/./ 
 
 mm 
 
 H 
 
 '/SI'S ""!''" 
 
 m 
 
 f'l
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 LOS ANGELES
 

 
 THE 
 
 HIGH CONSTABLES 
 
 THE CITY OF EDINBURGH, 
 
 Edinburgh: Printed bv John Greig and Son.
 
 MODERATOR'S GOLD MEDAL.
 
 SKETCH 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE 
 
 High Constables of Edinburgh 
 
 WITH 
 
 NOTES ON THE EARLY WATCHING, CLEANING, AND OTHER POLICE 
 ARRANGEMENTS OF THE CITY. 
 
 JAMES D. MARWICK, F.R.S.E., F.S.A. SCOT. 
 
 CITY CLERK OK EDINBURGH. 
 
 EDINBURGH: 
 
 PRINTED FOR PRIVATE CIRCULATION. 
 1865.
 
 INSIGNIA OF MODERATOR.
 
 DA 
 
 PRESENTED 
 
 TO THE 
 
 0f 
 
 LATVSON JU 1ST. 
 
 EX-MODERATOR, 
 
 750162
 
 EX-MODERATOR'S INSIGNIA.
 
 TO 
 
 CHARLES LAWSON, ESQ., YR. OF BORTHWICKHALL, 
 
 EX-MODERATOR OF THE HIGH CONSTABLES OF EDINBURGH. 
 
 My Dear Sir, 
 
 I now offer you my " Sketch of the History of the High 
 Constables of Edinburgh." 
 
 When, a few weeks after your election to the Moderatorship of the Society 
 in the winter 0/1862, I undertook to prepare this sketch, 1 had little idea 
 of the nature or extent of the luork which it involved. But an investigation 
 of the records of the Town Council shewed, not only that the ''Constables'" 
 were of considerably greater antiquity than was supposed, but were so 
 largely associated with the watching, cleaning, and. other police arrange- 
 ments of the City, that no sketch of their history would be worth offering 
 which did not deal, somewhat in detail, with these arrangements. The 
 materials for preparing such a sketch, however, had to be sought almost 
 exclusively, so far as I am aware, in the voluminous records and other 
 MSS. in the archives of the City ; and to that task I have devoted 
 those portions of my time that were not demanded by my official ditties. 
 Taken np thus at intervals, and worked at frequently under considerable 
 physical disadvantages, my sketch has assumed very much the form of 
 notes, without any literary pretensions, and printed off sheet by sheet as 
 prepared. It is, however, the best that I can offer in the circumstances ; 
 and with all its defects, of which no one can be more sensible than myself,
 
 Dedication. 
 
 it will, I trust, possess some interest as an attempt to make partially 
 available what, to a large extent, are still unused materials for the history 
 of Edinburgh, 
 
 Believing that an interest attaches to the precise words of the original 
 documents, which no paraphrase of mine could possess, I have made these 
 documents tell as far as possible their oum story. To a general reader 
 this would probably be a great objection. But I venture to hope that you 
 and the other members of the Society will prefer the ipsissima verba of 
 your own and the City's records to any other phraseology . 
 
 You will observe that the foot-notes, which form so large a portion of 
 the book, contain, in almost every instance, a reference to the authorities 
 for the statements in the text. Any person who may hereafter work in 
 the same field will thus have his labours lightened, while the Society will 
 possess an index to the records illustrative of its history, and be enabled 
 to refer to them without much difficulty. 
 
 Wishing that my work were more worthy of your acceptance, and more 
 commensurate with my sentiments of regard for yourself and for your 
 family, 
 
 I remain, MyJDear Sir, 
 
 Very faithfully yours, 
 
 J. D. MARWICK. 
 
 10 BELLEVUE CRESCENT, 
 EDINBURGH, ist Nwemler 1865.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 Derivation of the term "Constable." Lord High Constable. Constables 
 of Castles. Constables of Hundreds and Tithings, &c. High and Petty 
 Constables. High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. .... 3 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 Disorderly condition of Edinburgh during the sixteenth and the early part of 
 the seventeenth centnries. Acts of Parliament, Privy Council, and Town 
 Council, for remeid. Institution of Constables in the City ; their duties in 
 connection with the suppression of beggars, vagabonds, night-walkers, &c. ; 
 the wearing of fire-arms ; the watching and peace of the city ; the enforce- 
 ment of the laws against Popery ; the cleanliness of the City ; the provision 
 by the citizens of befitting armour ; the suppression of profane swearing, &c. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 1611-1700. 
 
 Election of Constables in Edinburgh. Institution of Justices of the Peace 
 and Constables throughout the country. Orders and Injunctions for City 
 Constables, and General Articles and Injunctions for Constables. Watching 
 Arrangements of the City. Cleaning Arrangements of the City. Duties of 
 the Constables in relation to these, and as to strangers, lodgers, and loose and 
 dissolute persons within burgh, and as to Sunday observance, &c. 
 
 97
 
 Contents. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 PAGE 
 I70I-I800. 
 
 Orders for the internal regulation and discipline of the Society. Elections of 
 Constables. Legislation against Sunday profanation and immorality. 
 Duties of the Constables in enforcing that legislation, in attending at fires, 
 in assisting revenue officers, in taking up lists of persons liable to serve as 
 jurymen and in the militia, in attending magistrates on public occasions, in 
 preserving the peace, in assisting recruiting officers, in preparing Parlia- 
 mentary returns, &c. Donations by the Society to charitable objects. 
 "Instructions" to Constables in 1728, 1750, and 1786. Dangers attending 
 execution of office. Services of the Society connected with the rebellion in 
 1745. Duties of Constables in relation to the watching and cleaning ar- 
 rangements of the city. Festive meetings, &c. 149 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 1801-1865. 
 
 Elections of Constables. Regulations by the Town Council as to the consti- 
 tution and management of the Society. Question as to the relation of the 
 Society to the ordinary Police. Society authorised to assume the distinctive 
 title of " High Constables." Alterations in its numbers. Disputes with the 
 Town Council. Rules enacted by the Society for its internal administration, 
 and questions in connection therewith. Miscellaneous duties ; keeping the 
 peace ; collisions with the military authorities in the discharge of that duty ; 
 attending magistrates at public ceremonials ; preparation of parliamentary 
 returns, jury lists, and lists of persons liable to serve as mititia men. Philan- 
 thropic services. "High Constables' Volunteer Company." Questions of 
 Precedency with other Local Bodies. Loyal Addresses. Festive Meetings. 
 Annual Excursions, &c Insignia. General Observations, &c. . . 214
 
 Contents. 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 PAGE 
 I. List of Office-Bearers of the Society, from the Union in 1707 till April 
 
 1864. ........ ii 
 
 II. Account of "The Unlaws of Bluid and Injureis in the Toun," from 
 
 Michaelmas 1608 till Michaelmas 1609. . . . . xiv 
 
 III. Ordour and Maner of the Visitouris in ilk quarter, electet and chosin 
 
 thairto, contening thair office, thair naimes, and bounds assignet 
 
 to thame[3djuly 1588]. ...... xv 
 
 IV. Orders and Injunctions for the Constables of the City [4th September 
 
 1611], . . . . . . . . xvi 
 
 V. Act of Parliament as to Constables, 1617, c. 8, with foot-notes shew- 
 ing alterations effected by the Act 1661, c. 38. . . . xviii 
 
 VI. Notes on Sunday Observance in Scotland previous to 1698. . . xxi 
 
 VII. Orders to be observed by the Constables of Edinburgh. . . xxxiv 
 
 VIII. List of Officers of the Society of High Constables, from 1711 till 1865. xl 
 IX. Donations by the Society out of their Box to Charitable Institutions in 
 
 the City, &c, from 3d December 1717. . . . xli 
 
 X. Instructions by the Lord Provost, Magistrates, and Council of Edin- 
 burgh, to be observed by the Constables in the discharge of their 
 offices within this City and liberties thereof. Approved of by the 
 Magistrates and Council on 23d May 1750. . . . xlii 
 
 XI. Instructions for the Constables of the City of Edinburgh, in the dis- 
 charge of their public duties ; approved of by the Magistrates and 
 Council on 2gth March 1786. ..... xliv 
 
 XII. Rules proposed by the Society of Constables for their internal govern- 
 ment, and approved of by the Magistrates and Council on 2gth 
 March 1786. . ..... xlvi 
 
 XIII. Rules for the internal government of the High Constables, adopted by 
 
 the Society on 23d June 1812, to supersede the Rules then in force. xlix 
 
 XIV. Rules for the internal government of the High Constables, adopted by 
 
 the Society on 8th August 1814, in lieu of those of 23d June 1802. 
 XV. Rules and Regulations of the Society of High Constables of the City 
 
 of Edinburgh, approved of by the Society on I2th August 1825. . Hi
 
 Contents. 
 
 XVI. Instructions and Regulations by the Lord Provost, Magistrates, and 
 Council, for the Society of High Constables of the City of Edin- 
 burgh ; confirmed by act of Council, igth March 1828. . . Ivi 
 XVII. Rules of the Society of High Constables of the City of Edinburgh, 
 
 approved of by the Society on I4th May 1830. . . lix 
 
 XVIII. Rules of the Society of High Constables of the City of Edinburgh, as 
 
 printed in 1835. ....... Ixii 
 
 XIX. Rules of the Society of High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. . Ixv 
 XX. Act of Council regulating the Constitution of the Society of High 
 
 Constables of the City of Edinburgh, 24th February 1857. . Ixx 
 
 XXI. Bye-Laws of the Society of High Constables of the City of Edinburgh, 
 approved of by the Society on I ith May 1857, and amended by sub- 
 sequent resolutions on I3th October 1858, 5th January 1860, 8th 
 February 1861, and 2d July 1861. ..... Ixxi 
 
 XXII. List and Description of the Insignia. ..... Ixxv 
 
 XXIII. Office-Bearers and Roll of Members, 1st November 1865. . . Ixxxi 
 
 NOTES on the Powers, Privileges, &c., of the Lord High Constable of Scot- 
 land, with especial reference to the questions between him and the 
 magistrates of Edinburgh in regard to their criminal jurisdiction within 
 the city. . [0 
 
 APPENDIX to Notes on the Lord High Constable : 
 
 (i.) Expense of Deputation to London in 1631. . . . . [44] 
 
 (2.) Expense of Deputation to London in 1634. . . . . [45] 
 
 (3. ) Expenses incurred by the Town in connection with disputes between 
 
 the Magistrates and the Lord High Constable during 1632-34. . [46] 
 (4. ) Letter from King Charles I. to the Magistrates and Council. . [50] 
 
 (5.) Commission to the Magistrates of Edinburgh to act as Deputes of 
 the Lord High Constable during the visit of George IV. to Scot- 
 land in 1822. ....... [51] 
 
 CORRIGENDA. ........ [52] 
 
 [53]
 
 HIGH CONSTABLES 
 
 OF THE 
 
 CITY OF EDINBURGH.
 
 High Constables of the. City of Edinburgh 
 
 CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Derivation of the term "Constable." Lord High Constable. Constables of Castles. 
 Constables of Hundreds and Tithings, &c. High and Petty Constables. 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 
 
 H E word " Constable " is, by some authorities, derived 
 from the Saxon words " Koning" and " Stapel," 
 signifying a support of the King ; and by others from 
 the Latin words " Comes " and " Stabuli," denoting 
 a master of the horse. The latter derivation is that 
 adopted by Spelman, Du Cange, and others, and 
 has reference probably to the duties of that officer, 
 well known in the Empire, who had to regulate all 
 matters of chivalry, tilts, tournaments, and feats of 
 arms, which were performed on horseback. 
 
 Such also was the duty of the Constable of France, 
 one of the great officers of State, who, in virtue of his office, had the 
 chief command of the army, and took cognizance of military offences. The 
 office was suppressed by an edict of Louis XIII., but was revived by 
 Napoleon I., who constituted it one of the six grand dignities under the 
 French Empire. On the restoration of the Bourbon Dynasty in 1814, 
 however, it was finally abolished.
 
 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 In England, the office of Lord High Constable was instituted immediately 
 after the Norman Conquest, both the name and the office being, according 
 to Blackstone, borrowed from the French. The Constable of England 
 was also an officer of the highest dignity, with duties, powers, and juris- 
 diction very similar to those of France. He and the Earl Marischal 
 were jointly judges of the Court of Chivalry, a court which has fallen into 
 entire disuse, but which had jurisdiction over pleas of life and limb aris- 
 ing in matters of arms and deeds of war, as well out of the realm as within 
 it. In right of his office, he was always summoned to Parliament 
 as " Constabularius Angliae." Like many of the great offices of State 
 of ancient origin, the High Constableship was hereditary, and passed by 
 inheritance in the line of the families of De Gloucester and Bohun, Earls of 
 Hereford, and afterwards in the line of their heirs-general the Staffords, 
 Dukes of Buckingham. On the attainder and execution of the third 
 Duke of Buckingham for high treason, in the thirteenth year of the reign 
 of Henry VIII., all his honours were forfeited to the Crown, and the 
 office of Lord High Constable of England ceased to be hereditary. 
 Since that event, it has only been conferred on special occasions, such as 
 coronations, the trials of peers, &c., and then pro hac vice. At the last 
 three coronations, viz., those of George IV., William IV., and Her present 
 Majesty, the late Duke of Wellington acted as Lord High Constable of 
 England. 
 
 In Scotland also, the office of Lord High Constable is one of great antiquity. 
 Edward was Constable in the reign of Alexander I., and between that time 
 and 1308 the office passed through the families of De Morville, the Lords of 
 Galloway, De Quincey Earl of Winchester, and Cumyn Earl of Buchan. 
 On the attainder of John Earl of Cumyn, in 1308, the office was conferred on 
 David Earl of Athole ; and on the forfeiture of his honours and estates in 
 1314, it was granted by King Robert the Bruce to Gilbert de Hay, knight, the 
 ancestor of the noble family of Erroll, by whom it is still retained. The 
 honours and privileges of the Constable of Scotland were not less dis- 
 tinguished than those of the Constables of France and England, and were 
 very similar in character. He had the command of the army, was proper 
 and sole judge in military affairs, and besides, possessed a criminal juris- 
 diction which extended to all matters of riot, disorder, blood, and 
 slaughter committed within four miles of the King's person, or of the Par- 
 liament or Council representing the royal authority in the absence of the 
 Sovereign. The office was reserved by the Treaty of Union, and by the
 
 HigJi Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 5 
 
 act for the abolition of heritable jurisdictions in Scotland, 20 George II. c. 
 43 (I746'). 1 
 
 The name of " constable " was given also to the keepers or governors of the 
 castles of the King or great Barons. Such were the constables of the Tower 
 of London, of Dover, Windsor, Chester, and other fortresses, to the number in 
 the time of Henry II. of 1115. Every manor, it was held, should include one 
 such fortress, bearing the name of the manor, and ruled by a constable. 
 These offices of constable, or " castellan," as they were frequently termed, were 
 often hereditary. Every constable exercised a criminal jurisdiction within 
 the district attached to his castle, in the same way as the sheriffs did within 
 their respective bailiwicks ; but the mode in which they and other royal 
 officers exercised their jurisdiction in the trial of pleas of the Crown, excited 
 so much complaint that an express clause was inserted in Magna Charta, 
 1215 ( 24), prohibiting every " Sheriff, Constable, Coroner, or other our 
 bailiffs," from " holding pleas of the Crown." Reference is again made in 
 the Statute of Westminster (3 Ed. I.), c. 15, to the same description of con- 
 stables as " constables of fees," alluding to their perquisites as keepers of 
 the prisons, which formed an important part of all ancient castles. In this 
 character their oppressions called forth the statute, 5 Henry IV. c. 10 (1403), 
 which, after reciting " that divers constables of castles," under " colour of 
 their commissions " as justices of the peace, " take people to whom they 
 bear evil will, and imprison them within the said castle till they have made 
 fine and ransom with the said constable for their deliverance," enacted that 
 " none be imprisoned by any justice of the peace, but only in the common 
 gaol," saving the " franchise " of the lords and others who have gaols. 
 This statute, remarks Tomlins, " seems to have put an end to a race of 
 tyrants, who, by their misconduct, had rendered themselves odious to the 
 people." 2 
 
 In Scotland we find the same office of constable of castles. Throughout 
 the kingdom, and especially in the more important towns, there existed 
 royal castles, established at once for the defence of the country and 
 
 1 For a more detailed statement of the honours and privileges of the office, with 
 especial reference to the questions between the Lord High Constable and the Magis- 
 trates of Edinburgh, in regard to their criminal jurisdiction within the City, see 
 Notes on Lord High Constable. 
 
 y Thomson's Magna Cliarfa, p. 204, quoted by Creasy on the English Constitution, 
 p. 141. Tomlin's Law Dictionary, z'oce "Constable."
 
 SketcJi of the History of the 
 
 the preservation of order. Each of these castles was governed by an officer 
 called a "constable," 1 who enjoyed certain lands attached to the office, 
 known as " constable lands," and exercised jurisdiction, frequently civil as 
 well as criminal, over a circumscribed territory around his fortress. From 
 these offices, Chalmers conjectures, may be deduced those jurisdictions in 
 Scotland called " constabularies," several of which the constabularies of 
 Haddington and Linlithgow for example continued to exist till compara- 
 tively recent times. a 
 
 Many of these offices of constable became hereditary in particular families. 
 Thus the constableship or keepership of the castles of Dunstaffnage, Carrick, 
 Skipness, and others, was vested in the family of Argyle. 3 The constable- 
 ship of Forfar belonged to the Earl of Strathmore ; 4 that of Elgin to the 
 Earls of Moray ; the Earls of Huntly were the hereditary constables of 
 Inverness. The constableship of Nairn was held by the family of Calder ; 
 that of Dundee was held successively by the Scrymgeours of Dudhope, by 
 Lord Halton, and by Graham of Claverhouse ; 5 the Kennedys of Carmucks 
 were constables of Aberdeen ; the Erskines of Dun were constables of Mon- 
 trose ; 6 the Earls of Annandale were constables of Lochmaben ; 7 and, sub- 
 sequent to 1580, the constableship of Dumbarton Castle was possessed 
 successively by the Dukes of Lennox and Montrose. 8 
 
 Others of these offices were granted for life, like that of Haddington to 
 William Lindsay of the Byres ; but some, and among these probably the 
 most important, as requiring in an especial manner a delectus personce, like 
 the constableships of the castles of Edinburgh, Stirling, and during the 
 earlier portion of its history, Dumbarton, were conferred during the royal 
 pleasure, for a period of years, or for life. 9 
 
 Some of these constables of castles, like the Lord High Constable, had 
 the power to appoint, and exercised their office by, deputies. 10 
 
 1 Mackenzie's Criminal Laws of Scotland, i. 186. 2 Caledonia, i. 709. 
 
 3 Stair's Institutes, by Brodie, i. 278 ; B. ii. 65. * Ibid. 
 
 8 Caledonia, i. 709. The Thanes of Cawdor Spalding Club, p. 5. 
 6 Fountainhall's Historical Notices of Scotch Affairs, i. 118. 
 
 ' Caledonia, iii. 68. 8 Ibid. iii. 867. 
 
 9 Irvine's History of Dumbartonshire, 71, 98. Acts of the Parliaments of Scot- 
 land, 1585, c. 37 ; iii. p. 403. 1640, c. 19 and 54 ; v. p. 303, 321. Caledonia, iii. 867. 
 
 10 Spalding Club, Extracts from Burgh Records of Aberdeen, ii. 414. Caledonia, 
 iii. 866.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 7 
 
 In several cases, the sheriffship of the county within which the royal castles 
 were situated, was conjoined with the office of constable. Thus the sheriff- 
 ship, as well as the constableship, of Elgin, was held in the reign of David 
 II. by the Earl of March, who conveyed both offices to William de Walli- 
 bus j 1 the sheriffship of the shire, and the constableship of the castle, of 
 Dumbarton, were held successively by the Earl of Menteith and by others ; a 
 the sheriffship of the county, and the constableship of the castle, of Edin- 
 burgh, were held by the same individuals during the English occupation, 
 and also, it is said, at the Restoration ; 3 and in like manner there were 
 associated with the constableships of the castles of Roxburgh, the sheriffdom 
 of Teviotdale, 4 of the Castle of Dumfries the sheriffdom of Nithsdale or 
 Dumfries, 5 of the Castle of Threve the stewardship of Kirkcudbright, 6 and 
 of the Castle of Lochmaben the sheriffship of Wigton. 7 
 
 It would also appear to have been the practice of the constables of royal 
 castles to hold municipal offices in the burghs adjoining. The practice was 
 prohibited by the act of the Parliament of James III., 1469, c. 5, which 
 enacts " that na capitane nor constable of the King's castellis, quhat toune 
 thai evir be in, sail beir office within the said toune as to be alderman, bailzie, 
 dene of guild, thesaurare, na nai other officiare that may be chosing be the 
 toune, fra the tyme of the next chosing furth to-cum." 8 It did not, however, 
 prevent Sir William Kirkcaldy of Grange, 9 George Douglas of Parkhead, 10 
 and the Earl of Arran, 11 from acting both as provosts of the city and con- 
 stables or captains of the castle of Edinburgh in 1569, 1576, and 1584. 
 
 Most of these constables of castles in Scotland had by grant, or claimed 
 on the ground of prescription, a right to proclaim in the burghs adjoining 
 the castles of which they were the keepers such fairs as had been established 
 there, to levy the customs belonging to these fairs, to exercise criminal 
 jurisdiction within these burghs while the fairs lasted, and to apply the fines 
 and escheats of delinquents to their own use. These powers, granted 
 originally, according to Lord Fountainhall, 12 for the preservation of the King's 
 
 1 Caledonia, i. 709. 
 
 2 Irving's History of Dumbartonshire, 54. Caledonia, iii. 866. 
 
 3 Caledonia, ii. 575, 577, 587. * Ibid., ii. no. 5 Ibid., iii. 65. 
 * Ibid., iii. 244. 7 Ibid., iii. 360. 
 
 8 Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, ii. 95. 9 Council Register, iv. 246. 
 
 10 Ibid. v. 66. Records of the Convention of the Royal Burghs of Scotland, i. 91. 
 
 11 Council Register, vi. 116. 1S Fountainhall's Notices of Scotch Affairs, i. 118.
 
 8 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 peace in burghs, at times when " there was a great resort and confluence of 
 strangers, and much bargaining and drinking, and so a probable fear of 
 quarrels," which the ordinary magistrates might not be able to put down 
 without the " auxiliary assistance" of the constable and his forces, appear 
 to have been often exercised most oppressively, and to have formed the 
 subject of frequent complaint. It was to remedy this state of matters, and 
 on the complaint of " the universal burghs," that an Act was passed in the 
 Parliament of James II., 1457, c. 9, 1 prohibiting the taking of distresses of 
 goods of little quantity " for auld use and custum," and regulating the 
 exactions and distresses in regard to cattle and goods brought to market in 
 large quantities. This prohibition was renewed and extended by an Act of 
 the Parliament of James III. 1469, c. 9, a which enacts that the extortions 
 referred to shall be " forborn in tyme tocum, and na sic extorsiones be takin 
 of the kingis liegiis under the payn of punycioune of thair personis at the 
 kings will, and to be put fra the executione of their office for a zeir to cum." 
 
 So much were these rights and privileges regarded as parts and pertinents 
 of the office of constable, that they, did not need to form the subject of 
 special grant. When a royal castle is disponed either in property or 
 custody, the infeftment thereof, says Stair, 3 " carries therewith not only the 
 bounds of the castle but the dependencies thereof, as gardens, orchards, 
 parks, meadows, and other ground, possessed by the king or keeper for the 
 use of the castle, and all rents, annuities, jurisdictions, and privileges 
 thereunto belonging, which may be instructed by their charters, their court 
 books, or other writs or instruments, and even by witnesses proving long 
 possession ; so," adds he, " though an infeftment of constabulary bear 
 only in general officirwi constabularii cttm feodis et divoriis ejusdem, yet it 
 was found [in the case of the Earl of Kinghorn v. the Town of Forfar, 
 i8th July 1676] to extend to the proclaiming and riding of fairs anterior to 
 the constitution of the office, and exercising criminal jurisdiction in the town 
 where the fairs were held during these fairs, but not to extend to other 
 fairs recently granted by the King, or to any jurisdiction at other times." 
 
 About the same time that the decision in the case of the Earl of Kinghorn 
 was pronounced, however, Lord Halton, Treasurer-Depute and Constable of 
 Dundee, would appear to have obtained from the Privy Council a decree, 
 finding that, as constable, he had the haill criminal jurisdiction within that 
 
 1 Adls of the Parliament of Scotland, ii. 46. 2 Ibid., ii. 95. 
 
 * Stair's Institutes, by Brodie, i. p. 278 ; B. ii. -s. 65.
 
 High\Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 
 
 Burgh privatively, and the civil jurisdiction ctimulative -, 1 and on this and 
 other decrees obtained by that official from the Court of Session, as it was 
 then " packed," 2 and of which he was one of the judges, the Magistrates and 
 burghers of Dundee appear to have been subjected to a system of petty 
 despotism, which, even in those days, " caused great outcry." 3 Although the 
 privileges thus recognised were exorbitant and in excess, according to Foun- 
 tainhall, of what " the Scrymgeours, former constables of Dundee, who were 
 haughty and great men," ever possessed, the reports of these cases illus- 
 trate the nature of the powers and perquisites of the office of constable, 4 
 and so are worthy of perusal. 5 
 
 A still inferior order of constables were those whom the Bishops and 
 Barons, following the example of the Sovereign, appointed keepers of their 
 castles, and who, according to Chalmers, exercised authority over their 
 peculiar district. Of this he gives as an instance the case of William de 
 Landeles, Archbishop of St Andrews, who, in 1383, granted to John Wymes 
 of Kirkaldie, and his heirs male, the constableship of the castle and city of 
 St Andrews, together with some lands, and a power to substitute constables - 
 in case of minority. 6 
 
 All the inferior constabularies in Scotland were abolished by the Act 20 
 George II., c. 43, which, however, expressly reserved to the possessors, their 
 heirs and successors, the whole lands, feu and farm duties annexed to these 
 offices. The bailies of burghs, observes Bankton, must exercise the constables' 
 jurisdiction in relation to fairs, now that these offices are extinguished. 7 
 
 Out of the high magistracy of constable, says Lambard, an English 
 lawyer, quoted both by Blackstone and by Mackenzie, 8 were drawn the inferior 
 constables of Hundreds in England, from which country, says Mackenzie, 
 we have borrowed the office of constable, and made it subservient to the 
 Justices of the Peace. The connection between offices so dissimilar as those 
 of the Lord High Constable, or even the constables of castles, and those of 
 
 1 Fountainhall's Sup. to Morrison's Decisions, iii. 1 1 2. 
 
 2 Fountainhall's Notices of Scotch Affairs, i. 117. 
 
 3 Morrison's Decisions in the Court of Session, 10,273 > 16,680. 
 
 4 Morrison's Decisions, 16,680. 2ist February 1679. Fountainhall's Historical 
 Notices, i. 129. Fountainhall's Historical Observes, 79. 
 
 5 See also Robertson's " Scotland under her early Kings," i. 306308. 
 
 6 Caledonia, i. 709. Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, iv. 496. 
 
 7 Bankton's Institutes of the Laws of Scotland, ii. p. 533. 
 
 8 Blackstone, i. c. 9, s. 4. Mackenzie on Criminal Law, 186. 
 
 B
 
 16 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 high and petty constables, is unintelligible, without a reference to those 
 Anglo-Saxon institutions which form the basis of much that is most valuable 
 in our national character and political constitution. With the Anglo-Saxon, 
 as with other branches of the Teutonic race, all political relations rested on 
 the basis of family and kindred. His relation to the State was that of one of 
 a family whose members were bound to render mutual aid against violence ; 
 and this principle availed not only for the protection of the country against 
 foreign aggression, but for the preservation of order and the prevention of 
 crime, by the maintenance of a system of police adapted to the state of 
 society as it then existed. The country was divided into various parts : first 
 and primarily, into Towns or Townships, which, in the Saxon acceptation 
 of the term, included originally the enclosure surrounding the homestead or 
 dwelling of the thane or lord, but was gradually extended to the whole of 
 the land which constituted the domain. 1 Every township had its lord, and the 
 ceorls resident in it elected a gerefa, or reeve as chief officer, and " four 
 good and lawful men," who, with the reeve, represented it in the courts of 
 the hundred and shire. 2 In order both to facilitate the organization of the in- 
 habitants for military purposes, and to afford better security against crime, 
 recourse was had, at a later stage of Anglo-Saxon development, to an old, 
 and probably an originally military, division of the country 3 into Tithings, 
 each of which included the families of ten freemen, and was presided over by 
 one of the principal inhabitants annually elected by the others for that 
 purpose, and called the tithing man or head-borough, and in some 
 countries bors holder or borough ealder. In one or other of these tithings, 
 every freeman, whose rank and possessions were not in themselves a 
 sufficient guarantee, was enrolled, and as each member of the tithing was 
 responsible for the good conduct of the remaining nine, and so was supplied 
 with a motive for vigilance, the tithings of the kingdom were in fact its 
 police, the most effective system possible in such a state of society. 4 But 
 the tithings did not limit their supervision to cases of unlawful violence and 
 crime. They took cognizance of all matters which " compromised the public 
 weal, or touched upon the rights or well-being of others." 5 The next division 
 
 1 Palgrave's Rise and Progress of the English Commonwealth, p. 65. 
 
 2 This division was afterwards superseded by the Norman Manor. 
 
 * Lappenberg's England under the Anglo-Saxon Kings, by Thorpe, ii. 332. 
 
 * Vaughan's Revolutions in English History, i. 252, 253. 
 5 Kemble's Anglo-Saxons, i. 251.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 1 1 
 
 was that of Hundreds, or Wapentakes as they were termed in the more 
 northern counties, each hundred including ten tithings, or one hundred 
 families. The chief officer of the hundred appears to have been called by 
 different names at different times : greve (gerefa), ealderman, comes stabuli, 
 or bailiff". 1 The hundred court met usually once a month, and was attended by 
 the thanes whose demesnes were within its boundaries, and by the four men 
 and the reeve of each township. It was presided over by the ealderman or 
 earl, assisted by the bishop. The next great division was the Shire, 
 composed of an indefinite number of hundreds, and presided over by the 
 comes, ealderman or earl, and the bishop. Each shire had also its vice- 
 comes or reeve, who, in the absence of the ealderman, presided over the 
 shire or county courts, in conjunction with the bishop, and is still known as 
 the sheriff \shire-reeve\. In ancient times the sheriff was annually elected 
 by the freeholders of the county, but now the judges, certain great officers of 
 State, and several of the Privy Council, meet once every year in Exchequer, 
 and propose three persons to the Sovereign, who appoints one to be Sheriff 
 for the year. 2 The county court was attended by all the thanes in the 
 county, the four men and reeve of each township, and by twelve men chosen 
 to represent each hundred, but it is doubtful whether any but the thanes 
 had a voice in this court. 
 
 Such were the divisions of the Anglo-Saxon body politic at the time of the 
 Conquest, and great as were the changes effected by the Conqueror, these 
 divisions were not substantially altered. Feudalism was indeed introduced, 
 but the ancient system of the Saxon laws was retained, and accordingly we 
 find a writ or mandate of 36 Henry III. (1216-72), providing " that in every 
 hundred there should be constituted a chief constable, at whose mandate all 
 those of his hundred sworn to arms should assemble and be observant to him, 
 for the doing of those things which belong to the conservation of the King's 
 peace." This is stated to be the first instance in which reference is made in 
 any instrument to the "chief constable" of hundreds ; 8 but there is little 
 room for doubt that an officer with corresponding duties existed in Anglo- 
 Saxon times, and that the office itself, under another name, is of much earlier 
 origin. Again, when the statute of Winton or Winchester 4 ordered every 
 
 1 Blackstone, Introduction, i. s. 4, 116. Lappenberg's England, ii. 330. Tomlin's 
 Law Dictionary, voce " Hundred." 
 
 8 Tomlin's Law Dictionary, voce " Sheriff." 
 
 3 Ibid., roce "Constable." * 13 Edward I., c. 6, 1306.
 
 1 2 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 man between fifteen and sixty years of age, according to his estate and degree, 
 to provide a determinate quantity of arms to keep the King's peace, two 
 " constables " were appointed to be chosen " in every hundred and franchise," 
 to see that such arms were provided, and to present the defaults of armour 
 and of the suits of towns and of highways, &c. The enactments of this 
 statute, changed by the 4th and 5th of Philip and Mary, c. 2, as regards the 
 description of the weapons to be provided, were not repealed till the reign of 
 James I., in 1604.* The constables thus appointed are what are called con- 
 stabularii capitales, or high constables, to distinguish them from the class of 
 officers of like nature, but inferior authority, who were appointed for manors 
 or townships, and tithings, and who are called sub-constabularii or petty 
 constables. 2 The earliest reference to this subordinate officer under the 
 name of "constable," is probably the writ or mandate of Henry III., to 
 which allusion has been made, and by which it is provided, " that in every 
 village or township there should be constituted a constable or two, according 
 to the number of the inhabitants." 8 It has, however, been repeatedly acknow- 
 ledged by great law authorities, that the constable is "one of the most 
 ancient officers in the realm for the conservation of the peace ;" and Coke, 
 connecting him with the institution of frankpledge, under the old institution 
 of the tithing, identifies him with the tithing-man or head-borough. So also 
 Blackstone remarks, that in most places the petty constable unites the two 
 offices of tithing-man or head-borough, and of constable and assistant to 
 the high constable in the duty, common to both, of keeping the peace. 4 
 
 The constable of the hundred is elected at the leet or tourn of the hun- 
 dred, or by the justices of the peace. Until the passing of the recent 
 Statute of 7th and 8th Victoria, c. 33, he was charged with important respon- 
 sibilities connected with the levying of local rates, and he has still a variety 
 of special duties imposed upon him which it is unnecessary to describe. 
 The petty constable is chosen at the leet, or where there is no leet, at the 
 tourn ; sometimes by the suitors, and sometimes by the steward, and now in 
 many towns and parishes by the parishioners, all according to ancient and 
 particular usage. In common with the high constable, it is the duty of the 
 petty constable to repress felonies, and keep the peace, of which both are 
 
 1 2 (vulgo i) James I., c. 25. 
 
 2 Year-Book, 12 Henry VII., pi. 18. Quoted in Knight's Cyclopaedia voce Con- 
 stable. 
 
 3 Tomlinson's Law Dictionary, voce "Constable." * Blackstone, i. c. 9, 4.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 1 3 
 
 conservators by the common law. They have also a variety of duties to 
 discharge similar to those of the constables in Scotland. These duties have 
 reference, inter alia, to the arresting of felons ; the suppression of disorderly 
 houses and persons ; the following of the hue and cry under the statute of 
 Winchester ; the apprehension of persons going armed, under the Act of 2 
 Edward III., c. 3 ; the searching for, and apprehending of, night walkers and 
 suspicious persons, either by night or by day (5 Edward III., c. 4) ; the punish- 
 ment of drunkenness (4 James I., c. 5) ; the prevention of Sunday profanation 
 (Carl. I., c. i. and 29; Carl. II., c. 7); the levying of penalties on profane 
 swearers (10 George II., c. 21) ; the enforcement of the laws against 
 vagrants, &C. 1 
 
 Thus, then, in England, we have the office of constable, essentially military 
 in its gradations, beginning as far back as the Norman Conquest with the 
 Lord High Constable, one of the chief officers of State, whose prerogative it 
 was to command the army and take cognizance of all military affairs. In- 
 ferior in rank we find the constables of castles, royal and baronial, still 
 military, but entrusted at one time with the conservation of the peace and 
 the exercise of the civil duties of justices ; and stretching back to an antiquity 
 probably still more remote, we find the constables of hundreds and of 
 tithings, originally the military leaders and overseers, in matters of arms, of 
 the freemen able to bear arms within their respective divisions, the con- 
 stables of tithings bound to see that those under them faithfully performed 
 watch and ward, with all its attendant duties, and the constables of hundreds 
 entrusted each with the superintendence of the ten tithing men of his hun- 
 dred. And then, as society progresses, and the early arrangements of watch 
 and ward give place to the police system of modern times, and as parochial 
 divisions are adopted for the purposes of local government, the chief officers 
 of the hundred and of the tithing of Anglo-Saxon times become respectively 
 the high constables and petty constables of the present day. 
 
 In Scotland, also, we find the Lord High Constable and the constables of 
 castles with prerogatives and jurisdictions similar in character, and as 
 extensive as those of the corresponding offices in the neighbouring kingdom. 
 We have, however, none of the Anglo-Saxon divisions into hundreds and 
 tithings or townships ; and the organization which existed in England previous 
 to the Conquest, for the preservation of order by the appointment of con- 
 servators of the peace an organization which originally rested on a basis 
 
 1 Tomlin's Law Dictionary, voce "Constable." See also Blackstone, ut supra.
 
 1 4 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 essentially popular was scarcely possible in Scotland for many centuries 
 after that event. These conservators, wardens or keepers of the peace, 
 appointed originally by the freeholders in the County Court before the 
 Sheriff, and subsequently by the Crown, were, by the 34th of Edward III., c. i. 
 (1361), empowered to try felonies, and entitled Justices ; while in Scotland the 
 first reference to Justices of the Peace is contained in the Act 1587, c. 57,* 
 which empowered the Sovereign to appoint Justices of the Peace. Again, 
 " chief constables " of hundreds, and " constables " of villages or townships, 
 are, as we have seen, ordered to be appointed, by a writ of Henry III. (about 
 1252) ; and this order, as regards constables of hundreds, is renewed by the 
 Statute of Winchester in 1306 ; while in Scotland the first general Act for 
 regulating the appointment and duty of constables is that of 1617, c. 8. a 
 Six years previous to this time, no doubt, the Constables of Edinburgh 
 were originated, but this was done under the authority of Acts of the Privy 
 Council in 1608 and i6n. 8 Both of these Acts of the Privy Council, as 
 well as the Act of Parliament of 1617, it will, however, be observed, are of a 
 date subsequent to the accession of James VI. to the throne of England 
 (1603), and subsequent, it must be presumed, to his and the Scottish parlia- 
 ments having discovered how well the English system of constables was fitted 
 to enable the Crown to exercise its increased authority, and to repress civil 
 disorder. That the office of constable thus instituted in Scotland was bor- 
 rowed from, and moulded after, that of the constableship of hundreds and 
 tithings in England, the similarity not only of name, but of many of the 
 duties, leaves little room for doubt. We may, therefore, regard the Con- 
 stables of Edinburgh under their modern title of High Constables, as the 
 offspring of the venerable Anglo-Saxon institutions of the sister country. 
 
 1 Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, vol. iii. p. 459. 
 
 * Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, iv. p. 535. In Edinburgh, the exigencies of 
 their situation at various times suggested to the authorities the division of the town 
 and its inhabitants into quarters and thirties and fifties, &c., and the appointment for 
 each division of officers charged with the duty of seeing that every member of the 
 division was provided with proper arms, and faithfully performed the duties of watch 
 and ward, &c. But this was a mere local arrangement, and formed no part of a 
 national organisation. 
 
 * Inventory of City Charters, i. 72, 73.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 1 5 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Disorderly condition of Edinburgh during the sixteenth and the early part of the seven- 
 teenth centuries. Acts of the Parliament, Privy Council, and Town Council, 
 for remeid. Institution of Constables in the City ; their duties Institution of 
 Justices and Constables throughout the Country. Sketch of the History of the 
 Constables of the City from their institution till the Union of the Kingdoms. 
 
 URING the sixteenth and the early part of the seventeenth cen- 
 turies, Edinburgh was the scene of frequent and often sanguin- 
 ary tumults. It was the recognised capital of the kingdom ; the 
 principal residence of the sovereign, and of those who wielded 
 the royal authority during the prolonged minorities of the period ; 
 the seat of the courts of justice, and the place where the parliaments usually 
 assembled. Thither, therefore, resorted those whose business or inclination 
 drew them to court, or to attend the great national assemblies, or who ap- 
 pealed to the tribunals of the country. It was thus often crowded with men 
 whose religious and political differences were embittered by personal ani- 
 mosities and the memory of hereditary feuds ; and as the power of the Crown 
 was virtually overborne by that of the feudal nobility, and was impotent to 
 restrain "the deadly feuds" that disgraced the age, or to suppress the 
 prevailing practice of the time for men to revenge their own quarrels, a 
 casual meeting on the streets might at any time give rise to a tulzie 1 which 
 the magistrates and burghers would be unable to put down or to punish. Not 
 unfrequently, also, the conflicts of rival aspirants to the supreme authority 
 were waged within the walls of the capital ; and the guns of its fortress, held 
 
 1 As the broils or street combats of that day were called, from the French, touill-er, 
 to mix in a confused manner.
 
 1 6 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 by the one party, were employed to carry destruction into the town, held 
 for the time by the other. 
 
 To such encounters, contemporary local records, and the histories of the 
 period, make frequent reference. 
 
