well as the direct testimony of Fordun, the following circumstances, collected by Mr Chalmers, go far to establish, that the Knight of Liddesdale, and the Lord of Dalkeith, were, in fact, distinct persons. The wife of Sir William, by whom he succeeded to the estate of Dalkeith and Abercorn, is said to have been called Margaret. But the widow of the Knight of Liddesdale was certainly named Elizabeth, as appears from her curious treaty with the King of England after the death of her husband.* Both were prisoners in England about the same time, but they were not taken on one occasion. William Douglas of Polbothy (indisputably the Knight of Liddesdale) was taken prisoner in a skirmish at Lochmaben, in March, 1332-3, whereas William Douglas of Loudon or Dalkeith was made captive in the battle of Halidon, fought 19th July, 1333. It seems hard to reconcile these distinct points of difference with the testimony of Fordun, whom we are therefore tempted to believe mistaken in terming the Knight of Liddesdale, who was the certain instigator of the murder of Berkely, the uncle of Sir James of Dalkeith. Godscroft had already noticed the existence of such an error, positively affirming, that the Knight of Liddesdale was "the son natural to (the good) Sir James, but not the brother of John of Dalkeith, (father to Sir James), as some say." The point is not altogether indifferent to those claiming descent from the House of Dalkeith, since, if the Knight of Liddesdale could be identified with the founder, it would bastardize that whole race of the Douglasses. To return from this digression, William Douglas of Dalkeith was succeeded by his nephew, Sir James, who transmitted the estate to a son of his own name, afterwards created Lord Dalkeith. The family finally attained the title of Earls of Morton. But although the Douglasses of the Morton branch seem thus to have possessed the property of Dalkeith, yet, if Froissart's testimony can be received, the castle was occupied by the Earl of Douglas, the head of the house so named, and used by him as his own mansion, In describing the skirmish which passed at the barriers of Newcastle, the historian informs, "There fought hand to hand the Earl of Douglas and Sir Henry Percy, and by force of arms the Earl Douglas wan the banner of Sir Henry Percy, wherewith he was sore displeased, and so were all the Englishmen; and the Earl Douglas said to Sir Henry Percy,Sir, I shall bear this token of your prowess into Scotland, and shall set it high on my Castle of Dalkeith (D'Alquest). that it may be seen afar off.' ”—BERNER'S Froissart, vol. ii., p. 393. Reprint, 4to, 1812. Hotspur's desire to regain his pennon led to the bloody battle of Otterbourne. With yet more positive evidence, Froissart speaks in two passages of his having actually in person visited William Earl of Douglas at his Castle of Dalkeith. * Rymer, vol. v., p. 760. " I, author of this book, in my youth, had ridden nigh over all the realm of Scotland, and I was then a fifteen days in the house of Earl William Douglas, father to the same Earl James, of whom I spoke of now. In a castle five leagues from Edinburgh, in the country called Dalkeith (D'Alquest), the same time, I saw there this Earl James, a fair young child, and a sister of his called the Lady Blanche." * In another place, he again affirms, "I. Sir John Froissart, author of this book, was in Scotland in the Earle's Castle of Dalkeith (D'Alquest), living Earl William, at which time he had two children, a son and a daughter."† Lord Hailes expresses an opinion, that Froissart may have mistaken James Lord of Dalkeith, for the Earl of Douglas. But this seems very unlikely; and we may rather suppose, that the strength of the Castle of Dalkeith, as well as its convenient neighbourhood to Edinburgh, caused it sometimes to be occupied by the Earls of Douglas, although the property remained with their kinsmen, the Douglasses of Dalkeith and Morton. In the busy reign of Queen Mary, the Castle of Dalkeith was the stronghold of the celebrated Earl of Morton, afterwards regent. It was surrendered to the English, as is mentioned by Sadler, shortly after the fatal battle of Pinkie. It was the headquarters of Morton during that calamitous period, called from him the Douglas wars, when he on the one hand, and Kirkaldy of Grange, then governor of Edinburgh Castle, on the other, were engaged in constant skirmishes, in which no quarter was given, or when, if prisoners chanced to be made, they were executed in cold blood. After Morton had resigned the regency, he retired to his Castle of Dalkeith, which, from the general idea entertained of his character, acquired at that time the expressive name of the Lion's Den. When Morton was executed, the barony of Dalkeith was included in his attainder, and although the whole was finally restored to the Earl of Morton, yet the castle seems long to have been considered as public property, and used as such. Thus, in Monipenny's Chronicle, the author classes among the palaces appertaining to the king, "the palace of Dalkeith, reserved for the use of the prince, with the orchard, garden, banks and woods adjoining thereunto, within four miles of Edinburgh." In the eventful year 1639, the Duke of Hamilton, then royal commissioner, occupied Dalkeith House during his unavailing disputes with the Covenanters. And it appears from a passage in Baillie's Letters, that he had conveyed thither the regalia of Scotland, either in order to secure them from the insurgent nobles, or perhaps with a view to their removal into England. In the year 1642, the estate was purchased from the Earl of Morton by Francis Earl of Buccleuch. But Dalkeith House continued during Berner's Froissart, vol. ii., p. 396. Ibidem, p. 404. the usurpation to be used as public property, and became the residence of General Monk, to whom Cromwell delegated the government of Scotland. He made several improvements around the place, and amused himself particularly with gardening and the cultivation of flowers, in which he took great pleasure. After the Restoration, and as we believe after the fate of her unhappy husband, Ann Duchess of Buccleuch and Monmouth repaired the ancient Castle, in a manner which adapted it well for the residence of so great a family. A new front and wings, containing a noble entrance-hall, staircase, and gallery, amongst other apartments, was erected, facing the south, and the moat being filled up, gave free access to carriages. The more ancient part of the building lost its castellated appearance, to assume that of a large and modern mansion; but the situation on the steep banks of the Esk, and the extreme thickness of the walls attest what has been its former strength. There is a popular belief current, that the treasure, unrighteously amassed by the Regent Morton, lies hidden somewhere among the vaults of the ancient building. But Godscroft assures us that it was expended by the Earl of Angus in supporting the companions of his exile in England, and that when it was exhausted, the Earl generously exclaimed, "Is it then all gone? Let it go-I never looked it should have done so much good." The North and South Esk join their streams in the park of Dalkeith, which is eminently beautiful, and the house, with the surrounding scenery, form a suitable residence for the distinguished family who have now inhabited it for more than a century.* The church of Dalkeith, which is a distinguished object in the place, was merely the chapel of the castle, until Sir James Douglas, so late as 1406, rendered it collegiate. In Bagimont's Roll (tempore Jacobi vti), the provostry of Dalkeith is only rated at L3: 6: 8. Since the Reformation, Dalkeith has not only been accounted a parish church, but has given name to a presbytery, comprehending fifteen other parishes. The church is a Gothic building of very ordinary workmanship, of which the eastern end is unroofed and ruinous, the walls serving, however, to enclose a burial ground, containing the remarkable monuments of the Grahames, which have been already noticed, from which opens the funeral vault of the family of Buccleuch. [Dalkeith House was honoured in becoming the residence of King George the Fourth, during his visit to Scotland in August, 1822.] # THE History of Edinburgh, properly so called, would be the abridged History of Scotland, and, too brief to be really instructive, would be far too tedious and jejune to be amusing. The city, or rather its castle, was anciently known by the Celtic name of Maydin, which the Romans translated Castrum Puellarum. Among many etymologies of the more modern name, the most plausible is that which derives Edinburgh (in Gaelic Dun-Edin), from the Saxon King Edwin, who repaired the fortress, and gave a new name to it. The place may have been acquired by the Saxons, after the battle of Cattraeth (celebrated in the British language by Aneurin, and in English by Gray),* the consequences of which included the Middle and Eastern Lothian, in the kingdom of Northumberland, which was fought about the middle of the sixth century. But Edwin lived in the earlier part of the seventh century. In the meantime the Scots, properly so called, who, from an inconsiderable Irish colony, had, by their subjugation of the Picts, become a strong and formidable people, gradually extended their way to the shores of Fife; and during the convulsions of the Heptarchy, Malcolm II., about 1020, obtained a cession of Lothian from the Saxon Earl Eadulf, and it has ever since remained a part of the kingdom of Scotland. The Scottish kings did, indeed, continue for several reigns to sit Dumfermline town," or to reside at Scone; but gradually the strength and security of Edinburgh encouraged them to fix their metropolis upon the southern side of the Forth, and Edinburgh at length acquired the character and name of a capital. We can yet trace, in some of the names of places around the royal palace, remains of the Celtic language of the early Scottish kings, as Croftan-Ri (corrupted into Croft-angry), the King's Croft; Gael-ton (now Calton) the dwelling of the Gael, and so forth. From this period, for many a stormy year, Edinburgh maintained 著 ["To Cattraeth's vale in glittering row Twice two hundred warriors go; Every warrior's manly neck Chains of regal honour deck, Wreath'd in many a golden link: From the golden cup they drink That live to weep, and sing their fall." GRAY'S Ode on the death of Hoel, from the Gododin of Aneurin. her character as metropolis of Scotland, and during several centuries was neither much enlarged nor contracted. The ridge of the hill, crowned with the castle at one end, and secured by the Netherbow Port at the other, was gradually covered with houses, which, from the steepness of the site, rose to an uncommon height. The city was defended on the north side by a lake, now drained, and on the south by the natural steepness of the ground, and finally, by a wall. To the east, the city was combined with the suburb, called the Canongate, which, in process of time, formed the court-end of the metropolis, and was filled with the town residences and hotels of the nobility, extending from the Netherbow-Gate to the palace of HolyRood. Such was Edinburgh at the union of the crowns, nor was it materially changed until after the consequences of the Rebellion of 1745, when the abolition of hereditary jurisdictions, and the unity and impulse given to the country by the annihilation of domestic faction, began to open new views of industry, and comparative opulence became attended with fresh wants, and with the usual demand for increasing accommodations. Hitherto the domestic establishments of Edinburgh much more nearly resembled those of Paris, than that complete system of comfort long since adopted in London. In the lofty castles of the Old Town, family resided above family, each habitation occupying one story of the tall mansion, or land. The whole was accessible by one stair, which, common to all the inhabitants, was rarely cleaned and imperfectly lighted; the windows were the only means of ridding nuisances, and the tardy cry of Gardez l'eau, was sometimes, like the shriek of the Water Kelpy, rather the elegy, than the warning, of the overwhelmed passenger. Want of cleanliness was frequently accompanied by its natural attendant, want of health. Indeed, where men, and women, and children were crowded together within such narrow bounds as one story of an Edinburgh house afforded to a family of the middling rank, sickness was necessarily frequent, and there is reason to think that mortality, especially among children secluded from exercise, was in proportion considerable. In one gentleman's family, which then resided in a lodging opposite to the Cross, six children were born, who successively died of the diseases of childhood. The same family afterwards removed to George's Square, a free and healthy situation, and five children, born after that change of residence, grew up to be healthy men and women. The same narrowness of accommodation had its effect on the morals of the men. All business, especially whatever eoncerned the law, was necessarily transacted in taverns, and in taverns also were held all festive meetings; the necessary consequence of which was deep and constant drinking. Each inhabitable space was crowded like the underdeck of a ship. Sickness had no nook of quiet, affliction no |