expenses of "the Halie Bluid Altar." And thereby hangs a curious story, which shows how the old Roman Catholic ceremonies were preserved in an altered form after the Reformation. To understand this it is necessary to know the history of the Saint of the Cordiners' Craft.

In the Rev. Alban Butler's "Lives of the Fathers and Martyrs," the true story of St. Crispin and his brother St. Crispinian is thus related:-"The brothers came from Rome to preach the faith in Gaul towards the middle of the third century together with St. Quintin and others. Fixing their residence at Soissons, in imitation of St. Paul they instructed many in the faith of Christ, which they preached publicly in the day at seasonable times; and, in imitation of St. Paul, worked with their hands in the night, making shoes, though they are said to have been nobly born, and brothers. The infidels listened to their instructions, and were astonished at the example of their lives, especially of their charity, disinterestedness, heavenly piety, and contempt of glory and all earthly things; and the effect was the conversion of many to the Christian faith.

"The brothers had continued this employment several years, when the Emperor Maximian Herculeus coming into Belgic Gaul, a complaint was lodged against them. The Emperor, perhaps as much to gratify their accusers as to indulge his own superstition and give way to his savage cruelty, gave order that they should be convened before Rictius Varus, the most implacable enemy of the Christian name, whom he had first made Governor of that part of Gaul, and had then advanced to the dignity of Prefect of the Prætorium. The martyrs were victorious over this most inhuman judge by the patience and constancy with which they bore the most cruel torments, and finished their course by the sword about the year 287 a.d. They are mentioned in the Martyrologies of St. Jerome, Bede, Florus, Ado, Usuard, and others. A great church was built at Soissons in their honour in the sixth century, and St. Eligius richly ornamented their sacred shrine."

In all the Roman Catholic churches where there was an Altar of Corpus Christi it was usual to have a public procession through the streets of the city on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday. On this day the consecrated Host was carried with

great pageantry, and the different Crafts took part in the parade. From an Inventory of the goods and ornaments in St. Mary's Church, Dundee, dated about 1454, it appears that the decorations for the Procession of Corpus Christi then consisted of the following articles:

Twenty-three Crowns, seven pairs of angels' wings, three mitres, Christ's coat of leather, with the hose and gloves, Christ's head, thirty-one swords, three long crosses made of wood, St. Thomas's spear, a cross for St. Blaize, a cradle and three "bairns" made of cloth, twenty heads of hair (wigs), the four Evangelists, St. Catharine's Wheel, St. Andrew's Cross, a saw, an axe, a razor, a gully knife, a worm (serpent) made of wood, the Holy Lamb made of wool, St. Barball Castle and Abraham's hat. These details give some idea of the nature of the procession of Corpus Christi through Dundee in the fifteenth century.

It will be noticed that the emblems were representative of the principal Trades, and thus the ceremony was partly religious and partly secular. Though no specific record exists of this procession in Dundee, there can be no doubt that it was faithfully observed up till the time of the Reformation.

When the Protestant religion had gained a firm hold in Dundee "the Geneva of Scotland," as it was called-this procession, of course, had to be discontinued; but the people, very naturally, were unwilling to lose a glorified holiday of this kind. They could not have a Procession of Corpus Christi, nor could they make a Saint's Day the excuse for such a display. The Shoemaker Craft here stepped forward to the rescue. Their Saint, as stated, was St. Crispin. The name was similar in sound to "Corpus Christi," the altar supported by the Craft; but then they dared not have a Procession of St. Crispin without offending the Protestant ministers. They therefore transformed "Saint Crispin" into "King Crispin,' and thus, very simply, altered a religious ceremony into a secular parade, and kept their consciences clear.

St. Crispin's Day was thus observed in Dundee for over two hundred years. In 1783 it was celebrated with special magnificence; but for 39 years after that date there was no King Crispin Procession. In 1822 the visit of George IV. to Scotland had revived the taste for spectacular display; and the members of the Shoemaker Craft decided to revive the

parade with which their Trade had been so long associated.

At noon on Wednesday, 2nd October, 1822, the Shoemakers of Dundee and the neighbourhood assembled in front of the Trades Hall, clad in all the medieval trappings which formerly graced this display. The picture, of which three portions are here reproduced, shows the style adopted by the tradesmen and their officials. Starting from the east end of the High Street, the procession marched along the Nethergate, up Tay Street, eastward through the Overgate, Murraygate, and Cowgate, and back by the Seagate to the Trades Hall.