 Such were the conflicts between the partizans of the Earl of Arran and the 
 Earl of Angus in 1519 and I52O; 1 the raid by the Earl of Angus and his 
 followers in 1524, when they forced their way to the Cross, and held the 
 town for some hours against the queen, under fire from the castle ; 2 the 
 assassination of M'Lellan of Bombie, in open day, at the door of St Giles', in 
 1525 ; 3 the entry into the city of the Earl of Angus with one hundred horse- 
 men, in 1528, " aganis the tyme of the Parliament to have prevenit the 
 Kingis coming," and their expulsion by the provost and his friends, with the 
 community, after an affray in which many were hurt with hagbuts ; 4 the col- 
 lision between the French and the citizens in 1548, in which the provost, who 
 was also captain of the castle, and several of the citizens, were slain in the 
 strait of the Bow ; 5 the slaughter of Sir Walter Scott of Braxholm, Laird of Buc- 
 cleugh, by Kerr of Cessford, in 1552 ; 6 the slaughter, about the same time, of 
 John Charteris of Kinclevin by the Master of Ruthven, " upon occasion of old 
 feud, and for staying of a decreet of ane process which the said John pursued 
 against him before the Lords of Session ;" 7 the slaughter of Lord Crichton of 
 
 1 Lindsay of Pitscottie's Chronicles of Scotland, ii. 285. Tytler's History of Scot- 
 land, iv. 131, 133. Wilson's Memorials of Edinburgh, i. 37. 
 
 2 Tytler's History of Scotland, iv. 171. 
 
 8 Diurnal of Occurrents, p. IO. Wilson's Memorials of Edinburgh, i. 40. 
 
 Diurnal of Occurrents, p. II. 
 
 8 Calderwood's History of the Kirk of Scotland, i. 258. Lindsay of Pitscottie's 
 Chronicles of Scotland, ii. 509. 
 
 8 Chambers's Domestic Annals of Scotland, i. 27. Note D to the " Lay of the Last 
 Minstrel." 
 
 r Bishop Lesley's History of Scotland, p. 247. So common did this mode of settling 
 dependent lawsuits become, that it was found necessary to pass the Act 1555, c. 13 
 (Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, ii. 494), which, "because of the odious crymes of 
 slauchters daylie committit within the realme and speciallie the slaying of parties per- 
 sewand and defendand thair actionnis," enacted, in addition to the other penalties 
 thereby prescribed, that if the defender should slay the pursuer, decree should go 
 against the former in terms of the summons, and if the pursuer should slay the de- 
 fender, the heirs of the latter should have absolvitor. This act was declared to exist 
 only till Martinmas 1556, but in 1583 it was renewed for seven years by act and sta-
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 1 7 
 
 Sanquhar by Lord Sample in the governor's house j 1 the riot in 1562, caused 
 by the Earl of Bothwell, the Marquis d'Elboeuf, and Lord John Coldingham's 
 breaking into Cuthbert Ramsay's house in St Mary's Wynd, and making 
 search for his daughter-in-law Alison Craig, the suspected mistress of the 
 Earl of Arran ;* the renewed violence of the same persons in the High Street, 
 shortly afterwards, when a serious affray ensued between them and Gavin 
 Hamilton, abbot of Kilwinning, and their retainers, and " shot and bolts flew 
 in all directions ;" 3 the encounter on the High Street between the Laird of 
 Airth and the Laird of Wemyss and their followers in 1567, in which many 
 on both sides were hurt with shot of pistol. 4 Such also were the encounter 
 between the " Hoppringillis and Eluottis" in 1570, wherein we are told that 
 " hade nocht the toun of Edinburgh raid thame thair had been greit slauchter 
 done ; 5 the rescue in the same year by Kirkcaldy of Grange, then captain of 
 the castle, of James Fleming, one of his soldiers, imprisoned in the tolbooth 
 of Edinburgh for slaughter ;" the collision on the High Street, in 1 588, between 
 the Earl of Bothwell and Sir William Stewart of Monkton, in which the latter, 
 having lost his sword, fled to the Blackfriars' Wynd, pursued by his enemy, 
 who there " strake him in at the back, and out at the belly, and killed him ;" 7 
 and the slaughter, in Leith Wynd, in 1592-3, of John Graham of Hallyards, 
 a judge of the Court of Session, by Sir James Sandilands, tutor of Calder, 
 with whom he had a litigation. 8 The frequency with which the abduction 
 or " ravishing of women " is referred to towards the close of the century, also 
 illustrates the lawlessness of the times. 8 Thus, in 1593, we read of the 
 
 tute of King James VI., made with advice of the Lords of Council and Session, and 
 ratified by Adi of Parliament, 1584, c. 14 (Ibid iii. 299). These several acts were 
 declared perpetual by Act of Parliament, 1 594, c. 29, which proceeds on ' ' considera- 
 tion of the manifald oppressionis done within this realme, and for the maist part 
 occurring betuix parties contending in justice be proud and vndantonit braggaris 
 boisteris and oppressoris " (Ibid. iv. 69). 
 
 1 Bishop Lesley's History of Scotland, 248. Lindsay of Pitscottie's Chronicles, 
 ii. 511. 
 
 2 Knox's History of the Reformation in Scotland (Laing's edition), ii. 315. 
 
 3 Diurnal of Occurrents, p. 70. Knox's History of the Reformation in Scotland, 
 ii. 319. Calderwood's History of the Kirk of Scotland, ii. 162-5. 
 
 * BirrelPs Diary, p. 13. " Diurnal of Occurrents, p. 195. 6 Ibid. p. 197. 
 
 7 Birrel's Diary, p. 24. 
 
 8 Ibid. p. 34. Calderwood's History of the Kirk of Scotland, v. 361. 
 
 ' See Missive Letter from King James to the Estates assembled in Edinburgh, dated 
 
 C
 
 1 8 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 daughter of John Carnegie being twice abducted from her father's house 
 in Edinburgh, the Lord Hume keeping the High Street with armed men 
 on the latter occasion, which was on a Sunday, till the deed was accom- 
 plished. On the following day the provost, with some of the bailies, proceed- 
 ing to apprehend James Henderson, a burgess, who had been at another 
 " ravishing," were resisted and shot at, and one man was slain. On the 
 Tuesday the magistrates went to the king and complained, but got no justice, 
 though Lord Hume was standing by at the time. 1 In 1595, again, Christiane 
 Johnestoune, a widow in Edinburgh, was ravished by Patrick Aikenheid, but 
 the town having been put " in ane grait fray be the ringing of the commone 
 bell," she was followed and rescued. 2 There are, farther, the encounter at 
 the Salt Trone in 1595, between Graham's kinsman the Earl of Montrose, 
 afterwards Chancellor of Scotland, and Sandilands, in which guns and 
 swords were used in great numbers, and in which the parties were separated 
 by the magistrates with fencible weapons, after many were slain and hurt ; 3 
 the combat between Johnston of Westerhall and Hugh Somerville of the 
 Writes, in 1596, which " cleansed the calsy for a quarter of an hour ;" 4 the 
 slaughter of Wauchope of Niddry by the Laird of Edmonstone in Scletter's 
 Close, in 1597 ; 5 the slaughter of Robert Cathcart, at Peebles Wynd head, 
 in 1598, by William Stewart, son of the Sir William Stewart who, ten years 
 previously, was slain by the Earl of Bothwell, Cathcart being present and 
 assisting; 6 the combat between the Kerrs and the Turnbulls, in 1601 ; 7 the 
 slaughter, in the Canongate, in 1602, of Patrick Bryson by James Stewart 
 of Buquhane ; 8 the tulzie at the Salt Trone in 1605, between the Lairds of 
 Edzel and Pittarrow and their accomplices ; 9 and the slaughter of Lord 
 Spynie by Lindesay of Edzel in the same year. 10 
 
 Nor were there awanting riots and tumults among the citizens themselves 
 to tax the energies of the magistrates. Thus we read of the tumult on 
 St Giles's day (ist September) 1558, when the populace attacked and demo- 
 
 22d January 1609 ; Commission by the Estates following thereon, 27th January 1609 ; 
 and the Act 1612, c. 4. [Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, iv. 409, 410, 454, 471.] 
 
 1 Calderwood's History of the Kirk of Scotland, v. 252. 
 
 2 BirrelPs Diary, p. 34. 3 Birrel's Diary, p. 34. 
 ' * Chambers's Traditions of Edinburgh, p. 39. * Birrell's Diary, p. 44. 
 
 Ibid. p. 46. T Ibid. p. 55. " Ibid. p. 56. 
 
 Birrell's Diary, p. 63. Balfour's Annals of Scotland, Historical Works, ii. 7. 
 
 "' Fitcairn's Criminal Trials, iii. 61, 65.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 19 
 
 lished the statue of the patron saint, and caused the canons and clergy, 
 who bore it in procession, to fly, in the words of Knox, " faster than they did 
 at Pinkie Cleugh j" 1 of the great riot on 22d November 1560, in which the 
 corporations, resenting an order of the magistrates to cart the deacon of the 
 fleshers for adultery, assembled in a tumultuous manner, broke open the jail, 
 and liberated the prisoner ; 2 and of the tumult on nth April 1561, when the 
 apprentices broke out into insurrection, entered the city with banners dis- 
 played, surrounded the tolbooth, in which the magistrates were sitting, and 
 assaulted them in the execution of their duty. s On I2th May 1561, again, 
 there was a great riot, consequent on the magistrates having prohibited the 
 performance of " Robin Hood." One of the chief rioters on this occasion was 
 seized, tried, and condemned to be hanged, but the mob rose on the 2ist of 
 June, broke open the prison, releasing not only him but all the other prisoners, 
 and attacked the magistrates, who fled for safety to the tolbooth. The dan- 
 ger was so imminent, that the magistrates were obliged to give an assur- 
 ance that no person would be prosecuted on account of the sedition. 4 In 
 1588, the sons of craftsmen, instigated and assisted by a rabble of unfree 
 journeymen, broke out into insurrection, and assaulted the house of one of 
 
 1 Knox's History of the Reformation in Scotland, i. 259, 260 ; Appendix, 558-561. 
 Calderwood's History of the Kirk of Scotland, i. 346. Bishop Lesley's History 
 of Scotland, p. 266. 
 
 2 Council Records, iii. 60. Knox's History of the Reformation in Scotland, ii. 159- 
 Arnot's History of Edinburgh, p. 25. 
 
 * Council Records, iv. 6. Maitland's History of Edinburgh, p. 21. 
 
 * Diurnal of Occurrents, p. 283-4. Calderwood's History of the Kirk of Scot- 
 land, ii. 123-125. Knox's History of the Reformation in Scotland, ii. 157. Pitcairn's 
 Criminal Trials, i. 409, 410. " Robin Hood" was a favourite May game, both in 
 England and in Scotland, but was opposed by the protestant clergy in both countries, 
 as affording opportunities for dissipation and licentiousness. With it was classed such 
 revels as those of the Abbot of Unreason, the Boy Bishop, the President of Fools, &c., 
 all of which were generally played on Sundays. While not only tolerated, but en- 
 couraged by the clergy of the Romish Church, these games were often employed to 
 parody its most sacred ceremonies, and to expose and satirise the vices of the reli- 
 gious orders. They thus indirectly helped the cause of the Reformation, but were 
 afterwards not the less vehemently opposed by the Reformers, and were prohibited 
 under severe penalties by the Adi of the Scottish Parliament, 1555, c. 40. (Acts of 
 the Parliaments of Scotland, vii. 500), and by the magistrates of Edinburgh in 1561 
 (Council Records, iv. 4), 1562 (ib. iv. 29), 1579 (ib. v. 141). It was not, however, an
 
 2O Sketch of the History of the 
 
 the bailies, with the intention of murdering him, and plundering his house. 1 
 And there was the great riot in 1596, known as " the i/th of December," in 
 which the king, while in the tolbooth sitting in session, was surrounded by the 
 excited populace, and kept there till relieved and escorted to the palace by 
 John Watt, smith, the deacon of deacons. This tumult greatly exasperated 
 the king, who was with difficulty appeased by a payment of 20,000 merks 
 Scots. 2 
 
 These cases illustrate a condition of matters in the capital during the period 
 referred to, which the Regent Murray, speaking of the street broils of his 
 own day, might well have said " would shame the capital of the Great 
 Turk, let alone that of a Christian and reformed state." 8 It may be re- 
 marked, however, that the authorities do not seem to have been remiss in 
 making such provision as they could for the suppression of these disorders. 
 Their regulations indicate this, and along with the Acts of Parliament 
 and Privy Council shew emphatically the deplorable state of the country 
 and of its capital. Thus, so early as 1498, there is an order by the council 
 on all the neighbours, merchants, and tradesmen, to be provided with 
 weapons in their booths, in case of tulzies in the streets, when they are to 
 compear with the officers, and assist the magistrates in the enforcement 
 
 easy matter to abolish long-established and popular amusements, and complaints were 
 made to the General Assembly, down to the close of the sixteenth century, of the ex- 
 cesses that were occasioned by "the making of Robin Hude" (Cunningham's Church 
 History of Scotland, i. 261, 496). For a graphic description of the game of the Abbot of 
 Unreason, see the " Abbot," (edition 1860), i. p. 207. 222, and notes E and G thereon. 
 
 1 Council Record, vii. 155. Maitland's History of Edinburgh, p. 44. 
 
 3 Birrell's Diary, p. 39. Calderwood's History of the Kirk of Scotland, v. 511, 
 625. Row's History of the Kirk of Scotland, pp. 184, 185. Acts of the Parliaments 
 of Scotland, iv. 103, 104, 108, 1 14. 
 
 The Edinburgh populace was, in fact, even at this period, noted for its proneness to 
 engage in tumults, and James VI. , who well knew their character and tendencies, did 
 not exaggerate when, in his Basilicon Doron, or "Book of Instruction," to his son 
 Prince Henry, he thus wrote of the crafts of Edinburgh : " They think we should be 
 content with their work, how bad and dear soever it be ; and if there be anything con- 
 trouled, up goeth the Bhie Blanket! " 
 
 The tumults consequent on the introduction of the Service-book in 1637, on the 
 Revolution in 1 688, and on the Union Debates in 1706, and the Porteous Mob in 1736, 
 shew that the lower orders of Edinburgh retained far into the eighteenth century a 
 fierce determination and courage that made them formidable to any government. 
 
 3 The Abbot, vol. i. p. 308.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 2 1 
 
 of order. 1 An acl, in 1524, contains a similar order, "to the intent for 
 till eschew the dyuers and money barganis and tulzeis that hes bene com- 
 mittit in tymes bygane into this towne vpoun the hie streitt, and throw 
 the quhilkis there hes bene sindrie slauchteris committit." 2 A similar ac~l 
 was passed in 1529, on the narrative that "in tymes past thair hes bene 
 slauchteris and murtheris committet within the toune, in defalt of the officeris 
 and nichtbouris that ryses nocht to resist, and pvnis the same, to the greatt 
 sclander and deffamatioune of the toune, makand it to be frie of all sic mis- 
 cheiffs." 3 And in 1552 its requirements were renewed in an act which refers 
 to the " greitt slawchteris and vtheris cummeris and tuilzeis done in tyme 
 bygane within this burch and apperandly to be done gif na remeid be prou- 
 ydit thairfor, and for eschewing thairof." 4 In 1529, in 1535, and again in 
 1 567, there are proclamations against bickerings, both on holidays and week 
 days, under the pain of scourging, banishment, and hanging. 5 In 1554, the 
 frequent robberies and disorders committed in the streets by night are stated 
 as the ground of an order by the council on the inhabitants to hang out 
 lanterns or bowets on the streets and closes from five till nine in the even- 
 ing. 6 In 1560, an act of Council, renewing the order on all the neighbours to 
 
 1 Council Record, i. 33. This order is frequently renewed during the whole of the 
 sixteenth century. In addition to those subsequently referred to, see Acts of Council 
 in 1557 [ib. ii. 106], 1560 [ib. iii. 56], 1562 [ib. iv. 53], 1566 [ib. iv. 162], 1583 [ib. 
 vii. 31], 1587 [ib. viti. 127], 1589 [ib. ix. 14], and 1591 [ib. ix. 113]. The act of 1566 
 farther ordains the committers of trublance to be apprehended and imprisoned, with- 
 out exception, for trial and punishment, on the somewhat curious ground ' ' that some 
 undaunted persons braggers and boasters commonly makes their tulzeis on the High 
 Street, and rather because they are assured to be redd and saved from deadly harm." 
 
 ' MS. Extracts from Council Records, Advocates' Library, p. 184. This extract 
 refers to a similar Act of Council, of date 4th March 1552. The general lawlessness 
 of the country at this time is alluded to in articles concluded between Cardinal Beaton 
 and the Earl of Angus in 1524-5, in which reference is made to the Privy Council as 
 " seand daily slaughteris, murtheris, reiffis, thiefts, depredationis, and heavy attemptates 
 that are daily and hourly committit within this realme, in fait of justice our soveran 
 lord beand of less age," &c. (Tytler's History of Scotland, iv. p. 73> footnote). 
 
 3 MS. Extracts from Council Records, Advocates' Library, p. 184. Appended to 
 this extract there is a reference to a similar Act of Council, of date 8th February 1535. 
 
 Ibid. p. 1 88. Appended to this extract there is a reference to a similar Act of 
 Council, of date 8th December 1562. 
 
 5 MS. Extracts from Council Records, Advocates' Library, p. 184, 185. Council 
 Records, iv. p. 185. 8 Ibid, ii, 538.
 
 22 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 attend " in feir of weir with all diligence," to support the magistrates and offi- 
 cers in the suppression of tumults, refers to the " lait deforcementis and in- 
 obedience of the baillies and officiaris of this bruch," the cause of which it 
 declares to be 
 
 " the particular hatrent of sum of the subiectis and inhabitantis of the said burgh, inemeis 
 to all gude ordour ; as alssua the inobedience and ignorance of vtheris, nocht regarding 
 nor having in remembrance the commoun weill foirsaid ; quhilkis persoriis, at all sic tymes 
 as they haif sene or hard the saidis officiaris dissobeyeit and deforsit in executioun of 
 thair offices, hes nocht ryssyn nor cumyng fordwart to thair fortefecatioun, bot hes with- 
 drawyn thame selffis and vtheris be thair persuatioun and excampill within thair buthis 
 and houssis, and sua left the saidis officiaris desolait of all support, vpoun the danger 
 and perall of thair lyffis, to the grete schame and sclander of the magistrattis and haill 
 pepill inhabitaris of this burch, and to the gret discurageing of men of honeste and 
 Judgement to accept office burding or charge within the said burch, and in lykwyis to 
 the incurageing of euery lycht persoun and outlandis man to ga fordwart in thair ine- 
 quietie and contemptioun, to the manifest ourethraw of the saidis magistratis, the com- 
 moun weill of the said burch, and vter distructioun of the samyn, gif haistie remeid be 
 nocht prouidit" * 
 
 In 1561, in anticipation of the meeting- of Parliament, and the tumults 
 and dissensions likely to ensue, the council ordained " thre scoir able men, 
 hagbuttaris to be liftit and put in wages for half ane moneth to await at 
 all tymes of the day and nycht vpoun the prouest and baillies," and further 
 ordained the " dekynnis to aduertice the maisteris and seruandis of thair 
 craftis to be in radynes to cum to the said prouest and baillies at the sound 
 of the commoun bell trumpet or tabroun in armour and wappinis in case 
 of trubles.'' 2 And two months later they deputed certain of their number 
 to request the Earl of Arran " to send for his garde of men of armes, and to 
 suffer thame to remane within the toun, to await vpoun the prouest vpoun the 
 townys charges, for repressing of the wikit, vnto the convenyng of the Lordis 
 of Counsale."* In 1 563, the Laird of Drumquhassill, and several other great 
 persons, having appointed meetings of their friends against a certain day, 
 the council, in obedience to the queen's letter, ordered the whole neigh- 
 bours to be in readiness whenever they were warned, either by an officer 
 or tambour. 4 In 1565, the council ordained the bailies and officers " to pas 
 to all duelling housses within this burch, and se that euerye fensable persoun 
 inhabiter of the samyn, be sufficientlie prouidit with armour and wappins for 
 
 1 Council Records, iii. 46. * Ibid. iv. 7. * Ibid. iv. 13. * Ibid. iv. 67.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 23 
 
 seruing of cure Souerane at this present parliament, and to caus the officiaris 
 of euerye quarter put the names of the saidis inhabitaris, with their wap- 
 pinis, in roll with diligence, and present the samyn before the counsale." 1 An 
 act of council in 1567, imposing an unlaw on those who should draw blood 
 in their righting, refers to the " gret and manifest wrangis and oppresionis 
 committit dalie be certane nichtbouris of this burgh, and vtheris resortand 
 thairto, agains vtheris, quhilkis, haiffing n other feir of God nor man, daylie 
 invadis otheris with fensable wappinis, sic as swerdis, quhingaris, battonis, 
 and vtheris instruments bellicall, sumtyme committing slauchter mutilatioun 
 or lamying." 2 In 1568, the council being apprehensive of disorders during 
 the approaching session of parliament, ordered the deacons of the several 
 incorporations to convene their companies, and " tak inquisitioun be thair 
 aithis quhatt will be thair pairttis in this present troublis." 3 In 1580, a great 
 tumult having taken place on the High Street betwixt the Livingstones and the 
 Guidlets in the day of law between them and the Hamiltons, a representation 
 was made to the King explaining the " part in that tulzie had by the toun, 
 who are daily troubled and put in hazard of their lives in the days of law be- 
 twixt parties." His Majesty was pleased to send a letter of thanks to the 
 community for " their good service in staying of trouble on that occasion," 
 and to desire them to act with the like discretion on any similar outbreak. 
 In obedience to this letter, " and for staying of cummer in all time thereafter," 
 it was ordained " that upon ilk day of law betwix greitt pairties ane quarter 
 of the toun be wairnit be the baillie of the quarter to be in thair armour with 
 the said baillie reddy at all aventures to stay all cummer, and the rest of the 
 toun to be in reddynes to support and assist thair nychtbouris gif neid sua 
 sail requyre, as thai sail happen to be warnit be the commoun bell." 4 And 
 somewhat later in the same year, the council, " for staying of tumults and 
 cummers that may aryse betwix the greitt pairties now being within this 
 burch, and for obedience of the Kings grace writting," ordained " twa corse- 
 gairdis to be sett betwix the Trone and Croce in the awld places ; the nycht- 
 bouris to be wairnit to keep the same be thair quarteris in thair armour, and 
 the baillies to amerciat the absentis, but favour." 5 In 1584, the council, 
 finding by experience of an affray at the Kirk of Field port " quhat misordour 
 is liabill to follow heirafter gif the lyke accident sail happin," prescribed " the 
 
 1 Council Records, iv. 130. 2 Ibid. iv. 205. 
 
 3 Thid. iv. 221. Maitland's History of Edinburgh, p. 31. 
 * Council Records, vi. 31. 5 Ibid. vi. 95.
 
 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 pairts of the toune at which every quarter sail convene with thair bailzies in 
 armoor and guid ordour, as thai sail be wairnit be the alarum or commoun 
 bell;" 1 and subsequently for preventing broils in the streets by night- walkers and 
 other disorderly persons, they ordered " that at 10 o'clock fifty strokes should 
 be given on the great bell, after which none should be on the streets, under the 
 penalty of 203. Scots, and imprisonment during the town's pleasure." 2 In 1 592, 
 it was again found necessary to issue a proclamation against sudden frays, to 
 fix the places at which the several quarters should convene when such frays 
 should arise, 3 and to prohibit the shooting of hackbuts or pistols in forestairs. 4 
 To such a height had the disorders of the times reached, that in the same 
 year we find an adl of parliament passed (1592, c. 12) for the punishment of 
 slaughter within kirks and kirkyards, and it proceeds on the lamentable nar- 
 rative that " crueltie and bluidsched is cumit to sick ane heichte within this 
 land, that the house of the Lord and his sanctuary is not fre, but filthely 
 pollutit and defilit thairwith in sic sort that commonlie all revenges of 
 quarrellis and deedlie feuds is now execute in kirkis and kirkyards at the 
 tyme appointit to the seruice of God, and teaching of His holy Word thairin, 
 quhairby diuers personis, for feir of thair lyffes, dar not resort to the preach- 
 ing of the gospell." 5 In 1593, the Council found it necessary to employ a num- 
 ber of soldiers to watch the town in armour during the days of law between 
 Lord Fleming and the Laird of Drumelzier, and a subsequent act of Council 
 empowers the treasurer to pay their wages, amounting to 16 scots. 6 
 An act of the Privy Council, passed on 7th July 1593, reciting that "vile 
 murders have not only been committed within the kirks and other places, but 
 even within the burgh of Edinburgh and suburbs thereof, ewest [near] to his 
 hieness palace, to the great hezard of his awn person, commanded the magis- 
 trates of the city, the king's guard, the master and porter of the palaces, to 
 search for all hagbuts and pistolets worn by any person in the city and in the 
 palace, and to carry the wearers to prison." 7 And the ac"l of parliament, 1593, 
 c. 22, passed on the 2ist of the same month of July, enacted that, " quhasoeuir 
 sal happin at ony tyme heirefter to stryke, hurt, or slay ony persoun within 
 his hieness parliament hous during the tyme of the halding of the parliament 
 
 1 Council Records, vii. 85, * Ibid. vii. 101. 3 Ibid. ix. 127. 
 
 Ibid. ix. 183. B Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, iii. 544. 
 
 6 Council Records, ix. 180-201. 
 
 T Chambers's Domestic Annals of Scotland, i. 249. Pitcairn's Criminal Trials, i. 
 299,
 
 HigJi Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 25 
 
 within the Kingis inner chalmer, cabbinat, or chalmer of presence, the Kingis 
 Maiestie for the time being within his palaice, or within the inner tolbuith 
 the tyme that the lordis of sessioun setts for administratioun of justice, or 
 within the Kingis privie counsal hous the tyme of the counscall setting thair ; 
 or quhasoeuir sal happin to stryke, hurt, or slay ony persoun in presence of his 
 Maiestie, quhaireuir his hieness sal happin to be for the tyme, sail incur the pane 
 of treasone." Against those who should commit similar offences in presence of 
 judges or magistrates severe penalties were denounced, and every person strik- 
 ing or hurting any judge sitting in judgment was declared to be punishable 
 with death. 1 The lawlessness of the times indicated by the passing of such 
 an act, and the condition of the capital at this period, are further shewn by 
 the adl passed in the same year, 1593, c. 35, intituled, " Adi in favour of the 
 toun of Edinburgh concerning Tumultis." It refers to the " great confusioun 
 and disordour of this land in all estaitts ;" the daily charges of the Privy 
 Council and Lords of Session, and even the commands from the king's 
 own mouth to the magistrates, to apprehend and imprison the contraveners 
 of the laws ; the readiness of the magistrates to do their duty, but their 
 actual deforcement ; the royal commands to the provost and bailies in their 
 own persons to guard within the burgh night and day, as occasion requires ; 
 and the slaughter of divers honest persons while so engaged ; " where- 
 fore," proceeds the acl, " the king and his parliament ordain that no person 
 presume to disobey or contravene the orders of the magistrates, nor to 
 hurt them or their officers in the execution of their offices ;" and further, 
 " for the better performing of the premises, and defence of the kirk of 
 God within the land, now in this perillous day, grantis and committis to 
 the said provost and baillies, and thair successouris, free liberty, power, 
 and authority to assemble themselves in armour, and to list and raise men 
 of weir for dailie, oulklie, and monethlie wagees, and to beir and use hag- 
 buttis and other armour quhatsumeuvir at all times quhair thai sail think 
 expedient." This act further provides that if any one should be hurt, slain, 
 or mutilated " in redding and putting sundrie parties mentioned in armes 
 within the said burgh of Edinburgh, they always redding the said parties with 
 lang waypynis allennarlie, and not by schuitting of hagbuttis and pistollettes 
 at ony of the parties, in thai cases, and ather of thame, the provost, baillies, 
 counsaill, and communities of the burgh, nor their successors, nor uthers in 
 
 1 Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, iv. 22. 
 
 D
 
 26 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 company with them, should be liable to be pursued or molested criminally 
 therefor." 1 In the following year, the council, in consequence of the resort of 
 great numbers of persons to the approaching parliament, enjoined the citizens 
 to appear in arms, at the first warning, to attend the magistrates, and or- 
 dered the names of all lodgers or strangers to be sent in nightly to the several 
 bailies, and neither taverns nor ale-houses to be kept open, nor persons to 
 appear in the streets after 10 o'clock. 2 A proclamation of the King and 
 Privy Council in December 1595, required "that nane accompany the Earl 
 of Mar and Lord Livingstoun to thair day of law," it being feared that 
 if the friends of the two parties were to attend, as they were preparing to 
 do, sum grite inconvenient " would " fall oute vpoun the first occasioun of 
 thair meeting, to the brek of his hienes peax." 3 Two acts of Parliament 
 passed in 1600 also indicate the prevalence of the disorders against which 
 they were directed. The first, viz. the act 1600, c. 2i, 4 " against singular com- 
 battis," and the second, 1600 c. 39," against " persones quha persewis vtheris 
 within ane mile of the Kings Maiesties residence." The latter act refers to 
 the " manyfold indigniteis fra tyme to tyme done to his Maiestie be ane num- 
 ber of vndewtiful and irreverent subiectis quha, to the contempt and dishonour 
 of his Maiestie, makis frequent tulzeis, and seekis the commoditie to revenge 
 thair particular querellis within the burgh of Edinburgh and the Cannongait, 
 and utheris pairties ewest to the place of his Hienes residence, not sparing 
 sumtyme at his Maiesties awin back to vse thair private revenge, to the hazart 
 and perrilling of his hienes maist nobill persone." This act ordains all per- 
 sons contravening it to be imprisoned for a year and a day, and farther dur- 
 ing the royal pleasure. Again in 1606, an act was passed for staying of all 
 unlawful conventions within burgh, and for assisting the magistrates in the 
 execution of their offices (1606, c. i6). 6 It renewed all former acts for 
 staying tumults and unlawful meetings and convocations, and ordained 
 them to be put in force, with this addition, that no persons should assemble 
 within burgh for any purpose until they had first obtained the authority of the 
 provost and bailies to do so ; and to the effect that all " unlauchfull meitings, 
 with ail vtheris tumultis trublances and pleyis that sal happin to fall out 
 
 1 Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, iv. 28, 29. 
 
 3 Council Records, x. 18. 
 
 3 Pitcairn's Criminal Trials, i. 351. 
 
 * Acts of the Parliament of Scotland, iv. 230. 
 
 s Ibid. iv. 239. 6 Ibid. iv. 288.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 27 
 
 within the saidis burrowes may be substantiouslie suppressit," the whole in- 
 habitants were ordained on all occasions readily to " assist and concur with 
 the magistratis and officiaris thairof for sailing of the saidis tumultis and 
 trublances, and pvnischeing of the authouris and movearis thereof ;" and such 
 as should not so assist and concur with the magistrates and their officers, it 
 declared should be regarded as fosterers and maintainers of the tumults, 
 and punished therefor in their persons, and unlawed in their goods, at the 
 arbitrament of the magistrates and council. Still many insolences and disor- 
 ders continued to prevail, and on ad January 1608, the Privy Council passed 
 an act for their suppression, whereby they ordained 
 
 " the officers of arms to pass to the Market Cross of Edinburgh, and there by 
 open proclamation, to command, charge, and inhibit all and sundry His Majesty's 
 lieges and subjects, of what estate, quality, or degree soever they were, that none of 
 them presume nor take upon hand, under whatsoever colour or pretence, to commit 
 any such insolence, riots, robberies, or reifs upon the streets of Edinburgh, under 
 silence of night, upon any of his majesty's subjects, men, women, or bairns, under the 
 pain of death ; Certifying them that should do in the contrary, that they should be 
 apprehended and execute to death without favour : And for that effect, to command 
 and charge the magistrates of the burgh of Edinburgh to appoint some persons to guard 
 their streets, and to attend and await if they might apprehend any of the said insolent 
 limmers, and if in pursuit and apprehension of them it should happen the said insolent 
 persons, or any of them refusing to be taken, to be hurt, mutilate, or other incon- 
 venience to follow, the saids Lords declared that the same should be accounted as good 
 and acceptable service." 1 
 
 The proclamations made in virtue of this Act were attended for a time 
 with the desired effect, but the disorders which'it was intended to suppress 
 again broke out, and on igth February 1611 the Privy Council passed the 
 following Ac~l : * 
 
 1 Inventory of City Charters, i. 72. The Bailies' account of unlaws for the year from 
 Michaelmas 1608 till Michaelmas 1609, shews the kind of offences which were then 
 common, and the penalties which were imposed. See Appendix, II. 
 
 It must not be supposed that down to this period the town had been left unguarded. 
 Watching was one of the essential conditions of burgesship in all towns, and the ear- 
 liest records of Edinburgh shew that provision was made from time to time for guarding 
 the city, as well against aggressors from without, as against crime and disturbance within. 
 See sketch of the watching arrangements down to this period, p. 41, et seq. 
 
 2 Extract under the hand of James Prymrois, Clerk to the Privy Council, in City 
 Clerk's Office. Inventory of City Charters, i. 73.
 
 28 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 " Forsamekle as vpoun occasioun of the mony insolenzeis and ryottis committit 
 within this burgh vnder silence of night be nomberis of ydill insolent and deboscheit 
 personis, pairtlie strangeris and pairtlie inhabitantis of this burgh, who, debording in 
 all kynd of excesse ryott and drukkinnes, not onlie persewit the nightbouris and 
 inhabitantis of this burgh, bot committit diuers robbreis and otheris villenzeis vnworthie 
 to be hard of in a weill governit citie, proclamationis wer maid and publist heirtofoire 
 wherby the resoirt and repairing of personis vpoun the hie streittis after ten houris 
 at night wes verrie straitlie prohibite and forbidden vnder certane grite paneis men- 
 tionat in the saidis proclamationis, quhilkis for some certane speace thairefter being 
 weill obeyit, and goode quyetnes keipit within this burgh and no misrule nor swagger- 
 ring hard of within the same, Neuertheles the Lordis of Secreit Counsaill ar informed 
 that the formar swaggering behaviour and cariage of idle and insolent personis within 
 this burgh is renewit, and societeis and companyes of swaggering and idle personis ar 
 nightlie vpoun the streittis of this burgh, behaveing thame selffis in all kynd of 
 deboshrie insolence and excesse, and committing of sundrie enormityes and villanzeis 
 vpoun his Maiesties peccable and goode subiectis, in contempt of oure souerane Lord, 
 and unregard of law ordour and justice : THAIRFOIR the Lordis of Secreit Counsaill 
 ordouris officiaris of armes to pas to the mercat croce of Edinburgh, and thair, be oppin 
 proclamation, to command charge and inhibite all and sundrie personis, alsweill 
 strangeris as nightbouris and inhabitantis of this burgh, of quhat estait or conditioun 
 soeuir thay be, that nane of thame presume nor tak vpoun hand to resoirt hant or 
 repair vpoun the streittis of this burgh after the ringing of the ten houris bell at nycht, 
 nor to commit ony insolence ryottis robbreis or reiffis vpoun the streittis of this 
 burgh vnder silence of night, vnder the pane to be takin apprehendit and committit 
 to waird, and pvnist in thair personis conforme to the formar proclamationis maid 
 thairanent : COMMANDING heirby the prouest and bailleis of Edinburgh to appoynt 
 some personis to gaird thair streittis, and to tak apprehend and commit to waird all 
 suche personis of quhatsomeuir rank and qualitie thay be whome thay find vpoun thair 
 streittis after the said ten houris bell, and yf in the taking of thame ony inconvenience 
 salhappin to fall oute, the saidis Lordis declairis that the same sail not be imputt as 
 cryme or offence to the committaris, bot goode and acceptabill seruice. 
 
 These several incidents, acts, and proclamations, referred to as far as pos- 
 sible in the language of contemporary records, tell their own story of the 
 rudeness, disorder, and lawlessness of the times. But something more than 
 acts and proclamations was necessary to correct the chronic derangement of 
 the country. What was required was the strong hand to enforce obedience 
 to the laws, and the power of the crown was now, fortunately for that object, 
 such as could make itself felt and feared. The accession of James VI. to the 
 throne of England in 1603 had placed at his command the power and re- 
 sources of the richer kingdom, and had added largely to his personal in-
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 29 
 
 fluence. It had familiarised him, moreover, with English institutions, through 
 the instrumentality of which the law had become supreme in the southern 
 portion of his dominions ; and that supremacy must have stood out in strong 
 contrast with the insubordination so prevalent in Scotland. It was most 
 natural, therefore, that he should seek to employ in this country a part 
 of the machinery which, for centuries, had worked so well and so advan- 
 tageously in England. Justices of the Peace were already established in 
 Scotland. This had been done sixteen years before the king succeeded 
 to the English crown. The office and its duties were therefore known 
 here, and especially in the capital, the magistrates of which had, in 1589, 
 received the king's commission constituting them his justices within the 
 burgh and its suburbs, 1 and, moreover, held a royal charter, dated in 
 1609, conferring upon them the authority and jurisdiction of Justices of 
 the Peace within the city and its liberties. 3 But constables as officers of 
 Justices of the Peace had no place in the municipal arrangements of the 
 country, and these it was determined to introduce. The circumstances of 
 Edinburgh, as we have seen, were such as to make it in the highest degree 
 desirable to secure for its magistrates the utmost support in the discharge of 
 their duties ; and this probably could not have been better obtained than by 
 the organisation, under the royal authority, of a number of the citizens, 
 periodically elected by the magistrates themselves, sworn to the faithful per- 
 formance of the duties assigned to them, and bound by strong ties to support 
 the local authorities in the preservation of peace, the suppression of crime, 
 and the enforcement of the laws and regulations of the town. Letters from 
 the Privy Council were accordingly directed to the magistrates, charging 
 them to elect constables within the burgh. These were formally presented 
 by a messenger-at-arms on the 28th of August 1611, and under that date, 
 the following entry occurs in the Council Records : 3 
 
 "xxviij August j m - vj c - xj- 
 
 "The same day Robert Logane, messenger, comperand chairges the said prouest 
 baillies and counsall to elect constabills within this burch conform to the letteris of 
 the Lordis of Secreitt Counsall direct thairanent j in respect quhereof the said baillies 
 and counsall hes aggreit to thair electioun and continewis the samin." 
 
 1 Inventory of City Charters, i. 62. 
 
 2 Ibid. i. 734. See Notes on Lord High Constable, pp. 17, 18. 
 a Council Records, xii. p. 71.
 
 3O Sketch of the History of the 
 
 On the 4th of September, accordingly, the consideration of the charge was 
 resumed, and the following entry occurs in the Council Record : T 
 
 " Quarto Septembris j m - vj p - xj- 
 
 ' ' The same day, understanding that thai ar chargit to elect constabills within this 
 burch be our Souerane Lords letteris, thairfore thay haif ordanet that thair be to the 
 number of persouns elected to that office, the ane half to be of the calling of 
 
 merchantis and the other of craftismen, throw all the quarteris of this burch, to 
 continew in the said office for the space of sex monethis, and hes maid and set furch 
 the heidis and articles following concerning the office foresaid, and ordanes to be 
 proclamit publictlie, and alswa prentit, that nane pretend ignorance, and the thesaurer 
 to mak the expenssis quhilk sail be allowit, and that the baillies obteyne the consent of 
 the Lordis of Secreitt Counsall thairto. 
 
