Henry VIII., -visited Scotland in 1513, just before the battle of Flodden, and he -tells us that he then found at Leith only nine or ten small topmen, -or ships with rigging, which, from his remarks, we may infer to have -all been under sixty tons burden. There was then but a meagre traffic -carried on with the Low Countries, France, and Spain—wool, skins, and -salmon carried out; and wine, silks, cloth, and miscellaneous articles -imported: matters altogether so insignificant, that there are but a few -scattered references to them in the acts of the national parliament. -One may have some idea of the pettiness of any external trade carried -on by Edinburgh in the early part of the sixteenth century, from what -we know of the condition of Leith at that time. It was but a village, -without quay or pier, and with no approach to the harbour except by -an alley—the still existing Burgess Close, which in some parts is not -above four feet wide. We must imagine any merchandise then brought to -Leith as carried in vessels of the size of small yachts, and borne off -to the Edinburgh warehouses slung on horseback, through the narrow -defiles of the Burgess Close. - -It chances that we possess, in our General Register House, a very -distinct memorial of the traffic carried on between Scotland and the -Netherlands at the close of the fifteenth century. It consists in the -ledger of Andrew Halyburton, a Scottish merchant conducting commission -business for his countrymen at Middleburg, and conservator of the -Scotch privileges there. It extends from the year 1493 to 1505. Andrew -acted as agent for a number of eminent persons, churchmen as well as -laymen, besides merchants, receiving and selling for a commission -the raw products of the country, chiefly those just named—wool, -hides, and salmon—and sending home in return nearly every kind of -manufactured article which we could suppose to have then been in -use. It appears that even salt was then imported. Wheel-barrows were -sent from Flanders to assist in building King’s College, Aberdeen. -There were cloths of silk, linen, and woollen; fruits, spiceries, and -drugs; plate and jewellery; four kinds of wine—claret, Gascony claret, -Rhenish, and Malvoisie. Paper is often named; and there is mention of -pestles and mortars, basins of brass, chamber-mats, beds of arras, -feather-beds, down-pillows, vermilion, red and white lead, and pins. -John of Pennycuik imports the image of Thomas-à-Becket, bought from -a painter at Antwerp. More than one tombstone is shipped to a Scotch -order from Middleburg. Once there is a ‘kist of buikis’ for a physician -at Aberdeen. The account between Halyburton and the Abbot of Holyrood -may be cited as an example of its class in this curious tome. For ‘my -lord,’ as Halyburton calls him, he sells the wool of the sheep which -ranged the Abbey’s pastures in Tweeddale, and the skins and hides of -the sheep and cattle which were slaughtered for the table at Holyrood. -He buys in return claret and other wines, apples, olives, oranges, -figs, raisins, almonds, rice, loaf-sugar, ginger, mace, pepper, -saffron, and large quantities of apothecaries’ wares. Amongst other -customers, we find Walter Chapman, the first printer in Scotland, -and John Smollett, the ancestor of the great novelist of the last -century. Halyburton appears to have often visited Edinburgh, settling -old accounts, and arranging new ventures. Each account has the name of -‘JHESUS’ piously superscribed; and where the customer was a trader, -the merchant’s _mark_, which was cut upon his boxes or inscribed upon -his bales, is copied into the ledger. The volume is surprisingly like -a ledger of the present day, even in the particular of binding; but it -gives, on the whole, the idea of a poor and narrow range of traffic—the -traffic of a rude country, producing only raw articles, and few of -them, and dependent for all above the simplest which it consumed, upon -foreign states.[1] - -About the time referred to in this volume, the central line of street -between the West Bow and Nether Bow was the chief place of merchandise -in Edinburgh, the Cowgate and Canongate being more specially the -residence of the nobility, gentry, and great ecclesiastics. There -were two chief classes of goods dealt in, each mainly confined to a -particular section of the street. What was called _Inland Merchandise_, -or _Inland’sh Goods_—namely, yarn, stockings, coarse cloth, and other -such articles made at home—were, by a charter of 1477, ordained to be -sold in the upper part of the street, then without a special name, -but which is subsequently referred to as the _Land-market_—apparently -an abbreviation of _Inland Market_, from the description of goods -sold in it. Down to recent times, such goods continued to be chiefly -sold there, by people occupying _laigh shops_, and on a certain day -exposing their wares by ancient privilege on the open street. The -remainder of the High Street was chiefly devoted to a superior class -of traders, calling themselves _Merchants_, dealers in imported wares -of various kinds, and each occupying a booth or shop, besides whatever -other warehouses in more retired situations. Wholesale and retail -dealers alike passed under this name, as is still, indeed, the case to -a considerable extent in Scotland, where it has always been remarked -that there was a peculiar liberality or courtesy in the distribution of -names and titles. We frequently hear in the journalists and chroniclers -of the old time, of the _Merchants Buithes_, or shops. The only other -kind of shops in those days was the kind called _krames_, generally -very small, made out of mere angles of property, or insinuated between -the buttresses of St Giles’s Kirk, and chiefly devoted to the sale of -toys and other petty articles. We often hear of _krames_, of _kramers_ -(that is, krame-keepers), and _kramery_ (that is, small wares sold -in krames) in the familiar histories of that age, and in old titles. -Dunbar, the early Scottish poet, describes these shops very aptly as - - ‘Hampered in ane honey-kaim,’ - -close to St Giles’s Church. Fixing our attention, meanwhile, on the -class of traders called merchants, we find that their booths were in -general small places, situated behind the open arcade which then ran -along the greater part of the High Street on both sides. The whole -front of one of these booths, consisting of folding boards, was opened -by day—one board being drawn up, another let down, one or more folded -back sideways, so as to display the interior to the passer-by. On a -bench or counter within the front-wall, goods were laid out to attract -attention; in some instances, there were also stands set out for the -display of wares under the shelter of the arcade in front. As the -merchant sat in his open booth, there were sights presented to him -different from what he would now see: amongst others, rival nobles -meeting on the causey, with their respective bands of armed followers, -and fighting out their quarrels with sword and buckler, and the more -deadly hagbut, to quell which our traders were enjoined by civic -statute of 1529, to keep each in his booth ‘ane axe, or twa, or three, -after as they have servants,’ and to be ready to use them. If we are -to believe Dunbar, he saw ‘the gait’ filthy, and full of clamorous -beggars, milk, shell-fish, and puddings sold at the Cross and the Tron, -and vile crafts everywhere more prominent than his own respectable -merchandise. In the town of Berne, in Switzerland, you can see -precisely the same structural arrangements still existing along both -sides of the principal street, which further reminds one of ancient -Edinburgh by its name of _Kramgasse_. - -At length, in the progress of improvement, there were some shops -formed in a certain part of the High Street, having those open arcaded -spaces in front closed up, leaving only a window and a door; and -these places of business, by way of distinction, acquired the name of -_luckenbooths_—that is, closed booths, a term, as you are all aware, -which still gives a name to the portion of street referred to. Berne -is now in exactly the same circumstances in this respect as Edinburgh -was two hundred years ago, for there also we find a few shops of more -ambitious character than their neighbours, with the fronts built up. It -is very interesting thus to trace in continental towns of the present -day a reflex of things long ago prevalent in our own city. I was -amused, at Nuremberg, to find the Frauenkirke barnacled all round with -little shops or _krames_, as I remember St Giles’s to have been, each -petty shop, moreover, having its miniature house above, in one or more -stories, affording a stifling accommodation to the traders, as was the -case with several of the krame-shops of the old Parliament Close. - -In Germany and Scandinavia, we still find traders who, while conducting -a considerable wholesale business, and even a little banking, have -also retail shops, generally placed towards the public street, and -conducted by subalterns. I found such men in Iceland attending the -parties given in the governor’s house, and evidently