Very few of the old houses of Castle Hill are now left; they have been destroyed, to make way for various improvements. In former times, in a little block of buildings bounded on one side by Blyth's Close, and on another by Tod's Close, was a private oratory of the queen of James V., afterwards Regent of Scotland: it was a most curious relic of past times, but was, in later days, parted off into a number of 'flats,' or dwellings, for a poor class of inhabitants. There was also, on the south side of the street, the house of the Earl of Dumfries, the access to which was by a stair entering from an alley at the side: it was inhabited by one of the earls of Dumfries about a century ago, then by Lord Rockville, and lastly, like almost all the houses of the nobility in Edinburgh, it was divided into distinct flats, and let off to poor people. At the corner of Blair's Close, also in Castle Hill, was the residence of the Duke of Gordon,-another of those Edinburgh mansions, tall, wide, substantial, and closely pent up on either side. On the opposite side of the street, declining a little way down the northern slope of the Castle Hill, Allan Ramsay built a house for himself, whither he retired about ninety years ago. It is reported that he was very fond of his new house, and was on one occasion showing all its beauties and (probably) eccentricities to Lord Elibank, to whom he remarked, that the wags about the town likened it to a goose-pie. "Indeed," said his lordship, "when I see you in it, Allan, I think they are not far wrong." them, serving as the mottoes of the pious occupants | eastern end is a tower of great richness, which rises two or three centuries ago; while others have been to a height of 240 feet, and is a most prominent object partially modernized to suit the altered taste of the from almost every part of Edinburgh. times; in some, the upper windows are decked with boards indicating the occupation of those who dwell within; while other of the upper windows, at such a height that one begins to wonder whether the Scotch ever feel wearied with climbing such interminable flights of stairs, have clothes hung out on poles to dry. Here and there we see a piece of looking-glass jutting out from the side of a window, in such a position as to reflect the images of the passers-by: a fancy which is exhibited in many of the towns of Holland and Germany. Sometimes the upper flats, or stories, project | beyond the level of the lower, as in old-fashioned English houses; but, for the most part a pretty general level is maintained in this respect. Many and many a 'spirit-cellar' is to be seen under houses, the upper flats of which are occupied in other ways; but the number of these is probably much less now than in former times. A good idea of the shop-cellars in the High-street, as they existed in the time to which the novel refers, is given in the Antiquary.' The first portion of this long line of street commencing from the Castle, we have said is designated Castle Hill. Just at this spot is a series of flights of steps, leading down from the level of the Parade to the valley of the Cowgate (or rather, the Grassmarket,) beneath, on the south; and a pretty considerable descent it is. Down we go, counting the steps by dozens or scores, and meeting on the way with the new road, scooped out of the southern brow of the Castle Hill; then descending again to a lower and lower depth till we fairly reach the valley. This is the most western descent from the central ridge to the southern valley: the others, as will be presently described, are formed by very steep narrow wynds, or closes. One of the first buildings met with on Castle Hill, after passing a few old houses on the south side of the street, is Victoria Hall, the new place of meeting for the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. The Assembly, had before only an inconvenient place of meeting; but this new structure has been so planned as to serve the purpose of a meeting hall and of a church for one of the Edinburgh parishes. This VicThis Victoria Hall was made the scene of holiday ceremonial, on the occasion of the Queen's visit to Edinburgh in 1842. The royal procession advanced up the main artery of street, from Holyrood to the Castle; and when it arrived opposite this spot, the Queen's attention was attracted to a gallery, where stood the Grand Master Mason of Scotland, Lord Frederick Fitzclarence, and a glittering array of the Masonic fraternity. After the bowings, the shoutings, the wavings of handkerchiefs, customary at such a scene, the Masons laid the foundation-stone of the building in great form. It is a very beautiful Gothic structure, having a range of five windows on each side, separated by buttresses crowned with pinnacles; while at the We next come to the Lawn-market, a place which, as its name imports, was once