The "Dundee Advertiser" of 3rd October, 1822, thus records the incident:-"The rarity of the procession attracted the curious and the idle, and the High Street was crowded to excess for upwards of two hours. From the want of previous arrangement to keep off the excessive crowd, the procession advanced with difficulty and labour hard, and only the equestrians, such as the Champion, the Earl Marshal, and a few other grandees were visible above the mass of heads. As the procession moved up the Overgate, a pedlar contrived to perch his person upon a table in front of his shop. But no sooner did His Mock Majesty appear than the table broke down, and the fall of the pedlar was construed into a profound reverence to Crispin."

Thus ended the reign of King Crispin in Dundee.

A

XIV.

TRADES LANE FIRES.

ORIGIN OF THE DUNDEE FIRE BRIGADE.

PROPOSAL was lately made to change the name of

Trades Lane, and call the new continuous street from the Cowgate to Dock Street by the name of the upper portion St. Andrew's Street. This notion was wisely abandoned, as it would have seriously perplexed the future historian of Dundee if the name of Trades Lane were wiped out entirely. That thoroughfare, though not one of the ancient streets of Dundee, and not much more than a century old, has figured prominently in civic affairs, and gained an unenviable notoriety for its conflagrations.

Three alarming fires occurred here during the past century, each more disastrous than its predecessor. The first of these took place in October, 1835, the second twenty years later, in June, 1855, and the latest and most pathetic in September, 1870, when two esteemed officials lost their lives. The story of these events will revive recollections of the two last-named disasters in the minds of the older generation of Dundonians.

Ninety years ago Trades Lane presented a very different appearance from that which it has to-day. The open field which is shown in Crawford's map of 1770 as extending from the Seagate to the river had been feued chiefly for works. On the east side of the thoroughfare, in 1835, Mr. Calman's shipbuilding yard was at the south, where Dock Street now has been reclaimed from the river. Further up the street were the engine works and foundry of Mr. Borrie, one of the pioneers of marine engineering.

The Trades Lane Calendering Co. had recently completed new premises at the corner of Seagate; and their former building the scene of the disaster-lay between their new place and Mr. Borrie's works. At that time it was rented by Messrs. Guthrie & Baxter, and used as a store for hemp and

codilla. The building where the fire occurred was thus surrounded by structures of a highly inflammable character.

About half-past ten o'clock on the evening of Saturday, 31st October, 1835, smoke was observed issuing from the store, and the watchman of the First Ward speedily raised an alarm. The news of a fire in this thickly-populated district soon brought an immense crowd to the scene. Mr. Calman's carpenters, Mr. Borrie's engineers and foundry men, and the employees in the Trades Lane Calender, most of whom lived in the vicinity of these works, were attracted to the spot, and many of them lent active assistance in subduing the fire.

At that time the Dundee Fire Establishment had been quite recently organised. For several years before 1835, the "Dundee Advertiser" had been strongly advocating the establishment of a regular Fire Station, instead of trusting wholly to the imperfect means adopted by the Insurance Companies and by individual mill proprietors.

On Sunday, 16th January, 1835, a terrible conflagration took place in the warehouse belonging to Mr. James Watt in Dock Street, the store there containing about 300 tons of hemp and codilla and upwards of 300 barrels of tar. The fire was described as forming "a volcano," the tar soaking the hemp and blazing with terrible fury. Five men were killed by the falling of a gable. This incident compelled the Town Council to take action in forming a Fire Salvage Establishment, and, after much circumlocution, the Council, in conjunction with the Harbour Trustees, formulated a scheme and carried it out. In the "Dundee Advertiser" of 3rd April, 1835, the following paragraph describes the primitive Fire Brigade:— 'At last Dundee is on the eve of procuring a proper establishment for giving powerful aid in the extinction of fires. Mr. Matthew, Clerk of Works at the Harbour, has been appointed Superintendent of the Fire Corps. Twenty firemen have been appointed at present. A new fire engine of great power has been ordered, and other ten firemen will be appointed when it has been procured. The firemen are to be dressed in uniform, blue jackets and vests, canvas trousers no wider than is necessary for easy movement of the limbs, helmets strongly fortified to save the head in the midst of danger. The Fire Corps is to be regularly drilled in the necessary duties."

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