enjoying the -local consideration due to their wealth and education. In Edinburgh, -in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, there were traffickers -of this kind, some planted in the great thoroughfares, and some -in more retired situations. They were, in some instances, men with -pretensions to pedigree—men who took a prominent part in public -affairs, entertained princes and sovereigns, founded families, and -so forth. Thus, a Hamilton of the house of Innerwick, was what was -called a _merchant_ in the West Bow; he acquired lands—he fell as a -gallant gentleman in Pinkie field; his eldest son was the ancestor of -the Earls of Haddington; his second son, a secular priest, was rector -of the University of Paris, and one of the council of the League who -offered the French crown to the king of Spain in 1591. Contemporary -with him, occupying a shop in the middle row of buildings alongside -of St Giles’s Church, was a similar merchant, named Edward Hope; his -father is believed to have been a Frenchman who came to Scotland in the -train of the Princess Magdalen, daughter of Francis I., when she was -wedded to James V. in 1537. While externally but a shopkeeper in the -Luckenbooths, there can be no doubt that Edward Hope carried on foreign -trade upon a considerable scale, and was a man of large means; of which -last fact, his extensive mansion in Tod’s Close, Castlehill, stood a -few years ago as good evidence. This worthy merchant was commissioner -for Edinburgh in the parliament which settled the Reformation, and he -afterwards, for Protestantism’s sake, bore the brunt of the Lady Mary’s -gentle wrath. Through his elder son he was the ancestor of all the -Hopes who have since stood so conspicuous in rank, in wealth, and in -public service in Scotland; while from his younger son are descended -the famous mercantile family of the Hopes of Amsterdam. In the latter -part of the sixteenth century—that is, in the reigns of Mary and James -VI.—notwithstanding the constant civil broils, and the false maxims by -which commerce was to appearance protected or favoured, but in reality -depressed—there appear to have been some considerable merchants in -Edinburgh, and merchants really entitled to the name, being conductors -of foreign traffic and dealers in wholesale. They generally had their -establishments in some comparatively retired situation, in a close or -_wynd_, near the centre of the city. In Riddell’s Close, Lawnmarket, -there still exist the mansion and business premises of one of these -considerable merchants, namely, Bailie John Macmoran. We are told by -the church historian, Calderwood, that he was the greatest merchant -of his day in Edinburgh, but disliked by the clergy, because of his -carrying victual to Spain, thus endangering the souls of the Scottish -mariners by contact with popery. His house is a good and not inelegant -building forming a court, the entrance to which still exhibits the -hooks for the massive gates by which it could be closed up at night -and in times of danger. A stone projection over a window indicates -an arrangement for pulleying up goods into an upper chamber. A large -room or hall in which the queen’s brother, the Duke of Holstein, was -entertained ‘with great solemnity and merriness’ in 1597, shews the -wealthy state in which this merchant lived. John, who had been a -servitor or dependent of the Regent Morton, whose treasures he assisted -to conceal, was cut off in the middle of his prosperous career, by a -pistol bullet fired at him by a High School boy, while he was exerting -his authority as a magistrate in suppressing a barring-out. - -Near to Macmoran’s house, in what was latterly called the Old -Bank Close, there stood till our own time the not less handsome -establishment of a merchant named Robert Gourlay, bearing the date -1569. This was a large and, in some respects, elegant building, such -as could not be constructed in our day for less than two thousand five -hundred pounds. It had a ground-floor directly accessible from the -close, and which we may presume to have been a store for unbroken bales -and packages; then a first floor, which was probably the warehouse for -wholesale and retail traffic—this had a stair-entrance for itself; -next there was a second floor, accessible by its own stair likewise, -and from which there was an inner stair enclosed in a hanging turret, -giving access to two upper floors; these last three floors constituting -the accommodation of the merchant’s family. We find that Gourlay, who -had originally been a dependent of the Duke of Chastelherault, carried -on a large business in the exporting of corn, doubtless importing in -return the many various articles which he distributed from his first -floor. It is to be feared that he and some of his contemporaries -occasionally were indebted for large profits to favour purchased from -the bad and ignorant governments of their day. At least, we find that -Robert, in 1574, bought a licence from the Regent Morton, enabling -him to export grain, while, owing to a dearth, this power was denied -to all others. The kirk, which he served as an elder, challenged him -for this inhumane traffic, and he for some time stood out under the -Regent’s protection, but was at last obliged to succumb, and make -public confession of his offence, standing in the _marriage-place_ -in St Giles’s, clad in a gown made on purpose, and which he had to -bestow thereafter on the poor. Robert lived to accommodate his friend -the Regent, in his house, for two or three days, when the latter was -awaiting the stroke of the Maiden under a hired guard; and a few years -later, when King James deemed Holyrood an unsafe residence, by reason -that the Earl of Bothwell was scouring about in quest of him, he had -up-putting for several days in the house of the rich merchant, Robert -Gourlay. - -I may enumerate a few other considerable merchants of this period, -all of whom had good houses in the city, where they dwelt as well -as carried on business. In what was latterly called Brodie’s Close, -between Macmoran’s and Gourlay’s houses, lived William Little of -Over-Libberton, at one time provost, and the ancestor of the family now -represented by Mr Little Gilmour of the Inch. It connects merchandise -in an interesting manner with professional and literary things, that -Clement, the brother of William, was the commissary of Edinburgh, and -one of the greatest benefactors to the infant university. Provost -Little’s house, dated 1570, was taken down so lately as 1836, having -continued all the time an entailed property of the family. The -_North British Advertiser_ printing-office now stands on its site. -Nicol Udwart, an active and wealthy merchant, had a stately house -surrounding a square court in Niddry’s Wynd; and there King James was -living in February 1591, when the Bonny Earl of Moray was slaughtered -at Dunnibrissle. A neighbour of Udwart, styled Alexander Clark of -Balbirnie, also a wealthy merchant, and at one time provost of the -city, gave accommodation at the same time to the Chancellor Maitland. -On another occasion, a little earlier, we hear of King James living -with William Fowler, who was also a merchant in Edinburgh. The king, it -is stated, went out to hunt, promising to return to dinner in Fowler’s -house at _one o’clock_. Fowler lived in the Anchor Close, and his -house, in which, as we see, he had entertained royalty, was taken down -only three months ago by the Railway Access Company. It stood, indeed, -in a narrow alley; but it had the advantage of a free aspect over the -country to the north of the city. In the index to the state-papers -connected with Scotland, lately published by Mr Thorpe, William Fowler -figures as a partisan of the English protestant interest, continually -engaged in giving information to Sir Francis Walsingham. - -The trades of Edinburgh in those days were generally conducted by men -of small account; but there was one art carried on upon a scale which -raised its practitioners to the grade of merchants. This was the craft -of the goldsmiths. The habits of the upper classes, partaking so much -of an ill-supported ostentation, made this comparatively a great trade. -We have all heard much of George Heriot, who was made goldsmith to the -queen in 1597, and who, afterwards transplanting himself to London, -there completed the fortune which became the means of founding his -celebrated hospital. But there was a contemporary Edinburgh goldsmith -of even greater importance, in the person of Thomas Foulis, who seems -to have been to King James what the Bank of England was to William -Pitt two hundred years later. It was a loan from Thomas which enabled -the king to march against the rebellious Catholic lords at Aberdeen -in 1593. He stood creditor to the king, in the ensuing year, for the -sum of £14,598 Scots, and for this James lodged with him two gold -drinking-cups, amounting in all to the weight of fifteen pounds five -ounces. In May 1601, the royal debt to Thomas amounted to the enormous -sum of £180,000 Scots, and a parliamentary arrangement had to be made -for its payment. One of the benefits which Thomas