 In accordance with the instructions of the Town Council, the " orders and 
 injunctions" to be observed by the Constables, were submitted to the Lords of 
 the Privy Council, and were approved of by them, and on the 6th of Septem- 
 ber constables were elected by the provost, bailies, and council, for a period of 
 six months. 2 At this time the town was divided into four quarters, known as 
 the north-east, north-west, south-east, and south-west quarters, each under the 
 more immediate charge of one of the bailies. 3 The election of the constables 
 
 1 Cpuncil Records, xii. 73. * Council Records, xii. 75. 
 
 3 The division of the town into quarters dates from a period long anterior to this, 
 if, indeed, it was not made in accordance with a general law or practice originally 
 applicable to all burghs [see Robertson's Scotland under her Early Kings, i. 298]. The 
 earliest reference to it, however, in the Council Records, is contained in an order dated 
 loth August 1498, appointing all merchants and craftsmen to have weapons in their 
 booths to be ready to assist the provost, bailies, and quartermasters in the suppression 
 of tumults, &c. [Council Records, i. 32]. This seems to indicate the existence at 
 that time of quarters, and officers assigned to these with the title of "quartermasters," 
 whose duty it was to assist the magistrates in the preservation of the peace. A more 
 specific statement on the subject is to be found under date 4th October 1514, in what 
 purports to be a minute of the provost, bailies, and council, whereby " for eschewing of 
 this contagious seiknes of pestilence be Goddis grace," it is statuted and ordained that 
 the town shall be divided into four quarters, to be assigned to four bailies, with their 
 quartermasters. The first quarter is defined as extending from the Casflehill to Alex- 
 ander Cant's Close ; the second from Cant's Close to Leith Wynd ; the third from 
 the " Lopelie stayne with the Cowgaitt " to Lord Borthwick's Close ; and the fourth 
 from Borlhwick's Close to the Castlehill with under the wall [Extracts from Council 
 Records, Advocates' Library, fol. 208]. The division into quarters was subsequently
 
 High Constables of t/ie City of Edinburgh. 3 1 
 
 was accordingly made with reference to these quarters, each of which was 
 subdivided into three parts, and each part was assigned to an officer and two 
 constables. A district adjoining the north-east quarter, and known as " with- 
 out the port," had also two constables assigned to it. On this occasion, there- 
 fore, twelve officers and twenty-six men were elected constables. Subse- 
 quently, two constables were assigned to the Cowgate, making twenty-eight 
 constables in all, besides the officers. On the I3th of September the orders 
 
 recognised in many acts of council for watching, taxation, and other municipal pur- 
 poses. On I3th October 1563 [Council Records, iv. 82], the bailies were appointed to 
 have the government each of a quarter ; on 3ist August 1565 [ibid. iv. 134], the 
 Council were ordered by " Instructions," under the hand of the Queen and Darnley, 
 to divide the town into quarters, and to have them watched ; on i8th May 1578 [ibid. 
 v. 99], the bailies were directed to watch each his quarter until the provost's return 
 from Stirling ; and in the following year [ibid. v. 167, 8th October 1579] they were 
 appointed to take the charge each of his quarter. In 1585, the duties of this charge 
 appear to have grown so much as to render it necessary to appoint assistants to the 
 bailies, and three persons in each quarter were elected for the purpose [ibid. vii. 
 184, igth May 1585]. That the duties of their office were not of the most agreeable 
 kind, may be inferred from the fact that an act of council was passed three days later 
 appointing these persons to be charged to accept under pain of having their names de- 
 clared to the king [ibid. vii. 1 86, 22d May 1585]. When the plague again broke out 
 in 1 585, it was found necessary to elect six persons to be called ' ' quartermasters and 
 visitors," for the better government of the town, and they were vested with authority 
 equal to the bailies in visiting their quarter, punishing vice, " outputting and inputting 
 of the foull folk," and all other things concerning the plague. For their services the 
 quartermasters were appointed to receive each $ [ibid. vii. 208, 2Oth October 1585]. 
 By a subsequent act of council, dated 2 1st January 1585, the allowance to each quar- 
 termaster was increased to 10 [ibid. vii. 222]. In the absence of the bailie of the 
 south-east quarter, we find an overseer of the quarter appointed on 3d November 
 1587 [ibid. viii. 116]. Quartermasters were again constituted in time of plague by act 
 of council, 8th November 1587 [ibid. viii. 117] ; on the 3d of July 1588, visitors were 
 elected for the various quarters, and "the order and maner of the visitors," prescribed 
 at this time, shew that they were entrusted with several of the duties afterwards 
 assigned to the constables. These duties, however, appear to have been confined 
 to inspecting and reporting to the Magistrates. They had no executive authority, 
 corresponding to that, of the town's officers, or of the constables of later times [see 
 Order and Manner of the Visitors, Appendix No. III.]. Under the arrangements 
 made at this time, each of the bailies had his quarter, which was divided into rows, 
 and each row was placed under the charge of an officer, but subdivided into portions 
 specially assigned to the visitors. Thus the north-west quarter had its bailie, three
 
 32 Sketch of tJie History of the 
 
 and injunctions were printed, and five days afterwards the bailies were 
 
 ordered to agree, and the treasurer to settle with the printer for the printing. 1 
 
 The duties of the Constables, as defined by these orders and injunctions, 
 
 officers, and nineteen visitors ; the north-east quarter had its bailie, two officers, and 
 eleven visitors ; the south-east quarter had its bailie, and nineteen visitors ; and the south- 
 west quarter had its bailie and twenty-five visitors. The number of officers assigned to 
 the south-east and south-west quarters does not appear [Council Records, viii. p. 161]. 
 On 3Oth September 1595, four officers, under the old name of sergeants, were named 
 for each of the quarters [ibid. x. 43], and on 5th August 1597 two neighbours were 
 appointed in each quarter to assist the bailie thereof in time of need [ibid. x. 137]. 
 In the same year an act of council, of date 7th December, bears that the bailies 
 " pairted the quarteris of the toun amangis thame" [ibid. p. 159]. In 1604, an act was 
 made to choose four quartermasters to attend on the four quarters at the town's expense 
 " during the time of the present visitation of the plague" [ibid. xi. 151, I ith July 1604]. 
 What the duties of the quartermasters were at this time does not appear ; probably 
 they were similar to those of the quartermasters and visitors elected in 1585 and 1588. 
 Quartermasters are again referred to in 1652, and subsequently, but their duties then 
 appear to have had relation to the quartering of soldiers ; the functions of the quarter- 
 masters and visitors, as formerly defined, having been included in the ampler duties and 
 powers of the constables. 
 
 The division into quarters was also recognised in the ecclesiastical arrangements of 
 the city. On I4th October 1584 [Council Records, vii. 116], the council divided the 
 town into four parishes, according to the several quarters, and appointed for each its 
 proper church, ordaining every person to attend his own parish kirk for divine ser- 
 vice. At the same time it was resolved to elect for each parish, with the advice of the 
 minister, three elders and four deacons, who should convene weekly with two bailies 
 and four councillors, to take order with the affairs of the church, the correction of 
 manners, the support of the poor, &c. In 1597, it was resolved to divide the town 
 into eight parishes [ibid. x. p. 131], but this resolution was not carried into effect. In 
 the following year, however, an additional minister was chosen for each quarter, making 
 eight in all [Calderwood's History of the Kirk of Scotland, v. 713. Charter of the 
 Collegiate Church of St Giles ; Preface by Mr Laing, p. liv]. This arrangement re- 
 mained till 1625, when, in obedience to the requirements, first of James VI. and after- 
 wards of Charles I., the West Port, Cowgate, and Canongate-head, were included in 
 the parochial arrangements ; and the whole was divided into four parishes, with two 
 ministers for each. This arrangement was sanctioned by Charles I. on igth October 
 1625, and confirmed by an act of the Privy Council on 1st November 1625 [Council 
 Records, xiii. 274-277, 289, 302, 304, 307, 311-314. Maitland's History of Edin- 
 burgh, 274-281]. 
 
 1 Ibid. xii. 76. See "Orders and Injunctions for Constables," Appendix No. IV.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 33 
 
 were of a very miscellaneous character ; and before proceeding further, it 
 may be convenient to enter somewhat into detail in regard to several of them. 
 
 I. The Constables were required to apprehend all suspected persons, idle 
 vagabonds, or night walkers, and to imprison them till they found security 
 for their behaviour (article i) ; to apprehend all vagabonds, beggars, or 
 Egyptians (gypsies), for punishment according to Act of Parliament (art. 6) ; 
 to apprehend all persons having no visible means of subsistence, with a view 
 to their trial and punishment (art. 7) ; and to report to the magistrates all 
 vagabonds, beggars, and infamous persons within their bounds, in order to 
 their punishment and removal furth of the burgh (art. 9). 
 
 From an early period the law of Scotland established a broad distinction 
 between the truly necessitous, viz., poor aged and impotent persons, whose 
 claim to be maintained by charity it recognised, and those who, though able 
 to work, chose to live idly at the expense of others, viz., vagabonds and 
 strong beggars, against whom it denounced a variety of punishments. This 
 distinction is most clearly denned by the act 1579, c. I2, 1 but it is recognised 
 in the previous acts of 1424, c. 2i, 3 and 1503, c. 14 ; 3 and it is for the sup- 
 pression of the latter class, the hordes of vagabonds who infested the 
 country, levying free quarters and oppressing the people, that the greater 
 part of the Scots Acts on this subject are directed. Of this class were the 
 "katherans," referred to so earlyas 1384 in an act of Robert II., 4 which described 
 them as persons who lived " commedendo patriam et consumendo bona comi- 
 tatum et capiendo per vim et violenciam bona et victualia," and ordained them 
 to be treated as fugitives and rebels ; the " sorners," referred to in the acts 
 1424, c. 7 ; s 1449, c. 9 ; 6 1456, c. 13 ; 7 and 1457, c. 26 ; 8 and against whom the 
 statutes, 1455, c. 8, 9 and 1478, c. io, 10 denounced death as thieves and reivers ; 
 the "Egyptians" who were ordered to leave Scotland, by the act 1609, c. 20," 
 which prescribed death as the penalty of non-compliance, adding (what Hume 
 calls) "the convenient but very severe provision that it should be lawful to con- 
 demn and execute them to the death, on proof made to this effect only" that 
 they are called known repute and holden Egyptians; 13 the "unlicensed 
 
 1 Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, iii. 139. 
 
 2 Ibid. ii. 8. * Ibid. i. 186. 8 Ibid. ii. 36. Ibid. ii. 51. 10 Ibid. ii. 119. 
 
 3 Ibid. ii. 251. 5 Ibid. ii. 3. 7 Ibid. ii. 45. 9 Ibid. ii. 43. u Ibid. iv. 440. 
 12 The Egyptians, or Gypsies as they are now termed, were so called in accordance 
 
 with the popular belief, founded on their own assertion, that they came originally from 
 Egypt. It rather appears, however, that they are of Indian origin, and it has been
 
 34 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 thiggeris" referred to in the acts 1424, c. 7 and 21, who were to be burned on the 
 cheek, and banished the country if they did not "labour and passe to crafts for 
 
 endeavoured to be shewn that they were driven from India by Timour Beg, when he 
 devastated that country in 14089. At all events they were first noticed in Europe 
 about the year 1417, and they soon succeeded in extending from Hungary and Bohemia, 
 where they first appeared, to most of the other kingdoms. At first they professed to 
 be, and were received as, Christian pilgrims ; and their chiefs, who assumed the titles 
 of kings, dukes, counts, or lords of Little Egypt, received passports and other privi- 
 leges and recognitions from most of the European sovereigns. It was soon discovered, 
 however, that their manners and morals were inconsistent with their pretended 
 character. Idle and dissolute themselves, they were joined by the idle and dissolute 
 of every country in which they settled, and became so great a nuisance that it was 
 found to be necessary to expel them. Thus they were banished out of Spain in 1492, 
 out of Germany in 1500, and out of England in 1531. 
 
 In Scotland, as elsewhere, they were at first received with favour and consideration. 
 The books of the Lord High Treasurer of Scotland shew various payments to them 
 during the reign of James IV., "by the King's command " [Pitcairn's Criminal Trials, 
 i. 272,* 277*] ; and the records of the Privy Seal contain several important evidences 
 of the royal favour about the same period ; viz., (i) a letter from James IV. to the 
 king of Denmark, in favour of Anthony Gawin, earl of Little Egypt, dated in 1506 ; 
 (2) a letter under the Privy Seal, by James V., in favour of John Faw, lord and earl 
 of Little Egypt, supporting him in the execution of justice in his company and folk, 
 conform to the laws of Egypt, dated I5th February 1540- This letter refers to a simi- 
 lar letter under the great seal, as having been previously granted to the same indi- 
 vidual. (3) A precept to John Wanne, son and heir of the late John Fall, lord and 
 earl of Little Egypt, authorising him to hang and punish all Egyptians within the 
 kingdom of Scotland, dated 26th May 1540. The tide of favour appears, how- 
 ever, to have turned against them shortly afterwards, for on 5th June 1541, the Privy 
 Council having under consideration complaints by certain Egyptians against each other, 
 which the complainers had afterwards agreed among themselves to pass home and have 
 decided before the duke of Egypt, ordained letters to be directed to the provosts and 
 bailies of Edinburgh, and other places where the Egyptians resorted, to command them 
 by open proclamation " to depairt furth of this realme, with their wifis, barnis, and 
 companeies, within thirty days after the charge, under the pain of deid, notwithstanding 
 ony utheris lettres or privileges granted to them be the Kingis grace, becaus his grace, 
 with avise of the lordis, hes deschargit the samin " in respect of " the greit thiftis and 
 scathis done be the saidis Egyptians vpoune our soverane lordis liegis " [ibid. iii. 593]. 
 The Lord High Treasurer's accounts for this year contain two entries, under date 23d 
 June, of payments to messengers with these letters to the sheriffs and burghs [ib. i. 310*]. 
 This order, however, does not appear to have been put to rigorous execution, for in 
 March 1553 and April 1554, we find respites granted to the captain of the Egyptians,
 
 High Constables o f the City of Edinburgh. 35 
 
 winning of thair living ;" the " idle men" referred to in the act 1425, c. 2o, 1 
 whom the sheriffs and magistrates of burghs were to arrest till it were known 
 " quhairupon they live," and if they failed " to fasten to lawful craftis," were 
 to be imprisoned to abide and be punished at the king's will ;" the "over- 
 liers and masterful beggars" referred to in the act 1449, c. 9, as then going 
 about the country with " horses hundes and uther gudes," whose property 
 it directed to be escheat to the king, and the owners to be imprisoned until 
 his "maiestie have said his will on them ;" and in the act 1457, c. 26, which 
 directed the judges at the justice aires to take cognizance of them ; the 
 persons " that maks thaim fulis, that ar nocht bards, or sik lik vtheris rynars 
 aboute," referred to in the statute, 1449, c. 9, which directed them to be im- 
 prisoned so long as they had any goods of their own to live upon, then to 
 have their ears " nailed to the trone, or till ane uther tree, and their ear 
 cutted off, then banished the country," and thereafter, " giff fundin agane " 
 to be hanged. 
 
 But these acts, severe though they were, failed to put down the vagabond- 
 ism against which they were directed. The low moral condition of the people, 
 and the disturbed political state of the country, at once fostered the evil and 
 prevented the execution of the laws. Strong and idle beggars increased, and 
 carried themselves with a high hand, while the poor and impotent lacked 
 necessary subsistence. To remedy this state of matters the act 1579, c. 12, 
 was passed, and it still forms the foundation of our system of poor laws. 
 Referring to the previous statutes as not having been put to due execution 
 
 his three sons, and several others, for the slaughter of Ninian Small [ibid. iii. 593, 
 594]. In June 1603, the repeated enactments against rogues and vagabonds, and the 
 previous order of the Privy Council having proved insufficient to restrain them, a new 
 order was issued, banishing them from the country under pain of death, and this order 
 received Parliamentary sanction by the statute of 1609, c. 13. Under this act sentence 
 of death was passed on four of this proscribed class in 161 r, and on several subsequent 
 occasions down to 1715 [See Hume's Commentaries on the Law of Scotland respecting 
 crimes, i. 468-470. Pitcairn's Criminal Trials, iii. 201, 397, 559, 561, and 595. Mac- 
 kenzie's Observations on the Acts of Parliament, 333-4]. Their own excesses, doubt- 
 less, provoked this rigour, for an order of the Privy Council in 1630, represents them as 
 going about in the north parts of the kingdom armed, extorting whatever they needed 
 from such of the lieges as were not able to resist them [Chambers's Domestic Annals 
 of Scotland, ii. 54]. The practice of later times has reduced the charge of being an 
 Egyptian nearly to that at common law of being habit and repute a thief. 
 1 Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, ii. u.
 
 36 Sketch of the History of t tie 
 
 " through the iniquities and troubles of the time bypast, and by reasoun 
 that there was not heretofore ane ordour of punishment sa speciallie devised as 
 need required," it appointed an " order of punishment " for all idle and 
 strong beggars and vagabonds, viz. scourging and burning through the 
 ear with a hot iron on first conviction, if no honest and responsible person 
 would take and keep the offender for one year in his service, and death as 
 a thief on a second conviction ; it set forth minutely who were to be con- 
 sidered vagabonds and worthy of that punishment, and these were generally 
 all persons between fourteen and seventy years of age, going about the 
 country idle, and not following any lawful mode of earning their bread ; it 
 subjected to fine all who should give money or lodging, or set houses, to va- 
 gabonds ; it required the officers and judge of every burgh and parish to 
 nominate persons to search for, receive, and convey vagabonds to the common 
 prison, irons, or stocks, at the expense of the parish ; it required the magis- 
 trates in burghs, and the justices to be constituted by the king in parishes to 
 landward, to take inquisition of the aged poor, impotent, and decayed persons 
 born in the burgh or parish, or who had dwelt or had their most common resort 
 therein for the previous seven years, and to levy an annual assessment for 
 their support ; and it allowed any of the lieges, with the consent of the magis- 
 trates of burghs, or the sheriff in landward parishes, to take beggars' children 
 between the ages of five and fourteen into their service, and to retain them till 
 the boys attained the age of twenty-four, and the girls the age of eighteen. The 
 statute, though put to execution in Edinburgh, does not appear to have been 
 generally enforced, or to have realised the expectations that were formed of it. 
 Its only result, indeed, as remarked by Mr Dunlop, seems to have been to create 
 a feeling of the necessity for an increase of prisons and places of confinement to 
 contain the vagabonds against whom the order of punishment contained in 
 the act was directed. 1 The next statute therefore (1592, c. 6g), 2 directed these 
 to be erected, not only at head burghs, but at all the principal towns and 
 parish churches, and empowered certain persons, to be appointed by the kirk- 
 sessions, to execute the provisions of the act of 1579. This power was sub- 
 sequently, by the act 1597, c. 39," vested in the kirk-sessions themselves, and 
 the presbyteries were, by the act 1600, c. 28, 4 appointed to take cognizance of 
 them, reporting their diligence to the ministers of the crown. Subsequently 
 
 1 Dunlop on the Poor 'Law, p. 14. 
 
 2 Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, iii. 576. 
 
 3 Ibid. iv. 140. * Ibid. v. 232.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 37 
 
 the act 1617, c. 8, 7, 1 required justices of the peace to enforce the acts 
 against vagabonds, and to punish " their receptors, and setters of houses 
 to them ;" but notwithstanding the additional machinery thus employed, the 
 next statute, 1617, c. ro, 2 sets out with the complaint that "the number of 
 idle and masterful beggars hathe daylie incresced more and more," and after 
 propounding the opinion that the non-education of the children of poor 
 parents in habits of industry was the cause of the multiplying of beggars, 
 the act elaborated into a more complete form the system of temporary 
 slavery introduced by the acts 1579 and 1597. 
 
 In the enforcement of these acts relative to the vagabond poor in Edinburgh, 
 the magistrates required the assistance of the constables, as they had previously 
 required that of the "visitors and quartermasters" appointed in 1587,3 and it 
 was no easy task which they were called on to perform. Edinburgh was 
 at this time, and had long been, a favourite haunt of beggars. In his 
 address to the merchants of Edinburgh in the early part of the i6th century, 
 Dunbar had described their burgh as "ane nest" of beggars, and his 
 description seems to have been no exaggeration. The act 1540, c. 2i, 4 
 also refers to the "multitude of vyle, unhonest, and miserable creatures 
 convening daily to the market of meal and other victuals to get sustenta- 
 tion and living," and appoints that market, which was then held in the 
 hiegait, to be removed to some honest ganand and convenient place, where 
 the king's lieges may convene for selling and buying of victuals in time to 
 come." It was also, without doubt, one of the places referred to in the Act 
 of the Parliament held there in 1551 (c. i6), 6 which appoints the former acts 
 against beggars to be put to rigorous execution, on the narrative that " beg- 
 gers dailie and continuallie multiplies and resortis in all places quhair my 
 Lord Governour and otheris nobillis convenis, swa that nane of thame may 
 pass throw the streittis for raming and crying upon them contrare to the 
 tenour of the said actis." Nor was the condition of matters in this respect 
 
 1 Ibid. v. 535. 
 
 2 Ibid. v. 542. The condition of England at this time was probably not much 
 better. See extract from a letter, addressed by a justice of the peace of Somerset- 
 shire to the Lord Chancellor Burleigh, in transmitting to him the calendar of the 
 assizes and sessions held in that county in 1596. Strype's Annals, vol. iv., No. 
 ccxiii., quoted by Mr Dunlop on the Poor Laws, p. 6. See also Sketch of the English 
 Poor Law System, Froude's History of England, i. 7^-90. 
 
 3 See Footnote, p. 31. Appendix No. III. 
 
 Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, ii. 374. 5 Ibid. ii. 486.
 
 38 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 improved so late as 1616. An act of the Privy Council against beggars, 
 passed on the 5th of March of that year, describes Edinburgh as infested 
 with strong and idle vagabonds, " having their resets in some parts of the 
 Cowgate, the Canongate, Potterrow, West Port, Pleasance, [and] Leith 
 Wynd, where they ordinarily convene every night, and pass their time in all 
 kind of riot and filthy leechery to the offence and displeasure of God." By 
 day they are said to " present themselves in great companies in the principal 
 streets." Numbers of them "lie all day on the causey of the Canongate, 
 and with shameful exclamations and cursing not only extorts almous, but 
 by their other misbehaviour fashes and wearies as well his majesty's no- 
 bility and councillors,_as other his majesty's subjects repairing to this burgh, 
 sae that hardly ony man of whatsomever quality can walk upon the streets, 
 nor yet stand and confer upon the streets, nor under stairs, but they are 
 impeshit by numbers of beggars." The magistrates of Edinburgh and 
 Canongate were therefore ordered to get these people removed from their 
 respective bounds, and to suffer them no longer to ask alms on the streets. 1 
 
 The acts and proclamations for their suppression, which are to be found 
 in the Council Records, from the earliest period down to comparatively recent 
 times, also shew how much the capital was annoyed with beggars and vaga- 
 bonds of every description. These acts and proclamations too numerous 
 for particular reference are directed against beggars not born in burgh ; 
 against giving alms to strangers ; against all beggars not having the town's 
 mark ; against begging in the streets ; against strong and idle beggars ; 
 against uncouth beggars repairing to the town ; against " outland beggars 
 and such as have no lawful industry ;" against beggars and vagabonds lying 
 in kilns ; against setting houses to, or receiving, beggars ; and for up-bring- 
 ing of beggars' children. And the whole armoury of punishments seems to 
 have been exhausted against them. Burning the cheek, warding, scourging, 
 fines, putting in shackles, putting in the stocks, banishment to Barbadoes, 
 Virginia, or Carolina, and death itself was prescribed from time to time. 
 Then we find acts for their summary expulsion from the town ; for fitting up 
 a house in St Mary's Wynd for their imprisonment ; for putting locks on the 
 doors of the college house as a prison for outlawed beggars ; acts appointing 
 and paying persons to hold beggars off the streets ; ordaining the officers to 
 stop their clamour at the kirk ; and directing the porters at the several gates 
 to hold beggars furth, under a penalty of 55. for every one allowed to enter. 
 
 1 Chambers's Domestic Annals of Scotland, i. 474.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 39 
 
 It is at the same time gratifying to find, that while thus severe in their 
 dealing with strong and idle beggars, the magistrates were not neglectful of 
 the truly necessitous. The records contain numerous acts for their behoof, 
 licensing proper persons to beg through the town ; providing for the purchase 
 and distribution of bread to them ; ordering the duty of St Giles' altar wine to 
 be rouped for them, and escheat mutton to be given to them ; appointing 
 collections to be made for them of 4d. per pound of the dead's part, of I2d. 
 on the tun of wine, of wine from every puncheon, of extents, of the fines of 
 absent magistrates, of weekly contributions by the inhabitants, of the prime 
 gilt tax, and of alms at kirk doors, and regulating the application for their 
 benefit of priests' incomes, and moneys mortified by the inhabitants. 
 
 II. The constables were farther required to apprehend all persons wearing 
 " pistolets or dagges," and to present them to the magistrates for punishment 
 conform to Act of Parliament. 
 
 It has already been seen that firearms were freely used in the fierce and 
 frequent encounters that took place in the streets of the capital in the six- 
 teenth century. To such a length was the practice carried, that on 24th 
 November 1567, three days after the fray between the Laird of Airth and 
 the Laird of Wemyss, to which reference has been made, the Privy Council 
 found it necessary to issue a strict proclamation against the wearing of guns 
 and pistols, or any " sicklyke fyerwork engyne, under the paine of death," the 
 king's guard and soldiers only excepted j 1 and on 2oth December an Act of 
 Parliament was passed (1567, c. 2i), 2 prohibiting all persons, of whatever 
 degree, from shooting with or carrying " culuerings, daggis, pistollettis, or any 
 vther gunnis or ingynis of fyre wark in ony pairt of this realme, nouther to 
 burgh nor to land," under pain of having their right hand cut off. The pre- 
 amble of this act refers to the fact that " diueris of our souerane lordis liegis 
 are schamefullie and cruellie murthourit slaine and hurt, quhilks vtherwyse 
 war abill to mak defence sufficientlie for thaim selfis, at all tymes of persute, 
 as hes bene laitlie sene within this brugh of Edinburgh." It would appear, 
 however, from an act of the Convention held at Holyrood on 5th March 1574, 
 during the regency of the Earl of Morton, that the act of 1567 had not re- 
 ceived effect in consequence of " the troubles and civil war wherewith the 
 whole realm had been for the most part since then disquieted," but that the 
 unlawful use of firearms by all manner of men was still common, and was the 
 
 1 BirrelPs Diary, p. 13. 
 
 1 Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, iii. 29.
 
 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 occasion of many murders and slaughters. The act of 1 574, therefore, re- 
 newed and extended the provisions of the act of 1567, imposing the penalty 
 of imprisonment for the wearing of firearms, the cutting off of the right hand 
 for shooting at any of the lieges, and the penalty of death when slaughter or 
 mutilation ensued. 1 Still, however, the abuse of firearms continued, and the 
 Convention of Burghs, at their meeting in Cupar in February 1578, resolved 
 " to propone Parliament " on the subject. 2 This having been done, the act 
 1579, c. 25, was passed. Referring to the act of 1567 as not having been put 
 to execution, partly " by reason of the troubles intervening," and partly by 
 reason of the reluctance of the ordinary judges to enforce the penalty of death 
 or dismemberment which it prescribed, it substituted a pecuniary penalty and 
 forfeiture of the "gun and armour" of the contravener, "without prejudice 
 of the vther paines, gif the King's Maiestie will have the saim execute." It 
 also appointed the magistrates of burghs to carry its provisions into effect. 3 
 This leniency seems, however, to have failed in its object, for, in conse- 
 quence of the many murders committed in and near Edinburgh, the Privy 
 Council found it necessary, in 1 593, by an act to which reference has already 
 been made, to order a search for all pistols and hagbuts worn by any persons 
 in Edinburgh or in the palace of Holyrood, and the wearers to be imprisoned ; 
 and by the act 1597, c. 19, the act of 1567 was again ratified, and appointed 
 to be executed with all rigour against the contraveners, whose whole move- 
 able goods were moreover declared to be confiscated, one half to the king, 
 and the other half to the apprehender. 4 Still the acts do not seem^to have 
 been enforced, and by the act of Convention (1598, c. 5) the king pledged 
 himself to cause them to be put to execution ; the noblemen present promis- 
 ing to reform their own households, and to enforce the acts with all severity 
 within their several jurisdictions.* It is to be observed, however, that the 
 king had not been previously remiss in his endeavours to secure obedience to 
 the laws. On the contrary, by issuing proclamations, and by writing to the 
 magistrates of burghs, he had done all in his power to secure their en- 
 forcement, though, it appears, without much success. 8 The several acts 
 above referred to were amended by the act 1600, c. 14, which provided that 
 their contraveners might be pursued either before the Privy Council, but so 
 
 1 Ibid. iii. 84. 
 
 2 Printed Records of the Convention of Royal Burghs, i. 76. 
 
 s Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, iii. 146. * Ibid. iv. 134. * Ibid. iv. 164. 
 u Extracts from the Burgh Records of Aberdeen. Spalding Club, ii. 131.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 41 
 
 only as to infer the pains of warding and escheat or fine, or if his majesty 
 should so wish, before the criminal courts, who might subject the offender to 
 the full penalties of the former statutes. 1 It is a significant fact, as remarked 
 by Mr Chambers, that while, during the period over which these several 
 enactments extend, firearms were commonly worn and freely used in Scot- 
 land, the sword and buckler, a comparatively harmless furnishing, was the 
 ordinary gear of gallant men in England.* 
 
 In conformity with the several acts of Parliament and Convention before 
 referred to, various acts and proclamations against the use of firearms were 
 issued by the Privy Council and by the magistrates of Edinburgh from time 
 to time ; and the order to the constables now under consideration was a 
 part of the same policy of discouraging the bearing of mortal weapons on the 
 person, a practice which, it is observed by Hume, " our legislature have re- 
 garded as a preparation for violence, and the sign of a bad and quarrelsome 
 disposition." 3 
 
 Objectionable, however, as was the practice, none of the acts above re- 
 ferred to ever appear to have been rigorously enforced ; and even in Sir George 
 Mackenzie's time (1678) the bearing of arms was more commonly libelled as 
 an aggravation of a crime than as a crime in itself. 4 All these statutes are 
 now in desuetude. 5 
 
 III. By the third article of their orders and injunctions, the constables were 
 required, upon the appearance of any fray or stir, or on the occurrence of any 
 accident within the burgh, either by day or night, to procure assistance and 
 separate the parties, or take such steps as might be necessary, apprehend- 
 ing breakers of the peace, and imprisoning them, or presenting them to the 
 magistrates. They were further empowered, by Article 4, to break open 
 doors in pursuit of rioters, and to go beyond their bounds after them in fresh 
 pursuit, and to apprehend and commit them to prison. 
 
 This duty was closely connected with the watching of the town, which in 
 all burghs had to be performed by the burgesses. The laws of William the 
 Conqueror (A.D. 1066) provided that all cities and boroughs, castles, hundreds, 
 
 1 Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, iv. 228. Mackenzie's Observations upon the 
 Scots Acts, p. 297. 
 
 2 Chambers's Domestic Annals of Scotland, i. 47. 
 
 8 Hume's Commentaries on the Law of Scotland respecting Crimes, i. 439. 
 * Mackenzie's Treatise concerning the Law of Scotland in matters Criminal, p. 158. 
 5 Hume, i. 440. Tail's Justice of the Peace, voee Breach of the Peace, p. 49. 
 
 B
 
 42 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 and wapentakes, should be watched every night, and kept in turn against 
 evil-doers and enemies, as the sheriffs, aldermen, reeves, bailiffs, and the 
 king's ministers, should the better provide, by the common council, for the 
 benefit of the kingdom. 1 The frequent reference in Domesday-book to pro- 
 perty in boroughs, " which the burgess defends and holds of the king," also im- 
 plies the service of watching. Such service continued an essential condition 
 of burgess-ship in England, and was also invariably recognised in the Scotch 
 burghs, which were in all respects similarly constituted with those of Eng- 
 land. The " Laws of the Four Burghs," enacted by David I. (1124-1153) for 
 Edinburgh, Stirling, Berwick, and Roxburgh, and probably containing little 
 more than a declaration of the law as even then settled by common consent 
 and immemorial usage, 2 begin with providing that each burgess shall pay 
 yearly to the king for every " borowage" which he defends and holds of him, 
 " for every rood of land five pennies," a holding precisely the same as that 
 referred to in Domesday-book. 3 Chapter 74 again refers to the watchers or 
 keepers of the town, 4 and chapter 81 requires one watchman to come forth 
 of each house " quhen the wakstaff gais fra dure to dure, quha sal be of eylde, 
 and sal gang til his wache wyth tua wapnys at the ryngyng of the courfeu, 
 and sua gate sal wache wysly and besily till the dawyng of the daye. And 
 gif ony hereof failze he sal pay iiijd. outtane wedous." 5 This exemption 
 from watching in favour of widows was, by chapter 104, however, declared not 
 to extend to those who bought and sold in the burgh. These were appointed 
 to share in all the public burdens, and had doubtless to provide a watchman. 6 
 The " Articles to be inquired into in burghs by the chamberlain on his ayres," 
 a document believed to be of the latter half of the reign of Robert I./ 
 directs inquisition to be made of the bailies, " si vigilie sufficienter custodi- 
 antur in burgo, et si currant hostiatim. Et si vidue compellantur ad vigilan- 
 dum." 8 So also in the " Mode of Procedure in the Chamberlain Ayre," a 
 document apparently of the end of the fourteenth century, 9 inquiry is ordered 
 to be made whether the bailies " ger nocht walk the burgh on the nycht be 
 
 1 Ancient Laws and Institutes of England, i. 491. William III., 6. 
 
 * Mr Cosmo Innes's Preface to volume first of the Acts of the Parliaments of Scot- 
 land, p. 35. 
 
 3 Leges Quatuor Burgorum Scocie. Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, i. 21. 
 
 * Ibid. i. 36. Ibid. i. 37. s Ibid. i. 41. 
 
 7 Mr Innes's Preface to vol. i. of the Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, p. 45. 
 
 8 Articuli inquirendi in itenere camerarii. Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, 
 i. 318. * Mr Innes's Preface, ntsup., p. 45.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 4 3 
 
 sufficiant walkaris," and whether " thai ger pur folk walk and nocht rich." : 
 In like manner a decree of the Court of Four Burghs, held at Stirling on 4th 
 October 1405, ordains that " the baillie may ilk day except it be ane halie day 
 
 cognosce and correclt the rebelles and perturbers within the burgh 
 
 als oft as necessitie requyres and complaint is made," 2 all implying the exis- 
 tence of watching arrangements in burghs at these early periods. The A<5ls of 
 Parliament, 1592, c. 75, 3 and 1597, c. 46,* also refer to watching and warding 
 as proper burdens upon the inhabitants, and recognise and regulate the 
 exercise by the magistrates of royal burghs of a power, which must have 
 existed from the earliest periods, to impose and levy local taxes for these and 
 other purposes. 5 
 
 Watching and warding are also referred to as part of the unquestionable 
 duty of burgesses in numerous acts of council defining the duties and 
 conditions of burgess-ship in Edinburgh. Thus on i6th July 1539, we rind 
 an order on all persons claiming to be freemen and burgesses of the burgh, 
 to compear within forty days, and make their residence therein, and bear 
 scott, lott, ward, and walk with the other neighbours comburgesses, under 
 certification, if they failed, that they would lose their freedom. 6 Sub- 
 sequent aifls also prescribe residence in the burgh, with a view to bearing 
 in person a share of its burdens, as essential to burgess-ship. Among these 
 are (i) an ac"l dated I7th May 1555, ordering that none be received bur- 
 gesses but " honest habil qulyfyit men, and that they be maryit, indwel- 
 laris within the bruch, haiffand sufficient substance with stob and staik ;" 7 
 
 1 Modus procedendi in itenere camerarii infra regnum Scocie. Acts of the Parlia- 
 ments of Scotland, i. 331. 2 Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, i. 340. 
 
 3 Ibid. iii. 578. * Ibid. iv. 141. 
 
 5 General Report of Commissioners on Municipal Corporations in Scotland, p. 44. 
 
 " Council Records, i. 41. 
 
 7 Ibid. ii. 49. Bachelorhood seems to have been a recognised obstacle to admission 
 as a burgess at this time. Of this there is an illustration in the case of one John Paterson, 
 deacon of the masons, who, having done the town good service, applied to be made 
 a burgess, as others in similar circumstances had been. To this application, how- 
 ever, it was answered for the council, that " they have nocht been [in] use to grant 
 ony sic libertie or priuelege to men vnmariit, and thairfor quhen it sould happin the 
 said dekyn to haue ane lauchtfull wyfe and [be] mariit, according to the ordour of the 
 kirk now present, vpoun hisgude behavour and seruice, he sould be considerit in this his 
 desyre and satifeit to his plesour." Upon this the deacon asked instruments [ibid iv. 68, 
 230! April 1563].
 
 44 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 (2) an acl dated 3Oth October 1560, which, on the narrative that many persons 
 had been admitted burgesses and freemen within the burgh " quhilks dwelles 
 nocht within the samyne, nor yet nother scattis, lottis, extends, walkis, nor 
 wardis, nor yet beris na portable charges within this burgh, sicklike as they 
 ought to do, and as oyther nychbouris and freemen of this burgh does, incon- 
 trair the aid statutis maid thairvpoun heirfor," ordered all freemen and bur- 
 gesses to "cum and remane within the samine, and hald their stob and staik 
 tharintill," under certification ; l (3) a similar ac~l dated I4th October 1566 * 
 (4) an a<ft dated i8th June 1567, enacting that " na maner of outlands men be 
 maid burges or freemen of this bruch until he be mariet, and haif stob and 
 staik within the samyn, sua that he may be apprehendit and compellit to 
 paye taxt and stent, and bere his present of sic portable charges as oythers 
 freemen, induellaris within the samyn ;" 3 (5) an al dated 24th December 
 1567, ordaining "that everye man, at the making of him burges, sail obleis him- 
 self to haif jak, speir, swerd, buklar, and steell bonnet for serving of the bailies 
 and gude toun quhen thai haif ado, and to keep the wappinschawing with the 
 nychtbouris, under sic pains as may be laid to their charge ;" 4 (6) an act dated 
 2 ist October 1568, ordering proclamation to be made, charging all burgesses 
 who had not stob and staik within the town to "mak thair remayfiing within the 
 samyn within forty days," under certification ; 5 (7) an act dated 3d February 
 1584, prescribing the oath to be taken in future by all burgesses. This oath 
 contains, inter alia, the following clause : " In all taxatiouns, watcheing, 
 wairding, and all other charges to be layen vpoun the burch, I sail willinglie 
 beir my part of the commoun burding thairof, with the rest of the nichtbouris 
 of the burch, as I am commandet thairto be the maiestrats and officiaris of 
 the burch ;" 6 (8) an ac~l dated 6th November 1588, ordaining no burgess to 
 be received but such as should compeir at the time of their admission before 
 the council with sufficient armour as therein prescribed, " for serving the 
 kings grace and the town ;" 7 (9) an ac~l dated ist November 1591, renew- 
 ing the order on all non-resident burgesses to dwell in town, and bear bur- 
 dens with the others, under certification. 8 Various subsequent acts applied 
 these regulations, and fined and deprived of the rights of burgess-ship persons 
 who would not reside in burgh, and bear their proper share of burgh duty. 
 
 The duty of burgesses to watch and ward was also frequently recognised 
 by the Convention of the Royal Burghs of Scotland. Thus an act of that 
 
 1 Council Records, Hi. 56. 8 Ibid. iv. 191. " Ibid. iv. 226. i Ibid. viii. 186. 
 Ibid. iv. 163. " Ibid. iv. 212. " Ibid. vii. 155. * Ibid. ix. 118.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 45 
 
 body, passed at a meeting held in Edinburgh on 4th April 1552, and directed 
 against non-resident freemen and burgesses, ordained a general proclama- 
 tion to be made in the whole burghs, requiring all who alleged themselves 
 to be free of any burgh to compear within forty days thereafter, "and 
 hald stob and staik therein, and walk waird [and] pay extentes and skattis 
 within the burgh conform to thair substance. 1 This a<ft was ratified in the 
 Convention, held at Dundee in October and November IS78. 2 It was also 
 substantially re-enacted in the Convention held at Aberdeen in July 1580, by 
 an act which required the magistrates of burghs to charge all non-resident 
 burgesses " to cum duell and mak their actual residence, with thair wyfis 
 bairnis familie fyre and flett within the burgh quhair they ar frie, hald 
 stob and staik within the samyn, scatt, lott, watche, walk, and waird with the 
 inhabitants thairof, betwix this and the fifteenth day of December next to 
 cum." 3 This act was duly proclaimed in Edinburgh, though, it appears, 
 there were at that time " na outland burgessis exercising traffique, or doand 
 contra the liberty of the bruch." 4 And it was renewed by the Convention 
 held at Edinburgh on 2oth October I58i. 5 
 
 These acts were, in fact, nothing more than a declaration of the constitu- 
 tional law on the subject, and various acts of convention relative to the 
 qualification of members of that body required them to be merchant burgesses, 
 resident in the burgh they represented, and bearing a share of its burdens 
 with the neighbours and inhabitants. 6 
 
 That a watch was kept in Edinburgh from an early period, usually by the 
 citizens when called on in turn, but occasionally, in special circumstances, 
 such as plagues, war, the meetings of parliament and convention, &c., by 
 hired watchmen, the records of the city afford abundant evidence. 
 
 The earliest reference to the subject is found in an ordinance " be the 
 dusane and the counsale for the towne, and be the haill deliuerance of thame," 
 dated 24th November 1442, appointing "the toune [to] be waket ilk nicht 
 with sex persouns watches this winter, and that the watchemen be tane and 
 sett be the baillies at the croce, as thai wer wont to be." 7 On loth August 
 
 1 Printed Records of Convention, i. 4. a Ibid. i. 99. 5 Ibid. i. 122. 
 
 2 Ibid. i. 70. Ibid. i. in. 
 
 B Ibid. i. 70, 1 5th July 1574 ; i. 210, 5th May 1586 ; MS. Records, vi. 312, 8th 
 July 1675. 
 