occupied as a market for cloth and other materials. Between it and the Castle Hill stood, [until about five-and-twenty years ago, one of the most picturesque streets in Edinburgh, called the West Bow, leading down, in a crooked and very steep line, to the Grass-market in the southern valley. This West Bow will occupy a little of our attention in a future page. Going eastward from the Lawn-market, we come at once into the High-street-the scene of so many stirring events in Scottish history and story. It is a pretty long street, extending to the boundary of the Canongate. gate. As seen at the present day, it presents, on the north side, first a short street, called Bank-street, leading down to the Bank of Scotland, which overhangs the northern slope of the hill. This is a large, handsome, and rather costly structure. The Institution itself, which had the merit of establishing the distinctive principles of the Scottish banking system, was founded as long ago as 1695; but the present building is comparatively modern. Farther down, on the same side of the High-street, is the Royal Exchange, the building which has been before alluded to as opening a new era for Edinburgh. It is something more than an Exchange, being appropriated partly to the Council-chamber for the meetings of the magistracy, and various other offices and apartments for the transaction of municipal business. Before the construction of the North and South Bridges, the whole northern range of the High-street, from the point now under notice down to the Netherbow which separated it from the Canongate, was occupied by lofty houses, separated by those wretched narrow wynds, which, as having been once the residence of the high-born and noble, we can view only with astonishment. Nearly opposite to the spot now occupied by the Royal Exchange is a piece of radiated pavement, in the High-street. This marks the spot where the celebrated Cross of Edinburgh stood, before it was destroyed in the middle of the last century. We can well imagine such a man as Scott lamenting the destruction of any old picturesque, time-worn memorials of past ages, even though the spirit of streetimprovement be the idol to which the sacrifice is made: "Dun Edin's Cross, a pillar'd stone, Rose on a turret octagon; (But now is razed that monument And voice of Scotland's law was sent In glorious trumpet-clang. O! be his tomb as lead to lead Upon its dull destroyer's head!)” This Cross, against the destroyers of which the minstrel thus hurls his anathema, was an octagonal tower, about sixteen feet in diameter, and about fifteen feet high. At each angle there was a pillar, and between the pillars were arches: above these was a projecting battlement, with a turret at each corner, ornamented with rude but curious medallions: above this again rose the proper cross, a column of one stone, upwards of twenty feet high. The magistrates of Edinburgh, apparently forgetful that the unsightly Tolbooth was a far greater obstruction, came to a conclusion, in 1756, that this ancient cross was a nuisance and encumbrance on the king's highway; and they obtained the sanction of the Lords of Session for its removal. The Cross is said to be still preserved, on the estate of Drum near Edinburgh. A fountain which had belonged to the Cross came into the hands of Sir Walter Scott. In a letter to Terry the actor, written in 1817, Scott states that he had obtained possession of this fountain, and had conveyed it to Abbotsford. The southern side of High-street, as at present existing, exhibits, at the junction of this street with the Lawn-market, a wide opening to George the Fourth Bridge, a busy new thoroughfare, carried on lofty arches over the Southern Valley, or Cowgate. There then comes upon the sight a wide spot of ground, occupied by so many different buildings that we hardly know by what name to designate it. Fronting the Highstreet is the venerable High Church of Edinburgh, St. Giles's; at the western corner of the square is the County Court; at the eastern corner, the Police-office; and behind this, the almost interminable maze of buildings known as the Parliament House, with other new buildings attached to it. One general name for the irregular open spot of ground surrounded by these several buildings, is Parliament-square. Now, in order to unravel the arrangement of this maze of buildings, we must bear in mind that Parliament-square was once the churchyard of the High Church of St. Giles. This church stood, as it now stands, on the south side of High-street, and the churchyard extended from thence nearly to the Cowgate. The Tolbooth-the strange, clumsy, odd-looking building, of which we shall have presently to speakwas built, during the latter half of the sixteenth cen tury, as a Parliament-house and a Court of Justice; but as it was in many respects inefficient for such a purpose, it was, in 1640, converted into a prison, and a new Parliament-house was constructed on a part of the ground before occupied by St. Giles's churchyard. From time to time, as occasion offered, new buildings were erected, abutting on the old, until at length a mass of rooms and offices was obtained, almost as labyrinthine as the Parliamentary and Judicial buildings at Westminster, with their interminable corridors and passages. In the centre of the Parliament-square, having the church on the north side, is an equestrian statue of Charles II. It was erected in 1685; it is formed of lead coated with bronze, and is regarded as one of the best pieces of sculpture in Edinburgh. The building at the north-east corner of the square is a police-office, presenting no peculiar features to call for notice. This is separated by an opening from the much larger building known as the Parliament House. In modern times a Grecian front has been put to this building, somewhat out of character with the original; but this is not the only example in Edinburgh where a desire has been manifested to give a classical exterior to a structure, without reference to its internal style. One of the first rooms entered is the noble Hall of the old Parliament House, designated, at the present day, the Outer House. This is one of the finest halls in Scotland. It was the hall in which the Scottish Parliament sat for about seventy years, until the union with England. The hall is 122 feet long, by 49 broad. It has a finely-carved oak roof, with pendant gilt knobs. Here the nobles, prelates, and commons met in Parliament assembled. At the present day, this great hall, in the busy law season, is one of the most bustling and striking places in Edinburgh: it is a sort of Westminster Hall. Around it are the various Scottish courts of law, at which are employed the advocates and writers to the Signet (nearly equivalent to English barristers and solicitors); and these agents of the law make use of the Great Hall, or 'Outer House,' as a general place of rendezvous. Here are the wigs and gowns in plenty. Lawyers and clients are busily conferring together, and popping in and out of the va rious courts; some are parading up and down the room, discussing some knotty point of the law (for Scottish law is apparently not less full of knotty points than that of other countries), or assembled in groups. A crier at one end of the Court bawls out the name of any person who may be wanted, as is the custom at the London Stock Exchange and Hall of Commerce: a constant hum fills the whole area. But when the law sittings are terminated-here is a change! Judges and advocates, writers and clients all stay away. The statues of Lord Melville and Lord President Blair have it, then, all to themselves. Connected by various entries and passages with this fine old hall are the Courts of Law, which are very numerous. There are four small chambers, or courts, in which the Lords Ordinary sit. There are two larger courts, in which the First and Second Division of the Court, as they are termed, hold their sittings. In another Court-room is held the sittings of the High Court of Justiciary, the supreme criminal tribunal of Scotland. All these various Courts of Law form collectively the Scottish Court of Session, which is separated into two chambers or divisions, of which the first is presided over by the Lord President, and the second by the Lord Justice Clerk. The Lords Ordinary are subordinate to these higher functionaries, and generally attend to the initiatory steps of law proceedings. All the varied powers which in England would be exercised by the Courts of Chancery, Queen's Bench, Common Pleas, . Admiralty, Ecclesiastical Courts, and Criminal Courts, are within the scope of the Court of Session, and constitute it a powerful and important body. The Advocates' Library adjoins, and has a communication with the Parliament House. This is a very valuable establishment. It is one of those privileged libraries, which are empowered to demand a copy of every printed work published in Great Britain or Ireland. By this means a fine library, amounting to upwards of 150,000 volumes, has been accumulated. There are also among the MSS. many valuable works on the civil and ecclesiastical history of Scotland. This library belongs wholly to the Faculty of Advocates, and its current expenses are defrayed by small fees from the advocates; but nothing can exceed the liberality with which it is managed. Inhabitants of the city, who are in any way known as trustworthy, may have books home for perusal at pleasure; while strangers have no difficulty whatever in obtaining access to its treasures. The catalogues, instead of being arranged, in one alphabetical series of authors' names, (as in the ill-digested system at the British Museum Library,) are first grouped into a few large divisions, according to the subjects, and then treated alphabetically under those divisions. A MS. Bible of the eleventh century; a copy of Faust and Guttemberg's first printed Bible; the original solemn League and Covenant, signed in 1580; and a number of other literary treasures, are among the contents of the library. All these books and MSS. have been deposited in galleries and rooms prepared from time to time for their reception, as occasion required; but they are worthy of a finer and more complete building, which they may, perhaps, one day obtain. Ruddiman, Hume, and Adam Ferguson, were at different times principal librarians of this fine collection; the office is at present filled by Dr. Irving, author of the Lives of the Scottish Poets,' eminently to the satisfaction of those who are most interested in the efficient performance of the duties of the office. The Signet Library is another establishment ineluded within the same large mass of buildings. Though not so extensive as the Advocates', it is said to contain 50,000 volumes, and is particularly rich in works relating to British and Irish history. One of its rooms is a very noble one, far excelling any belonging to the Advocates' Library; indeed, it is one of the finest rooms in Edinburgh. This library is solely supported by the contributions of the Writers to the Signet; but the same spirit of liberality marks its mode of management as in the case of its larger neighbour. Passing round to the north-west angle of Parliamentsquare, we come to the last building of this remarkable group-the County Hall. This, it is true, is quite detached from the Parliament House and its contiguous buildings; but it forms one of the Parliament-square series. The County Hall is copied from the Temple of Erectheus, at Athens, while the principal entrance is modelled from the choragic monument of Thrasyllus. This practice of taking some notable Greek structure as a model for modern edifices has been much followed at Edinburgh. We now come back again into the High-street, where the venerable old Church of St. Giles forms the northern boundary of the Parliament-square, having an opening between it and the Police-office on the one side, and another between it and the County Hall on the other. The church is thus isolated. It is one of the most ancient buildings in Edinburgh, though its exterior has been frequently renovated. At what period the actual foundation was made seems to be unknown; but the church is mentioned in the year 1359, in a charter of David II. About a century afterwards, it was made a collegiate church, and as many as forty altars were supported within its walls. As the Scotch have, within the last three centuries, shown but little liking for episcopal and cathedral establishments, this old church has suffered some curious mutations in respect to the arrangement of its interior. After the Reformation, many of the sacred vessels and relics were removed, and the building itself was partitioned off into four places of worship. In 1603 James the Sixth took a farewell of his subjects in this church, before proceeding to take possession of the throne of England. In 1643 the solemn League and Covenant was sworn to within its walls, by the various parties to that agreement. At the present time the old Cathedral is divided into three distinct churches-the High Church, the West Church, and the Tolbooth Church. If we imagine the nave, the choir, and the south transept of a cathedral to form three churches, and the north transept to serve as a common entrance to all of them, we may form a tolerably correct idea of this family of churches. Our illustration (Cut, No. 4,) shows the western end of the Church, with part of the High-street, and of Parliament-square. The most noticeable feature about the building is the central tower the top of it is crowned with open carved stone-work, with arches springing from the four corners, and meeting together in the centre, so as to form a sort of crown. In this respect it somewhat resembles the old church tower of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. As the tower is 160 feet in height, the elegant carved work which thus forms its summit presents a beautiful object as seen from other parts of the city. Let us stand in the High-street, opposite the old Church, and look around us. We are in the midst of a tolerably wide and long thoroughfare, but we have only to go back one generation to the period when the old Tolbooth obstructed the street, standing out as an isolated block of buildings, like our odious "Middle-row, Holborn." We have before us a Map of Edinburgh, published about a century ago, in which the Luckenbooths is represented as a long narrow pile of buildings, having the Tolbooth at its western end, and a small avenue between them: a little to the east of this is the Cross, and still further east the Town Guard-house-all situated in the High-street, and all isolated from other buildings. The Parliament Close is represented as having the Parliament House at the south-west corner, but there are apparently no other official buildings at that spot. The wynds and closes, as represented branching out of this street, in all their full number antecedent to various pullingsdown and improvements, cannot fail to strike any one who looks at this old map. interested in such wares are tempted to linger .... But in the times we write of, the hosiers, the glovers, the hatters, the mercers, the milliners, and all who dealt in the miscellaneous wares now termed haberdashers' goods, were to be found in the narrow alley." Who can forget the events of which Scott makes the Tolbooth the scene? The skill with which this vivid writer works up the true story of Captain Porteous with the fiction of Effie Deans and her worthless lover, makes it difficult for a reader to separate the one from the other. Porteous was Captain of the Edinburgh City Guard, and one of his duties was to preserve the peace of the city during the execution of criminals. On one occasion two culprits, Wilson and Robertson (the 'Geordie Robertson' of Scott's novel) were proceeding to the "condemned sermon just before their ap proaching execution, when Wilson, by a most daring act of courage, furnished an opportunity for Robertson to escape. Wilson was hanged, but cut down by the excited mob, whereupon Porteous shot him dead with a musket, and afterwards caused his guard to fire upon the enraged people, by which many lives were lost. For his reckless conduct in this affair, Porteous was tried, found guilty of murder, and ordered for execu tion. The 8th September, 1736, was to be the day of execution; but on that day a reprieve was received from the crown. This so exasperated the people, who had conceived the most intense hatred against Porteous, that they took the law into their own hands. At night a drum was heard beating to arms. The populace assembled, took possession of the city gates, cut off all communication between the Guard House and the Castle, and invested the Tolbooth, where The cumbrous mass of buildings here alluded to as Porteous was drinking with some boon companions, having formed the Tolbooth and the Luckenbooths, rejoicing over his recent escape. The mob endeawas destroyed in 1817, very soon after Sir Walter voured to batter down the door of the old prison; Scott wrote his 'Heart of Midlothian;' and we may but this being too strong for them, they fairly set it on therefore refer to him as the most graphic of eye- fire, made a breach, entered the prison, and dragged witnesses respecting it, in recent times :-"The Tol-out Porteous. The Madge Wildfire, who aided in booth rears its ancient front in the very middle of the High-street, forming, as it were, the termination of a huge pile of buildings called the Luckenbooths, which, for some inconceivable reason, our ancestors had jammed into the midst of the principal street of the town; leaving for passage a narrow street on the north, and on the south, into which the prison opens, a narrow crooked lane, winding between the high and sombre walls of the Tolbooth and the adjacent houses on the one side and the buttresses and projections of the old cathedral upon the other. To give some gaiety to this sombre passage (well known by the name of the 'Krames,') a number of little booths or shops, after the fashion of cobblers' stalls, are plastered, as it were, against the Gothic projections and abutments; so that it seems as if the traders had occupied with nests, bearing the same proportion to the building, every buttress and coign of vantage, as the martlet did in Macbeth's castle. Of later years these booths have degenerated into mere toy-shops, where the little loiterers chiefly firing the Tolbooth, and the Effie Deans, who was found imprisoned within it, we may leave to Scott's imagination; but the seizure of Porteous himself was a real and a tragical incident, and so were the marching with him down the West Bow to the Grass-market, and the subsequent execution. Sir Walter Scott could not fail to feel an interest in the old building which had furnished him with such stirring materials for one of his stories. Accordingly, when the Tolbooth was pulled down in 1817, he obtained possession of the gate, which he forthwith transferred to Abbotsford, where it still remains as an entrance to the kitchen court. The Tolbooth and the Luckenbooths, the sides of the Cathedral, and the Parliament Close, were in the last century, the places of business of most of the booksellers and goldsmiths of Edinburgh. It appears to have been in the early part of the preceding century that the Old Kirk was first degraded by having shops or stalls stuck up between its buttresses on the |