Foulis derived from -being the king’s creditor to so large an amount, was a grant of the -lead-mines of Lanarkshire, which he worked with good result, and handed -ultimately to his granddaughter, who married James Hope, the ancestor -of the noble family of Hopetoun. Thus, it will be observed, what -constituted, and yet in part constitutes, the fortune of the Earls of -Hopetoun, came originally from one of our Parliament Close goldsmiths. - -The relation of the last resident king of Scots to his mercantile -subjects in Edinburgh was generally a good-humoured one; but there was -one occasion when serious strife stood between them, though for a short -time only. Under some misapprehension about his intentions regarding -the clergy, a mob beset his majesty for an hour or two in the place of -judgment in the Tolbooth. He was, or affected to be, very wroth with -the people of Edinburgh, and returning on Hogmanay day, a fortnight -after the riot, he ordered that the ports and streets should be kept -for his protection by certain Border chiefs on whom he could depend. -A rumour arose that _Kinmont Willie_ and other border thieves were -come to _spulyie_ the town, and immediately there was such a scene as -no Edinburgh merchant then living could ever forget. The principal -men took the goods out of their booths, and transported them to the -strongest house in the town—possibly Macmoran’s—posting themselves and -servants there also, all fully armed, in apprehension of an immediate -attack. In like manner, groups of the craftsmen and commoner sort of -people gathered into strong houses, with their best goods, and with -arms in their hands to defend their property to the last extremity. -An Edinburgh citizen, John Birrel, chronicles this affair, with the -remark—‘Judge, gentle reader, gif this be play.’ After all, the guard -of borderers did our merchants and craftsmen no harm; but when one -reads of such an alarm, it becomes easy to understand how Macmoran -and Gourlay had such strong houses for conducting their business, and -how all the closes in the High Street should have had gates at top and -bottom, as still appears in many cases by the remaining hooks for the -hinges. - -When we pass on to the early part of the seventeenth century, we still -find merchants of considerable importance in Edinburgh. They usually -are either the descendants or the progenitors of good families. As -an example of the former, we may take James Murray, of whose living -locality in our city I can say nothing, but who, at his death in old -age in 1649, was laid in the Greyfriars’ Churchyard. James was a -younger son of Patrick Murray of Philiphaugh, and to each of his three -sons, by Bethia Maule of the Panmure family, he left an estate. Perhaps -I could in no way better describe him than by the quaint words of his -epitaph in the Greyfriars: - - Stay, passenger, and shed a tear, - For good James Murray lieth here; - He was of Philiphaugh descended, - And for his merchandise commended; - He was a man of a good life, - Married Bethia Maule to ’s wife; - He may thank God that e’er he gat her; - She bore him three sons and a daughter; - The first he was a man of might, - For which the king made him a knight; - The second was both wise and wily, - For which the town made him a bailie; - The third, a factor of renown, - Both in Campvere and in this town. - His daughter was both grave and wise, - And married was to James Elies. - -Another of this class was John Trotter, son of Thomas Trotter of -Catchelraw. He acquired by merchandise in Edinburgh the means of -purchasing the estate of Mortonhall, and thus laid the foundation of -a family which still exists in great note and opulence. A third was -John Sinclair, a cadet of the old house of Longformacus. Being bred a -merchant, as Douglas’s _Baronage_ explicitly declares, he realised so -much wealth by his business as to be able, in 1624, to purchase the -estate of Stevenston in Haddingtonshire, to which he afterwards added -other lands, forming in whole a large estate. The king conferred on him -a Nova Scotia baronetcy, which is still enjoyed by his descendants. -We have a fourth instance in George Blair, a second son of Patrick -Blair of Pittendreich. The wealth which this gentleman acquired by -merchandise in Edinburgh, was the means of purchasing the estate of -Lethendy in Perthshire, to which his son added that of Glasclune. -Another may still be added, in James Riddell, of the ancient family -of Riddell of that Ilk. This gentleman, after pursuing a business -career for some time in Poland, where many Scotch youths then found -occupation, returned to Edinburgh about the year 1603, set up business -there, married a lady of means styled Bessie Allan, and died a wealthy -man. His son, who became a merchant in Leith, purchased the estate of -Kinglass, which he left to a line of descendants. I cannot but view -with interest the good sense of our gentry of two and three hundred -years ago, in setting their younger sons to a career of useful and -honourable industry, instead of allowing them idly to loiter at home, -or go into the little better than idleness of a foreign military -service. It was evidently considered no discredit in those days for a -gentleman’s son to become a merchant in Edinburgh. - -In the age which we now have under our notice, the proceedings of -mercantile men were impeded and thwarted, to a degree of which we can -scarcely form an idea, by false political economy. For a merchant -to reserve grain during a scarcity—thus, in the view of Adam Smith, -serving a good public end by equalising consumption over the distressed -period—was then an impious crime condemned by whole legions of laws. -To export almost any article that could be consumed at home was -generally discountenanced, as tending to raise prices upon the home -consumer. Importing foreign articles was looked upon at the best as a -lamentable necessity, because it caused money to be sent out of the -country. We have, for instance, in 1615, a fulmination from the Privy -Council against a ‘most unlawful and pernicious tred of exporting eggs -furth of the kingdom,’ and in 1625, a not less furious denunciation -of the ‘mischeant and wicked tred’ of exporting tallow. In 1634, a -man wanting some Norway timber to build houses at Seaton, required to -use influence with the government to be allowed to send some of his -own East Lothian wheat for it to Bergen. An unenlightened selfishness -put a dead-lock upon nearly everything that an enlightened view of -the interests of all would have counselled to be done. In these -circumstances, to succeed in foreign trade must have required no small -amount of skill and policy, as well as means, because in addition to -all the natural difficulties, there were bad laws to be evaded or -overcome, or privileges and exemptions to be purchased from corrupt -statesmen. There were also in those days sumptuary laws for preventing -the people from injuring themselves by too expensive habits. They are -understood to have not been very effectual for their avowed purpose; -but they now serve a good end in revealing to us the nature of the -business of the mercer in the times to which they refer. We find, for -example, in 1581, when the country was but a few years emerged from -a calamitous civil war, that even people of what was called ‘mean -estate’ were addicted to ‘the wearing of costly cleithing, of silks -of all sorts, laine, cambric, fringes, and passments of gold, silver, -and silk, and woollen claith, made and brocht from foreign countries.’ -Hence, it was stated, the prices of these articles had grown to such a -height ‘as is not longer able to be sustained without the great skaith -and inconvenience of the commonweal’—that is to say, gentles were of -opinion that they would get such articles much cheaper, if there were -no other customers for them. The general inclination for foreign finery -was held all the more indefensible, seeing that ‘God has granted to -this realm sufficient commodities for claithing of the inhabitants -thereof within the self, gif the people were vertuously employed in -working of the same at hame.’ Another such act in 1621 ordained that no -persons but those of the nobility, and others possessing six thousand -merks of free yearly rent, should wear ‘any clothing of gold or silver -cloth, or any gold or silver lace upon their apparel;’ neither should -they use ‘velvet, sattin, or other stuffs of silk.’ Even those who -were privileged by wealth to wear these articles, were forbidden to -have embroidery, lace, or passments upon their clothes, ‘except only a -plain welting lace of silk upon the seams or borders.’ They were also -to observe that ‘the said apparel of silk be no ways cut out upon other -stuffs of silk, except upon a single taffeta.’ By the same act, it was -enjoined that no person of whatsoever degree, except those privileged -as above, should have ‘pearling or ribboning upon their ruffs, sarks, -napkins, and socks;’ and any pearling or ribboning so worn was to be -‘of those made within the kingdom of Scotland,’ under a high penalty. -So, also, castor-hats, feathers for the head, and gold chains with -pearls or stones, were forbidden for all except the privileged classes; -and servants were restricted to home-made fustian, canvas, and other -stuffs, and husbandmen to the common gray, blue, and _self-black_ cloth -of the country. By _self-black_ I presume is meant cloth made of the -wool of black sheep in its natural state. These plain and homely kinds -of cloth were woven by the village websters out of yarn which the -housewives and their maidens had spun by the winter fireside when there -was no more pressing work to do. Such cloths, so made, continued in -use amongst simple rustic people down to the close of the last century, -and partially even a little later. I believe they have now entirely -disappeared. - -Notwithstanding all impediments from bad and simply officious -legislation, we can see that the first third of the seventeenth century -was a time of mercantile prosperity and progress in Scotland generally, -and in Edinburgh in particular. The country was at peace; the laws -were tolerably well executed; and as yet the religious troubles of the -century had not begun. There was a general disposition, encouraged by -the king, to see the useful arts cultivated in our country; and several -were actually now established for the first time. For example, it -was now that leather was first made of good quality in Scotland, the -improved art being introduced by workmen from England. The manufacture -of glass was set up in 1610 at Wemyss in Fife, by the ancestor of the -Earls of Kinnoul, and met with tolerable success. Paper and a superior -kind of cloth were attempted, but unsuccessfully. A great grudge being -entertained regarding the large sums annually sent to Flanders for -soap, there was much interest excited by an effort made at Leith, -in 1619, to manufacture that useful article. The enterpriser was Mr -Nathaniel Udwart, son of the Nicol Udwart who had entertained King -James in his house in Niddry’s Wynd. As an encouragement, he asked a -privilege excluding the foreign article for a number of years, and -the Privy Council took much pains to ascertain if this could be done -without prejudice to the public. Pages after pages of their records -are filled with deliberations on the subject, marginally marked with -the words, ‘Anent the Sape,’ or ‘Mr Nathaniel his sape;’ and finally, -he obtained the desired privilege under certain conditions. In this -matter, however, flesh and blood could not endure the false political -economy. Mr Nathaniel’s soap was pronounced to be of unsatisfactory -quality; and it was shewn to be better for the people in such distant -provinces as Dumfries, to import their soap from Flanders, than to -transport it from Leith by land-carriage. The native soap-factory -appears, therefore, to have had a considerable struggle at first. -Afterwards, it was more successfully carried on, along with the making -of potasses, by Patrick Maule, the ancestor of the Lords Panmure; for -here is another of our wealthy noble families who were beholden to -trade for some part of their fortunes. We really must not be too hard -upon our ancestors for the false commercial maxims by which they made -their own interests so much of a difficulty to themselves, for we ought -to remember how recently we have shaken off some of these very maxims, -and how greatly foreign nations yet suffer from them. I daresay you -will all hear, with something like a smile, that the proceedings of -King James in 1598, regarding the poultrymen of Edinburgh, who tried to -evade an edict for maximum prices, by selling their poultry in secret -to people who would give better prices, were precisely imitated by the -present Emperor of France in 1856, with respect to the butchers of -Paris. - -And in what, it will be asked, did the external commerce of Scotland -at this time consist? First, then, was the exporting of wool, woollen -and linen yarn, hides, tallow, butter, oil, and barrelled flesh, -salmon, and herrings, also plaiden stuff and stockings, to the Low -Countries. This was a trade exclusively confined by strict regulation -to the port of Campvere, where, for many years past, there had been -established a corporation of Scottish merchants, under a chief called -the _Conservator_. It was a body entirely independent of the local -authorities, as well of their High Mightinesses of the Netherlands; -for the Conservator, with a council of six, or at least four, was -entitled to adjudge in every case connected with Scottish merchants -or merchandise. The Scottish merchants had a street and a quay to -themselves, and a minister of their own choice, to whom the native -mayor paid a salary of nine hundred guilders per annum. Second, there -was a considerable trade with Poland, the goods being introduced by -Scottish merchants residing at Dantzig, while the country itself was -said to swarm with pedlers of our nation, by whom, I presume, the -merchandise was diffused. Our townsman, Mr W. F. Skene, tells me that -he lately found at Dantzig abundant records of the Scotch merchandise -formerly carried on there. The imports were wool and coarse cloths; -the exports, corn, tar, and wine—whence the latter was brought to -Dantzig does not appear, but it might be from some countries far to -the south, for through the Vistula there were communications between -this Hanseatic town and districts far removed in that direction. Next, -we must advert to a constant import of wine from France, probably for -the most part in exchange for salmon and herrings. Finally, Scotland -kept a considerable quantity of shipping in the employment of France, -Spain, and even Italy and Barbary. The zealous clergy, in 1592, made -an effort to stop this and every other kind of intercourse of their -countrymen with Spain, from an apprehension, already adverted to, -that they might thus be drawn back to Romanism; but here feelings of -mercantile interest were too much for even clerical zeal, and the -attempt failed miserably. The trade with France was threatened in a -more serious manner in 1615, when, in consequence of an edict against -the importation of goods into England in other than English vessels, -the French king ordered that no goods should be imported from Britain -into France in other than French vessels. A Scotch bark then lading -at a French port was actually stopped, and ordered to go away empty. -It was a most serious affair for Scotland; but the national ingenuity -prevailed. France was reminded of the ancient alliance of King Alpin -of Scotland with Charlemagne—a fable, but as good as a truth, since it -was universally believed—also of the more palpable fact that Scotland, -as apart from England, had issued no edict against French vessels. The -rule was therefore relaxed in favour of Scottish ships. One of the -standing troubles of this Scotch trade lay in the piratical habits of -Algiers. Every now and then a piteous tale came home to Edinburgh of -some little vessel, belonging to Dundee, or Leith, or Borrowstounness, -caught by these rovers, and the crew all lying chained in dungeons, -on the coast of Africa, fed with only bread and water. And then there -would be a kindly collection of half-pence at the kirk-doors for the -unfortunates, who generally were relieved by these means, though -sometimes not till they had endured for a year or two their miserable -captivity. - -When troubles began to arise in consequence of the efforts of the -kings James and Charles to introduce episcopalian arrangements and -ceremonies, there were several eminent merchants of Edinburgh who stood -conspicuously forward against these innovations. We hear much at that -time of William Rig or Ridge, of Athernie in Fife, and of John Mean, -both merchants in Edinburgh, very pious men, who, with John Hamilton, -an apothecary, were banished to distant towns because they would not -agree to accept the communion kneeling. Rig was both rich and liberal, -insomuch that he is stated to have been in the custom of distributing -annually upwards of eight thousand merks (equal to £444 sterling) -for pious and charitable purposes. John Mean, whose wife is believed -to have been the person who threw the stool at the bishop’s head in -St Giles’s, at the reading of the famous _Service-book_, was at one -time post-master of Edinburgh, that important institution having been -set up in 1635: the revenue, in his time, was about four hundred a -year. Another, and still more remarkable Edinburgh merchant, noted -as a friend of the Presbyterian cause, was William Dick, ancestor of -our neighbour Sir William Cunningham Dick of Prestonfield. Coming of -Orkney people, one of his first adventures was the farming of the -crown-rents of that district at three thousand pounds sterling. He -established an active trade with the Baltic and the Mediterranean, -and made a profitable business of negotiating bills of exchange with -Holland. He had ships on every sea, and could ride on his own lands -from North Berwick to near Linlithgow. His wealth, centering in a -warehouse in the Luckenbooths, on the site of that now occupied by John -Clapperton & Co., is estimated to have finally reached the astonishing -sum of two hundred thousand pounds sterling; though I must own to some -incredulity on the subject. That it was, however, very great, fully -appears from the effects of it which appear in history. Sir William, -having been induced to accept the provostship of the city in the year -1638, was easily led by his own religious prepossessions to become a -sort of voluntary exchequer for the friends of the national covenant, -then mustering a resistance to the Service-book and the bishops. -King Charles could not have been faced at Dunse Law but for William -Dick’s cornucopia of dollars. From the same fund came the expenses for -the king’s visit to Edinburgh in 1641. When the Scottish parliament -in the same year mustered ten thousand men to go to Ireland and -suppress the rebel Catholics, the little army could not have marched -without the meal which Sir William Dick furnished. His national loans -afterwards extended to transactions in which the credit of the English -parliament was concerned; and here ruin overtook him. The time came -when such loans were not recognised, or at least met with but slight -reverence; and this Scottish Crœsus—a national creditor to the extent -of sixty-four thousand pounds—actually spent his last days in a jail at -Westminster, under something like a want of the common necessaries of -life. - -While it appears that so many noted merchants stood up for the popular -cause, that of royalty was espoused by at least one eminent trader, -namely, Sir William Gray of Pittendrum, a cadet of the noble house -of Gray, and direct ancestor of the present lord. Sir William, whose -house, with his arms and initials, and the date 1622, may still be seen -in Lady Stair’s Close, Lawnmarket, is said to have conducted foreign -trade upon a large scale, considering the times, and he became, for his -age, extremely rich. For corresponding with the Marquis of Montrose, a -fine of a hundred thousand merks was imposed upon him, and he actually -paid thirty-five thousand, being nearly two thousand pounds sterling. -When one of his sons married the Mistress of Gray, Sir William gave -him the handsome endowment of 232,000 merks. Sir William Dick and Sir -William Gray are perhaps the first commercial men of our city who -reached the character of merchant-princes. - -A little later than these men was James Stuart, a historical personage -of even greater celebrity, and the more worthy of note on the present -occasion, in as far as he made a movement to the formation of a -Merchants’ Company in Edinburgh so early as 1658. Born of the family -of the Stuarts of Allanton in Lanarkshire, he was brought up in a -merchant’s shop in Edinburgh, and in due time became a flourishing -merchant himself. His importance in this capacity, his active talents -and address, made him a conspicuous actor on the popular side in -the affairs of Scotland during the years of the civil war. Family -tradition represents him as the person who brought to the Covenanters -in Edinburgh that doubtful promise of sympathy and assistance from -the English patriots, which is adverted to in all the histories of -the period. It is stated that he was in London on business, when Lord -Saville, hearing of him as a leading citizen of Edinburgh, and a man of -talent and spirit, already noted amongst those who were contemplating a -resistance to the king, sent for him, and after some conversation, bade -him be of good cheer, for his countrymen would not be left to fight the -battle single-handed. Whatever truth there is in this, James Stuart -afterwards became a most distinguished public person. He was provost of -Edinburgh in the trying time when it was invested, and at length taken -possession of, by the troops of Cromwell. He survived the Restoration, -and was a sufferer under Charles II.’s rule, but nevertheless left -considerable realised wealth to his descendants, the Stuarts baronets -of Coltness. His son was lord advocate under King William and Queen -Anne; and the grandson of that personage wrote the first systematic -work on political economy which appeared in this country. - -The unsuccessful efforts made by Scotland first to extend presbytery -into England under the Solemn League and Covenant, and next to save -the old monarchy from the English sectaries and republicans, left it -exhausted and bleeding under the heel of Cromwell. We should vainly, -amidst our present peace and comfort, attempt to form an idea of the -utter bankruptcy of our country during the eight or nine years when it -was kept down by eight thousand English soldiers, whom it was obliged -to pay by a monthly cess for their oppression. Glasgow had then but -twelve vessels, mostly under a hundred tons each; the customs of Leith, -which have in our times touched six hundred thousand pounds, were then -only £2335. We wade through year after year of the domestic annals -of the country at this time, and hear of not one prosperous merchant, -not one attempt at an enlarged system of industry, no new invention -or project, nor even of the continuation of any of those manufactures -which had been introduced during the two preceding reigns. Religious -and political controversy, working itself out in violence fatal to all -real progress, had blighted the whole pith and capacity of the country. - -After the Restoration, things were for a long time not much better, -for still unfortunately the bitterness of religious conflict was kept -up. A Royal Fishery Company, with a capital of £25,000 sterling, was -started, as a rival to the Dutch; but it did not prosper greatly. It -had various privileges; and we rather hear of these proving a detriment -to private enterprise, than of any distinct good done by the company -itself. Amongst the most notable uses for shipping in the reign of -the restored Stuart, were some of a melancholy character—privateering -against the Dutch during the two shameful wars carried on against -Holland, and the transporting of poor people to Barbadoes, and of -discontented west-country Presbyterians to the American colonies. The -former kind of work is said to have enriched two merchants named Baird, -whose descendants have since figured among the Scottish gentry. But all -such work was of small advantage to the country at large, as everything -is, indeed, except that which gives real labour and its products. Here -and there was a speculator like Sir Robert Mylne of Barnton, who made -a little fortune by farming the entire national revenue at ninety -thousand pounds, and ultimately lost it again, as he well might in -that age without any necessary connection of the event with the fact -of his having handed the Covenant to the hangman when it was publicly -burnt after the Restoration. In this age, too, there was at least one -able and successful merchant in our city, namely, Sir James Dick of -Prestonfield, a grandson of the Rothschild of the Covenant. In him -the fortunes of the family were in some measure restored. As provost -of Edinburgh, he acquired the friendship of the Duke of York, when -he lived at Holyrood, and used to be consulted by him about means of -promoting the prosperity of the country. George Watson, the founder -of our hospital, was originally head-clerk or accountant to Dick, at -a salary of £16, 13s. 4d. Rather unexpectedly, I am informed that -a branch of Sir James’s business has continued to be kept up, and -after some changes of situation, now appears under the firm of Craig -Brothers, in the South Bridge. There was, however, in this reign, -little more than a blind groping towards mercantile enterprise. The -contemplation of English prosperity had created a spirit of emulation. -Men of enlarged minds were sadly sensible of the national poverty. -There was a general sense of uneasiness under the knowledge that -perhaps as much as _twenty thousand a year_ went out of this poor -country into fat and comfortable England, to buy superfine cloth and -other fineries for the upper classes. England, too, it was observed, -had those colonies on the other side of the Atlantic, not one of whom -could buy a hat, or a coat, or a sheet of glass, from anybody but an -Englishman, while Scotland had no such outlets for manufactures, even -if the manufactures existed. There was, it appears, in Scotland, the -shrewd head and the willing hand; but how to start, how to get capital, -skill, and experience—how, in short, to realise the ambitious views she -was beginning to cherish! - -Restricted as merchandise was in the reign of King William, we then -find a general acknowledgment of the importance of the mercantile -class in Edinburgh, in the practice of receiving the Lord Provost of -the city as a member of the Privy Council, which was substantially -the government of the country. These provosts, too, were generally -knighted. Amongst them we find Sir John Hall, ancestor of the baronets -of Dunglass, and of the late ingenious writer, Captain Basil Hall. Sir -William Binning and Sir Thomas Kennedy, who had been provosts in the -late Stuart reigns, continued in that of King William to be engaged -in large undertakings, such as government contracts and farmings -of customs. So, also, was an eminent member of our Company, Bailie -Alexander Brand, who finally acquired the honour of knighthood. We -find Brand, for instance, along with Binning and Kennedy, engaging to -import five thousand stand of arms for the state, at one pound sterling -each, and getting into trouble from making public in a law-court that -he contemplated a _donative_ of two hundred and fifty guineas, with -other articles, to some of the principal state-officers with whom the -bargain had been made. A certain Sir Robert Dickson, who, with Binning -and Kennedy, farmed the customs and foreign excise for five years from -1693, at twenty thousand three hundred pounds a year, got into a worse -scrape still with the state-officers; for, in squaring accounts, he -found upwards of two thousand pounds unexpectedly on the debit side, -for wines given as gratuities to those nobles, and, seeking the king’s -protection from this oppression, he found himself liable to a charge, -under an old statute, against murmuring at judges, and was glad to -buy himself off by craving pardon on his knees. The gratuities, in -the latter case, were declared to be according to use and wont; if -so, it seems hard that Brand should have been harassed for announcing -a compliance with the custom in the other case; but, of course, -_quietness_ is everything in these matters. - -It was in this reign that the bearing of the national mind towards -commerce first found effectual gratification. A company, headed by -John Holland, a London merchant, started in 1695 the Bank of Scotland, -the first institution of the kind in the country. Its paid-up capital -was at first no more than ten thousand pounds. It tried branches at -Aberdeen, Dundee, and Glasgow; but they did not succeed, or were -not found to be wanted, and the money was all brought home again on -horses’ backs. Under the prompting and guidance of an ingenious native, -William Paterson, the African Company was formed in the ensuing year, -with about a quarter of a million of paid-up capital, and the design -of planting a great entrepôt for the commerce of the world on the -Isthmus of Darien. As is well known, this company, through English -jealousy, proved a disastrous failure. It was a sore blow for a poor -country to suffer at the very opening of a mercantile career, and it -was long before our people forgot it, or overcame its effects. When the -Union, however, happily settled that English exclusivism was no longer -exclusive for Scotland—when Scotland was so far allowed to have that -fair-play for her industry which we are now seeking to establish as the -right of all, as it is for the good of all—then did her enterprise find -safer channels and a more fitting reward. Owing, indeed, to the lack of -capital and other causes, the progress was for a long time rather slow, -and especially on our side of the island. As a proof of this, take the -contrast between the shipping of Leith in 1692—twenty-nine vessels -of an average of fifty-nine tons (the value £7100)—and that of 1740, -when it exhibited forty-seven vessels of an average of only fifty-six -tons, and not one above 180. The increase of the next twelve years to -sixty-eight vessels, of an average of 102 tons—several being as high -as 300, and one of 350 tons—shews a great acceleration of progress -after the first difficulties were got over. In 1844, there belonged to -Leith 210 vessels of an aggregate of 25,427 tons, or an average of 121 -tons. On the west side of the island, owing to the development of the -American colonies, the progress was greater; and yet it was not till -eleven years after the Union that Glasgow sent her first ship across -the Atlantic. The smallness of all mercantile matters there at first is -most remarkable. It is alleged that four young men, with ten thousand -pounds amongst them, commenced the mercantile glory of our western -capital. And one cannot without a smile read, in the diary of serious -Mr Wodrow, under 1709, of Glasgow losing no less than ten thousand -pounds by the capture of a fleet going to Holland. ‘I am sure,’ he -says, ‘the Lord is remarkably frowning upon our trade in more respects -than one, since it was put in place of our religion, in the late -alteration of our constitution.’ Leaving these more general matters, -I must devote the remainder of my brief space to the history of the -Merchant Company of Edinburgh. - -It was amidst some of the most distressing things in our national -history—hangings of the poor ‘hill-folk’ in the Grassmarket, trying -of the patriot Argyle for taking the test with an explanation, and -so forth—that this Company came into being. Its nativity was further -heralded by sundry other things of a troublous kind, more immediately -affecting merchandise and its practitioners. - -The superior woollen cloth which was woven in England so early as the -reign of Henry VIII., made its way into Scotland before the end of -the sixteenth century; but it was very grudgingly looked upon by our -native economists. The ‘hame-bringing of English claith’ was denounced -in an act of 1597 as an unprofitable trade, ‘the same claith having -only for the maist part an outward show, wanting that substance and -strength whilk ofttimes it appears to have,’ and being, moreover, the -chief cause of the ‘transporting of all gold and silver furth of this -realm, and, consequently, of the present dearth of the cunyie.’ Soon -after this, seven Flemings were brought to Edinburgh, to instruct -the people how to make _seys_ and broadcloth at home, and to save -this pernicious outflow of coin into England; but there were many -impediments in the way. We do not hear that the seven Flemings were -ever fairly set to work. In 1620, a second attempt of the same kind was -made with four Fleming cloth-makers, in a place on the outskirts of the -city called Paul’s Work; but the days were still evil. The first really -energetic or hopeful effort at a woollen-cloth manufacture amongst us -was not made till the year 1681, when a work of that kind was set up -at Newmills, near Haddington, under the care of an Englishman named -Stanfield, and with several English workmen to instruct the natives. As -what was thought a needful encouragement to this and other enterprises -for the production of articles of attire within the country, and so -saving money from being sent out of it, an act of parliament was -passed, forbidding the importation of all kinds of cloth of wool or -lint, all silk goods, and, generally, articles of personal finery; -also the exporting of any linen or woollen yarn, or of any coarse -cloth. It was called an act for encouraging trade and manufactures; -but while it could not very readily bring manufactures into being, it -was in reality calculated to extinguish no small amount of trade. Very -amusingly, too, the act recites that these arrangements were arrived at -by the Privy Council ‘after long and serious deliberation, and advice -of the most judicious and knowing merchants of the kingdom.’ It is -scarce conceivable to us how such an act came to be passed, seeing that -it forbade the use of foreign articles before any corresponding ones -were made at home; before even the machinery for making them was set up -or existed; but the truth is, the governments of those days had much -greater dependence upon the use of force than we have—force to make -people like bishops or give up popery—force to direct what they were -to eat, and what they were to wear. And with all this dependence on -force, no means of really enforcing anything: at least, we never hear -of any such enactments in those days, but we soon after hear of their -being everywhere broken through and disregarded. For my part, I feel -at a loss to understand the drift of the government on this occasion, -for, little more than two months after a parliamentary prohibition of -foreign cloth, we find the king giving the _Company of the Merchants of -Edinburgh_ their Patent, describing them as _invectores et panni tam -rasi quam villosi_, importers of both fine and coarse cloth. Probably -it was expected that they would almost instantly cease to be so, and -remain only liable to the rest of the description given to them of -_vendors of wearing stuffs_. If so, the hope was a bootless one, for, -notwithstanding sundry burnings of the forbidden foreign stuffs on the -streets of Edinburgh, no manufacture either of fine woollen cloth, -or of silks, or fine linen, took hearty root in our country for many -years thereafter. Most likely, the act fell speedily into contempt as -impracticable. - -It was on the 1st of December 1681 that eighty-two merchants of -Edinburgh, so called, but in truth specially concerned in the -business of cloth or clothing alone, met the magistrates in the High -Council-house, to hear read the royal letters-patent, erecting them -into a company or society for the promotion of commerce and sundry -other useful purposes. Each member was to pay at entry three pounds -Scots—that is, ten shillings sterling—and six shillings Scots, or -an English sixpence, yearly, while in trade, for the purpose of -constituting a fund for decayed members and their widows and children. -It will be observed that