 7 MS. Extracts from Council Records, Advocates' Library, fol. 181. 
 
 At this time the city was unwalled, and the only artificial protection against assault
 
 46 Sketch o f the History of tlie 
 
 1498, an act for the prevention of tulzies on the streets, already alluded to, 1 
 appointed all merchants and craftsmen to have ready in their booths thair 
 " defensible geir, sic as jak, sellet, burgandynis, glufis of plait, and ane hand- 
 ax or sword, or at the least the said ax or suord, with sellit and glufis of 
 plait, to relief thairwith and cum to thair provest and baillies and quarter- 
 
 from without was afforded by gates at the end of the main street, and at the several 
 closes leading therefrom on either side. An extract from an act of council in a 
 MS. volume of Extracts from the Council Records in the Advocates' Library, and 
 bearing' date 24th February in the year of God xxxvj. (probably 1436), ordained the 
 common vennel of the brugh to be stekit and closet for a tynie on the common coste, 
 to be tane of the common purse, and ilka tenement to be closet behind on his coste, 
 and thair coste that awe the land, and thairto shall contribute ilk ane man dwelland 
 in the tenement as effeirs till him for his dwelling place. This was appointed to be 
 done ' ' at the sicht and devyse of xij discrete men of the bruch thairto chosin " [foL 
 iSi]. These gates were in existence in 1442, for an act of 24th November in that 
 year ordained the " yettes of the toune to be closed be twa seriandis ilk nicht at 
 couersure tyme, and openit be fyve hours in the morning," and these seriandis are ap- 
 pointed to receive "of ilk fyre hous and of the best of the toun ijd., and of the 
 simplare folk id. [ibid]. On the 3Oth of April 1450 immediately after the battle of 
 Stark James II., " being informed by the provost and community that they dread the 
 evil and skaith of our enemies of England, authorised them to forse, bullwark, wall, 
 tower, turret, and otherways strengthen the burgh in what manner of ways or degree 
 is seen most expedient to them." [See Licence and Leave of King James II., under 
 the Great Seal, in the City's Archives. Inventory of City Charters, i. 23]. The 
 licence thus granted appears to have been immediately taken advantage of and a wall 
 erected, for a letter issued by James III. , under his Privy Seal, of date 28th April 
 1472, authorised the provost and baillies "to cast down and remove whatsoever 
 houses biggid upon the wall which were needful to be casten down for the strengthen- 
 ing of the town and the defence thereof." This letter also charged the whole burgesses, 
 neighbours, and indwellers of the town, and also those that had lands, annuals, or 
 possessions within it, to help, contribute, and supply to the fortifying and strengthen- 
 ing of the burgh, after the value of their rents, lands, possessions, annual, and faculty 
 of their goods within burgh, and that as well the outburgesses and occupiers of the 
 freedom of the burgh and persons having lands or annuals within it, as indwellers 
 and inhabitants thereof. [See Letter in Archives of the City. Inventory of City 
 Charters, i. 24.] This wall was extended first after the defeat of Flodden, in 
 1513, so as to include the Cowgate; and again, in 1620, so as to surround what are 
 now the grounds of Heriot's Hospital, the City Poorhouse, and a part of the Greyfriars 
 Churchyard. 
 1 Antea, p. 20.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 47 
 
 masteris incontinent quhair ony sic thingis occurris, and to pas with thair 
 said officiaris thus bodin quhair it sal be thocht expedient to thame, for the 
 kingis honour, and defens of the heretage and priuelege of the toun als aft as 
 neid beis ; that heirthrow guid reull may be had into the town bayth day and 
 nycht, and the ordour and priuelege thairof obseruit and kepit." By this 
 act the town's officers were ordered to see that its provisions were carried 
 into effect, and to report defaulters. 1 On loth September 1513, the day 
 after the disastrous battle of Flodden, at which the provost, magistrates, and 
 a large number of the burgesses were present, we find George of Tours, 
 and the other citizens who were charged with the care of the city during the 
 absence of the magistrates, rising above the grief and distraction with which 
 the news of that disaster filled the town, and issuing an order upon all per- 
 sons within the burgh to have ready their fensible geir and weapons of war, 
 and to be ready, at the tolling of the common bell, for the defence of the 
 town against those that would invade the same.* Speedily, however, the 
 fear of immediate invasion was dispelled by the news that the Earl of 
 Surrey had disbanded his army. But it was no time to be unprepared, 
 and not only was the city's wall extended so as to include the Cowgate, 
 &c., but on 4th December 1513 a night watch of twenty-four persons 
 the first regular guard levied for the security of the town of which there 
 is any trace 3 was appointed to be furnished at the expense of all per- 
 sons "nychtbouris of the toun, . . . baith wedowis and vtheris." 4 On 
 1 5th October 1515, however, a new arrangement was made, and one quar- 
 ter of the town was ordered to watch each night, " ilk man for thair awin 
 heid, with a baillie, quhill my Lord Governours hamecuming." The whole 
 citizens were, moreover, required to be ready " boddin for weir, in thair 
 best array, at a jow of the common bell for the defence of the town, to pass 
 with the president and baillies quhen the case occurris." 5 On 8th Novem- 
 ber 1524, an act of council was passed, in terms similar to that of loth 
 August 1498, before alluded to. 8 In July 1528, we are told there was " stark 
 watching in Edinburgh about the king's grace (James V.), after his escape 
 from the Douglasses ;" 7 and the magistrates and citizens were, at that time, 
 
 1 Council Records, i. 32. * Ibid. i. 5. 
 
 3 Maitland's History of Edinburgh, p. 12. Wilson's Memorials of Edinburgh, 1.35. 
 
 * Council Records, i. 5. 
 
 6 MS. Extracts from Council Records, Advocates' Library, fol 183. 
 
 .Ibid. fol. 184. T Diurnal of Occurrents, p. n.
 
 48 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 alike able and disposed to perform their duties to the sovereign as well as to 
 the town, for we find that in August of that year, the provost, with the com- 
 munity of the burgh, caused the Earl of Angus and his horsemen, to leave 
 the town. " Heirat," adds the Chronicler, " was mony hurt with hagbutts, 
 and efter this greit and stark waitches wer in Edinbrugh." 1 On 8th October 
 1529, and 8th February 1535, the order on the citizens to have weapons in 
 their booths, to assist the magistrates in the preservation of the peace, was 
 renewed, and every merchant and craftsman was appointed to " haf ane axe 
 or twa or thre after as thai haif thair seruandis." 2 On 23d December 1545, 
 a nightly watch was ordered from that time till Candlemas following, con- 
 sisting of one of the bailies, each one answering for his quarter, with four 
 persons, besides the officers of two quarters, making eight in all. 3 On the 
 3Oth of May 1 546, it was ordered that in future there should be a nightly 
 watch of ten persons and an officer, beginning in the quarter where it left 
 off, the officer to have double wages and to remain with the watch. A 
 guard of fifteen persons, with a wage each of xxd. per day, was also appointed 
 to attend the provost, armed with jack, javelin, and halbert, or such like 
 long weapon, twelve whereof were to be furnished by the merchants, and 
 three by the craftsmen. 4 On I2th October 1547, about a month after the 
 battle of Pinkie, where the provost and a large number of the citizens 
 had fallen, the nightly watch was increased to twelve men, armed with jack, 
 steel bonnet, and halbert, or Jedburgh staff, and they were appointed to 
 convene at the cross, and to continue their watch from eight o'clock till the 
 opening of the ports. It was also ordered that two persons should be charged, 
 night about, to check the watches, and if any were found absent, sleeping, 
 or drinking during the time of watch, they were to be punished. 5 On 
 the 3d of January 1547, this arrangement was changed, and the bailie 
 whose .turn it was to walk was appointed to warn as many persons of his 
 quarter as he thought necessary to watch for that night, either by them- 
 selves or by substitutes,- properly bodin with weapons. 6 On 3d February 
 1 547, the immediately previous order was renewed, and those who failed to 
 attend personally were ordered to pay to the officers of the quarter xijd. to 
 provide a substitute ; the keys of the ports were also appointed to be 
 delivered to the bailie of the quarter from the time of closing till the opening 
 of the ports. 7 On I4th June 1548, two days before the arrival of Monsieur 
 
 1 Diurnal of Occurrents, p. II. " MS. Extracts, Advocates' Library, fol. 184. 
 1 Ibid. 185. * Ibid. 186. 6 Ibid. 186. Ibid. 186. 7 Ibid. 186.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 49 
 
 D'Esse, with the French and Dutch troops, sent by the king of France 
 to assist the Scots against their " auld enemies of England," a daily watch 
 of twenty-four men, burgesses, craftsmen, and others, warned by the officers 
 for each of the quarters in rotation, and armed with jack and halbert, was 
 ordered to be kept from 4 A.M. till 8 P.M. 1 On 4th March 1552, the order 
 upon the inhabitants to be provided with weapons in their booths to support 
 fhe magistrates was renewed, and each bailie was appointed to make a 
 search once a month through his quarter, to see that this order was observed. 2 
 On 6th April 1554, it was ordered that one quarter of the town should walk 
 each week, being charged by the bailies and officers thereto. Neighbours 
 failing to walk in their proper persons were appointed to pay i8s. 3 On 5th 
 February 1556, a night watch was ordered, and all persons were prohibited 
 from being on the streets without a light, viz. a " lantern, kellet, torch, 
 or candell." 4 The order to have weapons was renewed on i8th September 
 I557- 5 In 1559, several orders were issued relative to watching, the first on 
 1 6th June, directing the whole ports, with the exception of the West Port and 
 the Netherbow, to be locked day and night, and twelve able men, with hal- 
 berts, to be set at each of these two ports all day, " for stopping tumult pley 
 or cumeris quhilks may happen betwix parties, and keeping of good order in 
 the burch ;" other twenty-four able men were appointed to watch the streets 
 during the night, to keep good order ; and this order was directed to pass 
 quarterly through the town during the council's pleasure. 6 On the I4th 
 of August the order for a nightly watch of twenty-four men was re-enacted 
 to continue during the council's pleasure, and the neighbours were appointed 
 to watch successively, under pain of being poinded for 2s., and of having their 
 place supplied at their expense. This watch was allocated among the ports 
 as follows : six at the Netherbow, six at Blackfriars, four at Lochend, and 
 two at each of the Cowgate, Kirk-of-Field, and Greyfriars ports. 7 This act 
 was ratified ten days later ; 8 and on the a6th of September the treasurer was 
 ordained to pay "William Thomsone, quhisler, vjs. and viijd. for his laubouris 
 in playing vpone the quhissall at the watche be the space of ij nychts in the 
 monethe of July last bypast. 9 On 24th December a watch of twenty-four 
 
 1 MS. Extracts, Advocates' Library, fol. 187. 
 
 * Ibid. 1 88 ; Council Records, ii. 14. 3 Council Records, ii. 26. 
 
 ' Ibid. ii. 92. 5 Ibid. ii. 106. tf ibid. iii. 17. 7 Ibid. iii. 22. 8 Ibid. iii. 23. 
 ' Ibid. iii. 25. In London, where the regulations for the watch were, from the earliest 
 limes, most strict, minstrels or musicians appear to have paraded the streets and sounded 
 
 F
 
 5O Sketch of the History of the 
 
 men was ordained to be set daily and nightly, for keeping the town and 
 awaiting on the ports, in such order as the bailies should think expedient ; 
 and the neighbours were ordered, on being warned, to convene themselves 
 for the night watch or to send an able substitute ; those summoned for the 
 day watch were bound, if in town, to attend themselves, under pain of ward- 
 ing of their persons and imprisonment at the council's will. 1 On 5th Septem- 
 ber 1560 the whole neighbours were appointed to attend, in feir of weir, with 
 all diligence, to support the magistrates and officers in the suppression of 
 tumults. 2 In August 1565, Queen Mary and Darnley, being about to pro- 
 ceed to the west country on an expedition against the Earl of Moray and 
 his adherents, required a continual watch to be kept day and night in the 
 capital during their absence, that nothing might pass furth to the rebels, and 
 that no suspected persons might be allowed to enter the city. In obedience 
 to this requirement the council, on the 28th of that month, ordered a nightly 
 watch to be kept by twenty-two persons six to be placed at the broken wall 
 at Leith Wynd, four at the Greyfriars Port, four at West Port, four at Kirk-of- 
 Field Port, two at the Cowgate Port, two at Netherbow, and the " remnant to 
 be moving through all the streets, visying the others set at the ports," and to 
 be under the charge of an officer and an honest man of the quarter for the 
 night, "becaus the baillies may nocht walk every nicht." During the day 
 the whole ports were ordered to be closed, save the Greyfriars, West Port, 
 and Netherbow; and until the night watch was set three men were ap- 
 pointed to be at the Netherbow, three at the West Port, and two at the 
 Kirk-of-Field Port, in armour and weapons. 3 These precautions had not, 
 however, the desired effect, for on the 3ist of the same month, the Duke 
 of Chatelherault and other rebel lords, entered the town with six hundred 
 horsemen, and remained till the following night. 4 Their admission was 
 regarded with great dissatisfaction by the king and queen, who, on 3d 
 September, addressed to the magistrates certain instructions, in which 
 it was stated that their majesties " marvel greatly how the rebels have 
 lately entered and been received in the town ;" and after attributing it to 
 the negligence and oversight of their directions, they, inter alia, ordered the 
 council to divide the town into quarters, and to appoint each quarter to watch 
 
 the watch. See Notes and Queries, ad S. vii. 480. Liber Albus (Griffin & Co.'s 
 Edition, p. 244, footnote. Ib. Master of the Rolls' Edition, p. 284, 380, 646-653. 
 
 1 Council Records, iii. 28. * Anfea, p. 20, 21. 3 Council Records, iv. 133 
 
 * Diurnal of Occurrents, p. 82.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 5 I 
 
 and ward for the keeping of the ports and walls of the town for the space of 
 twenty-four hours. 1 On 25th July 1567, the council ordered a nightly watch, 
 during their pleasure, " because there is many and divers men o of weir and 
 men wanting masters." 2 On I2th May 1568, a nightly watch of one hundred 
 men was ordered, and twenty-four men were appointed to watch] during the 
 day. No one under threescore years of age was exempted from attendance 
 at this watch, and even those so exempted from personal attendance were 
 required to furnish able and sufficient substitutes, under a penalty of i8s. 3 
 On the nth of August, a strong watch was ordered to be set nightly, for the 
 keeping of the town till the end of the parliament, and conditions similar 
 to those in the former act were enacted. 4 Shortly after this time the plague 
 began to rage in Edinburgh, and in October the council passed a series 
 of regulations on the subject. 5 Many of the citizens appear to have left the 
 town ; and on the i8th of November it was ordered that eighteen of the most 
 able men within the burgh should be lifted, to await on the bailies at all 
 times needful, and to keep watch in the town, for safety of the houses and 
 goods of the neighbours that were furth of the same. This watch was 
 appointed to be armed with culverins, and to have 3, ros. monthly, " to be 
 taken from the haill neighbours at the discretion of the baillies." 6 A nightly 
 watch of twenty-four men was ordered on i7th December, and all who failed 
 to appear had to pay 2s. to provide a substitute. Those who, after entering 
 upon the watch, left it before 6 o'clock A.M. were appointed to be fined i8s. 7 
 The murder of the Regent Murray at Linlithgow, on 23d January 1569, threw 
 Edinburgh into great confusion, and two days afterwards, the council, in 
 view of the " apparand danger " likely to arise, ordained a watch day and night 
 during their pleasure. The day watch was appointed to be held from 6 A.M. till 7 
 P.M., and to consist of eight men four whereof were to be placed at the West 
 Port, and four at the Netherbow these ports being the only ones to be kept 
 open. The night watch, consisting of twenty-four men, was appointed to be set 
 from 7 P.M. till 6 A.M., when it was to be relieved by the day watch. The watch 
 thus instituted was ordered to be composed of the neighbours of the town, con- 
 form to the old order. The day and night watch were each placed under the 
 charge of two men of credence and honesty, who were holden to answer for the 
 
 1 Council Records, iv. 134 ; Maitland's History of Edinburgh, 27. 
 
 1 Council Records, iv. 197. 3 Ibid. iv. 218. * Ibid iv. 221. 
 
 5 Ibid. iv. 223, 224 ; Maitland's History of Edinburgh, 32. 
 
 Council Records, iv. 226. 7 Ibid iv. 229.
 
 5 2 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 service of the remanent ; and if any companies entered the town, one of the 
 four men thus selected was appointed to advertise the bailies of their number, 
 what they were, and where they lodged. 1 On 8th March 1 569, the council, 
 " for keiping of gude reull amangis the lordis of nobilitie and all vtheris re- 
 sorting to this toun during the tyme of this present convention," ordered that 
 " thair be dalie foure gaird houssis, and in every ane of thame tuenty men of 
 the maist honest nychtbouris of the toun in thair awin proper personis, ten 
 of thame with culveringis and morreonyis, and uther ten with halberttis, 
 pikis, and long wappynis, and to enter every day at the skaling of the nycht 
 wasche, viz., be sex houris in the mornyng, and remain quhill sevin houris at 
 evin that the nycht wache enter againe." 3 On the 22d of the same month, 
 the watch was appointed to remain as formerly ordained. 3 In 1570, various 
 acts of council were passed relative to the watching of the town ; the first, on 
 1 4th April, appointing the night watch to be increased during the remaining of 
 the lords in the town, that of the north-west and north-east quarters, each by 
 two neighbours ; and that of the other two quarters, each by three neighbours ; 4 
 the second, on gth August, ordaining a watch to be kept during the Regent's 
 absence, directing all the ports to be shut save the West Port and the Nether- 
 bow, at each of which three men were ordered to be stationed during the 
 day, and appointing the keys to be kept by the baillies during the night; 5 
 the third, on the 1 5th of August, following on the Regent's writing, order- 
 ing a " stark watch " to be kept during his grace's absence by the neigh- 
 bours in person, and all persons to be ready in arms, at the sound of the 
 common bell, to attend the bailie of the quarter and " follow sic ordour as 
 he sail appoint for them;" 6 the fourth, on 25th December, renewing the order 
 for a sufficient nightly watch in such number as the bailies might direct ; 7 
 and the fifth, two days later, ordaining a nightly watch of sixty men to be set 
 by the bailie of the quarter ; the officers to provide able men to watch, at 
 the expense of those who did not provide such themselves ; " the belman and 
 his brother to lie nichtlie in the steeple and attend to the common bell ;" the 
 ports of the town to be all closed, except the West Port and Netherbow ; and 
 the keys of these ports to be delivered nightly to the bailie of the watch, who 
 was declared to be answerable therefor. 8 After this time we have no farther 
 order till 26th October 1574, when, the plague beginning to rage in the town, 
 the whole ports were directed to be closed, save the Netherbow and West 
 
 1 Council Records, iv. 252. 3 Ibid. iv. 254. fi Ibid. iv. 261. 7 Ibid. iv. 270. 
 
 2 ibid. iv. 254. 4 Ibid. iv. 255. Ibid. iv. 261. * Ibid. iv. 270.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 53 
 
 Ports, which were not to be opened earlier than 6 A.M., nor later than 6 P.M. ; 
 it was farther ordered that a day watch should be kept " of sic men of the 
 neighbours, or upoun thair charges, as the baillies sail think best." 1 On 
 Qth January 1576, we find an order for a nightly watch of twenty persons, to 
 endure till Pasche next, according to the order appointed by the bailies. 3 
 On i gth January 1576, the council, in anticipation of a great convention of 
 the nobility with the Earls of Athole and Argyll, ordained two guard-houses 
 be kept daily during the convention, as the bailies would answer. 3 On 
 7th March 1 577, a nightly watch of sixty men was ordered to be kept from that 
 time forward during the council's will, to convene in the nether tolbooth by 
 8 o'clock P.M. and watch till 6 o'clock A.M. 4 This order was probably issued 
 in consequence of threatened commotions, to guard against which the magis- 
 trates evinced an anxiety that evoked the king's repeated expressions of 
 satisfaction. 5 In 1578, a variety of acts of council were passed, consequent, 
 no doubt, on the disturbances anticipated to follow the assumption of the 
 government by the young king, and the dismissal of the Regent Morton. 
 On 8th March, an act fixed the time of the watch, and appointed two persons 
 to support each of the four bailies. Another act, on the 4th of April, ordered 
 a wooden barras (or barrier) to be erected before the castle, and a stark watch 
 to be set, beside threescore of soldiers under the command of Captain Hally- 
 burton, " in case George Douglas and his sulderttis pretend to ische." 6 Sir 
 George Douglas of Parkhead held the castle at this time on behalf of his 
 brother the Regent Morton, whose dismissal had been proclaimed by the 
 heralds at the cross on the I2th of March. Sir George had just been deposed 
 from the provostship by the citizens, who were much enraged at the slaughter 
 of several of the town's people by his soldiers. 7 An act dated i6th April bears 
 that the provost having desired a stark watch, and requested the consent of 
 the deacons thereto, they answered that it was not needful to ask their 
 consent, " besause quhatsumever thing hes bene laid to thair charge for the 
 weill of the toun, thay have ever bene ready quhen thay wer commandit, like 
 as they will be quhen it sail lik the prouest baillies and counsale to com- 
 mand thame, and willis the auld ordour to be keipit." 8 On 28th April, 
 accordingly, a day and night watch of " ane quarter of the toun" was ordered 
 
 1 Council Records, v. 35. * Ibid. v. 73. 8 Ibid. v. 74. 
 
 4 Ibid. v. 88. 6 Ibid. v. 89, 90 ; Maitland's History of Edinburgh, 34, 35. 
 
 " Council Records, v. 91. 7 Caldenvood's History of the Kirk of Scotland, iii. jy6. 
 * Council Records, v. 94.
 
 54 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 till the lords should return from Stirling, each man being required to watch 
 in person, and to convene at 9 o'clock P.M., and at 5 o'clock A.M. 1 On 3oth 
 May, a nightly watch of thirty persons was appointed till further order were 
 taken. 2 On i6th July, the king having written the magistrates charging 
 them to have the town watched and warded for his behoof, the whole ports 
 were ordered to be kept closed, the West Port and Netherbow only ex- 
 cepted, and these were appointed to be open only from 5 A.M. till 8 P.M., 
 and to be watched by "four substantious neighbours" during the day, 
 and by ten at night, till further order were taken. 8 On 28th July, the 
 day watch at .these ports was increased to twenty " substantious neighbours," 
 each man to guard in his own person, and the ports were ordered to be 
 closed daily at 4 o'clock P.M. For the night, a " stark watch of ane haill 
 quarter of the toun" was appointed till farther order. 4 On I2th August, a 
 nightly watch " of ane haill quarter of the toune " was ordered " to watche 
 for the space of xxiiij houris, begynnand at vj. houris at evin, and to endure 
 quhill the morn at the samyn hour. This watch was directed to consist 
 of " merchants, craftsmen, and vtheris, who, without exception of personis," 
 were appointed " to watch in thair awin persoun, with sufficient armour and 
 weaponis," under penalties ; and the order was required to be " kept indur- 
 ing the time of thir troubles, or quhil vther ordour be takin." 5 On 3151 
 January, in consequence of divers " bruittis and rumoris tending be all 
 apperance to sum inquietatioun within this burgh," the nightly watch was in- 
 creased to one hundred persons, "maist honest and qualefeit men, weill fur- 
 nesit in their awin personis with armour and vappinis in maner following : 
 viz., the souyth pairt of the town to keip the watche the first sax nichtis, and 
 the north pairt nixt four nichtis, to be set and plaisit with the bailleis of 
 the quarteris and sik as thai sail depuit." 6 On 2/th August 1579, it was 
 ordered that, until further order, twenty men be on the watch nightly, and no 
 more. 7 On 2d November 1580, an Act required that, "for keeping of better 
 ordour in tyme coming anent the night watch," the bailies in their quarters 
 should nightly set the watch themselves, and select one of the watch to see 
 to the execution of their duty by the rest, taking care also that none but 
 able substitutes, properly armed, should be allowed to watch. 8 On the i6th 
 of November in the same year, " for staying of tumults and cummeris that 
 may aryse betwixt the graitt parties now being within this burch, and 
 
 1 Council Records, v. 95. * Ibid. v. 103. 5 Ibid. v. 105. ? Ibid. v. 156. 
 3 Ibid. v. 99. * Ibid. v. 104. ' Ibid. v. 130. s Ibid. vi. 91.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 5 5 
 
 for obedience of the kingis grace writing," two corsegairds were ordered 
 to be set between the Trone and the Cross, in the old places, and the 
 neighbours were appointed to be warned to keep the same by their quarters 
 in their armour, and the bailies to amerciate the absentees without favour. 1 
 On 2d December following, a nightly watch of twenty-five persons, able men 
 and well armed, was ordered ; the previous act was renewed ; and every free- 
 man's wife, in the absence of her husband, and every widow, was required to 
 furnish an able and well armed man " as it falls theme be coures to watche." * 
 On loth March of the same year, the council, " for the weill and preseruation 
 of this burch in the tyme of apperant trubles, for the better convening of the 
 nichtbouris, and to see thai be weel airmit," ordained the whole inhabitants to 
 be convened by their quarters, in such places as the bailies should fix, for the 
 election by themselves of a merchant and craftsman " furth of ilk fiftie men 
 duelling togeddir, of the best and worthiest of that number, quhilk sail haif 
 the cair owersicht and command of the said personis to vsie and se thai be 
 weill airmit, and to appoynt to thame ane place quhair they sail convene as 
 the saidis commanderis sail be requyret and charget be the baillies of the 
 quarter in tyme of necessitie ; and this to be done and performit with all 
 diligence, and the nichtbouris to be admonist to be readie and obedient to the 
 saidis commanders, and the commanderis to be diligent to see thair com- 
 panies be weel airmit and in reddynes." 3 On the 2oth of the same month, 
 the " nightly watche of the neyghbouris " was ordered to be kept by the com- 
 manders of fifties and their respective companies night about, at the sight of 
 the bailies. 4 The series of Acts passed in 1 582, relative to watching, indicate 
 unmistakeably the condition of the country at that period. On 24th August, 
 the Dean of Guild was authorised to fee four able men to guard and watch the 
 steeple, two by day and two by night, " in respect of the apperand trubill and 
 commotion in the countrie amangis the nobilitie." A strict watch was, more- 
 over, ordered to be kept both by day and by night in the town, one quarter 
 every twenty-four hours, and every neighbour in his own person. 5 Three days 
 later, in consequence of the king's writing to that effect, proclamation was made 
 ordering a stark watch to be kept by the neighbours and quarters, beginning 
 at the south-west quarter, and charging the whole neighbours, burgesses, 
 freemen, and others, to be ready to convene by their quarters when summoned 
 by sound of swesche to the watch. Farther, all not on the watch were ordered 
 
 1 Council Records, vi. 95. 3 Ibid. vi. 124. 5 Ibid. vi. 200. 
 
 * Ibid. vi. 101. Ibid. vi. 126.
 
 56 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 to have their armour, long weapons or hagbuts in readiness in their houses 
 and fore-booths, and to weir their swords about them, shewing themselves 
 willing and ready in the defence of the town, and the staunching of tumults. 1 
 On yth September, the watch on the steeple was discharged. 2 On the 26th 
 October, a nightly watch of thirty men was ordered during the winter, at the 
 sight of the bailie, who was required to see that the rolls were called, and that 
 there was a sufficient armed watch, and thereafter to depute one of the watch 
 with one officer to " await thereon." 3 On 5th December, an order was issued 
 in conformity with a letter from the king, appointing all houses where 
 strangers resorted to be searched, and any stranger found armed to be re- 
 ported to his majesty ; and directing the ports to be so guarded by one- 
 half of the town, that no companies of men or horse might get access till 
 the king was advised. 4 On yth October 1 583, a nightly watch of thirty 
 able and well-armed neighbours was ordered to be kept, " in consideration 
 that the nicht growis lang, the Parliament approachis, and confluence of 
 peppill in this burch will incres." 5 In 1584, various acts were passed in 
 regard to watching. An act dated 28th April, fixed the places at which 
 the several quarters should convene with their bailies, in armour and good 
 attire, whenever warned by the alarum or common bell, for the suppression 
 of tumults or disturbance ; and being so convened, the bailies were ordered 
 to " caus put the nichtbouris in rankis and guid ordour, and send and 
 direct a certain number, with ane commander, to attend and abyde at the 
 maist needfull parts of thair quarter, the rest to remayne in thair place in 
 quyetness, ' and to be reddie to pass with the provost and bailzeis as they 
 sail fynd maist necessar" 6 On 22.d July, the king having expressed to 
 the lord provost his desire that a good watch might be kept, especially 
 by night, the council ordered the Kirk-of-Field Port, Watergate, and Cow- 
 gate Port to be closed ; ten persons to be added to the night watch, and six 
 persons to be put to each of the Netherbow and West Ports, all at the 
 sight of the bailies in their quarters. 7 On 23d October, a new arrange- 
 ment was made for " keping of ane better ordour and rewle of the watches 
 within the toun be the nichtbouris thairof, and that thai may be the mair 
 reddy to serve the kingis maiestie at all occasiouns." By this act the whole 
 inhabitants were'appointed to be " castin and devydit in thretteis, according to 
 thair quarter, and twa personis of everie threttie, the ane of them ane 
 
 1 Council Records, vi._2Oi, 202. 3 Ibid. vi. 214. 5 Ibid. vii. 22. 7 Ibid. vii. 97. 
 * Ibid. vi. 205. 4 Ibid. vi. 222. 6 Ibid. vii. 85.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 5 7 
 
 merchant, the uther beand ane traftisman, to be electit to haif the rcwle 
 and commandment of the rest, and ane officer to be assignet to ilk com 
 mander of ilk threttie to convene and warne the personis under their chaige" ' 
 This order having been seen and approved of by the king and the privy 
 council, the division therein referred to was made, and commanders were 
 elected fourteen in the north-west quarter, twelve in the north-east quarter, 
 twenty in the south-east quarter, and twenty-four in the south-west quarter. 
 All those thus elected commanders, or masters of watch, were required by the 
 king and his council to accept of the office, and their several companies were 
 obliged to give obedience by night and by day, as the necessities of the king's 
 service or the commands of the magistrates might require. It was also 
 ordered that " amangis the clerks and lawiers, maisteris ower numbers of 
 threttie be appoynted in lyke manner," and that they also be ready for the 
 service of the king and the town. 2 In 1585, during which the plague was 
 ravaging Edinburgh, a series of acts of council relative to watching were 
 passed. 3 On 25th June, the bailies were authorised to hire twenty-four persons 
 to keep watch and guard, and to concur with them in all the affairs of the 
 town twelve to watch by day, and twelve by night. This resolution was 
 passed " in respect that the nychtbouris are past furth of the town, and hes 
 left the samyn desolat, and their boothis and houssis in danger of brekking 
 be lymmers." 4 The wage to each man was fixed at ,3 per month. On i6th 
 July this act was renewed, the cause still remaining, but each of the bailies 
 was commissioned to choose six men of the watch, for whom he was to be 
 responsible. 5 on 25th August, six persons were ordered to be added to the 
 ordinary watch, 6 and on loth September it was resolved to retain " the forty 7 
 feyet watchmen" till further order were taken. On 5th October, however, the 
 funds for their payment seem to have run short, and Bailie Nisbet undertook 
 to pay them for a month, " others of the council obliging themselves to 
 
 1 Council Records, vii. 119, * Ibid. vii. 125. 
 
 3 The pestilence began upon the 4th of May 1 585, and continued till January thereafter. 
 ' ' The haill peipell quhilk wer abill to flee, fled out of ye toune, nevirtheless ther dyed 
 of peipill wich ver not abill to flee 14 hundreth and some odd." Birrell's Diary, p. 23. 
 
 Council Records, vii. 194. s Ibid. vii. 199. G Ibid. vii. 203. 
 
 7 Authority was given in the previous acts to hire only thirty men as a watch, but 
 everything appears to have been in much confusion during the continuance of the 
 plague, and the resolution to employ the additional ten men has doubtless been omitted 
 to be recorded. 
 
 G
 
 58 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 relieve him ;" 1 and when that period was about to expire, he intimated that 
 he was not to "mell" further with payment of the watchmen." 2 On 27th 
 October the Council, on receipt of letters from the king and the provost that 
 the "rebellis were cum out of Ingland and entret in this cuntrey upone na small 
 intryprys," concluded to take up one hundred men for guarding the town. 8 Two 
 days afterwards, however, they resolved that it was " nocht expedient to have 
 ane hundreth men to be watchmen, but onlie three scoir," at a wage of 4 per 
 month ; and on 3d November the watch was reduced to '" fourty gude suddarts, 
 in respect the toun hes nocht to pay the suddertis and watchmen, and because 
 they thought they might be served by a smaller number." 4 On 1 7th December 
 the watch was reduced to twenty-four persons, twenty of whom were ordered 
 to watch nightly, and four, with the porters, to keep daily the Netherbow 
 and West Port. 5 On 23d March, the town being free of the plague, it 
 was resolved to discharge the hired watch, and to revert to the former custom 
 of watching by the neighbours. 6 But in the winter of the following year 
 the aspect of affairs again became threatening, and on i6th Nov. 1586 an 
 order was made to have the walls repaired and the ports secured, and " hav- 
 ing experience of the slewth of the common watch of the nychtbouris," the 
 council authorised a hired nightly watch of twenty-four able men, well-armed 
 the one-half with hagbuts, and the other half with halberts. The wages 
 of these men were fixed at 2os. a-week. 7 On I7th February 1586, this watch 
 was ordered to be reduced to twelve persons ; 8 and on 3d March it was 
 
 1 Council Records, vii. 208. * Ibid. vii. 209. 3 Ibid. 
 
 4 Ibid. vii. 219. 6 Ibid. vii. 2 1 6. 
 
 6 Ibid. viii. 3. The bailies' Accounts of Extents and Unlaws, from 1st November 1585 
 to 24th March 1 586, shew that the number of persons who composed the extraordinary 
 watch during that time of pestilence varied from week to week. Thus there were sixty- 
 two men on 7th November ; sixty on I4th November ; fifty-eight on 2ist November; 
 sixty on 28th November ; fifty-two men eighteen halbertmen and thirty-four hagbutters, 
 the former receiving 2Os. and the latter i6s. each per week on 5th and I2th Decem- 
 ber ; forty men on 2Oth December ; thirty-two men on 27th December and 3d January ; 
 twenty-four men on loth January ; twenty-seven men on I7th January; twenty-eight 
 men whereof ten were halbertmen at i6s. each on 23d and 3Oth January, and 6th 
 and 1 3th February ; twenty-four men on 2ist and 28th February ; twenty-eight men on 
 7th March, four being added because of the " law-day" of my Lord Maxwell ; twenty- 
 three men on I4th March ; and twenty-two men during the week and a half which 
 ended on 24th March. (Bailies' Accounts of Extent and Unlaws, 1564 1644, pp. 
 199, 204.) 7 Council Records, viii. 57. * Ibid. viii. 74.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 59 
 
 ordered to be " completely broken up, and the bailie to make a nightly watch 
 of the neighbours. 1 On rst December 1587, the plague having again made its 
 appearance, and a great number of the inhabitants having left the town, those 
 remaining were ordered to have weapons in their houses and booths ; further, 
 " in respect of the slewth of the ordinare watch of the nychtbouris and ranke 
 of the town," forty persons were ordered to be enrolled as a night watch 
 twenty of whom were appointed to watch each night, and to " half wedges 
 only for the nicht that thai watched." 3 The guard-house of this watch was 
 the Nether Tolbooth, and they were allowed weekly seven pounds of candle, 
 and two loads of coals. 3 On 3ist January 1587, the day watch was ordered 
 to consist of forty of the neighbours, of whom six were to be sent to the Nether- 
 bow, and six to the West Port. 4 On 23d February, the hired watch at the 
 ports was ordered to be discharged as unnecessary ; 5 and on I5th March, 
 the whole hired watch was appointed to be discharged upon Sounday at even, 
 and the ordinary watch of the neighbours to be begun that same evening. The 
 reason assigned for this disbanding was, that " the said feyit watch is verray 
 sumptuous to the town, and is nocht swa necessar at this tyme." 6 On nth 
 May 1588, " the appearance of trubill " called forth a peremptory order on the 
 neighbours to watch in person, or by able substitutes well armed ; the 
 night watch was appointed to continue from 9 P.M. till 4 A.M., and to be set 
 by the bailie of the quarter, who was directed to appoint a merchant and a 
 craftsman to be commander thereof ; the third of the quarter was ordered to 
 watch each night for the day watch, and two persons were ordered to be 
 hired, at xld. a-day, to remain in the steeple. 7 On 4th October 1 588, the 
 council, in consequence of certain proceedings of Lord Bothwell, required a 
 quarter of the town to watch night about, and put a guard in the steeple ; at 
 the same time they required the whole inhabitants to be ready in armour "at the 
 nixt straik of the swesche or ringing of the common bell." 8 This order was 
 substantially renewed on 28th February 1588, in consequence of some " at- 
 temptats of insurrectioun within the realm for the alteratioun of the present 
 estaitt." 9 The insurrection of Lord Bothwell and the Marquis of Huntly in 
 April 1589, which caused the king to take up his residence within the burgh 
 on the 7th of that month, induced the magistrates to place a guard in the 
 steeple and kirk, to order the walls to be immediately repaired, and to 
 
 1 Council Records, viii. 76. * Ibid. viii. 138. 7 Ibid. viii. 152. 
 
 * Ibid. viii. 121. 5 Ibid. viii. 141. 8 Ibid. viii. 177. 
 
 1 Ibid. viii. 123. l! Ibid. viii. 144. * Ibid. viii. 201.
 
 60 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 require a nightly watch by a quarter of the town. l These precautions were 
 redoubled on the 2oth of the same month, in consequence of the con- 
 vocation in arms of Lord Bothwell at Dalkeith ; each of the quarters was 
 appointed to watch nightly in turn ; quarter-masters were elected to assist the 
 bailies ; arrangements were made for a rendezvous of the citizens in case of 
 sudden affrays ; a guard-house was kept at the Netherbow ; sentinels were 
 placed at the Cowgate Port and West Port ; and cross guards were placed on 
 the town wall at the High School, at the Kirk-of- Field, and at the Greyfriars' 
 Port. 2 On 7th January 1589, a hired watch was appointed to be taken up to 
 watch nightly, at a wage of ijs. each person, to be paid by the neighbours 
 "who watches nocht in thair awin bodeis." 3 On 3ist December 1591, three 
 men were ordered to be hired to watch in the steeple night and day, at a 
 wage of " fourty pennis in the xxiiij hours ;" 4 and on 25th February 1591, 
 the magistrates were empowered at their discretion to raise and augment the 
 watches in the town and steeple, " as thai sail find occasioun be appearance of 
 trubill." 5 On I3th December 1592, the council, " understanding the grett ap- 
 perance of trubill within the realme," ordered the whole neighbours to be in 
 readiness for defence of the town, and a substantial watch to be kept. With 
 that view they elected twenty persons to be quartermasters for a month, two of 
 whom were required to watch nightly in turn, with a number of the neighbours 
 in their quarter ; the month being past, other quartermasters, it was 
 provided, should be chosen. 6 On 5th January 1593, the magistrates were 
 authorised to hire forty men, well armed, to watch for a month and attend 
 to the town's service night and day ; the wages of these men were fixed at 
 xld. every twenty-four hours, and the treasurer was ordained to set up a watch- 
 house or guard-house of timber at the Market Cross. 7 On the 26th of the 
 same month two of the watch on the steeple were discharged, and the ordinary 
 watch was reduced to twenty-four persons. 8 On the 24th of August 1593, the 
 ordinary watch was appointed to be reduced to twenty persons in whole ; 9 
 but on the 5th of October, it was again raised to twenty-five persons, 
 and the bailies were appointed to take up this number of " men of weir, 
 well airmit, to be ane watche and guard to the toun bayth day and nicht." 10 
 
 1 Council Records, viii. 208. * Ibid. viii. 211. 3 Ibid. ix. 28. 
 
 4 Ibid. ix. 12. s Ibid. ix. 139. 
 
 6 Ibid. ix. 176. Among the persons elected quartermasters at this time we find the 
 name of George Heriot, younger. 7 Council Records, ix. 180. 
 
 8 Ibid. ix. 182. " Ibid. ix. 213. 10 Ibid. ix. 222.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 61 
 
 On the 3d of November, this watch was ordered to be doubled, " in re- 
 spect of the greit appearance of trubills within the realme ;" : and on the 
 2d of January, that order was ordained to continue for two months, a guard 
 of the neighbours being conjoined with the hired watch. 3 During the winter 
 of 1594, a watch of the neighbours, from 6 P.M. till 5 A.M., was, by an act of 
 council dated nth October, appointed to be established, the north side of 
 the town watching eight nights, and the south side twelve nights, and each 
 night's watch being under the charge of two persons of the watch appointed by 
 the bailie. 3 On the 3d of January 1594, the hired watch at the ports was 
 discharged. On 8th October 1595, an act set forth that "the ordinare 
 nichtlie watche is nocht weil keippit, and that it is not possibill to the baillies 
 to walk all nicht, being sua airnestlie occupeit in the day in thair calling ;" it 
 therefore enacted that each bailie, as his watch might fall to him, should 
 appear in the nether tolbooth after supper, and cause the roll of the squadron 
 of his quarter warned to that night's watch to be called ; that out of the 
 number present he should depute one to oversee the rest, and that all who 
 should disobey the person so selected, or who should pass home to their 
 beds before the watch was discharged, should be dilated to the bailie in the 
 morning. 4 On 24th November 1596, we find the council, " in respect of the 
 confluence of pepill to be at the solemnity of the prynce's baptism," ordering 
 twenty watchmen to be hired for eight days, or longer as might be necessary, 
 to assist and watch the town and keep guard at the cross ; appointing suffi- 
 cient watchmen to be put in the steeple ; and requiring the watch of the 
 neighbours to be augmented. 5 On the loth of December 1596, certain 
 persons were commissioned to consider and report as to the form and manner 
 of the watch which should be kept till April, 6 but the result does not appear. 
 On the 23d of September 1597, however, the council resolved on having a 
 hired watch, and the provost and bailies were authorised to engage twenty- 
 four men for this purpose twelve to watch each night. 7 A week later, viz. 
 on 3Oth September, an act " fynds that the forme of thair nichtlie watche usit 
 within this burch hithertills be the nichtbouris or thair seruants throw thair 
 quarters hes bene sumptuous to the saidis nichtbouris and nathing stedabill 
 to the toun ;" it therefore ordained a hired watch of thirty persons, with 
 two commanders, to be taken up, and appointed an extent to be levied 
 
 1 Council Records, ix. 226, 227. * Ibid. x. 44. "' Ibid. x. 146. 
 
 " Ibid. ix. 237. 5 Ibid. x. 99. 
 
 3 Ibid. x. 6. e Ibid. x. 102.
 
 62 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 monthly for their support. This act, it was declared, should continue for 
 one year. 1 The monthly pay bill of this watch appears to have been 86.' 
 On 4th May 1599, it was resolved to retain and keep up the guard and 
 watch at the Cross as formerly till further advice. 3 On 4th May 1603, the 
 hired watch at the cross was reduced to eight persons. 4 On 27th July 1604, 
 the bailies were ordered to " fie ane watch of twenty persouns for twa merk 
 in the oulk ilk persoun, and this for the spaice of ane moneth, and farder as 
 the baillies sail fynd gude." 5 On I7th December 1606, the bailies were autho- 
 rised to take up a night watch of twenty or twenty-four persons, "enduring the 
 council's will, conform to the order vsit of befoir." 8 On the 29th of October, in 
 the following year, the bailies were again authorised to take up a watch of 
 twenty-four persons, twelve of them to watch nightly, and to be paid " by the 
 neighbours twelve shillings ilk neighbour in the year." 7 From the bailies' 
 accounts of the watch rolls and extent for the year to Michaelmas 1610, how- 
 ever, it appears that a hired watch of only fourteen men was kept in the town 
 during that year. The amount received from the various quarters for the sup- 
 port of that watch was as follows : from the north-west quarter, ^136, i6s. ; 
 from the north-east quarter, ^104, 2s. ; from the south-east quarter, ^m, 
 I2s. ; from the south-west quarter, ^188. And there was received of watch 
 money, paid to the Dean of Guild by burgesses on their admission, ,88 ; 
 making a total charge of .628, IDS. od. scots. The payments consisted 
 of wages to fourteen watchmen of the guard, with candle, ,440, 123. od. ; 
 and allowance to officers for collecting extent, ,24 ; in all, ^464, 123. od. 
 scots. The balance of .163, i8s. was paid over to the City Treasurer. 8 
 On 5th October 1610, it was resolved that the bailies should fee a sufficient 
 watch of twenty-four persons, and two commanders of able and sufficient men, 
 and to agree with them as they should think good, to be paid by the watch 
 roll, conform to the extent roll to be set thereupon. 9 An act authorising an 
 extent to be raised for their payments was passed twelve days later, " the 
 most substantious not to pay more than 483,, and the lowest I2s." 10 The 
 account of the watch silver collection for this year also exists, and gives the 
 charge of the watch rolls (under deduction of .60 exempted in quarters and 
 thirds of quarters), at ,870 ; the watch money from the new burgesses 
 
 1 Council Records, x. 147. a Ibid. x. 148. * Ibid. x. 234. 
 
 * Ibid. xi. 122. 6 Ibid. xi. 153. " Ibid. xi. 219 T Ibid. xi. 238. 
 
 8 Bailies' Accounts of Extents and Unlaws, 1564-1644, p. 425. 
 Council Records, xii. 48. lu Ibid. xii. 49.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 63 
 
 amounted for the year to ^80, 8s., making a total charge of ^950, 8s. Out 
 of this fund were paid the wages to the watchmen, whose numbers varied 
 throughout the year, from twenty-six in November and December to ten in 
 June and July, 793, i8s. 8d. ; and allowance to the twelve officers for collect- 
 ing the watch rolls, at 403. each, and other payments, ^52 ; in all, ^845, i8s. 8d, 
 leaving a balance of ^104, gs. 4d, which was paid over to the City Treasurer. 1 
 In the watching arrangements thus indicated, we have a glimpse of burgal 
 life in Edinburgh, under one of its most interesting conditions, in the fifteenth 
 and sixteenth centuries. The citizens of that time were divided into two 
 great classes, the merchants and the craftsmen, each of whom claimed rights 
 and privileges that were disputed by the other. Hence arose constant con- 
 tentions, which ultimately formed the subject of a reference to the king 
 himself, and were dealt with in his decree-arbitral, dated 22d April 1583. 
 But whatever rivalries might exist between these classes, and however much 
 they might dispute among themselves, these rivalries and disputes never 
 interfered with their duty, either to the state or to the town. Both classes 
 bore the burdens and discharged the duties of burgess-ship, national as well as 
 civic ; both acknowledged the authority of the magistrates ; both were pro- 
 vided with weapons in their booths and houses, and when the common bell 
 or the swesche sounded an alarm, or the town officers called them out, both 
 donned their armour, and were ever ready to do their duty ; both were always 
 represented in every contingent furnished by the city for the royal hosts, and 
 under the town's banner both did good service in many a stricken field. How 
 incessant must have been the anxieties and uncertainties of the burghers of 
 this period it would be difficult to over-estimate, did we not make allowance 
 for the effect of habit and familiarity. After every allowance has been made, 
 however, there must have been much that was irksome in that constant lia- 
 bility to be obliged to relinquish the duties of the merchant's booth or of the 
 workshop for those of the soldier, and to take each man his turn in watching 
 the town by day or by night. To this liability the citizens of Edinburgh 
 were exposed more frequently than those of other burghs, for in addition to 
 the ordinary duties of watching and warding common to all, they were often 
 required to perform special services incident to the position of the city as the 
 metropolis. It was the frequent residence of the sovereign, and of those 
 who wielded the royal authority, and the citizens were often obliged to furnish 
 a strong guard for the sovereign or the regent, not only while in Holyrood, 
 
 1 Bailies' Accounts of Extents and Unlaws, 1564-1644, p. 429-432.
 
 64 Sketch of tJie History of the 
 
 or within the walls of the town, but also during their journeyings and resi- 
 dences in other portions of the kingdom. It was the usual seat of the 
 government, and the royal warrants against traitors and persons suspected of 
 disaffection to the crown, had sometimes to be executed by civic levies in 
 districts considerably removed from the capital. It was the place where the 
 parliaments and conventions of the realm usually assembled, and the town 
 behoved to be in arms during their sittings. The supreme civil and criminal 
 courts of the country were also held there, and the burgesses were often 
 called on to preserve order during the " law days" between the barons and 
 other great personages. At no time, in short, could the citizens calculate on 
 immunity from requirements of this nature ; and irksome and harassing as 
 they must have been, it is but just to add, they never seem to have failed to 
 respond to the call. 
 
 When such were the liabilities of the burgesses, we can readily understand 
 that the office of the magistrates was no sinecure. Upon them rested the 
 responsibility for the peace of the town, and the means of preserving it were 
 afforded them by royal grants of high privileges and jurisdictions, which at 
 once attested loyal service, and gave to the office a dignity befitting the 
 capital. So it was that the provostship was usually held by noblemen and 
 gentlemen of great influence, and that the names of Archibald Earl of 
 Angus ; Alexander Lord Home, Great Chamberlain ; Robert Lord Maxwell ; 
 the Lord Seaton ; Kirkcaldy of Grange ; Patrick Lord Lindsay ; James Earl 
 of Annan ; Alexander Earl of Dunfermline, Great Chancellor, and many 
 others well known in Scottish history, are to be found on the roll of its chief 
 magistrates. The great burden of managing the city, however, devolved upon 
 the bailies. In addition to their judicial duties, and the duties of the council, 
 they had the special care of their respective quarters, were charged in turn 
 with setting and regulating the watch, and with keeping the keys of the ports, 
 and were expected to head the musters of their districts when the services of 
 the burghers were required. With a view to the efficient performance of these 
 duties, they were armed with almost arbitrary powers over all the inhabitants 
 of their quarters ; could require their attendance for the service of the town 
 when and 'as often as they thought proper ; could depute to whomsoever they 
 chose their powers of control and supervision over those so called out ; and 
 could deal summarily with all who failed to answer their summons, or to 
 yield them or their deputes befitting obedience. Nor did the law fail to pro- 
 claim the respect due to their persons and office. In the matter of dress even, 
 the sumptuary laws of the period provided that the magistrates of burghs
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 65 
 
 should wear apparel distinguishing them from ordinary burgesses, and this 
 privilege was extended to their wives and families. 1 In some of the later 
 acts, which restricted this privilege to the magistrates of the more important 
 burghs, it was extended to those who had been provosts, bailies, deans of guild, 
 or treasurers of the city of Edinburgh. 
 
 The organisation by means of which the magistrates were enabled to 
 provide for the watching of the city is also worthy of notice. First and 
 primarily there was the ancient division of the town into quarters, each 
 under the charge of a bailie, assisted occasionally by quartermasters, with 
 two, and afterwards three, town officers to each quarter. Next, in 1580, 
 there was the division of the inhabitants into fifties, and the election by each 
 fifty of two men, a merchant and craftsman, to oversee and command the 
 others in all matters of watching and warding. Then, in 1584, there was a 
 similar division of the whole inhabitants into thirties, and a similar election 
 by each thirty of two persons, a merchant and craftsman, to be commanders 
 or masters of watch of their several companies. And again, in 161 1, there was 
 the permanent organisation of the constables, with their well defined districts 
 and duties. All these arrangements rested on the recognised duty of watch- 
 ing and warding, which from time immemorial had been performed by the 
 citizens in person, each quarter furnishing the ordinary watch of the town in 
 rotation, on the summons of one of the officers acting under the orders of the 
 bailie, whose duty again it was to set the watch nightly. In the absence of 
 the bailie, the early practice seems to have been for the watch to be under the 
 charge, sometimes of one of the officers of the quarter alone, sometimes of an 
 officer and one of the citizens on duty, named by the bailie for the purpose, and 
 sometimes of two men " of credence and honesty" selected by him, the 
 persons in charge being in all cases bound to see that the watch was faithfully 
 kept. When commanders of fifties and thirties were elected, they doubtless 
 performed this duty, but that arrangement seems to have been exceptional in 
 its nature and limited in its duration, and was probably superseded, for ordi- 
 nary watching purposes at least, by the more complete organisation of the 
 Constables. 
 
 1 James II. 14. c. 70. 1457, c. 13 [Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, ii. 49]. 
 James VI. 7. c. 113. 1581, c. 18 [Ib. iii. 220]. James VI. 20. c. 8. 1609, c. 15 
 [Ib. iv. 435]. James VI. 23. c. 25. 1621, c. 25 [Ib. iv. 625]. Charles II. 2.3. c. IO. 
 1672, c. 21 [Ib. viii. 71]. Charles II. 2. 4. c. 3. 1673, c. 3 [Ib. viii. 212.] All 
 previous sumptuary laws as to apparel were, however, repealed by the act Charles 
 II, 3. 12. 1681, c. 78 [Ib. viii. 348]. 
 
 H
 
 66 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 In extraordinary emergencies, such as the fear of invasion by our " auld 
 enemies of England," the civil commotions incident to the contentions of 
 rival parties in the state, or the visitation of plague, recourse was had, from 
 the beginning of the sixteenth century, to hired levies, who watched the town 
 sometimes by themselves, and sometimes in conjunction with a guard of the 
 citizens. The cost of these levies was defrayed by extents levied from the 
 citizens. This, however, was an abnormal condition of matters, and it was 
 only towards the close of that century that the burghers seem to have begun 
 to feel that the regular watching of the town would be more efficiently and 
 economically performed by a hired watch than by themselves or their servants, 
 and that an assessment was imposed for the support of the watch. This arrange- 
 ment appears to have continued for several years, watch-silver being regu- 
 larly collected by the town's officers from the various quarters, and watch- 
 money being exacted from burgesses on their admission. From payment of 
 this watch-silver, however, the constables seem to have been regularly ex- 
 empted, in respect no doubt of the important personal services rendered by 
 them to the town. And it would appear that those citizens who chose to 
 perform in person the duties of watching were also relieved from payment of 
 this tax. 1 
 
 IV. By the fifth article of their orders and injunctions, the constables were 
 enjoined to search within their bounds for "Jesuits, seminarie priests, or 
 traffiking papists," and to take and apprehend such as they might find, and 
 present them to the provost and bailies to be tried. 
 
 From an early period the Church of Rome asserted its right to sit in judg- 
 ment upon the opinions of men ; and, not content with inflicting its own 
 punishments of penance, censure, or excommunication upon those whom it 
 convicted of heresy, it induced the civil magistrate to interpose his coercive 
 authority, and to inflict upon the victim of ecclesiastical condemnation the 
 severest forms of secular punishment. In every catholic country of Europe 
 the civil magistrate became in effect the executioner of the church ; and in 
 
 1 The Bailies' Accounts of Extents and Unlaws, 1564-1644. 1613-14, pp. 500-505 ; 
 1614-15, pp. 518-523; 1616-17, PP- 566-575; 1621-22, pp. 756-760; 1622-23, 
 pp. 812-818. The reasons for the exemptions during this last year are various, and 
 are briefly indicated thus : " Constable ;" " watches," i. e. watch themselves, out 
 of the country ; " dwalls in the Canongate ;" " Maister maison to his majesty ;" 
 " Deyne of Gild;" "unmarriet;" "aged;" and so on. Council Records, xii. 
 181 ; xxxiit. 211.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 67 
 
 Scotland the act of 1424, c. 3, 1 expressly enacted " that ilk bischop sail ger 
 inquyr be the inquisicione of heresy quhar ony sik beis fundyne ande at 
 thai be punyst as lawe of halykirk requirs. And gif it misteris that secular 
 power be callyt thairto in suppowale and helping of halykirk." This 
 act, however, was but a declaration, in the broadest and most unquali- 
 fied terms, of an alliance that had previously existed and borne fruit. 
 Sixteen years before, John Resby, a follower of Wickliffe, had been handed 
 over to the secular arm, and had been burned at Perth. 3 The church con- 
 signed the soul of the heretic to perdition, the temporal power committed 
 his body to the flames. The Reformation in this country introduced a new 
 religious and ecclesiastical system, under which the standard of doctrine was 
 denned, and the punitive power of the church was curtailed. But the ad- 
 herents of the new establishment were scarcely less intolerant than those of the 
 old order of things had been, and the legislation of the subsequent century and 
 a half is disfigured by penal laws against papists and nonconformists. Sad 
 enough such legislation is, but in judging of the framers of these penal 
 statutes, we must remember that toleration was the outgrowth of a much later 
 age, and is scarcely yet understood by many, whose intolerance does not admit 
 of the extenuation pleadable for that of the reformers, viz., that it was levelled 
 against a system which involved political elements dangerous to the civil state 
 and constitution of government, not then firmly consolidated, or safe from the 
 persistent attacks of the adherents of the old faith.* 
 
 1 Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, ii. 7. 
 
 3 Cunningham's Church History of Scotland, i. 184. 
 
 3 In truth, however, no party at that time perceived, to use the words of Bishop 
 Heber, " the great wickedness of persecution in the abstract, or the moral unfitness of 
 temporal punishment as an engine of religious controversy. Even the sects who were 
 themselves under oppression exclaimed against their rulers, not as being persecutors at 
 all, but as persecuting those who professed the truth ; and each sect, as it obtained the 
 power to wield the secular weapon, esteemed it also a duty, as well as a privilege, not 
 to bear the sword in vain " (Life of Jeremy Taylor, p. 27). See Whately's Essays 
 on the Errors of Romanism, &c., 4th ed., p. 138. So also the Acts of the Scotch 
 legislature against the papists, &c. , are directed against them, not so much as persons 
 dangerous to the state as "adversaries to God's true religion." The national covenant 
 subscribed in 1580, and renewed in 1639, expressly recognised and approved of this 
 principle, the essentially popish nature of which, as resting on an assumed infalli- 
 bility, was pointed out and denounced by Cromwell in his letter to the Governor of 
 the Castle of Edinburgh, I2th September 1650 (Carlyle's Cromwell, ed. 1857, ii. 209).
 
 68 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 It is unnecessary to enter into minute details relative to that legislation, but 
 its character and scope may be briefly indicated by a simple reference to some 
 of the leading statutes on the subject. The acts 1567, c. 95,' and 1609, c. 7, 2 
 disqualified all but the professors of the reformed religion then established from 
 holding any public office or employment, and the act 1572, c. 4,* rendered 
 them liable to punishment as rebels. The saying or hearing of mass was 
 declared, by the acts 1560, c. 4, 4 and 1567, c. 5, 5 to be punishable, for the 
 first offence, with confiscation of the goods of the contraveners, and punish- 
 ment of their persons at the discretion of the magistrate, with banishment 
 for the second, and with death for the third offence ; the act 1 587, c. 3, 6 pre- 
 scribed tinsel of the moveable goods and liferent of the lands and livings of 
 the defaulter; 1592, c. I4, 7 prescribed the pains of treason; 1593, c. ii, 8 pre- 
 scribed the loss of escheat for the first offence, loss of the liferent of goods for the 
 second, and the pain of treason and forefaulture for the third offence ; and 1 594, 
 visited it with death and escheat of goods. The acts 1592, c. 14, and 1594, c. 3, 9 
 c. 4, were ratified by the act 1607, c. 2. 10 The act 1609, c. 7," ratified the whole 
 acts of the reign of James VI., against the sayers and hearers of mass or their 
 resetters, and the act 1661, c. 37," renewed the prohibition against them under 
 the penalties contained in former acts of parliament. The passing in pilgrim- 
 age to chapels, wells, and crosses, and the superstitious observance of papis- 
 tical rites were, by the act 1 581, c. 6, 13 declared to be punishable with fine for the 
 first offence, and with death for the second. Jesuits, seminary priests, professed 
 or excommunicated and trafficking papists, were, by the. act 1587, c. 3, 14 made 
 liable to death and escheat of moveables, and their resetters or suppliers for 
 three days and nights were declared liable to lose their liferents. Both the 
 resetters and the reset were, by the act 1592, c. 14," subjected to the pains of 
 treason, while the act 1593, c. n, 16 made resetters liable to loss of their 
 escheat for the first fault, to loss of the liferent of their land and goods for the 
 second, and to the pain of treason and forefaulture for the third offence. 
 
 1 Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, iii. 24. 2 Ibid. iv. 429. 3 Ibid. iii. 72. 
 
 * Ibid. ii. 535. See Act and Ordinance of the Privy Council, 28th May 1561. 
 Works of John Knox, Mr Laing's eel. ii. 161-164. 5 Acts of Parliament, iii. 22. 
 
 8 Ibid iii. 430. See Act of Privy Council, 6th March 1589, Calderwood's His- 
 tory of the Kirk of Scotland, v. 37. 7 Acts of Parliament, iii. 545. 
 
 8 Ibid. iv. 17. " Ibid. iv. 429. 14 Ibid. iii. 430. 
 
 " Ibid. iv. 62. 12 Ibid. vii. 26. 15 Ibid. iii. 545. 
 
 lu lbid. iv. 371. ls Ibid. iii. 212. r> Ibid. iv. 17.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 69 
 
 The act 1600, c. 27,* appointed all Jesuits, seminary priests, excommunicate 
 and tried trafficking papists to be apprehended and committed by the magis- 
 trates till convicted, banished, or punished, according to the act of parliament ; 
 while their resellers were, by the same act, and by the act 1607, c. 2, 2 declared 
 to be punishable according to their rank. These acts were ratified by the 
 act 1609, c. 7 ; 3 and the statute 1661, c. 3, 4 ordered all Jesuits, priests, and 
 trafficking papists to leave the kingdom under pain of death. Profaners of the 
 sacraments, persons suspected to have declined, withdrawers from the preach- 
 ing of the word, seducers by reasoning, or dispersers of heretical books or 
 letters, were, by the act 1 587, c. 3, 5 ordained to lose their moveable goods and 
 liferent. Adversaries of, or apostates from, the true religion were, by the act 
 1581, c. 8, 8 ordered to leave the country, and banishment and confiscation of 
 moveables were, by the same act, prescribed against the makers, sellers, home- 
 bringers, or dispersers of erroneous books, which the act 1 587, c. 4, 5 empowered 
 magistrates of burghs, with a minister, to make search for and destroy, im- 
 prisoning the homebringers till they were punished in person and goods. 7 
 
 1 Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, iv. 232. This act ratified an Act of the Privy 
 Council, held at St Johnston, on 1st April 1600. 
 
 3 Ibid. iv. 371. * Ibid. iv. 429. * Ibid. vii. 26. 
 
 s Ibid. iii. 430. Ibid. iii. 213. 
 
 7 This was precisely the policy of the Romish Church when it was dominant in 
 Scotland. See the acts against heresy, 1424, c. 3 [Acts of the Parliaments of Scot- 
 land, ii. 7] ; against the professors of the Lutheran doctrines, 1525, c. 4 [ibid. ii. 295] ; 
 against the eating of flesh in Lent, 1555, c. 9 [ibid. ii. 493] ; and against persons lying 
 under the ban of the church, 1443, c. I and 2 [ibid. ii. 33] ; 1449, c. I [ibid. 
 35l ; !535 c - 3 [ibid, ii- 342] ; 1551, c. I [ibid. 11.482]; 1551, c. 8 and 9 [ibid, 
 ii. 485]. That these acts were enforced to the death there is abundant evidence. The 
 names of twenty individuals are recorded as having been put to death, besides the 
 many who suffered banishment or confiscation of goods, on account of their religion, 
 in the conflict between Popery and Protestantism in Scotland [Cunningham's Church 
 History in Scotland, i. 320 ; M'Crie's Life of John Knox, edition 1855, p. 15 ; Note 
 H, p. 312 ; Pitcairn's Criminal Trials, i. *2io, *2i6, #217, *252, 255, '297, #330,* 
 *4OO, *4O7]. After the establishment of the Reformation, the provisions of the old 
 acts against excommunicated persons were made expressly applicable to all persons 
 "excommunicate be ordour of the true reformed kirk" by the act 1572, c. 14 [ibid, 
 iii. 76*]. See also the acts 1587, c. 6, intituled, "For pvnishment of ye commit- 
 taris of disordoures in the kirk in tyme of divine seruice, or forcearis of ministeris in 
 thair office and function " [ibid. iii. 430] ; 1609, c. 3, intituled, " Act anent the 
 chusing of pedagogues to children passing furth of Scotland to schooles," and c. 4, in-
 
 7O Sketch of the History of the 
 
 Several of these acts contain orders upon the sheriffs of counties, and the 
 magistrates of burghs, to enforce their provisions against the adherents of the 
 old faith ; and it appears from the records of the city that this was done in a 
 variety of instances by the Town Council. In particular, an act dated loth 
 June 1 560, considering " the grit number of idolatreis, quhoremaisteris, and 
 harlottis daylie resortand within this burgh provokand the indignation of God 
 vpone the saymn, oftymes furthschawin be the preecheris," ordained all 
 
 " sic personis [to] cum in presens of the minister or the elderis to gif testimone of thair 
 conversioun fra the saidis abusis respective, betwix and Friday at none nixttocum, or 
 falzeing thairof the saidis idolatreis to be diffamit be setting thame vpone the merkatt 
 croce, thair to remane for the space of vj houris for thair first fait, carying of the saids 
 badelaris, houremaisteris, and harlottis throw the toune in ane carte for their first fait, 
 buryng of bayth the kyndis of the saidis personis on the cheik for the secound fait and 
 banisching the toun, and for the third fait to be punischit to the deid." * 
 
 Another act, dated 24th March 1560, recites that for the space of three 
 months the priests, monks, friars, canons, nuns, and other papists, had been 
 allowed free liberty to come into their churches to hear the word and to be 
 resolved of their doubts ; but that, notwithstanding, there was no appearance 
 of their conversion, and that they were seducing the common people. Where- 
 fore, it proceeds 
 
 "sen trew it is that be the infallable word of the Eternal, oure God, we are com- 
 mandit to rute owte frome the middis of ws oure towne and commounweill the wikit 
 and vngodlie, and in speciale quhen the workis of the samyn dois appear to the hurte 
 thairof, as we will eschew the wrath and indignatioun threitnit vpoun ws gif we do 
 nocht oure dewitie for purgeing of oure said toun of sic vngodlie peple, thair errouris 
 and detestabill workis [we] command and charge in oure souerane Lordis name, and 
 in name and behalf of the lordis of secreit counsule, provest, and baillies of this burch, 
 that within xlviij houreis next heirefter all preistis, monkis, freris, channonis, nunnis, 
 and vtheris of the vngodlie sectis and opinionis quhilkis heirtofore hes joisit the 
 priuelege and libertie aboue writtin, and hes nocht gevin thair repentence of thair 
 
 tituled, "Act against children that becomes papistis when they are out of Scotland " 
 [ibid. iv. 428] ; and 1661, c. 238, intituled, "Act for denunceing of excommunicat 
 persons" [ibid. vii. 228] : all of which not only confirmed the alliance between the 
 church and the state, but degraded the civil magistrate, by making him the mere 
 executor of ecclesiastical decrees. It was not till the reign of William and Mary 
 1690, c. 58 [ibid. ix. 198,] that all previous acts enjoining civil pains upon sentences 
 of excommunication were rescinded. 
 1 Council Records, iii. 37.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 71 
 
 formar inequiteis and opinionis, as alsua all mes sayaris, and mes manteinaris, hure- 
 mongaris, adulteraris, and fornicatouris " 
 
 depart the toun; but they were informed that if any of them would repent 
 they would thereafter be gladly received. 1 This act, and the proclamation 
 which followed upon it, were highly offensive to the queen, who wrote the 
 town council, reprimanding them for their unjust and rigorous dealings. 
 The council, notwithstanding, by an act dated 2d October 1561, "persaving 
 the priests, monkis, freris, and others of the wiket rable of the antechrist 
 the paip to resort to the toun incontrair the tenour of the proclamation maid 
 on the contrair," ordained 
 
 " the said proclamatioun to be proclamyt of new, chargeing all monkis, freris, priestis, 
 nonnys, adulteraris, fornicatouris, and all sic filthy personis to remove themselffis of 
 this toun and boundis thairof within xxiiij houris, under the pane of carting throucht 
 the toun, byming on the cheik, and banessin the saymn for ever." a 
 
 This insult was resented, two days afterwards, by a peremptory letter from 
 the* "queen to the council, requiring them to depose the provost and the four 
 bailies, which they accordingly did, under protestation that their compliance 
 with the royal command should be without prejudice to the privileges of the 
 toun. 8 Her majesty subsequently sent a list of three persons to the council, 
 from whom they should elect their provost, but the election had been made 
 previous to receipt of the list. 4 Another act, dated May 1563, required the 
 haill neighbours to be on the streets in arms, in consequence of the bishop of St 
 Andrews and several kirkmen being pursued before the justice for the saying 
 of mass. 5 On the 8th of July 1569, again there is an order against keeping 
 company with certain papists, " laitlie excommunicat furth of the kirk of God 
 for abiding at and manteiniying of the mes, and like abhominable idolatrie." 6 
 By this time the church had been active in the exercise of its discipline, and 
 had freely excommunicated those who refused to recognise the order of 
 things as then established. With such persons, then, it was necessary to 
 deal, and, accordingly, we find a series of acts of council directed against 
 them. There is (i) an act dated 7th October 1569, ordering proclamation to 
 be made, charging them to leave the town within forty-eight hours, under the 
 
 1 Council Records, iii. 76. * Ibid. iv. 15 ; Diurnal of Occurrents, p. 69. 
 
 * Council Records, iv. 16 ; Diurnal of Occurrents, p. 69. * Ibid. 
 
 6 Ibid. iv. 64. The circumstances connected with this act are detailed in the Diurnal 
 of Occurrents, p. 75. For report of the trial, see Pitcairn's Criminal Trials, i. 427. 
 u Ibid. iv. 243.
 
 72 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 highest pain ; l (2) an act dated 6th October 1570, ordering certain excom- 
 municated persons 
 
 " to pass to their awin houssis to remane thair in sober maner without resort of com- 
 paneis quhill this day viij days ; in the menetyme to procure forther libertye of the kirk, 
 failling to depairt of the fredome and libertie of the toune betuix and Setterday come 
 viij dayis nowther resort hant nor trafique within the samyn vnder the pane of jc li, and 
 ordainis the baillies to tak cautioun of thame for the samyn ;" 2 
 
 (3) another act dated 9th February 1570, appointing proclamation to be made, 
 charging all excommunicated persons to leave the town 
 
 " betwix and the morne at none vnder the pane of extreme impresonment, but prejudice 
 of the forther panis contenit in the lawis, and that all sic as resattis thame cum and 
 reveill the samyn to the bailleis vnder pane of banischement, and siclike that the actis 
 of parliament be execute vpoun fornicatouris but fauouris." * 
 
 (4) two acts against the spouse of John Graham, dated 1st and 6th May 1584, 
 one requiring her to find caution not to receive excommunicated persons into 
 her house, and the other ordering her merchant booth to be closed, because 
 she refused to find caution. These acts proceed on the narrative "that Mrs 
 Graham "hes sundrie tymes resett in hir house the young laird of Fintrie, hir 
 husband, and dyuers vther excommunicat personis after sche wes admonist be 
 the kirk to abstene thairfra ;" 4 and (5) an act dated 25th February 1585, dis- 
 charging indwellers within the burgh from housing, harbouring, resetting, or 
 entertaining any persons " excommunicate and curst be the censures of the 
 kirk," under the pain of an unlaw of ten pounds for each failure. 5 On igth 
 April 1587, again, an act ordained a proclamation to be made, charging all 
 persons to remove from their houses at Whitsunday thereafter 
 
 "all papists, huires, thevis, evill and vitious levares and thair resetteris, or that ar 
 commonely brutet and suspect thairof, and nocht to sett thair houssis in tyme cvming, 
 but sic as hes ather sufficient rent or ane lawfull and honest tred to leif vpoun, vnder 
 the payne of ten pund swa oft as they failzie." 6 
 
 That these regulations were being enforced in 1 5Q2, 7 is shewn by an act of 
 
 1 Council Records, iv. 246. 8 Ibid. iv. 272. * Ibid. vii. 231. 
 
 * Ibid. iv. 264. ; * Ibid. vii. 86. Ibid. viii. 83. 
 
 7 Though, in a statement of certain grievances given in by the General Assembly to 
 the king, on 2Oth February 1 587, it is complained that sundry papists and seminary 
 priests confessing themselves to have said mass, and preached papistry within the land, 
 being apprehended by the magistrates of Edinburgh and put in ward, had been set at 
 liberty without any punishment or satisfaction to the kirk. (Calderwood's History of 
 the Kirk of Scotland, iv. 661.)
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 73 
 
 the Council dated i5th December of that year, which sets forth, that James 
 Gray, advocate, had compeared and obliged himself not to harbour or reset 
 within his house at any time thereafter " the laird of Bonyntoun, younger, 
 excommunicat, nor na excommunicat persoun or persouns under the payne of 
 ane unlaw of xl li., to be payet to the guid toun swa oft as he failzeis." * 
 
 It is to be observed that, while the magistrates of Edinburgh were thus pro- 
 claiming and apparently enforcing the laws against papists and their resetters, 
 it was a subject of complaint by the clergy that the magistrates were very 
 remiss in their duty. Proclamations against papists, both as enemies of the 
 true religion and of the civil order of things, were also issued from time to 
 time by the king, and by the privy council, both before and after his majesty's 
 accession to the English crown ; but the church complained of the govern- 
 ment too, that no correction followed upon these proclamations. The remiss- 
 ness of the civil powers, however, seems only to have stimulated the zeal of 
 the General Assembly, and the inferior judicatories of the kirk, and their pro- 
 ceedings are full of acts and resolutions against popery, its professors, and 
 their abettors. It was probably through the influence of the clergy that the 
 instructions to search for and apprehend papists were introduced into 
 the " orders and injunctions " for the constables of Edinburgh ; and it is 
 noticeable that although royal proclamations were issued against papists and 
 their resetters in January 1593," in November i6oo, 3 and in September i6o6, 4 
 no reference is made to them in the specification of the duties of the con- 
 stables contained in the act of parliament 1617, c. 8. 5 
 
 1 Council Records, ix. 177. * Birrell's Diary, 29. 
 
 3 Calderwood's History of the Kirk of Scotland, vi. 100. * Ibid. vi. 586. 
 
 6 That the laws against papists were at no time a dead letter is attested by re- 
 corded cases against celebrators or hearers of mass : Pitcairn's Criminal Trials, i. *427 
 
 (i5 6 3), *43S (1563)1 J 4 (i57o), 3 (i57i-2), 31 (I57I-2), 35, 38 (1572) ; " 348 (1601), 
 442 (1604), 530 (1607) ; iii. 252, 254 (1613), 330 (1615), 377 (1615), against papists, 
 priests, Jesuits, and resetters of such. Ibid. i. 167 (1589), 371 (1615) ; iii. 375 (1615), 
 541 (1622). Diurnal of Occurrents, 75, 301, 318, 341. Arnot's Criminal Trials, 328, 
 335 (1615), 335 (1722), and against traffickers with papists to alter religion, Pitcairn's 
 Criminal Trials, i. 172 (1589), 371 (1615). See generally Chambers's Domestic Annals 
 of Scotland, i. 335, 336, 342, 352, 358, 385, 399, 411, 417 ; ii. 20-28, 36-41, 57-60, 
 145, 211, 335,499. 
 
 The whole penal laws against popery and papists were ratified and revived by the 
 Act 1700, c. 3 [Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, x. 215], but were modified by 
 
 I
 
 74 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 V. By the orders to which allusion has been made, the constables were 
 charged with important and laborious duties connected with the suppression 
 of mendicancy, the preservation of peace, and the enforcement of the laws 
 against popery. To these, Article 12 added the probably not less troublesome 
 duty of looking after the cleanliness of the town. They were required to see 
 that their bounds were kept free of all filth, middens, and swine, and to this 
 effect were entrusted with a magisterial power to try and fine offenders, and 
 failing payment, to commit them to prison. 
 
 This order had reference to a condition of matters which we, accustomed 
 to the sanitary arrangements of modern times, can with difficulty realise. 
 Confined in space, without the possibility of effective ventilation, with a 
 most inadequate supply of water, without those appliances for health, com- 
 fort, and decency, that now exist in the houses of almost the humblest 
 citizens, the inhabitants of even the most fashionable localities in Edinburgh 
 at that time, and for a long period afterwards, were exposed to influences 
 which sufficiently account for the frequent visit and deadly ravages of plague 
 and pestilence. Notwithstanding the repeated proclamations of successive 
 magistrates against depositing filth on the streets and closes, and against 
 throwing soil and refuse over the windows, emphasised as these proclama- 
 tions were by threats of fines, imprisonment, the pillory, whipping, and 
 banishment, the practice was continued far into the last century ; and con- 
 temporary writers represent the sounding of ten o'clock from the steeple of 
 St Giles' to have been the signal for a general and simultaneous discharge 
 from the windows of every house, amid a chorus of " Gardyloos" So says 
 the author of the Cloaciniad, 
 
 "The clock strikes ten, 
 Now from a thousand windows cat'racts flow, 
 Wh'ich make a deluge in the streets below." 
 
 The streets in fact were the receptacles of every description of filth. They 
 formed the common market-place for all kinds of goods. Fish, flesh, and 
 fowls, meal, butter, and eggs, fruit, vegetables, and " cranery wares," were 
 exposed to sale on the calsay, and the refuse from the stalls littered the public 
 thoroughfares. The horses and other beasts of burden that had brought the 
 
 the Act 31 George III. c. 3 (the Toleration Act) ; 33 George III. c. 44 ; 10 George 
 IV. c. 7 ; and 7 and 8 Viet. c. 102.
 
 High Constables of tJie City of Edinburgh. 75 
 
 wares to market, were stabled and fed on the street. Amidst the garbage 
 thus collected, swine revelled, in close proximity to their cruives, which were 
 freely placed under the projecting stairs, or in any available corner down the 
 steep closes, or vennels as they were called, that led from the High Street on 
 either side. Those who read the minute records of the local legislation, 
 intended to remedy to some extent the then existing state of matters, can well 
 credit the literal accuracy of Dunbar's description of the streets of Edinburgh 
 in the reign of James IV., a description that, in all its essential features, 
 must have continued applicable to them far into the last century. 1 
 
 Among the oldest police regulations of which we have any trace, there is a 
 prohibition, in 1450, against allowing swine to run at large, under pain of 
 escheat -for behoof of the kirk-wark. 2 In 1490, the lockman was ordered to 
 seize any swine " found upon the gaitt or common throw gangis out of hand," 
 between the Castle and the Nether Bow, and to fine the owners.* In 1506, 
 an act prohibited the " holding of swine within the town, in the high streets 
 and vennels, outwith house nor outwith hand, under the pain of slauchter of 
 the samyn by the lockman, Patrick Fresnel," 4 and in 1542, all cruives for 
 swine were ordered to be immediately removed from " stairs and sydewalls 
 foment the high street, or in common vennels." 5 Similar orders against 
 
 swine and swine-cruives were issued from time to time throughout the 
 
 
 
 1 See in particular his address to the merchants of Edinburgh [Mr D. Laing's edition, 
 i. 34], in which he taunts them with not applying some of their growing wealth to the 
 improvement of the town. 
 
 In the present century even, and within the memory of living citizens, the condition 
 of the High Street was, in some respects, far from creditable. " The fruit and vege- 
 table markets," says one, alluding incidentally to the practice that existed down to 
 1821, of holding these markets on that street "were held "on the High Street, from 
 the corner of the North Bridge up to the Royal Exchange. ' During the period from 
 1818 to 1821 I had occasion to go up the High Street every lawful day at an early 
 hour in the morning, and I hope never again to see such an exhibition in the city. The 
 vegetables were laid down on the street and foot pavement to a large extent, for the 
 purpose of being shewn, just where the scavengers had been plying their calling im- 
 mediately before ; and the gutters were running near in the most offensive way that 
 could be supposed. This perfuming was the preliminary operation to which all our 
 fruit and vegetables were then subjected before being made ready for dinner." 
 
 2 Extracts from Council Records, Advocates' Library, fol. 181. 
 
 3 Ibid., ist February 1490. 4 Ibid. fol. 182, 26th September 1506. 
 Ibid. fol. 185, 4th October 1542.
 
 76 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, 1 and even so late as 1704, a proclamation 
 was ordered to be made through the town, discharging the keeping and feed- 
 ing of swine upon the high street, open closes, and vennels, under the pain 
 of confiscation of the swine. 2 
 
 1 Extracts from Council Records, Advocates' Library, fol. 188, gth October 1553. 
 Council Records, ii. 19. Ibid. ii. 32, gth October 1554. Ibid. iv. 161, I4th October 
 1566. Ibid. v. 1 66, 7th October 1579. Ibid. vi. 217, 27th October 1582. Ibid. vii. 
 24, gth October 1583. Ibid. vii. 30, 2ist October 1583. Ibid. vii. 180, 3Oth April 
 1585. Ibid. vii. 184, l8th May 1585. Ibid. vii. 222, igth January 1585. Ibid, 
 viii. 116, 132, 3d November and 2gth December 1587. Ibid. ix. 113, 118, 1st No- 
 vember 1592. Ibid. xi. 165, 9th January 1605. Ibid. xi. 272, 2ist October 1 608. 
 Ibid. xii. 5, 17, igth April, and 6th October 1609. 
 
 * Council Records, xxvii. 757. 1st March 1704. 
 
 The keeping of swine in town, and allowing them to roam about the streets and 
 thoroughfares, it is scarcely necessary to remark, was not confined to Edinburgh. The 
 Leges quatuor Burgorum, made by King David I. [1124-1153], and which were appli- 
 cable to Edinburgh, Roxburgh, Berwick, and Stirling, contain a clause (84) relative 
 to the "manner of swine holding in burgh," which was in all probability directed 
 against, or at all events applicable to, the practice, even at that early period, of keeping 
 these animals at large in burghs. The clause enacts as follows : " It is nocht leyfull 
 til ony burges wythin the kyngis burgh duellande for to halcle swyne in the burgh bot 
 gif he hafe a kepar folowand thaim in the feylde quhar thruch his nychtburis inryn na 
 scathe nor noye, or than that he hald thaim in sty " [Acts of the Parliaments of Scot- 
 land, i. 37]. Article 102 of the same laws also refers to this practice " It is for to 
 wyt that na castellayne sail ryn in the town within a burges house to sla swyne grysys 
 na geyse na hennys bot he sail cum to the burges house, and he sail ask gif ony fuylk 
 be thar to sell to the kyngis myster. And gif thai ony hafe thai sail sell thaim. And 
 gif thai hafe ony and nane will sell, and thai be fundyn in the streyt, it sail be lefull to 
 the castellayne to slaa thaim, and the nichbouris sail pryse thaim, and the pryse sail be 
 geffin to the possessouris. And this sail nocht the castellaynis do bot thryse in the 
 yhere, that is for to wyt befor the yule paske and quhytsonday, and in the yhere nane 
 oftare be law of burgh" [Ibid. i. 41]. And the "Modus procedendi in itinere ca- 
 merarii infra regnum Scocie," a document, as has been remarked, apparently of the 
 latter part of the fourteenth century, required the alderman and bailies of every burgh 
 to furnish the great chamberlain at his "ayre" with, inter alia, "all the names of 
 thaim that haldis swyn vtought keping in the law statut " [Ibid. i. 329]. Article 40 
 of the " Fragmenta qusedam veterum legum et consuetudinum Scotiae undique col- 
 lecta" also enacts that " gif a burges or ony other haldis swyn in the burgh or other 
 beestis throu the quhilk the nychtburis takis scathe, the swyn fundin in the scathe 
 \vith outyn ony kcpar folowand thaim may weil be slayn, and made csclict, and ettin
 
 High Constables of tJie City of Edinburgh. 77 
 
 So early as 1 505, an attempt seems to have been made by the authorities 
 to clean the streets, and an agreement is recorded between the magistrates 
 
 eftir the law of the burgh" [Ibid. i. 364]. The Records of the Burgh of Aberdeen 
 shew that the practice also prevailed there. Preparatory to the visit of the Queen to 
 that city in 1501, we find a prohibition against swine, young or old, being, "hauldin 
 uteucht band of the foirgait for ane fiftene daes," under pain of slaughter and escheat 
 of the swine, and banishment of the owners. It was also ordered that the town be 
 devoyen of swin croffis under the same payne [Extracts from Burgh Records, Spalding 
 Club, i. Pref. p. xvi, xvii, and p. 7]- Similar orders were issued in anticipation of 
 the Queen's visit in I5 11 [ib. i. 81]. Statutes against swine and swine's cruives were 
 also passed in 1530 [ib. i. Pref. p. xxxv], 1547 [ib. i. 274], 1566 [ib. i. 361], 1578 
 [ib. ii. 32]. So in the Burgh Records of Glasgow, we find an enactment in 1577 
 against the holding or pasturing of swine or geese within the burroruds about the 
 town, ' ' but haldin bund in houss, " under the pain of escheating thereof [Extracts, 
 Maitland Club, p. 83], 
 
 In London, persons living in the city in the time of Edward I. [1272-1307] were at 
 liberty to keep swine within their houses, but strict injunctions were issued from time 
 to time against the encroachment of pigsties on the streets. Subsequently the licence 
 to keep swine in the city was limited to bakers, and an ordinance of probably later 
 date was directed against the rearing of swine, cows, and oxen within the city. Swine 
 were at all times prohibited from roaming about the streets and thoroughfares, under 
 the pain of being slaughtered by the finder, who might either retain the carcase, or re- 
 store it to the owner on payment of a fixed sum. In the reign of Edward I. four 
 persons were appointed and sworn to kill all swine found at large in the city, with the 
 exception of those belonging to the renter of the Hospital of St Anthony (the guardian 
 saint of swine), which were distinguished by a bell round their necks. That even this 
 individual was suspected of unfairly extending his privilege is shewn by the fact that, in 
 the time of Edward II., he was required to make oath " that he will not avow any swine 
 found at large in the city, nor will he hang any bells around their necks, but only those 
 pigs which have been given them in pure alms." [Munimenta Gildhallse, Lon- 
 doniensis. Liber Albus, vol. i. Introduction, xli, 270, 335, 590, 591.] 
 
 In Paris also, at an early period, swine were permitted to wallow in the filth that 
 encumbered the streets. One of the young princes, however, being killed by a fall 
 from his horse, occasioned by a sow running between its legs, an order was issued 
 against swine running about the streets in future. The monks of the Abbey of St An- 
 thony remonstrated fiercely against the order, alleging that the prevention of the 
 saint's swine from enjoying their accustomed liberty of roaming where they pleased, 
 was disrespectful to their patron. An exception was in consequence made in their 
 favour, on condition that the monks should fasten bells round the necks of their swine 
 [Chambers's Traditions of Edinburgh, p. 9l].
 
 78 Sketch of tJie History of tJie 
 
 and Thomas Glendunwyne, their bellman, under which he undertook "to 
 haif a horse with a close cairt and twa servandis daylie, quhen neid is for 
 purging and clenging of the Hie street, betuix the Castill and Saint Mary's 
 wynd and Leith wynd heads." For this service the bellman was to be 
 allowed to appropriate the fulzie removed by him, and to " tak of every buith, 
 volt, cellar, and chalmer, of ilk foirland plainist and inhabite, ilk quarter of 
 the yeir j d - viz. iiij d - in the yeir," and of each flesher, fishmonger, huckster, 
 or other person whose trade tended to dirty the streets, larger sums specified 
 in the act of council. 1 In 1509, another arrangement was made with 
 " Thomas Johnston, calsaymaker, and Jhone Brown, saltar," under which 
 they undertook to provide horses, close carts, wheelbarrows, and all other 
 implements needful for cleaning the streets, and also to make and complete, 
 each year that they continued to clean the streets, forty roods of calsay wher- 
 ever the magistrates should direct, receiving for their pains the same remunera- 
 tion as that assigned to Thomas Glendunwyne in I5O5- 2 This arrangement 
 was obviously in operation in 1514.* In 1518, however, it would seem to 
 have been discontinued, for an act of council was passed at that time requiring, 
 " for the eschewing of daynger of seikness, that all manner of persons, inhabi- 
 tants of this bruch, purge and clenge their calsays to myd channel foment 
 their dwelling places housis or buiths, als weill in the Kowgaitt vennellis as 
 on the hie gaitt, of all maner reddis, myddings, or other filth, .... under 
 
 the payne of viijs. to be tane of thame that faltis but favouris, and 
 
 also, that all tar barrellis and wad pypes be remouet of the hie calsay under 
 the payne of escheitt of the samyn;" and another act was passed in the 
 same year, prohibiting muck, fulzie, craimes of stones, or middings from being 
 laid near the common walls of the town, either within or without the same, 
 for the space of twelve feet within, or twenty-four feet without the walls. 4 
 In 1527, there is a notice from which it appears that "the gait-dichting and 
 duties thereof were set for the year to come, with the aventure of deed and 
 weir, to Alexander Pennycuik for the sum of 20, to be dicht and clenzit suffi- 
 ciently ilk eight days anes with a dozen of servants," and the tacksman was 
 enjoined to " tak nae mair duties for the dichting thereof, except and allenarly 
 of fish, flesh, salt, and victuals." 5 The course here followed of letting the 
 
 1 Extracts from Council Records, Advocates' Library, fol. 181, 182. 
 
 * Ibid. 181, 182. ' Ibid. 183. 6th October 1514. * Ibid. fol. 183. 
 
 4 Ibid. Chambcrs's Domestic Annals of Scotland, i. 483-4.
 
 High Constables of tlie City of Edinburgh. 79 
 
 fulzie, appears, however, to have been subsequently discontinued, for in 1542, 
 an act of council was passed requiring the immediate removal, under penalties 
 for failure, of all middings and fulzie or tar barrels on the High Street. 1 In 
 1548, it was found necessary to enact that "na paynsches be weischen nor 
 dycht at ony wallis, but priuallie in houssis, under the payne of ponising their 
 personis," and to renew the order for the removal of all middings, muck, 
 
 and fulzie, from the " Hie gaitt, Kowgaitt, or common vennellis," 
 
 "for the eschewing of pest seekness and evil savour." 2 An order somewhat 
 similar to that of 1542, but more stringent, was enacted in 1549 and in 1550, 
 accompanied with the regulation that all filth carried out of the town should 
 be taken through the nearest port. 3 The order for the removal of filth from 
 the streets was renewed in I55i, 4 1553," I557, 6 I56o, 7 1562* and I566, 9 
 the neighbours being required " on every Setterday at evin [to] mak clene 
 foment thair awin hous, bayth in the Hiegaitt and Kowgaitt, and vennellis, 
 after the auld vse for keeping of the town clene," under a penalty for each 
 failure. All " pyk or tar barrels" lying on the hie gait were also directed to be 
 removed. That none might pretend ignorance of these orders, the bellman 
 was required to pass through the town every Saturday afternoon, and proclaim 
 them. In 1566, an act of Council was passed ordering all "closets" and 
 " scheildis" to be cleaned before they were full, prohibiting their being so 
 kept as that the contents should escape and flow into the streets, and re- 
 quiring that when they were cleaned, " the clenzer carie the saym honestlie 
 and quietlie in the nycht, and nocht to file the street therewith." 10 The 
 
 1 Extracts from Council Records, Advocates' Library, fol. 185. 4th October 1542. 
 
 * Ibid. fol. 187. 1548, and 3d August 1549. 
 
 * Ibid. fol. 187. 1st July 1550. 
 
 4 Ibid. fol. 187. Council Records, ii. 3. October 1551. 
 8 Council Records, ii. 19. October 1553. 
 
 Ibid. ii. 106. i8th September 1557. 
 
 ' Extracts from Council Records, Advocates' Library, fol. 188 ; Council Records, 
 iii. 55. 3Oth October 1560. 
 
 8 Council Records, iv. 53- 8th December 1562. 
 
 Extracts from Council Records, Advocates' Library, fol. 187. 
 
 10 Council Records, iv. 161, I4th October 1566. These conveniences, subse- 
 quently referred to under the name of "privies," appear to have been private. No 
 public convenience of this kind seems to have been provided till 1684, when the 
 council ordered " twa jaques to be made, the one at the foot of the close betwixt 
 Thomas Wilsone's new house, neer to the entrie of the flesh mercate, and ane other
 
 So Sketch of the History of the 
 
 former orders for the removal of filth, &c., from the streets were renewed in 
 
 at some close foot at the land mercate, " and a ' ' broad to be pute up at the saids 
 closs heads for directing them that are to ease themselves to find the said jaques, 
 and that the same be convoyed be ane syre to the North Loch" [Council Records, 
 xxxi. 49, 6th August 1684]. In the absence of such provision for the public require- 
 ments, it cannot be wondered at that every bit of waste ground within the town, and 
 even the streets and closes, were defiled. As it was, it was found to be necessary to 
 appoint persons to keep the entrance to the High Church itself, as well as the church- 
 yard, free from filth. But it was to be expected that a very short experience of these 
 public conveniences would have induced the authorities to provide others in the interests 
 as well of decency as of cleanliness. In 1688, accordingly, they appointed Deacon Sandi- 
 lands to "make as many office-houses as the magistrates think needful, to be placed in 
 such parts of the city as they think convenient, and that with all convenient speed." 
 This order bears to have been given in consideration of the " necessitie for keeping the 
 citie neat and clean that there be office-houses erected in various places." Provision 
 was also made in the contracts with several tacksmen of fulzie for cleaning out such 
 houses as might be erected by the magistrates. Not only, however, do none appear 
 to have been provided, but the two erected in 1684 seem to have been discontinued 
 prior to 1763, for Theophrastus (William Creech), in his letters published in De- 
 cember 1783, reprinted in the Appendix to Arnot's History of Edinburgh, page 672, 
 quarto edition, says that the old town was even then "without public necessaries, al- 
 though," he observes, it is " the best situated place perhaps in Britain for the purpose, 
 and the old town never can be cleanly without them." "There is," he adds, "one 
 exception to this since 1763, raised by subscription of the neighbourhood, on the appli- 
 cation of a citizen, which shews how practicable the scheme is." At present [1865], 
 it may be added, there are thirty-one of these conveniences, and thirty-nine urinals in 
 the city. 
 
 In London, public conveniences of this kind, known as " latrinae" seem to have 
 existed so early as about the middle of the fourteenth century, at which time many of 
 the lanes leading from the Thames contained latrinae, public and private. These 
 were much complained of, and not without reason, we must admit, when we learn 
 that some of them were so constructed, upon gratings, that the filth fell on the heads 
 of passers by [Munimenta Gildhallse Londoniensis. Liber Custumarum ii., part i. 
 Introduction, p. cix, cxi, cxii]. The state of some of these lanes otherwise, as regards 
 filth, appears to have been as bad as it was well possible for them to be. Public la- 
 trines not unfrequently, also, projected over the Thames, and continued to be a preva- 
 lent nuisance until the great fire of London, A.D. 1666 [Ib. footnote, p. cix]. A 
 document, sub anno 1355, also mentions latrinae situated on Fleet river, and an ordi- 
 nance of the time of Henry IV. (I399~I4 I 3) refers to the " New latrina at Londone 
 Walle " [Ib. Liber Albus, Introduction, p. xlv]. 
 
 It is curious to find that in this, as in other arrangements for health and comfort,
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 8 1 
 
 1582* and in 1583.* In 1582,3 and again in 1583,* the order for having 
 "closets" and "scheildis" cleaned was renewed. In 1584, the council re- 
 solved to return to what is stated to be the " old use " of rouping for the 
 town's behoof, the muck gathered on the high streets, vennels, and open 
 closes, and certain persons were commissioned to set down the conditions on 
 which this was to be done. These conditions prescribed that no filth should 
 be collected save by freemen, their wives and servants, and by them only in 
 suitable places within their stables, enclosures, and houses ; that it should 
 be removed at certain appointed times, and not be laid down in any pas- 
 sage of the town without the special licence of the bailie of the quarter ; 
 that no inhabitant, other than a freeman, should gather any kind of fulzie, or 
 keep swine, save the tacksman of fulzie ; that the whole town fulzie, except- 
 ing that of freemen, with " two parts of the penalties exacted from those who 
 should contravene the statutes anent fulzie closets, auld walls, swine, &c.," 
 should be let to the highest offerer ; and that the tacksman of fulzie should 
 undertake to clean the whole streets twice a week, and gather the fulzie of 
 the south side of the gate to the Greyfriars port, and of the north side to the 
 Dawwell. 5 In 1585, another order was issued for having privies cleansed in 
 due time, so as to prevent their gorging back and running into the streets ; 
 and on the same day it was enacted that no filth or middings should be in 
 the streets longer than three hours. 6 This order appears, however, not to 
 have been effectual, for six months later another act was passed, under 
 which all dung on the streets was given to such persons as would clean and 
 remove the same at their own expense. 7 This arrangement also seems to have 
 
 suitable provision seems to have been made by the Romans. Close to the outside of 
 several of the towns in England there have been found many deep and narrow round 
 wells, the contents of which prove them to have been conveniences for personal ease- 
 ment, and receptacles for filth and refuse. As such, they contain a large number of 
 miscellaneous articles of personal and domestic use, and still form a rich mine for the 
 antiquary. So indispensable an adjunct do these conveniences seem to have been con- 
 sidered to the Roman station, that their discovery is always regarded as a sure sign of 
 the proximity of a Roman settlement [Wright's Celt, Roman, and Saxon, p. 181. 
 See papers on this subject in Archaeologia, xxxii. part II., p. 451. Ibid, xxxiv. part 
 I., pp. 21-32]. ' Council Records, vi. 217. 27th October 1582. 
 
 a Ibid. vii. 30. i6th October 1583. 8 Ibid. vi. 216. 27th October 1582. 
 
 4 Ibid. vii. 24, 30. 9th and i6th October 1583. 
 
 * Ibid. vii. 159. I7th February 1584. 8 Ibid. vii. 180. 3oth April 1585. 
 
 7 Ibid. vii. 208. aoth October 1585. 
 
 C
 
 82 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 been ineffectual, for in little more than a month after it was made the 
 council agreed with " the six workmen " to clean the streets. 1 But in truth 
 the unsettled state of the times was in the highest degree unfavourable to 
 any attention being paid to sanitary measures, and beyond issuing a proclama- 
 tion, in 1 586, discharging all persons from voiding their filth and doing their 
 eases at the close-heads under the pain of warding their persons, 8 the 
 magistrates do not seem to have passed any regulations on the subjedl till 
 1590, when, with a view to the reception of James VI. and his queen, stringent 
 orders were issued for the removal of the middings and fulzie that then polluted 
 the streets. 3 In 1608, all tar barrels were appointed to be removed from the 
 High Street, and placed in the Grassmarket. 4 
 
 Such were the burgal regulations for the cleaning of the capital down to 
 the period when the constables were instituted. That they were not effectual 
 is not to be wondered at : it would have been strange if they had been. 
 The conditions were altogether unfavourable. Sanitary science was not 
 then much thought of, 5 and the habits of the people generally were opposed 
 
 1 Council Records, vii. 213. 26th November 1585. z Ibid. viii. 5. 6th April 1586. 
 
 * Ibid. ix. 40, 87. I5th April 1590, 23d April 1591. Similar orders were issued 
 in anticipation of the entry into Edinburgh of Mary of Guise in 1 538 [Extracts from 
 the Council Records, Advocates' Library, p. 189], and of James VI. in 1579 [Council 
 Records, v. 166, 169]. 4 Ibid. xi. 267. I4th September 1608. 
 
 This observation applies only to mediaeval towns, which, in most matters of sanitary 
 arrangement, seem to have been behind those of ancient times. Recent explora- 
 tions in Nineveh, for example, shew that house drainage was attended to in that city 
 1 200 years before Christ. Beneath almost every chamber in the older palace of 
 Nimroud, Mr Layard found drains connected with the floor by a circular pipe of baked 
 clay, leading from a hole generally cut through one of the pavement slabs in a corner 
 of the room. These pipes joined one large drain running under the great hall, and 
 from thence into the river which originally flowed at the foot of the mound [Layard's 
 Nineveh and its Remains, ii. 79, 261]. In the remains of Roman towns in England, 
 also, there are still to be found traces of pipes and drains, which are believed to have 
 been intended for carrying superfluous water and filth from the houses into the extensive 
 sewers that seem to have been constructed in all the larger towns. Similar arrange- 
 ments also appear to have existed in the Roman towns on the continent [Wright's 
 Celt, Roman, and Saxon, pp. 179, 180]. The remains of the great aqueducts that still 
 exist, attest the care with which the Roman people made provision for the water supply 
 of their towns. In some cases that supply was carried to fountains within the walls, 
 and in other cases to reservoirs without them, for the use of the inhabitants. But no 
 provision seems to have existed for conducting water into the houses.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 83 
 
 to its restrictions. The proclamations of the period, indeed, seem to have 
 recognised the belief that dirt had some connection with disease ; but, 
 judging from the nature of the precautions then employed, the authorities 
 could not have fully understood to what an extent the frightful epidemic 
 pestilences with which Edinburgh and other towns were from time to time 
 devastated, were due to the prevalence of filth, and the defectiveness of 
 ventilation. In a city resorted to largely by the followers of the feudal 
 nobility, and (by what in that day were known as) the " uplands men," and 
 infested by hordes of the beggars and vagabonds that overran the country, 
 almost paralysing its industry, the circumstances of the population were such 
 as to make it little short of an impossibility to enforce regulations for public 
 cleanliness, that must have appeared an almost intolerable interference with 
 their personal liberty and comfort. When the town itself was circumscribed 
 within the narrow limits of the walls, the population crowded together, storey 
 above storey, in the tall houses of the streets and closes, and the families of 
 the most respectable and well-to-do citizens cabined, confined, and exposed 
 to positive discomforts, it is matter of surprise how the families of the crafts- 
 men and artisans, not to speak of the poorest classes, managed to preserve 
 their health at all. With no water in the houses, a small and precarious 
 supply at the public wells, no public conveniences, and no drainage, what 
 could be looked for but filth filth accumulating and festering beyond the 
 possibility of removal by any number of men whom the authorities could main- 
 tain, and beyond the power of prevention by any municipal proclamation. 
 
 Yet, to do the authorities justice, they seem, as a rule, to have exerted 
 themselves, as far as possible, to keep down the evils of such a state of 
 matters ; and no sooner were they put in possession of the important or- 
 ganisation of the constables, than they employed it to secure the working 
 out of their regulations for the cleanliness of the city. Their frequent, minute, 
 and anxious legislation on this subject, all through these years of trouble and 
 unrest, and almost national disorganisation, is most creditable, and shews their 
 desire to get the better, by such necessarily imperfect machinery as they 
 could command, of a condition of matters which nothing but an effective 
 system of drainage and water supply the products of modern times could 
 radically improve. 1 
 
 1 Nor must we forget that the condition of Edinburgh, deplorable though it was, 
 was not much worse probably than that of London and other burghs about the same
 
 84 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 VI. The Constables were further required (Article 13) to see that the whole 
 inhabitants within their several bounds were sufficiently provided in armour, 
 according to their estate and degree, for the royal service, and to report 
 defaulters to the magistrates " for ordour taking therewith." 
 
 These regulations had reference to the obligation under which every 
 member of the community, between the ages of sixteen and sixty, lay to con- 
 time. In London, no doubt, kennels appear to have existed, from about the close 
 of the I3th century, for carrying off the surface sewage and rain water. These 
 were usually found on either side of the street, leaving a space for the footpath, 
 and into them the inhabitants behoved to pour all dirty water, carrying it down 
 from their houses for the purpose [Munimenta Gildhallce Londoniensis. Liber Al- 
 bus, Introduction, p. xl.]. By reiterated enactments moreover, extending from a 
 period so early as the time of Edward II. (1307-1327), all rubbish, hay, straw, saw- 
 dust, dung, and other refuse, were prohibited from being thrown into the streets 
 or lanes. Every householder was bound to clean away all dust from his door, and 
 to be equally careful not to place it before that of his neighbour ; and each ward was 
 required to have "rakers" sufficient for cleaning it of divers refuse [ibid. i. 335]. 
 Again, in the reign of Edward III. (1327-1377), it was ordained that twelve carts, each 
 with two horses, should be kept at the expense of the city for the removal of sewage and 
 refuse [ibid. i. , Introduction, xli]. The refuse so collected was carried to public laystalls 
 provided for its reception, and these again were emptied from time to time and the con- 
 tents carted away. Notwithstanding these regulations, however, not more stringent than 
 many enacted by the civic authorities of Edinburgh, we find that disease and pestilence, 
 the result of defective sanitary arrangements, were rife. " One time with another," says 
 Sir William Petty, writing towards the close of the seventeenth century, "a plague 
 happeneth in London every twenty years " [Knight's London, i. 230] ; and even so late 
 as the latter part of the reign of Charles II. (1660-1685), London was in a state little, if 
 at all, better than Edinburgh. Macaulay thus describes it : " In Covent Garden, a 
 filthy and noisy market was held, close to the dwellings of the great. Fruit women 
 screamed, carters fought, cabbage stalks and rotten apples accumulated in heaps at the 
 thresholds of the Countess of Berkshire and of the Bishop of Durham. . . . Saint James' 
 Square was a receptacle for all the offal and cinders, for all the dead cats and dead 
 dogs of Westminster. . . . When such was the state of the region inhabited by the 
 most luxurious portion of society, we may easily believe that the great body of the 
 population suffered what would now be considered as insupportable grievances. The 
 pavement was detestable ; all foreigners cried shame upon it. The drainage was so 
 bad, that in rainy weather the gutters soon became torrents. Several facetious poets 
 have commemorated the fury with which these black rivulets roared down Snow Hill 
 and Ludgate Hill, bearing to Fleet ditch a vast tribute of animal and vegetable filth 
 from the stalls of butchers and greengrocers" [Macaulay's History of England, i. 358,
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 85 
 
 tribute to the defence of the state against the king's enemies at home or 
 abroad, and with that view to be provided with arms according to his means 
 and rank. 1 What these weapons were, was carefully prescribed from time to 
 time by various acts of parliament. Of these, the earliest in existence is that 
 of Robert I., 1318, c. 27, which also appointed weaponshawings to be held 
 at the sight of the sheriff and barons. 2 A subsequent act, attributed to the 
 
 359, 360]. In Glasgow, matters were in the same condition, at least in the sixteenth 
 century. Thus in the printed extracts from the Records of that Burgh we find an 
 order, in 1574, against middings in the foregait and on the green, the emptying of the 
 refuse of fleshers on the foregait, and the laying of stones and timber on the streets 
 [Extracts from the Burgh Records of Glasgow, 1573-1581 ; Maitland Club, p. 24]. 
 The order was renewed in 1597 [ibid. p. 80], and in the following year there was an 
 order for the removal of the haill middings on the foregait [ibid. p. 95]. The Burgh 
 Records of Aberdeen also contain abundant evidence of a similar state of matters 
 there. In 1511, an order was made to all pynouris having horses to cleanse the town of 
 middings, and to do no other labour till the town was cleansed [Extracts from the 
 Burgh Records of Aberdeen, 1398-1625, Spalding Club, i. 82]. This order was re- 
 newed in 1524 [ibid. i. 109]. In 1538, the throwing of fulzie or ashes on the streets 
 was prohibited, under penalties ; and all middings were ordered to be removed by the 
 owners, or, failing their doing so, by any person who pleased to remove the same 
 [ibid. i. 154]. In 1555, an order was issued against gathering or holding cairns or 
 stones on the calsay, except for building [ibid. i. 290]. In 1561, the town's officers 
 were authorised to exact, for their own behoof, a penalty from every person who laid 
 filth on the streets ; and if filth was found there afterwards, the officers were appointed 
 to be imprisoned [ibid. i. 338]. In 1578, the statute against middings on the streets 
 was ordered to be observed [ibid. ii. 32]. In 1617, the Privy Council, anticipating 
 that the king, or members of the court, would visit the town during his residence in 
 Scotland, gave orders to the magistrates to have all filth or middings removed from 
 the streets, and the same kept clean [ibid. ii. 350] ; and in 1624 an order was issued 
 for the cleansing of the common ways entering to the burgh [ibid. ii. 392]. The terms 
 of this order indicate a condition of matters in no degree better than that referred to 
 in many of the Edinburgh regulations. 
 
 1 This service secured for all engaged in it immunity from poinding, while with 
 the king's host, or doing duty in the king's castle. Leges quatuor Burgorum 33. 
 Acts of the Parliament of Scotland, i. 27, An act of Alexander II., 1220, c. 2, 
 contains a specification of the penalties to be exacted from those who remained from 
 the king's host at that time, and refers to the laws of his predecessor William on the 
 same subject. Statuta regis Alexander II. Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, i. 68. 
 Mackenzie's Observations, p. 3. 
 
 2 Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, i. 113.
 
 86 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 same monarch, was still more comprehensive in its provisions, and required 
 weaponshawings to be held twice a year, according to the Wynton laws. 1 
 When James I. ascended the throne, he devoted much attention to the 
 defence of the kingdom, and the anxiety of himself and his parliament on the 
 subject is attested by the various acts passed during his reign, viz., the acts 
 1424, c. 1 8 & 19," for promoting the practice of archery, and for prohibiting 
 football and golf as likely to interfere therewith ; 1424, c. 23, 3 ordering wea- 
 ponshawings to be held four times a year in every shire ; 1425, c. 2, requiring 
 merchants passing over the sea for merchandise to import arms ; 4 1425, c. 17," 
 renewing the order for weaponshawings, extending the same to burghs, and 
 prescribing the kind of arms to be provided by different classes of the commu- 
 nity ; and 1429, c. 11,12, 13, and 14," prescribing with still greater minuteness 
 the armour and arms to be used by persons of various ranks, and the penalties 
 to be exacted from defaulters. These acts also afford interesting information 
 as to the military furnishings of this period. James II. followed the same 
 policy of cultivating the warlike character of his people, and three acts were 
 passed during his reign with this object, viz., the act 1449, c. 7, 7 defining the 
 penalties to be exacted from those who should not provide themselves with 
 arms, in terms of the acts of Parliament, 1456, c. 3, 8 renewing the order for 
 weaponshawings, requiring all men to be armed with weapons as therein 
 prescribed, and appointing them to be ready to hasten to the borders, and 
 defend the land, " quhen onie wittering cummis of the in-cumming of a 
 greate English hoast ;" and the act 1457, c. 6, 9 ordering weaponshawings 
 to be held four times a year, prohibiting football and golf, as likely to 
 interfere with the practice of archery which was thereby enjoined, and 
 ordering a bowmaker and fledger or arrowmaker to be established in the 
 
 1 Fragmenta qusedem veterum legum et consuetudinem Scotise, 24. Acts of the 
 Parliaments of Scotland, i. 388. Appendix V. 
 
 The great statute of Winchester (13 Edward I. c. 6) here referred to, and repeated 
 and expanded on many occasions in after reigns, required every Englishman to be pro- 
 vided with armour corresponding to his rank, and appointed a review of arms to be 
 made twice a year by two constables for every hundred and franchise thereunto ap- 
 pointed. 
 
 Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, ii. 5, 6. * Ibid. ii. 8. 
 4 Ibid. ii. 9. 5 Ibid. ii. 10. " Ibid. ii. 18. r Ibid, ii 34. 
 
 Ibid. ii. 45. Mackenzie's Observations, p. 51. 
 
 Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, ii. 48.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinbiirgh. 87 
 
 head town of every shire, and to be furnished by the town with the materials 
 of their trade, that all persons between twelve and fifty years of age might 
 be provided with weapons and practise shooting. In the reign of James III., 
 the following acts to provide for the security of the country were passed, viz., 
 the acts 1471, c. 6 1 regulating the length of spears to be imported into the 
 country, or to be manufactured at home, prescribing the arms to be 
 used by those who could not use the bow, and renewing the prohibition 
 against football and golf, and the regulations as to the practice of archery ; 
 1481, c. 2, 3, a regulating the length of spears, and the armour to be used by 
 various descriptions of persons ; and 1483, c. i, 3 ordering the whole of the 
 lieges to be ready, " weill abuilzied for war," to resist the " enemies of 
 England," renewing the former enactments as to weaponshawings, and 
 appointing a roll to be made up of all the fencible persons within each shire. 
 During the brilliant reign of James IV., the order for holding weapon- 
 shawings four times a year was renewed, and the kind of arms and armour to 
 be worn by gentlemen, yeomen, and burgesses, was prescribed by the act 
 1491, c. 13,* which also re-enacted the prohibition against football and golf, 
 and the regulations for the practice of archery. 5 The favourable condition of 
 the country at the time, is indicated by the terms of the next act, 1503, c. 2O, 6 
 which, for the "keping of armour and harnes that it be not spilt nor destroyed 
 in tyme of pece," ordained " that all Scotland mak thair wappinschawis uponn 
 thurisday in witsonday wolk." A long interval, extending over the minority 
 of James V., then passed without any enactment relative to this subject. In 
 I 535> however, the act 1535, c. ig, 7 ratified the act 1503, c. 20, and appointed 
 weaponshawings to be held on the 2Oth of October and the 1 5th of June in 
 every year. Five years later, several acts were passed for the regulation of 
 the military affairs of the kingdom, the first, 1540, c. 2i, 8 appointed weapon- 
 shawings to be held in June and October, at such times and places as the 
 sheriffs, stewards, bailies, provosts, and aldermen of burghs should appoint ; 
 the second, 1540, c. 23, 9 described minutely the kind of arms to be provided 
 
 1 Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, ii. 100. 2 Ibid. ii. 132. * Ibid. ii. 164. 
 
 4 Ibid. ii. 226. 
 
 s The Scotch legislation for the encouragement of archery, and for the repression of 
 all games likely to interfere with it, has its counterpart in the legislation of the sister 
 country. See 12 Richard II. c. 6 ; n Henry IV. c. 4 ; 3 Henry VIII. c. 3; and 
 33 Henry VIII. c. 9. 6 Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, ii. 251. 
 
 r Ibid. ii. 345. 8 Ibid. ii. 362. Ibid.
 
 88 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 by the various classes of the community, and to be presented at the weapon- 
 shavvings ; the third, 1 540, c. 24,* prescribed the arms to be used at weapon- 
 shawings in burghs ; the fourth, 1540, c. 25, 2 appointed the names and arms 
 of every person attending these national musters to be enrolled and transmit- 
 ted to the king ; the fifth, 1 540, c. 26," defined the warning to be given to the 
 lieges to attend these musters ; and the sixth, 1540, c. 27,* ordained captains, 
 one or more, to be chosen for each parish, to train the companies in military 
 exercises, " so that by learning of order and bearing of weapons in time of 
 peace, they might be more expert in putting themselves in order hastily, and 
 keeping the same in time of need." No act of national legislation took place 
 relative to the arming and military discipline of the country, during the reign 
 of the ill-fated Mary, if we except an act of the convention of estates, held 
 at Edinburgh on 3d July 1549, ordering proclamation to be made charging all 
 the lieges between the ages of sixteen and sixty to be ready on and after ist 
 August thereafter, to attend "weill bodin in feir of weir, as they should be warned 
 to resist their auld enemies of Ingland." 5 In I574, 8 however, a convention of 
 the estates held on 5th March 1574, during the regency of the Earl of Mor- 
 ton, dealt with the subject. Their act referred to the act of 1540, c. 21, as 
 not having been observed for a long period, "to the great hurt and prejudice 
 of the commonweill," appointed weaponshawing to be held throughout 
 the country twice a year, on 2oth July and loth October, " so that none might 
 be furnished with the armour nor weapons of their neighbours but have their 
 own," prescribed the armour and weapons to be provided by the nobles 
 gentry, yeomen, and burgesses, directed the names and arjns of all persons 
 attending the weaponshawings to be enrolled, and required the provosts 
 and bailies of burghs to make up the rolls applicable to their burghs. 
 Twenty-three years..later, an act of the Privy Council, dated 26th February 
 1 597, 7 referred to the former acts as to arms and weaponshawings not hav- 
 ing been put to execution, described the arms which it behoved noblemen 
 and gentlemen to provide for themselves and their retainers, extended its 
 provisions to the burghs within which the provosts and bailies were required 
 to see to its execution, and directed a general muster and weaponshawing 
 of the lieges throughout the realm on ist May 1599. This act, which was rati- 
 fied by an act of convention of estates held on 3oth June I598, 8 required every 
 burgess dwelling in town worth five hundred pounds of free geir, to be furnished 
 
 1 Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, ii. 363. a Ibid. 3 Ibid. 
 
 ' Ibid. Ibid. ii. 600. 8 Ibid. iii. 91. ' Ibid. iv. 169. 8 Ibid.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 89 
 
 with "a complete light corslet, a pike, a halbert or two headed sword, or 
 else a musket, with forcat, bendrole, and headpiece," and ordered that " for 
 every light corslet and pike within the burgh, there be two muskets." An act of 
 convention of the estates held at Falkland on 3ist July 1 599, 1 referring to a pro- 
 position of the king for having all his subjects provided with arms, narrates that 
 the commissioners of Edinburgh, Dundee, and St Andrews, had undertaken, in 
 presence of his highness and the estates, that all the burgesses in their 
 burghs should within a year be " provided, furnished, and armed, in terms 
 of the acts and proclamations thereanent." The act of parliament 1600, 
 c. 32, 2 ratified the act of the privy council of 1597, and ordained the same 
 to have the force of an act of parliament. 
 
 Such were the leading acts of Parliament relative to the arms and military 
 discipline of the country, down to the period when the constables were insti- 
 tuted in Edinburgh, and the frequent orders of the magistrates of the city 
 relative to weapons and weaponshawings during the sixteenth and seven- 
 teenth centuries, shew that they were not negligent of their duty in this 
 matter. 
 
 Commencing with an order by the Regent (Mary of Guise) engrossed 
 in the council records, of date igth October 1554," requiring the citizens to 
 shew weapons, conform to act of parliament made thereupon, there is the 
 following series of orders and proclamations relative to weaponshawings : 
 Act of council, dated 2d November 1554,* appointing a weaponshawing in the 
 Boroughmuir, the weapons required being a spear, pike, or culverin. Procla- 
 mation by the provost and bailies, dated 24th February 1555, following on 
 the queen's letter, directed to the magistrates by act of the privy council, 
 and appointing a weaponshawing " the nixt morn efter Law Sonday efter 
 Pasche, on the west part of the common burrow more." Proclamation by the 
 magistrates, dated i8th June .1557,* following on a similar letter, and ordering 
 a weaponshawing to be held on the i8th of July thereafter, on the west end of 
 Boroughmuir. Proclamation dated 26th July I5S7, 7 following on letters direct 
 of new from the privy council, ordering that a weaponshawing be held on 
 the 1 3th of August, and that better provision of armour than before be made. 
 
 1 Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, iv. 188. * Ibid. iv. 235. 
 
 8 Council Records, ii. 33. * Ibid. ii. 36. 5 Ibid. ii. 69. 
 
 6 Ibid. ii. 98. On nth August 1557, James Fawsyde, baxter, was ordered to be 
 paid vjs. viijd. for playing on the swesche in charging the inhabitants to attend this 
 weaponshawing. Ibid. ii. 100. r Ibid. ii. 99. 
 
 L
 
 90 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 This proclamation appoints a weaponshawing to be held, in terms of the 
 order of the privy council, and requires the citizens to be " weill bodin in 
 feir of weyr in ther best array, with lang wappinis sic as pik, speir, and 
 vther fensable lang armour." Act of council, dated I3th August 1557,* 
 authorising the treasurer to pay " Andro Bylle, speirmakar in Sanct Jhon- 
 stoun, for thre hundreth speris for seruing of the lieges," at the rate " of 
 vijs. for every speir with the heid," and ordering this be done with dili- 
 gence, because of the weaponshawing that was at hand. Proclamation dated 
 I4th and 2yth August I557, 2 appointing weaponshawing for Sunday the 2Qth 
 of August, in terms of letters direct from the privy council, which letters, 
 on the narrative that it was understood by the regent and council that most 
 of the lieges at the weaponshawings within the realm were insufficiently 
 provided with arms and armour, and that they were not punished therefor, 
 ordered a new weaponshawing to be proclaimed, and the bailies to be 
 punished in their persons and goods with all rigour if they failed to uplift the 
 unlaws. Proclamation dated 2/th August IS57, 3 following on the act of 
 council last referred to. Act of council dated May 1558,* ordering "every 
 honest man within burch to have ane schod, schule, spaid, and mattoh 
 within his house, to be in radiness in case the guid toun have ado." Act of 
 council, dated 3oth May 1558, ordering the deacons of crafts to be charged 
 to consult with their friends as to what number of men may be furnishing 
 themselves "for resistance of our auld inimeis of Ingland." 5 Act of coun- 
 cil, dated 5th June 1558, prohibiting the hiring of another's servant, and 
 requiring every citizen to have his own man armed and ready. 6 Precept by 
 Mary Queen of Scots, dated at Newbattle, 4th August 1558, direct to the 
 provost and bailies, charging them, " in respect of the wars and the then 
 instant necessity, to convene the whole inhabitants within their jurisdiction 
 to weaponshawings, and after inspecting and considering how every one was 
 provided conform to his estate, to uplift the fines of so many as they found not 
 lawfully provided with weapons and armour," under certification that if they 
 failed they would themselves be punished with all rigour. 7 Act of council, 
 dated 24th June 1562, appointing "labour "to be made to get the town's 
 standard out of the hands of John Rynde, on account of a tumult apprehended 
 at the weaponshawing if he were allowed to retain it. 8 Act of council, dated 
 
 1 Council Records, ii. 100. 3 Ibid. ii. 101. 6 Ibid. ii. 125. 
 
 2 Ibid. ii. 101. * Ibid. ii. 124. 6 Ibid. ii. 126. 
 
 7 Inventory of Writs in Archives of the City, i. 1 17. 8 Council Records, iv. 33.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 9 1 
 
 I3th September 1566, appointing a weaponshawing in the Greyfriar's yards. 1 
 Act of council, dated 2d June 1567, appointing weaponshawing on Leith 
 Links. 2 Act of council, dated I4th November 1567, ordering inhabitants 
 to have weapons, sic as " pik, speir, hagbute, culvering, mvrioun, and like 
 fensabill armour with furnesing." 3 Act of council, dated 24th December 
 1567, requiring burgesses, on their admission, to have "jak, speir, swerd, 
 buklar, and steill bonnet," for serving the town and keeping weaponshaw- 
 ings. 4 Acts of council appointing weaponshawings, dated loth May 1568 ; 5 
 appointing payments to be made for Hamburg pikes, dated I7th October 
 1568 ; 6 appointing these pikes to be put in the ammunition house, dated 
 7th January 1568;' and appointing weaponshawing in best array, dated I7th 
 May I57O. 8 Act dated I7th March 1573, appointing neighbours to appear 
 with long weapons on 25th May next, and appointing those of Leith who 
 did not attend weaponshawing to be fined, dated 26th May IS74- 10 Procla- 
 mation of weaponshawing, dated ist July 1575, and act of council dated 27th 
 July 1576, ordering those who did not appear to be poinded for their unlaws." 
 Acts of council appointing weaponshawings, dated 4th October I576, 12 
 26th June 1577," 4th October 1577," 8th October 1579," ist and i6th July 
 
 1 Council Records, iv. 155. 
 
 * Ibid. iv. 192. At these weaponshawings, as in the military musters of modern 
 times, the citizens appear to have marched to the strains of music. An act of council 
 dated 6th August 1557, ordains the treasurer "to pay to Jax Dow, for himself and 
 his twa sonnis the sowme of xxs. , for their playing twa dayis the time of the wappin- 
 schaw" [Council Records, ii. 100]. On 3d September 1557, the same persons are 
 ordered to be paid xiiijs. " for their seruice and playeing at the wappinschaw last halden 
 vpoun Sunday the xxix day of August last" [Ib. ii. 102], Again, on 2ist June 1559, 
 they are directed to be paid " ane crowne of the sone for thair labouris in playing of 
 the sweis this last wappinschawin. " On nth July 1567, the treasurer is ordained 
 to " pay xxxvs. to the thre trummis and thair pepheris quhilkis playit the tyme of the 
 wappinschawing maid on the Linkis of Leyth, and that by and attour twentye schil- 
 lingis gevyn of before for thair warning of the gude toun " [Ib. iv. 195]. 
 
 * Council Records, iv. 207. 6 Ibid. iv. 225. 9 Ibid. v. 1 6. 
 
 * Ibid. iv. 212. 7 Ibid. iv. 230. 10 Ibid. v. 18. 
 
 8 Ibid. iv. 218. s Ibid. iv. 256. " Ibid. v. 50, 65. 
 
 12 Ibid. v. 67. 
 
 u Ibid. v. 78. Ensign-bearers were elected by the council for this weaponshawing 
 on 1 7th July 1577. Ibid. v. 79. "Ibid. v. 109. 
 
 15 Ibid. v. 167. On this occasion four persons were elected to bear hand ensigns, 
 and the councillors were appointed to wear armour.
 
 92 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 1580,* 5th August I584. 2 The king having ordered a general weaponshawing, 
 the council, on I5th July 1587, ordained proclamation to be made for the citi- 
 zens convening in the Greyfriar's Kirkyard, "boddin in feir of weir, and arrayet 
 in thair best armour, to witt either with pik or speir and the armour effeirand 
 thairto, or with hakbuts and the armour effeirand thairto, and nocht with 
 halbarts nor Jedburch staffes. 3 Four days later, Lord Bothwell, as sheriff of 
 the county, ordered the weaponshawing of the sheriffdom to be held on the 
 Boroughmuir, thereby intending " to trouble the new feued parts thereof." 
 A committee of the council was accordingly appointed " to intreat with his 
 lordship and his depute for staying thereof, and to get his lordship's handwritt 
 thereupon, also to cause pen ane article to the parliament for remedy in time to 
 com." 4 This matter was settled by the payment of ,200 Scots to Bothwell, 
 who, in June 1588, granted an obligement for himself and his successors 
 not to hold the musters of the sheriffdom on the Boroughmuir, nor to trouble 
 the magistrates and community in the free use and enjoyment thereof. 5 On 
 the 2gth of May 1588, an act of council was passed, referring to the act of 
 parliament appointing a general weaponshawing on 2oth July, and ordering 
 the whole inhabitants to appear armed "ather with hakbut and the fur- 
 nesing belanging thairto, or ellis with lang wapouns, sic as pik or speir, 
 with jak and knapskaw, or with twa handit swerds, and that nane presume 
 to come to the gaitt the said day with halberts." 6 On iQth July this weapon- 
 shawing was postponed/ and on 2ist August 1588, absentees, and those 
 who had not had jacks of their own, were ordered to be poinded. 8 The 
 orders for the visitors passed on the 23d of July of this year, required them 
 to see that the neighbours within their respective bounds were sufficiently 
 provided with good and sufficient armour, and to report those who " wantet 
 the samyn " to the bailie of the quarter ; they were further required to be in 
 readiness " with the saidis nichtbouris, . . . weill airmitt quhen the prouest 
 and baillies hes ado in the kingis grace or tounis service. 9 On the 6th of No- 
 vember following, the council ordered that no burgesses should be received 
 
 1 Council Records, vi. 54, 57. Ensign-bearers were also appointed. 
 8 Ibid. vii. 5. The treasurer was also directed to purchase one hundred footmen's 
 spears. 8 Ibid. viii. 96. 4 Ibid. 
 
 5 Ibid. viii. 197. Inventory of Writs in City Archives, i. 152. 
 
 6 Council Records, viii. 153. Ensign-bearers were elected for this weaponshawing 
 on 1 7th July 1588. Ibid. viii. 165. 7 Ibid. viii. 1 66. Ibid. viii. 171. 
 
 8 Appendix No. III. Art. 2.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 93 
 
 but such as appeared before them " with sufficient airmour, sic as they will tak 
 thame to, for serving of the kingis grace and the toun, to witt either with 
 hakbut and furnessing belanging thairto, sic as flaske, pulder, and bullet, and 
 ane murrioun, or ellis with jak, knapskaw, speir, or pik, and mak fayth that 
 the said airmour is thair awin proper geir, and this by and attoure thair 
 swords." 1 On 27th March 1590, an act of council was made appointing a 
 weaponshawing to be proclaimed preparatory to the king's arrival. 2 A general 
 weaponshawing of the whole inhabitants was ordered, and ensign-bearers ap- 
 pointed, on ad April IS94, 3 and 2ist January I595, 4 soth April I596, 3 3d May 
 I598, 6 4th May 15997 i8th April i6o4, 8 8th July i6o7, 9 27th May i6o8, 10 26th 
 and 3ist May 1609," 22d June i6io, 12 and 5th June i6n. 13 Weaponshaw- 
 ings were thereafter ordered annually down to and including 1636, and the 
 orders for them were renewed in 1640, 1643, 1661, and 1666. 
 
 In addition to these, orders were issued to the burgesses periodically, to 
 have weapons in their booths, to support the magistrates in preserving the 
 peace of the town. 
 
 VII. By the I4th Article of their "orders and injunctions," the constables 
 were required to apprehend all profane swearers and blasphemers of God's 
 name in the streets and markets, or at the wells ; and to punish them by im- 
 prisonment, or by putting them in the jugs or stocks, according to the mea- 
 sure of their offence. 
 
 In dealing with offenders of this class, as well as with vagabonds and 
 nightwalkers (under article i), and with contraveners of the regulations for 
 the cleanliness of the town (under article 12), the constables were invested at 
 once with judicial and ministerial duties. They were authorised to try as 
 well as to punish offenders. 
 
 When these orders and injunctions were enacted, there were two public 
 general statutes against profane swearing. The first, the act 1551, c. 7, 
 passed previous to the Reformation, proceeded upon the preamble that 
 
 " Notwithstanding the oft and frequent prechingis in detestatioun of the greuous and 
 
 1 Council Records, viii. 186. 
 
 2 Ibid. ix. 39. And on 1st April ensign-bearers were elected, George Heriot 
 younger being one of them. Ibid. ix. 39. 3 Ibid. ix. 249. 
 
 4 Ibid. x. 62. This was in consequence of an order for a general weaponshawing 
 
 throughout the country. a Ibid. x. 76. 6 Ibid. x. 184. 
 
 r Ibid. x. 234. " Ibid. xi. 230. n Ibid. xii. 6. 13 Ibid. xii. 64. 
 
 * Ibid. xi. 147. 1U Ibid. xi. 253. " Ibid. xii. 37.
 
 94 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 abominabill aithis, sweiring, execratiounis, and blasphematioun of the name of God, 
 sweirand in vane be his precious blude bodie passioun and woundis, deuill stick, cum- 
 mer, gor, roist, or ryfe theme, and sik vthers ugsum aithis and execrationis agains the 
 command of God, yet the samin is cum in sic ane vngodlie vse amangis the pepill of this 
 realme, baith of greit and small estatis, that daylie and hourlie may be hard amangis 
 thame oppin blasphemation of Godis name and majestic, to the greit contemptioun 
 thairof, and bringing of the ire and wraith of God vpone the pepill. " 
 
 and enacted that whosoever should swear such oaths should be fined for each 
 offence according to his rank. Strangely enough, and as if to wean the 
 people gradually from a habit too inveterate to be curbed at once, the scale 
 of fines exigible from all ranks of offenders was doubled at the end of three 
 months, tripled at the end of six months, and quadrupled at the end of nine 
 months, from the passing of the act till the expiry of a year, when the penal- 
 ties were fixed as follows : Prelates, earls, or lords, four shillings for the first 
 fault, eight shillings for the second, sixteen shillings for the third, and banish- 
 ment or imprisonment for a year and a day, at the will of the prince, for the 
 fourth offence, " and siclyke of all vther estatis, eftir thair qualitie forsaid, to 
 be punishit effeirandlie." The poor that had no gear to pay the fine exigible 
 from them, were ordered to be put in the stocks, or imprisoned for four hours ; 
 and women were appointed to be " weyed and considered, conform to their 
 bloude or estaite of their parties that they are coupled with." The penalties 
 recovered under the act were ordered to be applied for behoof of the poor by 
 those appointed to collect them. 1 
 
 The second act, 1581, c. 5, ratified the previous statute, and appointed it to 
 receive effect, the penalties being fixed at the highest scale prescribed by 
 the act 1551, c. 7. For the better execution of these acts, censors were ordered 
 to be appointed in the market-places of all burghs, and other public fairs, with 
 power to imprison swearers till they had paid the prescribed fines, and found 
 surety to abstain in future. Householders were moreover required, under 
 pain of being dealt with as offenders themselves, to report to the magistrates 
 for punishment the names of those who contravened the acts within their 
 houses ; and magistrates who proved remiss in the execution of the act were 
 declared to be liable to imprisonment during the king's will, and to find 
 security under great pains for its due enforcement thereafter, 2 
 
 This legislation was followed up by a series of acts of the town council, the 
 first of which, dated 3Oth October 1560, statuted and ordained 
 
 1 Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, ii. 485. 2 Ibid. iii. 212.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 95 
 
 "That na maner persoun within this burgh tak vpone hand to band, sweir, tak in 
 vane or blasfleme the name of God in ony wys, vnder the pane of setting of thame in 
 the irne brankis, thair to remane during the iudge's will." * 
 
 The second, dated 23d April 1561, in order 
 
 "That the name of God maybe had in sic reuerence as in his maist blissit Scrip- 
 touris is commandit, and for eschewing of the curse and plaigis hinging oure the heidis 
 of all townis, cuntreis, cieteis, and peple quhair the saymn his blissit name is con- 
 tempnit and blasphemit," 
 
 declared that " ane ordoure wald be estableschit for pvnischeing of all proud, 
 vane and vngodlie aithis and suerairs thairof without fauouris." 1 The third 
 act, dated i6th October 1583, on the preamble, 
 
 "that for lak of pvnisement dyueris of the inhabitantis of this burgh and vtheris ar 
 becum oppin blasphemeris of Godis name, sweireris of execrabill aithis, as alsua sklaun- 
 dereris of thair nychtbouris, and vthers schameles and vndantit bairdis, nocht spairing 
 at all tymes, without ony feir of God, ciuile honestie, or guid maneris to schute furth 
 thair vennome and vnbrydelit furie vpoun all persones, without respect of authoritie or 
 power, as be thair evill nature thai ar movit," 
 
 declared that the pains contained in the act 1581, c 5, should be 
 
 " extremelie execute vpoun the saidis blasphemeris of Godis name, and sweirers of the 
 saidis aithis, and as to the common bairdis thai sail be tayne incontinent and putt in the 
 jogs, thair to remane be the space of xxiiij houris, and forther to pay ane vnlaw of xl s. 
 sua oft as thai failie." * 
 
 The fourth act, dated 8th September 1591, sets forth that the council 
 
 ' ' beand convenit for suppressing of thir commoun vyces of flytting, banning, and 
 sweiring, gevis power and commissioun to the elders of the kirk, or any other honest 
 nichtbouris that sail heir or see any persouns committand the saids crymes, to tak and 
 put thame in the jogs for thair saids offences. " * 
 
 And the fifth, dated 29th of October in the same year, proceeds as follows : 
 
 " Forswamekill as for laik of pvnisement dyueris inhabitants and otheris that resortis 
 to the merkets of this burch ar becum oppin blasphemeris of God's halie name, and 
 swerers of maist horribill aythis, as alswa sum ar sclanderers of their nichtbouris and 
 schameles bairds withowt feir of God or civile honestie, Quhairfor the saids provest 
 and baillies declaris that the acts of parliament sail be extremelie executt vpoun the 
 saids blasphemers of God's name, and that thai sail pay ane vnlaw at the discretion of 
 the magestratt ; and as to the common bairds thay sail be tayne incontinent, and putt 
 
 1 Council Records, iii. 55. * Ibid. iv. 4. 3 Ibid. vii. 31. * Ibid. ix. 103.
 
 96 Sketch of the Histoty of the 
 
 in the jogs, thair to remayne at the plesure of the magestratt, and to pay ane vnlaw at 
 the discretioun of the saidis magestratts. " l 
 
 The " orders and injunctions" of the constables imposed upon them the 
 duties of the censors whom the act 1581, c. 5, directed to be appointed for the 
 suppression of swearing in the markets of the burgh and at public fairs, and 
 extended their supervision to the streets and wells also. 2 
 
 The other duties of the constables, as defined in their " orders and injunc- 
 tions," are generally such as still form part of the duty of all constables ; 
 and then, as now, they were empowered to require the assistance of the lieges 
 in the execution of their office. Every person refusing or delaying to assist 
 the constables when called on, was declared to be liable to imprisonment 
 and severe punishment, according to the quality of his offence. 
 
 The constables were, by article 1 1 of their "orders and injunctions," required 
 to present themselves before the magistrates in the council house, on the last 
 Saturday of every month, to give an account of their diligence in their offices. 
 And they were obliged to receive any injunctions or statutes that the magis- 
 trates might enjoin for them, after the same had been approved by the privy 
 council. 
 
 1 Council Records, ix. in. 
 
 2 An act of council, dated i6th April 1673, passed for the prevention of the frequent 
 swearing in the fleshmarkets of the burghs, subjected every freeman flesher in the 
 under market, and every "freeman's relict," and also every flesher in the land market, 
 to a penalty of 6s. scots for every oath uttered by them. Upon their servants a fine of 
 35. scots was imposed for each oath [Council Records, xxvii. 131]. This act was 
 renewed by an act dated 25th October 1689 [Ibid, xxxiii. 46], and the latter act was ex- 
 tended to the whole markets and wells of the city by an act dated I3th January 1690, 
 which appointed the visitors of these markets and wells to exact the fines from the 
 transgressors [Jbid. xxxiii. 84],
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 97 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 1611-1700. 
 
 Election of Constables in Edinburgh. Institution of Justices of the Peace and Con- 
 stables throughout the Country. Orders and Injunctions for City Constables, and 
 General Articles and Injunctions for Constables. Watching Arrangements of the 
 City. Cleaning arrangements of the City. Duties of the Constables in relation 
 to these, and as to Strangers, Lodgers, and Loose and Dissolute Persons within 
 Burgh, and as to Sunday Observance, &c. 
 
 T has been seen that, on igth February 1611, the privy council 
 passed an act for the suppression of the disorders then prevalent 
 in the capital, especially during the night j 1 that on 28th August they 
 required the magistrates and council to elect constables within the 
 burgh ; 2 and that constables were elected, in compliance with that 
 requisition, on 6th September. 3 It appears, however, that the institution of 
 constables was not immediately followed by the desired result, for on 4th 
 November 161 1, the privy council are found renewing their former acts against 
 idle and debauched persons, who, " debording in all kinds of excess, riot, and 
 drunkenness . . . commit sundry enormities upon his majesty's peaceable and 
 guid subjects, not sparing the ordinar officers of the burgh, who are appointit 
 to watch the streets of the same, of whom lately some has been cruelly and 
 unmercifully slain, and others left for deid." This act, like that of igth 
 February 161 1, ordered that no one should be on the streets " after the ringing 
 of the ten hour bell at night," and required the magistrates to appoint per- 
 
 1 Antea, pp. 27, 28.- 3 Antea, p. 30. 
 
 Antea, p. 29. 
 
 M
 
 98 Sketch of tJie History of the 
 
 sons to guard the streets, and to apprehend all whom they might find there 
 after the prescribed time. 1 
 
 The second election of constables bears to have been made on 27th March 
 1612, for six months ; and it is worthy of notice that it was made, not by the 
 "provest baillies and councill," as prescribed in the " orders and injunctions," 
 .but by the bailies, dean of guild, and treasurer, as justices of the peace 
 within the liberties of the burgh. 3 A similar election was made by the 
 bailies, dean of guild, and treasurer, as justices of the peace, with the advice 
 of the council, on gth October i6i2. 3 
 
 How these elections came to be made by the bailies, dean of guild, and 
 treasurer, as justices of the peace, does not appear. The explanation is pro- 
 bably to be found in the facts connected with the institution of justices and 
 constables in Scotland. The act 1587, c. 82,* in which reference is made 
 for the first time to justices, ordained justice aires to be held throughout 
 the kingdom twice a year, and regulated the mode in which this was to be 
 done. It authorised the sovereign, with advice of the chancellor, treasurer, 
 and justice clerk, to nominate and give commission to a certain number 
 of " honourable and worthy persons, being known of honest fame, and es- 
 teemed no maintainers of evil or oppression, and in degree earls, lords, 
 barons, knights, and special gentlemen landed, experimented in the loveable 
 laws and customs of the realm, and actual indwellers in the same shires, to 
 be the king's commissioners and justices in the furtherance of justice, peace, 
 and quietness, together with four of the council of every burgh within the 
 selfe." These justices it declared to " be constant and continual uptakers of 
 dittay," and they were authorised to take inquisition and make dittay of all 
 persons suspected culpable of certain lesser offences, and to remit those 
 charged with higher crimes for trial by the king's justices at their circuit. 
 Two years later, James VI., by his commission, dated at Edinburgh 6th June 
 1589, constituted the provost and bailies of the city, present and to come, 
 his majesty's justices of the peace within the burgh, the town of Leith, Links 
 thereof, Newhaven, Soultrie, and other parts belonging to the Trinity College 
 of the burgh, and all other parts, bounds, and privileges of the same, and 
 freedom thereof. This commission was appointed to endure for five years 
 
 1 Chambers's Domestic Annals of Scotland, i. 436. A hired watch existed in Edin- 
 burgh at this time (antea, p. 63). * Council Records, xii. 88. 
 3 Ibid. xii. 102. 4 Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, iii. 459.
 
 Co- is tables of th; City of Edinburgh. 99 
 
 from its date, and further during his majesty's will. 1 On 24th June 1609, the 
 act 1609, c. I4, 2 was passed, which, after narrating the king's laudable efforts 
 " to extirpate the ungodlie barbarous and brutall custome of deadlie feadis, 
 whilk by the inveterate abuse of many bipast ages wes become sa frequent 
 in this realme," the success that had attended these efforts, and the expe- 
 diency of making farther provision for the prevention of tumults and other 
 offences in time to come, ordained that in every shire within the kingdom 
 there should be appointed by his majesty yearly some godly, wise, and vir- 
 tuous gentlemen of good quality, moyen, and report, making residence within 
 the same, in such number as the boundaries of the shire should require, to be 
 commissioners for keeping his majesty's peace. These commissioners were 
 authorised, if they found it needful, to require the dutiful and obedient sub- 
 jects of the shire to concur with, and assist, them and the ordinary magis- 
 trates and officers in the execution of the act. Subsequently, by letters 
 patent under the great seal, dated at Whitehall the loth of November 1609, 
 James VI., on the narrative that Edinburgh was the metropolitan or capital 
 city of his whole realm of Scotland ; that the supreme council and parliament 
 had their seat there ; that it was the resort of many of his subjects for the 
 transaction of their private affairs ; and that it was frequently visited by 
 strangers, conferred on the provost, bailies, treasurer, and dean of guild of 
 the city, during their magistracy, and within the bounds of their liberties, the 
 full power, authority, and jurisdiction of conservators, justices, and commis- 
 sioners of the peace. 3 The provost, bailies, treasurer, and dean of guild thus 
 exercised the well defined power and jurisdiction of justices and commis- 
 sioners of the peace within the liberties of the city ; and as it appears that 
 the justices and commissioners appointed by the king under the provisions 
 of the act 1609, c. 14, elected constables to aid them in the execution of the 
 act, it may be presumed that the provost, bailies, treasurer, and dean of guild, 
 in virtue of their commission as justices within the city, elected the constables 
 for the burgh, without reference to the terms of the charge by the privy council, 
 directed to the provost, bailies, and council, or to the terms of the " orders and 
 injunctions" to the constables, approved of by the privy council, and which 
 also provided for the election being made by the provost, bailies, and council. 
 
 1 Inventory of City Charters, i. 62. * Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, iv. 434. 
 
 3 Inventory of City Charters, i. 734. Registrum Magni Sigilli Regum Scotorum, 
 lib. xlvi. no. 134. Proceedings relalive to Question of Precedency between Edinburgh 
 and Dublin, p. 27.
 
 i oo Sketch of the History of the 
 
 An election of constables on 29th October I6I3, 1 bears to have been made by 
 the bailies, dean of guild, treasurer, and council, for a period of six months ; but 
 no reference is made in the records to an election in the following March or April. 
 
 By the third article of the " orders and injunctions," it is declared that if 
 any harm should be done to a constable or his assistants, in the execution of 
 their duty, the person doing the injury should be imprisoned, or presented to 
 the provost or bailies to be condignly punished. Of such punishment, the 
 " Bailies' Accounts of Unlaws " affords the following illustration, under date 
 loth December 1612 : 
 
 Item ye tent day of December fra Edward Edeslie for injureing the constable 
 Thomas Flyming. v. lib. 
 
 On 3d November 1613, the treasurer was authorised to- print 500 copies of 
 the orders and injunctions. 2 
 
 On the 1 5th of the following month, the council passed the following 
 ordinance : 3 
 
 Decimo Quinto Decembris J m - Vic- x iij. 
 
 The same day statutis and ordanis that forsameikle as for conseruation off his Majes- 
 ties peace, repressing of sundrie and dyverse abuses and insolencies committit within this 
 brugh, and establishing off ane solide ordour for preventing off tumults and vther enor- 
 myties that may aryse or ensew, the proveist baillies and counsall hes be comand of 
 his Majestic erected constables within this brugh in the severall quarteris thairoff, with 
 speciall power to thame to see his Majesties peace keeped, abuses and insolencies 
 repressed, and to do all vther things apperteining to the office of ane constable, con- 
 forme to the particular injunctiouns givin to thame thairanent, that all inhabitants of 
 this brugh fortefie assist and concurre with the saids constables in executioun of thair 
 office and speciallie in mainteining of his Majesties peace, quyeting off tumults, and 
 repressing off ryots and misorders within this brugh, as thay sal be chairgit be the said 
 constables, vnder the paine off imprisonment and punishing off the persouns quha sal 
 happin to refuis assist and concurre with thame in thair bodye and guidis, at the optioun 
 and will off the saids proveist baillies and counsall conforme to the qualitie off thair 
 offence And ordainis this present ordinance to be proclaimed through this brugh that 
 nane pretend ignorance. 
 
 The usual elections were thereafter made by the bailies, dean of guild, 
 treasurer, and council, for six months, on 2yth May, ist June, 4 and 28th 
 December i6i4. 5 On loth March i6i5, 6 the bailies were ordained " to dis- 
 charge the last preceding and thir present constables of their watch-sylver ;" 
 
 1 Council Records, xii. 135. s Ibid. xii. 138. 5 Ibid. xii. 174. 
 
 2 Ibid. xii. 135. ' Ibid. xii. 152. Ibid. xii. 181.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 101 
 
 and the constables then in office were appointed " to continue till Michaelmas 
 following." On 8th November i6i5/ accordingly, an election of constables 
 bears to have been made for the following six months, but no election appears 
 to have taken place till 8th November i8i6. 2 The period for which that 
 election was made is not specified. An election on I5th October i6i7, 3 was 
 made for six months. 
 
 On the 28th of June 1617, the first Scottish statute (1617, c. 8) 4 relative to 
 constables was enacted. Under the act 1609, c. 14, it appears the king had 
 issued articles and instructions to the justices and commissioners appointed 
 for the keeping of the peace, " and to the constables who were presented to 
 his Highness and to the Estates by the justices," and the act 1617, c. 8, 
 ratified and confirmed these articles and instructions, as they are therein 
 set forth. The second part of the Act, which relates to constables, declares 
 that these officers are to be chosen by the commissioners and justices of the 
 peace in their quarter sessions throughout the whole country, two at least 
 in every parochin, or more, according to their discretion, " having considera- 
 tion of the quality thereof." In great towns, likeways (not being cities or 
 free burghs), they are to appoint a number of constables proportionally to the 
 greatness thereof. But in all burghs royal and free cities, the constables are 
 to be chosen by the magistrates, and they are to endure and to be changed 
 from six to six months. This act was ratified by the statute 1633, c. 25," 
 passed in the first parliament of Charles I., and by the act 1649, c. i6o, e 
 passed in the second parliament of Charles II. ; was confirmed during the 
 Protectorate by order of council, dated at Edinburgh, I2th December 1655 ; 7 
 and was finally renewed and amended in the first parliament of Charles II., 
 1661, c. 38.* This last act is not materially different from the act 1617, c. 8, 
 and it is interesting to compare them with the orders and injunctions framed 
 for the constables of Edinburgh in 161 1. 9 
 
 The. points of resemblance between these " orders and injunctions " and 
 the "articles and injunctions" issued by the king, and ratified by the act 1617, 
 
 1 Council Recoj^s, xii. 202. " Ibid. xii. 239. 3 Ibid. xiii. i. 
 
 4 Acts of the Pmiaments of Scotland, iv. 535. 
 
 A Ibid. v. 42. u Ibid. vi. 470. 
 
 7 Nicoll's Diary, Bannatyne Club, p. 172. Hutchison's Justice of the Peace, 
 iv. 31-49. 8 Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, vii. 12. 
 
 <J See Appendix No. V., in which the Act of 1617 is given in exU-iiso, the more 
 important variations in the act of 1661 being shewn by footnotes.
 
 IO2 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 c. 8, are so numerous, and the resemblance itself so strong, as to suggest the 
 probability either that the latter were the model of the original orders and 
 injunctions "to the constables of Edinburgh ;" or, what is more probable, that 
 these orders and injunctions, submitted to and approved of by the privy council 
 in 1611, formed the model of the articles and injunctions issued to the con- 
 stables throughout the kingdom. As points of resemblance there are the 
 regulations as to constables elected, but refusing to act and to take the requisite 
 oath of office ; the oath itself, the phraseology of which is nearly identical ; the 
 order to apprehend for punishment all suspected persons, night-walkers, vaga- 
 bonds, sturdy beggars, and egyptians, and persons having no honest means of 
 livelihood ; the order to apprehend all persons guilty of any capital crime ; the 
 obligation on the lieges, under penalties, to assist the constables in the exe- 
 cution of their duty, when required to do so ; the order to seize, with a view 
 to punishment, all persons wearing fire-arms ; the order on the constables 
 to attend periodically at specified places, and report their diligence ; the 
 order to put down all frays or tumults, and the power to break open doors 
 and go beyond their bounds in fresh pursuit of offenders. All these are 
 essentially the same, and the differences of phraseology, as well as the addi- 
 tions to the general articles and injunctions, are just what might be expected 
 from the king if the orders and injunctions to the constables of Edinburgh 
 had been taken by him as his model. 
 
 The differences are mainly the omission of the instructions to search for and 
 apprehend adherents of the Romish Church ; to see to the cleanliness of the 
 constables' bounds ; and to apprehend and punish swearers, subjects either 
 not fitted for orders to constables generally, or in which his majesty had no 
 great interest. 
 
 The act 1617, c. 8, and the subsequent statutes above referred to, as well 
 as the orders and injunctions, provide for an election of constables every 
 six months ; but it will be observed that, so far as the records of the council 
 shew, this rule was not regularly observed in Edinburgh. In October 1617, 
 the appointment of the usual complement of twelve officers and twenty-eight 
 men to be constables, bears to have been made for the following six months. 
 No subsequent election is, however, referred to till 2ist October I6I8, 1 when 
 the persons chosen are appointed " for the year to come." Annual elections 
 were afterwards made on I5th October i6i9, 3 nth October i62o, 3 loth Octo- 
 
 1 Council Records, xiii. 43. - Ibid. xiii. 8l. 3 Ibid. xiii. 118.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 103 
 
 her I62I, 1 ist November i622, 2 28th November i623, 3 2oth October 1624,* 
 and 1 2th October 1625. 5 
 
 Seven days after the election last referred to, an important change was 
 effected in the watching arrangements of the city, inasmuch as it was resolved 
 to discontinue the practice of guarding the town by means of a hired watch, 
 which had been in operation since i6o7, 6 and to revert to the old method of 
 watching by the burgesses and inhabitants. With this view the whole town was 
 divided into twenty-six watches, accordingto the number of constables dwelling 
 
 1 Council Records, xiii. 165. 8 Ibid. xiii. 227. s Ibid. xiii. 298. 
 
 8 Ibid. xiii. 201. * Ibid. xiii. 262. 
 
 6 Anfea, p. 62. The Bailies' Accounts of Extents and Unlaws afford interesting 
 information as to the number and pay of the hired watch in this and previous years. 
 
 In 1612-13, fourteen men were employed for nine months at a wage of ^3, 8s., and 
 for three months " in ye deid of wynter," at 4, per man per month. 
 
 In 1613-14, sixteen watchmen were employed at a wage of 4 per man per month,- 
 with an allowance for candle, "ye haill yeir,"^3O. In all, ^798. 
 
 In 1614-15, the winter complement consisted of eighteen men, i.e. fourteen "personis 
 of ye gaird," from ist November to 1st May, and four "men of ye gaird" from 1st De- 
 cember to ist May. The summer complement consisted of fourteen men, who were em- 
 ployed from ist May to ist November. All these were paid 4. per man per month. 
 
 The accounts for this year shew that forty-five constables were exempted from pay- 
 ment of watch-silver, the amount exempted being 4$, 6s. The numbers exempted 
 in the various quarters are as follow : North-west quarter, 8 ; north-east, 10 ; south- 
 east, 14 ; south-west, 13. There is nothing to explain the discrepancy between the 
 number given here and in the text 
 
 In 1615-16, the number of the " guard" varied from twenty to fourteen. 
 
 In 1616-17, the numbers of the guard were eight from October to January inclusive, 
 twelve from February to May inclusive, and fifteen from June to September inclusive. 
 
 In 1617-18 the guard in the several quarters was paid by the bailies separately, and 
 no uniform rule seems to have been observed, either as regards the number of men 
 employed or the duration of their employment. The total number, however, at any 
 time employed does not seem to have exceeded sixteen men. 
 
 In 1618-19, eleven men were employed for twelve months, and one man for eleven 
 months, at ^4 per man per month. 
 
 In 1619-20, twelve men were employed during the six months from November to 
 April, and eight men for the remaining six months, at ^ per man per month. The 
 guard this year is specially designed the "Town Guard." 
 
 In 1620-21, the town -guard consisted of twenty men in December and January, ten 
 men from February to September inclusive, and ten men in October, at 4 per man per 
 month.
 
 IO4 Sketch of tJie History of the 
 
 and appointed within the burgh and ports ; and each watch, or " constable's 
 pairt" as it was termed, was ordered to watch "ilk nicht thair tyme about." 
 This act, which is dated igth October 1625, is in the following terms : l 
 
 " Forsameikle as thair is nothing more for securitie of the commoun inhabitantis 
 thairof then that the sa"me be gairdit in the nicht with ane sufficient nomber of honest 
 men, for repressing of the insolencie of euill disposed persounes, alsweill theiffis, 
 drunkards, vagabonds, as vthers ryotous nicht-wakers, trublers of the peace of the 
 same ; and that the ordour taiken these late yeires bygane with the watche of the 
 same, by intertayneing of ane gaird of sum hyred persones, nichtlie to attend and 
 
 In 1621-22, the town-guard consisted of twelve men from November to March in- 
 clusive, eight men from April to July, and seven men from August to October, at 
 ^4 per month. 
 
 In 1622-23, the town -guard numbered sixteen in November, eighteen in December 
 and January, sixteen from February to May, and eight from June to October. 
 
 In 1625-26, the guard seems to have consisted of only six men, the sum "gevin the 
 gaird for candell " for " six monethis, ilk man thrie punds," being stated at " xviij lib." 
 
 The watch-silver accounts appear to have ceased about this time, for a reason 
 which is obvious from the text ; but a small hired guard seems still to have been kept 
 up, and to have been paid out of the fines levied by the magistrates. In the account 
 of fines for 1626-27, the following entry occurs : " Item gevin to ye foure men of ye 
 gaird for twelff moneths service, ilk man xlviij. li., is j Ixxxxij lib." 
 
 The account of fines for 1627-28 also contains the following entry : " Item to ye 
 four men of ye gaird, ilk man four pund in the moneth, j Ixxxxij lib. ; item for can- 
 dell to ye gaird, xxix lib." At this time there were also twelve ordinar (toun) officers 
 receiving ^"13, 6s. 8d. each, per annum ; and four extraordinary officers receiving 20 
 each per annum. 
 
 Similar entries as regards the guard appear in the accounts of fines for the years 
 1628-29, 1630-31, 1631-32, 1632-33. The account of fines for 1633-34 contains the 
 following entries : " Item payit to ye thrie gaird of ye tolbuith, ilk moneth, amangis 
 yame, 12 lib. ane c xliiij lib. Item for yr candles, 1 8 lib. and 9 lib. is xxvij lib." 
 
 These entries suggest the probability of the guard referred to in the accounts for 
 1626-27 and following years being either the regular guard of the tolbooth, or the day 
 guard of the town stationed at the tolbooth, the night watch, as appears from the text, 
 being kept, subsequent to 1625, by the citizens themselves. 
 
 No payments to the guard appear in the accounts of fines for 1634-35 or J 63 5-3 6, 
 but they are resumed in the accounts from 1636-37 to 1643-44. 
 
 The following entries in the account for 1636-37 shew that both the guard and the 
 watch were exposed to insult in the discharge of their duties : "Item from James 
 Bowling for abusing the watche, x 11 - xvj s . Item from Johne Kennedie's taverne for 
 abusing the gaird, v n - viij 8 " 1 Council Records, xiii. 300.
 
 High Constables of t lie City of Edinbnrgli. 105 
 
 waitt vpone the same, hes bein fund verie unprofitable, and scarce secure for the guid 
 of the inhabitantes of the same : Thairfore, the proveist, baillies, and counsall, efter 
 mature advysement and consultatioun had thereanent, and of the best meanes how 
 to remeid the same in tyme to cum, hes concludet to casseir these persounes inter- 
 tainied be thame of befoir, and to frie the inhabitantis of this burgh of the moneyis de- 
 bursit be thame vpoun the same, and to returne to the ancient forme obseruit of auld 
 within this burgh, which is to watche the same be the burgessis and inhabitantis of 
 the same, as these who ar most particular interressed in the guid and euill of the 
 samin. And to that effect hes thocht fitt the toun be devydit in twenty-six watches, 
 according to the number of constables dwelling and appointed within this burgh and 
 portis of the same ; and that ilk constable's pairte sail watche ilk nichte thair tyme 
 about." 
 
 Proclamation was at the same time ordained to be made, charging the bur- 
 gesses and inhabitants, in name of the king and of the council, to 
 
 " Compeir as thai ar wairnit ilk man in his awin constables pairt in the Nether Tol- 
 buith of the burgh, at nyne houres at nycht to ansuer to thair names, as they sal be 
 callit be the baillies or constable of his pairt, with sufficient airmour, and not depairt 
 therfra till fyve houris in the morning, vnder the paine of ane vnlaw of five pundis, to 
 be payit be the contravenar toties qtioties ; and this ordour to begin vpone the 25th of 
 October instant." 
 
 In the following year a new military organisation was resolved upon, and it 
 is regarded by Arnot 1 as the origin of the trained bands of the city. An 
 act dated 8th February i626, 2 referring to the foreign wars then existing, the 
 possibility of invasion, and the necessity of being prepared for defence, ap- 
 pointed the whole inhabitants to be divided into eight companies of two 
 hundred men each, and to be regularly exercised and disciplined. Two com- 
 manders, with other officers of war, were appointed to each company, and 
 the commanders were required, by personal visitation at the houses of the 
 whole men of their company, to see that they were provided with arms, re- 
 porting defaulters to the magistrates. The men of high stature and physical 
 strength were ordered to carry a pike, and to be provided with corslet, 
 lancellot, and head-piece ; those of less stature a musket, with bandalier and 
 head-piece, lead, powder, and match. In this organisation no distinction 
 was made between the merchants and craftsmen. All were dealt with simply 
 as. burgesses, but the relative rights and privileges of the merchants and 
 craftsmen were reserved. On Qth April 1627, the city youths were ordered to 
 
 1 History of Edinburgh, p. 504. * Council Records, xiii. 32.;. 
 
 N
 
 1 06 SketcJi of the History of the 
 
 be formed into two companies, that of the merchants to march in the van, and 
 that of the crafts in the rear of the trained bands. 1 Maitland, however, is of 
 opinion, 3 that beyond selecting officers and issuing orders preparatory to the 
 formation of the inhabitants into companies, the arrangements sketched out in 
 these acts of council were not carried into effect. This opinion he founds on 
 the fact that, in 1634, an application was made to Charles I. for authority to 
 distribute the inhabitants into companies, and that his majesty, before pro- 
 ceeding further, required the magistrates " to erect within your citie such 
 several companies as you intend, and so to fitt the way thairof, that it may ap- 
 pear that your intentiounes are reall." 3 What followed upon that letter Mait- 
 land states his inability to learn, adding that he reads " not anything con- 
 cerning the same till 1645," when the citizens were "erected into sixteen 
 companies." It is to be observed, however, that, in 1637, the council are 
 found electing officers, not only for the company of merchant youths, but for 
 other companies of the inhabitants, 4 and between that date and 1645, f re ' 
 quent reference is made to the town's companies as actually existing. 
 
 Annual elections of constables were made on I3th October i626, 5 5th 
 October i627, 6 8th October 16287 Hth October 1629," and 2Oth October 
 i63o. 9 There is no notice in the records of the council of an, election in 
 1631. 
 
 It has been seen that, under their " orders and injunctions," the constables 
 were empowered to levy fines from those who contravened the regulations of 
 the town relative to cleaning. It also appears that, about this time, they 
 levied fines summarily for other offences, and accounted for them to the ma- 
 gistrates. The following extract from the " Baillies' Accounts of Unlaws," 
 for the year 1619-20, shews this : 
 
 " Item the same day (5th November 1619), ressauit from Alexander Harrouar, con- 
 stable, for ane ryot takin up be him from Thomas Trunzionnes wyff, v lib. 
 
 Notwithstanding the various enactments for the suppression of vagrancy 
 .and mendicancy, to which allusion has been made, the country continued to 
 
 J Council Records, xiv. 41. 2 History of Edinburgh, p. 285. 
 
 a Letter Charles I. dated i4th May 1634, engrossed in Council Records, xiv. 301. 
 
 4 Ibid. xv. 12. 5 Ibid. xiv. 24. 
 
 6 Ibid. xiv. 71. In the Discharge of the Bailies' Accounts of Fines for the year 
 1627-28, the following entry occurs : " Item to Thomas Fynlasone for printing the 
 
 ,constat>illis instructiones xxvj li. xiijs. iiijd." 
 
 7 Council Records, xiv. 107. s Ibid. xiv. 141. a Ibid. xiv. 179.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 107 
 
 be overrun with beggars. Edinburgh in particular seemed to be a great 
 centre of attraction for them ; and with a view to their employment, as well as 
 to the benefit of the country generally, the magistrates resolved, in 1619, to 
 introduce woollen manufactures into the city. Accordingly, after procuring 
 subscriptions for the purpose of defraying the requisite costs, they engaged 
 William Dickson of Delft, in Holland, to come to Edinburgh with four skilled 
 workmen, and instruct the people in making woollen stuffs, grograms, says, 
 bays, &C. 1 They fitted up a portion of Paul's Work as a manufactory, at 
 a cost of .1359, 45. 6d. Scots; 3 and they farther appealed, with consider- 
 able success, to the citizens to support the undertaking. 3 This woollen 
 manufactory, which seems to have subserved the purposes of an industrial 
 school, and to have been often leased out to tacksmen, 4 existed till 1683, 
 when it was converted into a linen manufactory, in which boys were trained 
 up in virtue and industry ; and the council leased it to Thomas Kennedy 
 and John Trotter, merchants, with power to uplift the annual rents of the 
 mortification, and to apply them in "maintaining the boys employed in the 
 manufactory. 5 Kennedy and Trotter subsequently assigned their lease to 
 Sir William Binning, William Binning his son, and George Clark ; but in 
 1696 the town sought to reduce the lease and assignation as an inversion of 
 the purposes of the Paul's Work mortification. The lease was, however, sus- 
 tained by a majority of one of the judges, on 22d November i698. 6 In 
 August 1699, the town paid the lessees ^500 sterling, with interest, from 
 Martinmas 1698, in consideration of their renouncing the tack and the whole 
 sums due to them in virtue thereof. 7 
 
 At best, however, these manufactories only dealt with a small portion, 
 and that by no means the worst, of the idle and vagabond population, and 
 accordingly on 27th June 1632, the magistrates, 
 
 ' ' for suppressing of strong vagabonds sturdye beggars and ydill persounes haill and 
 strong in bodye and haible to worke, licentious and maisterles persounes and vthers 
 leiving ydillie without any occupatioun or craft and givin over to all kynd of sin and 
 wickednes and disobedent to maisters and parentis and for putting of the saids, 
 
 1 Council Records, xiii. 84, 88. * Ibid. xiii. 106. 
 
 * Ibid. xiv. 15. Maitland's History of Edinburgh, p. 470. 
 
 4 Council Records, xvii. 45, 22d September 1648. Ibid. xvii. 149, 2d May 1649.. 
 Ibid, xviii. 126, I4th October 16^4. Ibid. xix. 81, 4th November 1659. 
 
 5 Ibid. xxx. 124. 6 Fountainhall's Decisions, i. 700. 
 7 Council Records, xxxvi. 3 - /u, ^77-
 
 1 08 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 persounes to worke, notwithstanding the nomber of the foiresaids euill and ydill 
 persounes is daylie augmentit and especiallie within this burgh and flowis hither 
 frome all pairts of this kingdome and from vther pairtis bezond sea whair they live 
 without any kynd of punischement in all kynd of syn and wickednes, procuring daylie 
 be thair lewd and vnlaufull conversatioun the wraith and displeasoure of God to be 
 poured out against this kingdome, and this toun in particular, for avoyding quhairof 
 and to the end that the foresaids may be compellit to betak themeselffes to sum 
 vertew and laufull calling for wynning of thair leiving, . . . . " l 
 
 resolved to establish a correction-house. With that view they entered into 
 arrangements with the kirk-sessions, who agreed to contribute towards the 
 expense of the undertaking, 2 and ordered the " two eastmost houses upon 
 the south side of the close " of Paul's Work to be fitted up for the purpose. 
 William Stamfield, indweller in Wakefield, was appointed master of the 
 establishment, and the " eastmost corse-house in St Paul's Work was as- 
 signed as a residence for him and his family. Stamfield was allowed a 
 yearly salary of go sterling, and a farther sum of ^10 sterling, in respect 
 of which he was bound, inter atia, (i) to receive, maintain, and subject to 
 discipline as in correction houses elsewhere, as also to provide work and 
 proper implements of labour for, all persons whom the magistrates might 
 send him or order him to receive, not exceeding fifty at one time ; and (2) 
 to receive such additional number as the house could contain, and the magis- 
 trates might send for corporal punishment, or imprisonment for four or 
 five days. 3 The act of council, embodying the arrangements with Stamfield, 
 and regulating the mode in which the correction house was to be kept, was 
 approved of by the privy council on 3d July i632, 4 and on the 25th of August 
 the following act of council was issued : 6 
 
 Vigesimo Quinto August! J m - VI C - Trigesimo secundb. 
 
 Forsameikle as the proveist baillies and counsall hes for restrayning of beggars 
 appointed ane correctioun hous, thairfore thai ordayne the haill constabillis of this 
 burgh to tak and apprehend all such ydill maisterles persounes and sturdie beggers 
 young or old and to bring theme to the laich tolbuith to be presented to the magis- 
 trattis, that therefter the ordiner course for sending of theme to the correctioun hous 
 may be taiken, and ordainis such constabillis as salbe fand negligente in this point to 
 incure ane unlaw of fyve pundis Mies quoties, as also ordanis the haill officeris of this 
 
 1 Council Records, xiv. 233. 2 Ibid. xiv. 234. 
 
 3 Ibid. xiv. 238. Maitland's History of Edinburgh, p. 341. 
 
 * Council Records, xiv. 369. a Ibid. xiv. 238.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 109 
 
 burgh to concur with theme in the execution of this present act, and all other nicht- 
 boures to be requyred be theme under the payne to be punisched be the magistrattis 
 in thair persounes and guides. 
 
 The correction house thus instituted was attended with beneficial results in* 
 Edinburgh, and the king having authorised all his free burghs to establish 
 such houses, the council, by an act dated 3d February I636, 1 formally de- 
 clared the houses at St Paul's Work, before referred to, to be a correction 
 house, and ordained 
 
 "all vagabonds, strong and sturdye beggars, ydill and maisterless persounes, strong in 
 body and abill to worke, above the age of aucht yeires and vnder the aige of thriescore, 
 servandis disobedient to their maisters, and children dissobedient to parents, leud livers, 
 commoun scaldis, and incorrigibill harlottes, not amending be the ordiner discipline of 
 the church, to be taiken be the magistrattes of this burgh, or constabillis, or such as the 
 saids magistrattis sail appoint, whairsoeuir they can be apprehendit within this citie, 
 liberties thairof, toun of Leith, or streittes leidand betwixt Leith and Edinburgh, and to 
 be putt in the said hous to be corrected in maner to be appointed by the saids magis- 
 trattis, and to remayne thair so long as they salbe ordaynit ; or continewit thairin, ac- 
 cording to thair merite, and to be compellit to worke such kind of laubour as salbe 
 appointed to thame be the maister of the said hous ; and to ressaive such intertaynement 
 as he sail think thair worke to deserve. " 
 
 By this act, Stamfield was confirmed in his office, and the regulations to be 
 observed by him were almost identical with those enacted in i632. 2 
 
 Annual elections of constables were made on igth October i632, 3 6th 
 November i633, 4 and 4th October i634. s 
 
 On 3 ist October i634, 6 the council renewed their orders that all the inhabi- 
 tants should assist the constables in the execution of their duty, under the 
 penalty of ^20 toties qiioties, and farther punishment of the persons of the 
 defaulters at the discretion of the magistrates. 
 
 Annual elections of constables were made on Qth October 16357 2ist 
 
 1 Council Records, xiv. 368. 
 
 * This correction-house existed for about a century, when the establishment was 
 transferred to the new buildings and grass yard at the Greyfriars' Churchyard. The 
 correction-house itself was thereafter sold, and its site, with the garden and ground 
 adjoining, were feued to James Macdowal, merchant in Edinburgh in 1750. 
 
 3 Council Records, xiv. 246. 4 Ibid. xiv. 283. 5 Ibid. xiv. 315. b Ibid. xiv. 318. 
 
 ' Ibid. xiv. 354. As affording an indication of the size and importance of the city 
 at this time, i! may be noticed that, in 1635, an exact account .of the houses in the burgli
 
 1 1 o Sketch of the History of the 
 
 October i636, 1 6th October 1637* igth October i638, 3 and I3th October 
 1 639.* 
 
 The regular watch of the neighbours was intended for ordinary times, 
 ^.nd in times of peculiar danger was supplemented by an extraordinary 
 watch. Thus on 4th March 1640, the council "finding the necessitie ofthir 
 perillous tymes of ane extraordinar watche, by and attour the ordinary 
 nichtlie watche," ordained, that with consent of the neighbours, " thair be 
 levied three hundreth men to serve nicht and day for ane extraordinar 
 watche so lang as the counseill sail think necessar." An extent was appointed 
 to be set for the payment of this watche, 5 which was armed with " muskets 
 and bandeliers effeirand " out of the toun's magazine." 6 It was also necessary 
 to take strict order with the "regular" watch of the neighbours, which had 
 become very irregular, and the following a<5l was passed on the 29th of May in 
 the same year, to place this watch on a more effective footing : 
 
 " Haiveing taikin to their consideratioun the gritt necessitie the haill inhabitants 
 of this burgh hes of ane constant and strong watche of thair oune number in this 
 straitnes of tyme, both for thair awin securitie and saiftie of all the Hedges resorting 
 hither, which in ane fair and pleasant way hes bein expected to haue bein performed, 
 hot is fund to be altogither neglected be all the inhabitants of this burgh to thair gritt 
 dainger, haysert, and disgraice, for remeid quhairof the saidis proveist, baillies, and 
 counsall hes statut and ordaynit that the nichtlie watche of the inhabitants sail begin 
 nichtlie at aught houris in the cloak at nicht, and to abyd till four in the cloak in the 
 morning thaireiter, And for this effect hes ordaynit that the said watche sail be keiped 
 be ane wholl cumpanye, with the commanders and vther under officers be theme selffis, 
 in ther oune persounes, weill and sufficientlie airmit, beginning at the secund companie 
 of the northeist quarter of this burgh, and so furth in order, to be in readiness at touck 
 of the drum, before aucht in the cloak at nicht, and sail repayre nightly at 8 o'clock 
 to their colours in the parliament yard, to receive their orders from their commanders." T 
 
 Annual elections of constables were made on i6th October 1640.8 
 November 1641,* i3th October i642, 10 i6th October 1643,'* and i6th 
 October 1644. 
 
 and liberties, with the rental, was taken up by order of the privy council, with a view 
 to raising 12,000 merks yearly for the ministers. From that account it appears that 
 the houses numbered 5071, and the rental amounted to .192,118, 55. (Maitland's 
 History of Edinburgh, p. 70.) l Council Records, xiv. 403. 
 
 - Ibid. xv. 32. * Ibid. xv. 120. 8 Ibid. xv. 161. n Ibid. xv. 317. 
 1 Ibid. xv. 70. 6 Ibid. xv. 122-124. 9 ^id. xv - 2 8 - " I llicl - xvi - '3- 
 
 * Ibid. xv. 105. 7 Ibid. xv. 139. 10 -Ibid. xv. 254.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. \ 1 1 
 
 On the 24th of February 1644, "the necessities of the times" induced the 
 magistrates to order a constant watch to be kept night and day ; and for that 
 effect they appointed " the first company of the north-west quarter under com- 
 mandment of Captain James Murray and John Tumour, to begin upon Mon- 
 day next, and to enter to the court de gaird to be placed under the market 
 cross at 10 in the morning and to abide till next day at the same hour." 
 Burgesses, without exception, were charged to be careful to keep the watche, 
 well prepared and furnished with musket, powder, ball, and match, and 
 such armour and furniture, daily and nightly, as they were warned. 1 On 
 the 8th of November, the council, "finding the neighbours to be destitute 
 of ane dreill master and wauch master for attending the nightlie watches 
 and other exercises needful of armes in such ane exigence of tyme as the 
 public necessitie of the toun requyres," nominated and admitted " John 
 Brodinstar to discharge the office during the councels will, for fifty merks 
 Scots monthlie." 2 On the iQth of March 1645, an act of council was passed 
 which, after referring to the urgent necessity that existed for having a strong 
 nightly watch, ordained 
 
 " Proclamation to pas throw this brugh, be sound of drum, commanding and charging 
 that all the burgessis and inhabitants within this burgh, according to their severall com- 
 panies, keip and attend the said watche the tyme foirsaid, under the paine of fyve pundis 
 for the first fault, ten pundis for the second, and farder punishment of thair persone 
 at the will of the magistratts : And all that comes sero sail pay twelff schillings toties 
 quoties : And farder, that in respect the saidis watches cannot be orderlie keipit except 
 they be sufficientlie instructed in militarie discipline, that all the inhabitantis of this 
 burgh be in readiness to marche furth for dreilling under their severall commanderis 
 and cullouris, to the places accustomed, at the towk of the drum, at sex in the cloak in 
 the morning, under the paine of fyve pundis to be payit be ilk person sail failzie." * 
 
 Subsequently, by an act dated gth May in the same year, 4 the council re- 
 modelled the whole arrangements of the trained bands. The town was 
 divided into sixteen parts, and from each part a company was drawn. Of these 
 companies, ten captains were appointed to be merchants and six craftsmen, 
 and each merchant captain was ordered to have a craftsman as his lieutenant. 
 The ensigns and sergeants of all the companies were to be selected equally 
 from the merchants and craftsmen. On 2ist May accordingly, the sixteen 
 captains were elected, 5 several of the commanders of the old companies hav- 
 
 1 Council Records, xv. 336. 3 Ibid. xvi. 38. " Ibid. xvi. 48. 
 
 * Ibid. xvi. 1 7. * Ibid. xvi. 46, 49.
 
 1 1 2 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 ing previously resigned, and on the 26th of May, the lieutenants, ensigns, and 
 sergeants were appointed. 1 The watch, however, still continued to be kept by 
 the inhabitants, though, in consequence of the ravages of the plague, and the 
 desertion of the town by the greater part of the inhabitants, it became neces- 
 sary, on 1 3th August 1645, as an exceptional measure, to hire one hundred 
 soldiers to guard the town by day and night. 2 An act, dated 3Oth Septem- 
 ber 1646, ordered this hired guard to be discontinued, and the old form of 
 watching by the inhabitants to be resumed. 3 The citizens were, however, 
 obviously remiss in their watching duties, and as a means of enforcing their 
 observance, the council, on I2th February 1647, appointed Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Auchinlik to take up the unlaws of all defaulters, and of such as would not 
 keep the watch in their ordinary nights. 4 On 3ist August 1648, the council 
 being informed that " a great number of the lieges of this realm are assembled 
 in a warlike manner, and to prevent the city being surprised," ordered four 
 whole companies, well armed, to guard the town. 5 This order must necessarily 
 have pressed heavily on the citizens, and probably elicited much complaint, 
 for on 22d September 1648, the council passed the following act : 6 
 
 "Forsamekle as the counsell taking to thair consideration:! the great danger this 
 brugh hes bein in these severall monethis bypast for laik of orderlie watching of the 
 toun, which cannot be reduced to any right ordour without there be a watche keipit 
 thairin, as weill in the day tyme as in the night, and considering that the day watche 
 doeth heavilie prejudice the nighbouris in taking them from there ordinarie callings and 
 vocatiounis, Thairfoir to the intent that both the toun may be weill guardit in the 
 night time, and the nighbouris fred from guairding thairof in the day tyme, the counsell 
 hes thought fitt to agrie with Lievtenant Colonell Affleck, upoun the conditiounis and 
 pay eftirmentionat, and that he sail keip up a companie consisting of thriescoir soul- 
 diers, with a lievtenant, twa serjandis, and thrie corporallis, who sail be obleist to keep 
 the day watche fra in the morning to at night, according as they sail re- 
 
 ceive ordour from the magistrattis, as lykwayis the said Livt. Collonell or some of his 
 omceris sail nightly waitt on at the setting of the night watche quhilk is to be keipit 
 be the nightbours, and to sie them orderlie sett on till sick tyme as the counsell sail 
 resolve upoun some more effectuall way of settling the guarding of this brugh. " 
 
 The monthly pay of the officers and men of this guard, amounted to ,763, 6s. 
 8d. This expenditure seems to have been grudged by the citizens, and on 
 nth October 1648, an act of council was passed, authorising the neighbours 
 
 1 Council Records, xvi. 50. 3 Ibid. xvi. 136. * Ibid. xvii. 30. 
 
 * Ibid. xvi. 57. 4 Ibid. xvi. 161. 8 Ibid. xvii. 46.
 
 HigJi Constables of tJie City of Edinburgh. \ \ 
 
 to be tried whether they would serve as a watch or pay 45. weekly to the bailie of 
 their quarter for their personal watching. 1 The latter alternative was generally 
 preferred, and on 1st November an act was passed for levying forty men, that 
 being all that the voluntary subscriptions of the neighbours would maintain. 2 
 Colonel Affleck 3 had a few days previously been removed from his command, 
 which was transferred to Major Thomas Weir. 4 This company of soldiers 
 appears to have been the origin of the regular town guard, co-existing with the 
 trained bands of the city,all of whom were often called out in arms on important 
 occasions, such as the sittings of parliament, the execution of influential per- 
 sons like the Marquis of Huntly, 5 &c. The collection of the extent for the 
 support of the guard, seems at one time to have been entrusted to the 
 major. 6 but falling into arrear, was transferred to the constables, who, on 
 i6th May 1649, were enjoined to seek from the neighbours "seven months' 
 pay for Major Weir's byganes, and to employ the officers to assist them." 7 
 They also, however, appear to have failed in recovering these arrears, for 
 shortly afterwards the treasurer was authorised to borrow a sum of money to 
 pay what was still due. 
 
 Annual elections of constables were made on 9th March i646, 8 i3th Octo- 
 ber i647, 9 igth October i648, 10 and iyth October 1649." 
 
 Whatever benefits had resulted to the town up to this time from the insti- 
 tution of the constables, it is but too obvious that they were unable to secure 
 its cleanliness. When James VI. revisited Edinburgh in 1617, the magis- 
 trates found it necessary to renew their orders for the removal of filth from 
 the streets ; and in the following year, it was made the subject of complaint 
 by the privy council, and the ground of a proclamation against such abuses, 
 that the candlemakers and butchers were allowed to carry on their business 
 within the town to the great disgust of " civil and honest neighbours, and 
 of the nobility and country people that comes there for their private adoes ; " 
 and it is added, " It hath oftentimes fallen out that in money streets and ven- 
 
 1 Council Records, xvii. 58. ~ Ibid. xvii. 69. 3 Ibid. xvii. 67, 68. 
 
 4 The Major Weir whose crimes, for which he was executed on I4th April 1670, have 
 given his memory a notoriety that still attaches to the locality of his abode at the head 
 of the West Bow. [Chambers' s Traditions of Edinburgh, 32-37.] 
 
 " Council Records, xvii. 124, 2ist March 1649. 
 
 6 Ibid. xvii. 97, 2gth December 1648. 
 
 7 Ibid. xvii. 154. 9 Ibid. xvi. 215. " Ibid. xvii. 195. 
 b lbid. xvi. 78. 10 Ibid. xvii. 60.. 
 
 o
 
 1 1 4 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 nels of the said burgh, the filth of slaughtered guids is in such abundance ex- 
 posed to the view of the people, and the closes and streets sae filled therewith, 
 as there can be no passage had through the same." 1 This proclamation, 
 however, was not found sufficient to secure the removal of the evils complained 
 of, and on 4th March 1619, the privy council sent an order to the magistrates, 
 requiring them to take measures for having the streets kept clean. The con- 
 dition of the town at that time is thus described : 
 
 *' It is now become so filthy and unclean, and the streets, vennels, wynds, and 
 closes thereof so overlaid and covered with middings, and with the filth of man and 
 beast, as the nobles, councillors, servitors, and others his majesty's subjects wha are 
 lodget within the said burgh, cannot have ane clean and free passage and entry to 
 their lodgings, wherethrough their lodgings have become so loathsome unto them as 
 they are resolved rather to make choice of lodgings in the Canongait and Leith, or 
 some other parts about the town, nor to abide the sight of the shameful unclean- 
 liness and filthiness which is so universal and in such abundance through all parts 
 of the burgh, as in the heat of summer it corrupts the air, and gives great occasion of 
 sickness ; and farder, this shameful and beastlie filthiness is most detestable and odious 
 in the sight of strangers, who, beholding the same, are constrained, with reason, to 
 give out mony disgraceful speeches against this burgh, calling it a puddle of filth and 
 uncleanness, the like whereof is not to be seen in no part of the world." * 
 
 The plan proposed by the privy council for remedying this state of matters 
 was, that the inhabitants should keep " the streets forenent their ain bounds 
 clean, as is done in other civil, handsome, and weel-governed citeis." How 
 far this order, and the action that may be presumed to have followed upon it, 
 tended to secure a more creditable condition of matters, does not appear ; but 
 in 1621, we find the council proclaiming, by sound of drum, an order on all 
 the inhabitants to clean the steeets before the weaponshawing. 3 In 1633, 
 again, the streets were in a very offensive state, and the magistrates, pre- 
 paratory no doubt to the visit of Charles I., and his coronation in that year, 
 passed an act in which, " finding the Hie streittis and publict vennellis of 
 this burgh to abound with all kynd of filth, to the reprotche of the toun wheir 
 straingeris does repair to the same," they directed each of the bailies to en- 
 gage a cart and horse to carry away the filth daily, and to get hurle-barrows 
 
 1 Privy Council Register, I7th Feb 1618. Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, 
 iv. 627. 
 
 4 Privy Council Registers, March 1619. Council Records, 5th March 1619, xiii. 53. 
 3 Council Records, xiii. 152, 4th May 1621.
 
 HigJi Constables of tlie City of Edinburgh. 1 1 5 
 
 for cleaning out the closes. 1 Another act of council, in 1641. discharged the 
 gathering of all middings on the " hie streit qr vennelis of this brugh, or neir 
 the town wall or dykis, or the Grayfreir yaird ; " and directed accumulations 
 of filth already collected, to be removed within forty-eight hours. 2 A simi- 
 lar act passed in 1642, referred to the numerous previous prohibitions against 
 keeping middings on the streets, closes, and other public places of the toun, 
 and the " uncivility " of many who continued to transgress these prohibi- 
 tions " to the great scandal of the burgh, and endangering the inhabitants 
 of infection." 3 In the same year the fleshers of Edinburgh voluntarily en- 
 gaged, in conformity with the 2gth act of the 23d parliament of James VI. 
 (1621, c. 29),* to provide sufficient slaughter-houses, either out of the burgh, 
 or at the North Loch side ; and undertook meanwhile not to cast forth any 
 blood or filth upon the high streets or vennels, under heavy penalties. 5 In 
 the following year, an order dated loth November 1643, and proclaimed 
 by sound of drum, directed all middings to be removed, and appointed the 
 whole inhabitants to carry their fulzie to the close heads or vennels, that the 
 same might be the more conveniently removed. Every householder was 
 moreover directed to cause the refuse from his dwelling to be put out twice 
 a-week, on Tuesday and Friday, " with certification to them befoir whois 
 dooris any sail be fund, that they sail be punished in thare personis and 
 goods at the discretion of the magistrates." 6 In the following month, the 
 council agreed with Alexander Heeriot to furnish a cart, horses, and servant 
 to clean the streets and vennels, for which service he was to receive eight 
 merks weekly. 7 In 1645, Edinburgh again suffered from the ravages of the 
 plague, the fear of which induced " the greatest part of the inhabitants " to 
 desert the town. It became necessary, in consequence, to provide a hired 
 
 1 Council Records, xiv. 261, 4th April 1633. The Bailies' Accounts of Fines for the 
 year 1632-33, contain the following entry, which is the first of the kind : Paid to 
 James Waddie, cairter, for 26 weeks for keeping ye streitts cleine at 5 lib. vj 8 - 8 d - 
 weeklie, is ane c. xxxviij 11 - xiij 8 - viij d ' 
 
 * Council Records, xv. 187, 23d April 1641. 
 3 Ibid. xv. 234, 25th May 1642. 
 
 * Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, iv. 627. This act ratified and confirmed the 
 Act of the Privy Council of I7th February 1618, which has been already alluded to. 
 
 Council Records, xv. 262, igth November 1642. 
 B Ibid. xv. 322, loth November 1643. 
 ' Ibid. xv. 327, 8th December 1643,
 
 1 1 6 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 watch for the protection of property, and also " some uther personis for 
 clenzing the toun." For the payment of these men, a sum of .1800 was 
 ordered to be borrowed till the required funds could be raised from the 
 inhabitants. 1 Proclamation was again made against middings and filth in 
 the streets in 164.6;* and the penalties imposed for non-compliance were 
 appointed to be collected by the constables, such penalties being declared 
 to be " besyd quhatevir uthir punishment it sail pleas the magistrate to in- 
 flict upon the personis ofifenderis." In 1648, the appointment of one George 
 Watt to be an ordinary scavenger, 3 shews that some machinery for the 
 cleansing of the town continued to exist ; but the subsequent legislation of 
 the same year appears to indicate that it was not sufficient for the purpose. 
 An act passed in December ordained the constables 
 
 " To exact twelf pennies or tua schillings at most monethlie from everie considerable 
 householder within the same, to be employed be them in the best manner of way 
 they can devyse for carieing away the muck, and keiping the streitt and vennells of this 
 brugh clean, ilk constable within his awin bounds, and to vse exact diligence herein 
 under the pain of twentie pounds, to be imposed upon everie constable toties guoties, if 
 he be found negligent in his dewtie aforesaid ; and to the effect the foresaids con- 
 stables may be the better answered of the foresaid exactioun, for the vse foresaid, 
 ordains the officeris and souldiers of the brugh to concur and assist the saidis con- 
 
 1 Council Records, xvi. 57, I3th August 1645. 
 
 2 Ibid. xvi. 148, 2d December 1646. 
 
 3 Ibid. xvii. 55, 4th October 1648. In London, there existed in early times a class 
 of public officers called " scavagers" whose duty it was to attend at the quays, and 
 collect the custom on the scavage (the showage or opening out) of goods imported into 
 the city. At a later period other duties were imposed upon them, and they were sworn 
 to oversee that the pavements within their respective wards "are well and rightly re- 
 paired, and not made too high, in nuisance of the neighbours ; and that the ways, 
 streets, and lanes, are cleaned of dung, and all manner of filth,, for the decency of the 
 city ; and that all chimneys, furnaces, [and] reredoses are of stone, and sufficiently 
 defended against peril of fire. " From these officers the scavengers of the present day 
 have no doubt taken their name, though their duty in the actual removal of filth was 
 performed by the subordinate " rakyei's " or rakers, a certain number of whom were 
 maintained by each ward to remove the filth from the streets to the public laystalls 
 provided for its reception. The scavengers of each ward were elected by the wardmote, 
 a public meeting of the inhabitants, duly convened and presided over by the alderman 
 or his deputy. [Munimenta Guildhalls? Londoniensis, Liber Albus. Introduction, 
 p. xli. p. 38, 313.]
 
 HigJi Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 1 1 7 
 
 stables in the prosecution of their dewtie aforesaid, as they will be answerable to the 
 town council thairanent." * 
 
 Another act of council, passed in the same month, refers to the fact, that not- 
 withstanding the many acts which had been made from time to time with a 
 view to the cleanliness of the town, the same had often proved ineffectual, and 
 never more so than " of laitt, so that the streetts and vennells of this brugh 
 are become altogedder vile and filthie, to the great disgrace of the citie, and 
 offence both of neighbours and strangers resorting thairto." It accordingly 
 renewed the prohibition against throwing filth on the streets and closes, under 
 a penalty of .10, and further punishment of the person of the defaulter, toties 
 quoties, and authorised any person in burgh or land to carry away the whole 
 filth on the streets and closes that is offensive to the neighbours or strangers. 
 The act farther ordained 
 
 " The constables to see the samyn done within thair awin bounds, and be assistant 
 therein, under the paine of ane unlaw of 20 money, to be exacted monethlie of the 
 saids constables in case of faillie, but favour. " * 
 
 In the following year (1649) the constables were ordained "as of befoir to 
 doe all diligence for clenzing the toun betuix and sonday come eacht dayes at 
 furthest ; declaring that the constable whose boundis sail not be clenzit betuix 
 and the said day sail pay 20 as the unlaw appointed for his negligence with- 
 out defaultation ; and ordains the moderator of the constables to intimate this 
 ordour to the rest of the constables with all diligence." 3 This act, it will be 
 observed, refers to the " moderator" 4 of the constables, and indicates the exist- 
 
 1 Council Records, xvii. 84, 6th December 1648. 
 
 2 Ibid. xvii. 92, 25th December 1648. 
 a Ibid. xvii. 137, Iith April 1649. 
 
 * The term "moderator" was synonymous with president, and was not confined, 
 as Jamieson would seem to indicate, to ecclesiastical courts. With the exception of the 
 period between 1745 and 1796, when the term " preses" was in use by the constables, 
 the head of the body has uniformly retained the title of moderator. This was the title 
 also given to the president of the Stent Masters [Council Records, xxxiv. 179, igth May 
 1693], as well as to the president of the captains of the Trained Bands, who, it has been 
 seen, received a constitution from the Town Council in June 1663 [Ibid. xxix. 258, 8th 
 October 1680 ; Ibid. xxx. 79, 7th October 1681]. The captain of the first or " Orange 
 Company," seems to have been the moderator-captain of the Trained Bands ex officio. 
 
 The President of the Convention of the Royal Burghs of Scotland was also termed 
 the "Moderator." [Printed Records of Convention, i. 30, 251)1 October 1574, &c.]
 
 1 1 8 Sketch of tlie History of the 
 
 ence, even at this date, of some organisation in the body. Two days afterwards, 
 the council, considering how much the common wells and the water thereof 
 " are filthilie abused and unlittered with the stablers' fulzie lying in muck- 
 middings upon the high street, near the said wells, especially now in the 
 summer time," prohibited stablers and all others from laying dung or other 
 filth on the streets near to these wells ; and ordained them to remove the 
 middings from the wells furth of the town, or to some remote places, within 
 twenty-four hours, under penalties. On 3ist October in the same year, a pro- 
 clamation was ordered to be made, prohibiting the keeping of swine within the 
 burgh or its liberties, and requiring the whole middings to be removed from 
 the High street and common vennels within twenty-four hours after publica- 
 tion, under the pains and penalties formerly prescribed. 1 Another act of the 
 council, passed on ist May 1650, refers to the filthiness of the streets and closes, 
 occasioned by the casting forth of dust and excremies by night and day, " the 
 like whereof is not to be seen in any civil cittie," wherefore and because " the 
 same is very pestilentious and noysome, all persons are prohibited under 
 penalties from casting filth in the streets and closes, under the paine of 
 breaking up of thair doors be the watche, poinding of thair houses, imprison- 
 ment of thair personis, and inflicting of such uyther punischment upon them 
 as the magistrates shall think fit but favour." 2 
 
 On 3 ist October i649, 3 for what reason does not appear, the practice of 
 watching by the neighbours was ordered to be resumed, the whole neighbours 
 being required " to attend the constables of this brugh nightlie upoun watche 
 of thair tour as it comes about to them, and as they are wairned thairto." 
 That this order was not well obeyed, however, appears from the following 
 act, dated ist May 1650 : 4 
 
 ' ' Forsameikle as the counsell taking to their consideratioun the report of the con- 
 stables of this brugh anent the kieping of the nightlie watche within the same, that they 
 for the maist pairt consist of hyrelings, both unable in bodie and not worthie of so great 
 trust in this time of trouble, and of so great resort of strangeris and utheris to this brugh, 
 Thairfoir the counsell, being desyrous to provyd for the weill and saftie of this brugh 
 at such a tyme, doe heirby statute and ordaine that ilk persone heireftir, at thair turne, 
 ether [come] personallie themselffis to the watche, or utherwyis send a persone able in 
 bodie weill andsufficientlie armed, and such as the will be answerable for, And that under 
 the paine of fyve pundis money toties quoties for ilk failzie ; and ordanis proclama- 
 
 1 Council Records, xvii. 198. 3 Ibid. xvii. 198. 
 
 Ibid. xvii. 249, 1st May 1650. * Ibid. xvii. 249.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 1 19 
 
 tioun to pas threw this burgh be towk of drum that nane pretend ignorance of the 
 samen ; and appoyntis the baillies and constables to resave no persone upon watch but 
 such as ar able and worthie of the trust." 
 
 This order was followed on i/th July by an act of council appointing the 
 night watch to be kept by the several town's companies in turn, and procla- 
 mation to be made to that effect. 1 Nor was the requisition to the neighbours 
 to perform the duty of watching unenforced. On the 6th of August, Gideon 
 Murray, merchant, was fined ^20 for eight days' absence from the watch, and 
 ordered to be imprisoned till the fine was paid. 2 This stringency may, 
 however, be accounted for by the fact that the English army under Cromwell 
 had crossed the Tweed on the 22d of July, 3 and was now near Edinburgh, 
 for the defence of which active measures had been taken. " For this end," 
 says Nicoll, the inhabitants had 
 
 "credit scaffoldis within the haill walls of the toun, set up their ensignes thairon, 
 extending to xxxij culloris, mannit the wallis with numberis of men, planted ordi- 
 nance thairon, demolisched the haill houssis in St Marie Wynd, that the enymie sould 
 haif no schelter thair, bot that thai mycht haif frie pas to thair cannoun, quhilk thai 
 haid montit upone the Neddir Bow. The toun also wes forcit to demolische and 
 tak doun the four prickes bigged on the Neddir Bow, quhilk was ane verry great orna- 
 ment thairto, and placed cannoun thairon. The committee also causit demolische 
 sindrie houssis at the Potterraw Poirt, and West Poirt, that the Castell of Edin- 
 burgh, and uther pairtes quhair thair cannoun was stellit, mycht haif sicht of the 
 enymie in cais he sould assalt and greater fredome to assalt him, be taking doun of 
 the houssis that wer impedimentis to the sicht of the enymie, and force of the can- 
 noun." 4 
 
 On the 2ist of August the following act of council was passed : 8 
 
 4 ' Forsameikle as the counsell takeing to thair consideratioun how the haill companies 
 of this brugh hes bein upoun the night watche the severall nights bygane without in- 
 termission, and to the effect they may have some ease, the counsell appoynts eight com- 
 panies of the sexten companies of this brugh to be nightlie upoun the watche, and to 
 relieve utheris night about be courses, and that the twa companies of the youths divyd 
 themselfis equallie, and the one halfe of ilk ane of thair companies to be upoun the 
 watche nightlie, and the other half to relieve them night about, and this order to be 
 obserued till farder ordouris." 
 
 1 Council Records, xvii. 271. * Nicoll's Diary, p. 24. 
 
 * Nicoll's Diary, p. 19 a Council Records, xvii. 285. 
 
 8 Council Records, xvii. 218.
 
 1 20 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 On the 3d of September the Scottish army was defeated at Dunbar ; and 
 four days afterwards Cromwell and the English forces took possession of the 
 city, which had been deserted by its magistrates, 1 ministers, and principal 
 citizens. In these circumstances the inhabitants who remained elected 
 a committee of thirty of their number, by whom the affairs of the city were 
 managed till December 1651, when the council was re-established. 2 Magis- 
 trates were not, however, elected till March i652. 8 No election of con- 
 stables appears, in consequence, to have been made in 1650 or 1651, or until 
 1 5th October 1652. Doubtless, however, there were constables acting in 
 the city during that time. At all events, we find the council, who, in De- 
 cember 1651, were peremptorily required by the English military authorities 
 to have the streets, closes, and wynds cleaned within fourteen days, and kept 
 clean thereafter, 4 issuing an order to the constables on the subject in January 
 1652. That order, referring to the filthy state of the town, directed the con- 
 stables to meet among themselves, and to go about the best and most effectual 
 way for the cleaning of the streets, and to employ, and cause the neighbours 
 to employ, their servants for carrying the muck on the north side of the High 
 
 1 At the desire of the Lord Chancellor Lbucloun they had proceeded to Stirling 
 [Council Records, xvii. 291-292]. 
 
 8 Maitland's History of Edinburgh, p. 89. 
 
 3 Nicoll's Diary, Ixv. 88-92. Maitland's History of Edinburgh, p. 89-91. The 
 magistrates elected in the several burghs at this time continued in office till Michael- 
 mas 1655, "at quhilk tyme thair wes ane proclamatioun emitted for ane frie electioun 
 within all the cities, burghs, and tounes in Scotland" [Nicoll's Diary, p. 161 ; Mait- 
 land's History of Edinburgh, p. 92]. 
 
 * Nicoll's Diary, p. 70. This was not the only matter in which the English officers 
 interfered with advantage in the internal affairs of the city. It must, no doubt, have 
 been repugnant to the national feeling to be subject to a foreign administration. Yet 
 the people could not but admit that it was in many respects superior to their own, and 
 that justice was obtained from the "kithless loons" who occupied the bench under the 
 English rule, more speedily and certainly than from the Scotch judges, whom, for a 
 time, they supplanted [Nicoll's Diary, pp. 65, 66, 69, 104]. In regard to the lighting 
 of Edinburgh at this time, " conform to the order appointed for hanging out of 
 lanthornes," Nicoll says it was so well obeyed, that the winter night was almost as 
 light as the day for multitude of lanthorns hung out by every house ; so that the 
 expenses bestowed upon candle nightly was accounted to extend to five-and-forty 
 pounds within the town of Edinburgh nightly. And when any house neglected this 
 order, it was presently fined and unlawed in 45. stg. , and the master or mistress of the 
 house was taken and committed to the main guard till it was paid [Diary, p. 73].
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 1 2 1 
 
 Street down to the North Loch side, and those on the south side and Cowgate 
 to cause carry the muck thereof furth at the West Port and Cowgate Port, 
 and other ports adjacent thereto, each person under the pain of payment of 
 an unlaw of twelve pence for each day's absence, ay and until the whole be 
 cleaned ; and, in the event of any person's neglecting or refusing to obey the 
 constables within their several bounds, such persons were declared to be 
 subject to a penalty of twelve pence each day, to quartering of soldiers upon 
 them, and other personal punishment as their fault deserved. 1 Again, on 
 1 9th May 1652, we find an election of two persons in room " of two constables 
 removed furth of quarter," 3 a fact which also shews that the removal of a con- 
 stable from the quarter for which he was elected disqualified him for the office. 
 As has already been mentioned, an annual election of constables was made on 
 1 5th October i652, 3 but some of them appear not to have discharged with much 
 efficiency their duties relative to the cleaning of the town. On Qth November 
 1653, the council, on the recommendation of the judges, appointed a committee 
 to meet anent the cleaning of the streets and other matters, 4 and on the i6th of 
 the same month two persons were appointed for each of the four quarters, 
 to visit the bounds and report the constables' diligence in securing the cleans- 
 ing of their respective bounds, " to the effect course may be taken with such 
 of the constables who have neglected their charge, and those quho have been 
 cairfull may be relieved, and uytheries chosen to supplie thair place for the 
 yeir to come." 5 What was done under this remit, as regards the constables, 
 does not appear, but fourteen days later the bailies were ordained to convene 
 the stablers, and imprison them until they caused the streets to be cleaned 
 of their middings. 6 The annual election of constables was made on 7th 
 December 16537 and on the 28th of that month, the council, referring to the 
 failure of their manifold previous orders and proclamations, renewed their 
 prohibition against the laying of filth on the streets, directed all middings to 
 be removed, and ordered the whole neighbours to " pay their several propor- 
 tions imposed upon them by the constables for clenzing of the streitts as 
 neid required, under the paine of poinding for the double but favour, imprison- 
 ment of thair personis, and farder punishment at the will of the magistrate" 8 
 
 Council Records, xvii. 293, 1410 January 1652. 
 
 Ibid. xvii. 317. 3 Ibid. xvii. 350. 4 Ibid, xviii. 61. 
 
 Ibid, xviii. 62, 1 6th November 1653. 
 Ibid, xviii. 64, 3Oth November 1653. 
 
 Ibid, xviii. 65. 8 Ibid, xviii. 69, 28th December 1653. 
 
 P
 
 1 22 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 During all this time the English troops held undisputed possession of 
 Edinburgh, the castle having surrendered on iQth December 1650 ; but the 
 Scotch army in the north was still active, and throughout the country many 
 collisions took place between the people and the English soldiers. This 
 induced the English to strengthen their garrisons, and to prohibit all persons 
 from leaving their residences and travelling the country without a pass. 1 
 In pursuance of the same policy, the council, by the following act, dated 2ist 
 April i654, 2 appointed several persons to take a daily account to the con- 
 stables within their several bounds, of the strangers resorting to, and resid- 
 ing within the burgh 
 
 Appoynts the persones underwritten to take account of [to] the constables designed 
 to them within their severall boundis of the strangers resorting to and residing within 
 
 this burgh The same day, forsameikle as thair has bein severall 
 
 acts orders and proclamatiouns emitted for taking of narrow notice search and tryell 
 of all maner of persones strangers resorting to this burgh, and for giveing up a perfyt 
 accompt of the samen daylie and ilk day to the baillies or such as they sould appoynt 
 for that effect, quhilk hitherto hes not been so effectuallie done as wes requisite, Thairfor 
 the provest baillies and counseil ordaines the haill nighbors within this burgh to give 
 up a perfect accompt daylie and ilk day to the constable within their boundis of all 
 maner of persones strangeris resorting to this burgh residing or lodging within the 
 samen, with thair designatiouns qualitie and condition of liveing, to the effect the con- 
 stables may report the samen to the baillies or such as are appoyntit to that effect. And 
 the samen accompt may be given up daylie and ilk day to the commander of the guaird, 
 under the paine of the loss of their libertie or farder censure at the will of the magis- 
 trait. And ordanis proclamatioun to pas throw this burgh be towk of drum that nane 
 pretend ignorance of the samen. 
 
 On 1 5th November 1654, as in the corresponding time of the previous 
 year, two persons were appointed to visit each of the four quarters of the 
 town, and to report as to the diligence of the constables in cleaning their 
 respective bounds, 3 and on the 24th of the same month,? constables were 
 elected for the year succeeding. 
 
 Annual elections of constables were made on i6th November i655, 5 iyth 
 December i656, 6 and nth December i65/. 7 The constables elected in 1657 
 seem, however, to have been very remiss in their duty, for on the 24th of 
 November i658, 8 the council agreed to unlaw 
 
 1 Nicoll's Diary, 123. * Ibid, xviii. 137. 7 Ibid. xix. 263. 
 
 2 Council Records, xviii. 90. Ibid, xviii. 234. 8 Ibid. xix. 347. 
 a Ibid, xviii. 134. B Ibid. xix. 176.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 123 
 
 The wholl present constables of this brugh in ten merks scots each persone for their 
 bypast neglect, being all of them fand guiltie of the breache of all or most pairt of their 
 dewtie in their office, and ordaines thaim to goe to prisone quhil the same be payed. 
 
 Two days afterwards the then present and old bailies were appointed to meet 
 at eight o'clock on the morning of the following day, and to convene the 
 constables before them, and take measures for having their injunctions put 
 into execution. 1 This severity may probably be accounted for by the fact 
 that the magistrates themselves had, in the previous year, been fined to the 
 amount in all of ^50 sterling "for not cleansing the streets." In their peti- 
 tion to the commissioners of justiciary for a remission of these fines, in April 
 1657, they alleged that they had "employed scavengers" with a view to give 
 the commissioners satisfaction. 2 
 
 About this time complaints were loud as to the manner in which soldiers 
 were quartered on the citizens, and many disorders took place in consequence. 
 The council having regard to these, resolved, on i7th December 1658, to com- 
 mit this duty to the constables, taking care that "able men" should be chosen 
 at the next ensuing election, to exercise the " office of constabularie and quar- 
 tering together." 3 Following up this resolution, the council, on 3<Dth March 
 i659, 4 taking into consideration the disorders which had arisen through the 
 neglect and evil government of those who had been elected constables, 
 " many whereof have esteimed it below them to exerce that office ; " and also 
 the great and many complaints made against the quartermasters for " their 
 partialitie and uthyr defects" in quartering soldiers, joined both these offices 
 in one man's person, and elected " the most able and qualified persones 
 for the saids places, to exerce the offices of constabularie and quartering of 
 soldiers." 
 
 On nth November 1659," the four bailies were appointed to take account 
 with " the constables of all the auld walls within their boundis, to the effect 
 some course may be taken with them, and to report." 
 
 At this time the bailies seem to have been in the habit, by turns, of making 
 a nightly inspection of the town, looking after the watch, seeing that the ports 
 were closed at the appointed hours, and taking charge of the keys, or sending 
 them to the house of the provost. 6 
 
 1 Council Records, xix. 348. - Chambers' Domestic Annals of Scotland, ii. 212. 
 
 3 Council Records, xx. 3. * Ibid. xx. 30. Ibid. xx. 82. 
 
 a Ibid. xx. 93, I4th December 1659.
 
 1 24 Sketch of tJie History of tlic 
 
 On 1 3th January 1660, an election of constables took place, 1 and the 
 English garrison having been removed, the duty of watching the city was 
 devolved on the " neighbours," not in companies under the command of the 
 officers of the Trained Bands, but according to the constables' bounds. By 
 an act, dated 24th August 1660, " twa constables bounds" were ordered "to 
 be warned to watche nightlie, and the kies of the portes to ly in Bailie Sutters 
 house for the vse of the constables and waitters upon the eccyse." 3 
 
 On 2 ist November i66o, 3 constables were again elected for the burgh, and 
 on the 23d of August 1661, their orders were ordained to be "mendit" and 
 reprinted as they were formerly in the king's time. Copies were also ap- 
 pointed to be delivered to the constables of Edinburgh, