Meanwhile the progress of letters, science and learning manifested the recovery of the city. The names of Knox (d. 1572), Buchanan (1582), Alexander Montgomery (1605), Drummond of Hawthornden (1649), Allan Ramsay (1757), Smollett (1771), Fergusson (1774), and Burns (1796), carried on the literary associations of the Scottish capital nearly to the close of the 18th century, when various causes combined to give them new significance and value. The university was served by a body of teachers and investigators who won for it a prominent position among European schools. Then succeeded the era of Scott’s Marmion and The Lady of the Lake, followed by the Waverley novels and the foundation of Blackwood’s Magazine and the Edinburgh Review.
Modern conditions have changed the character of Edinburgh society. In Scott’s early days a journey to London was beset with difficulties and even dangers; but railways have now brought it within a few hours’ distance, and Scottish artists and literary men are tempted to seek a wider field. Nevertheless, the influence of the past survives in many ways. Edinburgh is not markedly a manufacturing city, but preserves its character as the Scottish capital.
Authorities.—James Grant, Old and New Edinburgh (London, 1880 et seq.); W. Maitland, History of Edinburgh (1753); Hugo Arnot, History of Edinburgh (1789); B. Chambers, Traditions of Edinburgh (1824); D. Wilson, Memorials of Edinburgh in the Olden Time (1846-1848); O. Smeaton, Edinburgh and its Story (1904). The Municipal Buildings of Edinburgh, by Robert Miller, Lord Dean of Guild, printed by order of the town council (Edinburgh, 1895); Royal Edinburgh, by Mrs Oliphant, illustrations by Sir George Reid, R.S.A. (London, 1890).
[1] The original Tolbooth was completed in 1501, but a new one took its place in 1563-1564, and was subsequently altered. At first occupied by the parliament and courts of justice, it served later as a prison, and was removed in 1817.
[2] James Gillespie (1726-1797) was a tobacco and snuff manufacturer, and when he set up his carriage Henry Erskine suggested as a motto the homely couplet:—
| “Wha wad hae thocht it, That noses wad bocht it?” |
[3] James Donaldson (1751-1830) was a printer who bequeathed nearly the whole of his large fortune for the purposes of a hospital for poor boys and girls, and the trustees have usually selected half of the children admitted from the ranks of the deaf and dumb.
EDINBURGHSHIRE, or Midlothian, a county of Scotland, bounded N. by the Firth of Forth, E. by the shires of Haddington, or East Lothian, and Berwick, S.E. by Roxburghshire, S. by Selkirkshire, Peeblesshire and Lanarkshire, S.W. by Lanarkshire, and W. by Linlithgowshire or West Lothian. Its area is 234,339 acres or 3662 sq. m. The island of Cramond belongs to the county. There are no mountains, but the Pentland Hills advance boldly from the south-west to within 5 m. of the sea. The loftiest summits are Scald Law (1898 ft.), Carnethy (1881), West and East Cairn Hill (1844 and 1839), and West Kip (1806). They are generally of rounded form, and covered with heath or grass. The Moorfoot Hills, in the south-east, are a continuation of the Lammermuirs, and attain in Blackhope Scar a height of 2136 ft. Of more or less isolated eminences there are the Braid Hills (698 ft.), Blackford Hill (500), Arthur’s Seat (822), Corstorphine Hill (500)—all practically within Edinburgh—and Dalmahoy Craig (800), 7 m. south-west of the city. Of the rivers the Gala rises on the south-east of the Moorfoot Hills and flows south to join the Tweed, and the Tyne after a course of 7 m. passes into Haddingtonshire. All the others flow into the Firth of Forth. Of these the Esk, which is the longest, drains the district between the Pentlands and the Moorfoot Hills, and empties into the sea at Musselburgh. The southern branch has its source near Blackhope Scar, receives on its right Gore Water and, on its left, Dalhousie Burn, and flows past Newbattle Abbey; the northern rises in the Pentlands, and proceeds through much picturesque scenery past Penicuik, Roslin, Hawthornden and Lasswade; the two streams uniting within the grounds of Dalkeith Palace. Braid Burn from Capelaw Hill passes between the Braid Hills and Blackford Hill, and reaches the sea at Portobello. The Water of Leith, with its head streams on the western slope of the Pentlands, flows past Balerno, Currie, Juniper Green, Colinton, Edinburgh and Leith. The Almond, rising in Lanarkshire, and its right-hand tributary, Breich Water, form the boundary between Midlothian and Linlithgowshire. Several of these streams, especially the Esk and the Water of Leith, furnish much water power. The only loch is that at Duddingston, but there are several large reservoirs connected with the water supply of Edinburgh. Cobbinshaw reservoir, situated at the head of Bog Burn, a tributary of the Almond, is used for the supply of the Union Canal connecting the Forth with the Clyde.