these were very moderate contributions, even -for the reign of Charles II.; but the tradition of the Company is, -that its whole scheme was at first of a humble nature. The constituent -members adopted as their symbol a _Stock of Broom_—a modest shrub, but -with a great tendency to increase. As such they regarded their society -and plan of charity; and ever since, ‘the Stock of Broom’ has been the -first toast at all the convivial meetings of the Company. I regret to -remark, that, while such laudable views and ideas prevailed amongst -our predecessors, the universal taint of exclusiveness had also an -ascendency over them. It was ruled in their very constitution, that -none who had not entered their Company should be permitted to practise -merchandise in the city. And they were entitled to poind goods which -were exposed to sale in contravention of their bye-laws. - -One of the Company’s first proceedings was to ask the Dean of Edinburgh -(Very Reverend William Annand) to compose a prayer to be said by -the clerk at all their meetings. It was as follows: ‘Almighty and -eternal God, we thy servants now assembled, implore, according to -thy gracious promises, the pardon of all our offences, and thy holy -spirit to deliver us from falling into the snares of sin and Satan. -Keep us, O Lord, in peace, unity, brotherly love, and concord, by -removing pride, prejudice, passion, covetousness, and whatever may -offend thy gracious majesty. Bless our king and all the royal family, -the magistrates, and all the incorporations of this city, the Masters -and all the members of this society, that we may have fellowship with -thee. The sea is thine, and thy hands formed the dry land: prosper us -in our present undertaking with the fruits of both; above all, with -the fruits of thy holy Spirit, through Jesus Christ our Lord.’ It was -thought proper to make some requital to the dean for this service; but -it seems to have been rather long before the Stock of Broom spread -sufficiently to allow of this being done. It was not till August 1686 -that the Company ordained Hugh Blair, one of their number, to furnish -the reverend gentleman with ‘six ells fine black cloth for a gown,’ -for which ‘the said Hugh Blair is to have from the Company twenty -shillings sterling the ell, _if it be paid within twelve months_; but -if it happen to be any longer resting, the price is to be augmented -at the discretion of the Company conform to the time.’ On the 9th of -January 1688 the Company realised £36, 13_s._ Scots, or rather more -than three pounds sterling, by poindings of certain small quantities -of fustian, mohair, and serge, which had been exposed in the market -contrary to law; and, now believing themselves to be in a good way, -they ordered that Hugh Blair be paid for the dean’s gown out of the -first and readiest of the treasurer’s intromissions, but still to be -allowed interest till payment was actually made. We may presume that -Blair was paid not long after this, for, in the ensuing September, the -twelve pounds Scots realised from the fustian was ordered to be given -to James Tait, an indigent member of the Company. It may be remarked -that Hugh Blair was a grandson of Robert Blair, one of the Covenanting -ministers who have reached a historical fame, and he was at the same -time grandfather to his namesake the admired minister of the High Kirk, -and author of the _Sermons_ and _Lectures on Belles-Lettres_. Hugh was -Master of the Company in the year 1692. It may also be worth while -to recall that Dean Annand was the clergyman officially appointed to -attend the unfortunate Earl of Argyle on the scaffold. He was a man of -considerable learning, and, as we learn from his communications with -Argyle, a hearty opponent of popery. - -One of the Company’s earliest movements of any importance was the -acquiring of a hall; but I regret to say this was not, as might be -supposed, a movement of a purely dignified nature—the great object was -to get a place of their own, in which they could deposit the goods -taken from unfreemen, it having been found hitherto, that such goods -taken to private houses were often disposed of clandestinely: in short, -the Company got little good of them. In 1691, the Master, Bailie Robert -Blackwood, intimated that there was a suitable house to be had in the -Cowgate—namely, a large lodging belonging to Viscount Oxenford, and the -price would be about twelve thousand merks, or six hundred and seventy -pounds sterling. A subscription was immediately entered into to defray -the cost, and the house was purchased. It was a large quadrangular -building, surrounding a court-yard, and had been the residence of the -celebrated lawyer of a hundred years before, who finally became the -first Earl of Haddington—popularly called, from his locality, _Tam o’ -the Cowgate_. Even now, the widow of the cavalier Sir Thomas Dalyell of -Binns, and one or two other persons of quality, had lodgment in some -of its apartments. There was one large room which was to be devoted -to the purposes of a hall; but it was sadly out of order. Presently -comes forward a liberal member of the Company, Bailie Alexander Brand, -who had some time before established a manufactory of what was called -_Spanish leather_, for the ornamenting of rooms—namely, skins stamped -with gold. It was a pretty style of hangings, once in great favour -in Scotland; a few examples may still be seen in old country-houses; -one I remember in the house of Gartsherrie in Lanarkshire. The bailie -undertook to hang the hall in this manner, and only charge what was -due over and above his own contribution of a hundred and fifty pounds -Scots. Ten years afterwards, when accounts came to be settled with the -then Sir Alexander Brand—for it will be observed prompt settlements -were by no means among the commercial virtues of our predecessors—it -appeared that a hundred and nineteen skins of gold leather, with a -black ground, had been used, at a total expense of two hundred and -fifty-three pounds Scots, including the manufacturer’s contribution. -There was also much concernment about a piece of waste ground behind; -but the happy thought occurred of converting it into a bowling-green, -for the use of the members in the first place, and the public in -the second. Many years after, we find Allan Ramsay making joyous -Horatian allusions to this place of recreation, telling us that now, -in winter, douce folk were no longer seen wysing ajee the biassed -bowls on Tamson’s Green (Thomson being a subsequent tenant). It is not -unworthy of notice that, from the low state of the arts in Scotland, -the bowls required for this green had to be brought from abroad. It -is gravely reported to the Company on the 6th of March 1693, that -the bowls are ‘upon the sea homeward.’ Ten pair cost £6, 4_s._ 3_d._ -Scots. It is scarcely necessary to add that the Company’s connection -with the Cowgate was dissolved long ago, and even the house has for -thirty years ceased to exist, having been taken down to make way for -George the Fourth’s Bridge. The only remaining memorial of the Company -at that spot is to be found in the name, Merchant Street, applied to a -half-extinguished line of buildings behind the Cowgate, and our title -to the ground-rents of that part of the city. - -By and by, the Company became engaged in matters more amiable than -the seizing of goods of unfreemen. Wealthy members died, leaving -_mortifications_ (in the happy Scottish sense) to the Company, for the -succour of decayed brethren. It is remarkable that, on the first such -occasion, in 1693, when three thousand five hundred pounds, accruing -from a legacy left by Patrick Aikenhead, a Scotch merchant at Dantzig, -for pious uses in Edinburgh, came into possession of the Merchant -Company, they had not a decayed member requiring the benefit. Not long -after the last date, the Company became engaged in the erection of a -hospital for the nurture and education of the female children of their -less prosperous members. Though originated by a certain Mrs Hare, widow -of an Edinburgh apothecary, but a scion of the noble house of Marr, the -principal labour and expense attending this foundation fell upon the -Merchant Company of Edinburgh. Their zeal in the affair is amply shewn -in their books, where the entries of contributions for ‘_the Lasses_’ -are for some years incessant. Twenty-eight years later, when George -Watson died, leaving no less than twelve thousand pounds sterling for -the benefit of children of the other sex, the Merchant Company came -to have the management of a second foundation of the same kind. I -believe its administration in both hospitals has, generally speaking, -been unexceptionable. It is, however, worthy of observation, that the -Company itself has never supplied a sufficiency of children requiring -the benefits. It has conducted these institutions to a considerable -extent on the principle of _Vos non vobis_. - -It is foreign to my purpose to trace the history of Edinburgh merchants -and merchandise during the time following upon the Union, when the -national industry and enterprise, being allowed a fair field, were -producing those results of wealth and civilisation which we now see -smiling around us. I may remark, however, that the first two Georges -were inurned before the merchants of this or any other British city had -ceased in any degree to depend on prohibitions of this and that, and -exclusive rights to deal and be dealt with. The introduction of Indian -damasks, padasoys, and taffetas was, so lately as 1730, spoken of by -our Merchant Company as ‘destructive.’ In England, ‘Bury in woollen -if you have any bowels for your country,’ was a general feeling, -and, indeed, a matter of law. The late Bailie Robert Johnston once -shewed me a curious document, drawn up and extensively signed by the -Edinburgh mercers and drapers, about the year 1760, covenanting that -henceforth they would wholly cease to traffic with that generation -of men called ‘English riders.’ So long is it before an enlightened -sense of interests, even among a shrewd and tolerably well-educated -people, supersedes the first stringent emotions of human selfishness. -How different the spirit of the Merchant Company, and its offshoot -the Chamber of Commerce, has been in recent times, patronising and -promoting every liberal measure, need not be dwelt upon. Another -particular of the last century may be adverted to—namely, that there -continued to be a very great infusion among our merchants of what may -be called an aristocratic element. On this subject I am aided by the -recollections of the late venerable clerk of the Company, Mr James -Jollie, extending nearly a century back from the present time. To take -the leading firms among the silk-mercers. Of John Hope and Company, -the said John Hope was a younger son of Hope of Rankeillour in Fife. -Of Stewart and Lindsay, the former was the son of Charles Stewart of -Ballechen, and the latter a younger son of Lindsay of Wormiston. Among -the leading drapers: in the firm of Lindsay and Douglas, the former was -a younger son of Lindsay of Eaglescairney, and the latter of Douglas -of Garvaldfoot. Of Dundas, Inglis, and Callander, the first was son -to Dundas of Fingask in Stirlingshire, the family from which the Earl -of Zetland and Baron Amesbury are descended; the second was a younger -son of Sir John Inglis of Cramond, and succeeded to that baronetage, -which, it may be remarked, took its rise in an Edinburgh merchant of -the seventeenth century. Another eminent cloth-dealing firm, Hamilton -and Dalrymple, comprehended John Dalrymple, a younger brother of the -well-known Lord Hailes, and a great grandson of the first Lord Stair: -he was at one time Master of the Merchant Company. In a fourth firm, -Stewart, Wallace, and Stoddart, the leading partner was a son of -Stewart of Dunearn. The leading wine-merchants and bankers of those -days were also men of family; but this, of course, is the less worthy -of remark, as it continues in some degree to be the case at the present -day. - -That so many landed families amongst us have descended from Edinburgh -merchants is no singular fact, for trade efflorescing into nobility -is an old phenomenon in the south. There we have a Duke of Leeds -descended from the apprentice of Sir William Hewit the goldsmith; -the Wentworth Fitzwilliams, from a worthy London merchant knighted -by Henry VIII. From the nautical adventurer Phipps, of the time of -Charles II., come the Earls of Mulgrave. Cornwallis is from a London -merchant; Coventry, from a mercer; Radnor, from a silk-manufacturer; -Warwick, from a wool-stapler; Pomfret, from a Calais merchant. Essex, -Dartmouth, Craven, Tankerville, Darnley, Cowper, and Romney, have all -had a similar origin. More recently ennobled families—the Dacres, the -Dormers, the Dudley Wards, the Hills, the Caringtons, have in like -manner taken their rise from successful trade. It is an origin surely -as honourable as dexterous courtiership, gifts of church-lands, or -mediæval robbery and plunder. - -On a retrospect of the whole subject, one must see that, -notwithstanding so many of our merchants of old being gentlefolks, -there is a great improvement in many respects amongst the class. Our -predecessors had not merely to contend with the narrow resources of the -country, and with the want of a thousand conveniences for the transport -of goods by sea and land, which have since come into existence, but, -worst of all, they had to struggle with the dictates of their own -ignorance. Nearly all the principles which they advanced and sought -to realise in legislation, as for the encouragement of trade and -manufactures, were false, and could only operate for the repression -of the industrial energies of the community, and, by consequence, for -the keeping up of poverty in the land. It is a strange thing to say, -but it is true, that breakers of laws have in a great measure been the -means of bringing about a sounder policy. We have happily got above the -greater part of these errors, and daily reap the natural advantages -of our superior light; and yet, as a part of the British community, -I think we ought to feel modest about the faults of our ancestors, -since it is undeniable that the commercial world is still far from -having attained the summit of perfection. It has faults, too, which -are almost peculiar to our own age. The advance by banks of large sums -of deposited money to reckless traders destitute of capital of their -own, and who only hope for some trump to turn up in their favour before -ruin overtakes them, is a mercantile error which our ancestors never -dreamed of. So, also, those consequent disastrous crises of trade, of -which we have just seen an example sweep over the industrial world, -were unknown to our forefathers. The present Company may, however, -be gratified in reflecting that from these errors the old banking -companies of Edinburgh have been comparatively free. The five or six -great banks of old standing amongst us not only came out safe in the -late crisis, but they were able to hold out help to some at a distance -which were less fortunate. As a humble individual of this community, -I must say I feel a pride in the old Edinburgh banks, as an exponent -of business procedure amongst us. If we overlook only the brief civil -war of 1745, when the grandfather of our present sheriff-clerk—being -cashier to the Royal Bank—marched up in his tartans, pistols, and -claymore, to deposit the bank’s money in the castle, that it might -be safe from his less scrupulous countrymen, and when the Bank of -Scotland was but too happy to follow the example—there we see doors -which have never for a day been closed for a hundred and forty-four -years! I was going to have said a hundred and sixty-four years; but -on looking into the history of the Bank of Scotland, I find there was -a brief stoppage of cash-payments in 1704 occasioned by a malicious -run, and another caused by the civil troubles of the year 1715. As -it is, overlooking only the unavoidable cessation of business in the -Forty-five, the doors of the ‘Auld Bank’ have been in the ordinary -condition of those of the temple of Janus at Rome for a hundred and -forty-four years. It cannot have been without consummate prudence that -this glory has been achieved. During the late crisis, moreover, the -number of failures in our city, including Leith, was comparatively -small. It will be said, perhaps, that Edinburgh is not a city of -much business—a saying against which I take leave to reclaim. It is, -for one thing, the centre of monetary business for the kingdom. The -life-assurance companies and societies of Scotland—hitherto, like our -old banks, of untainted character—have, with but little exception, -their headquarters here; and let us just passingly observe, three of -these establishments in St Andrew Square enjoy an annual income of -six hundred and fifty thousand pounds, and have the management of -accumulated funds to the extent of five and a half millions.[2] When -we further consider the legal business of Edinburgh, its agenting of -property throughout the country, its large publishing establishments, -its glass-works and foundries, its merchandise in wine and drysaltery, -it is, even leaving Leith out of view, in reality very much a city of -business. While, then, I acknowledge that we are still everywhere under -more or less of commercial error, I think it may at the same time be -allowable to describe the mercantile community of Edinburgh, as one in -which experience has proved that a more than usually sound and prudent -practice—with happy fruits—has the ascendant. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[1] For these interesting particulars, I am indebted to Joseph -Robertson, Esq., Record Office, Edinburgh. - -[2] The Scottish Widows’ Fund, Scottish Equitable, and Scottish -Provident Offices, are here alluded to. The entire annual income -of the life-assurance offices of Scotland, chiefly centering in -Edinburgh, is stated at £2,082,000, and the sum-total of their funds -at £11,116,000.—_Letter of R. Christie, Esq., Accountant, Courant -newspaper, Feb. 26, 1859._ - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Edinburgh Papers. 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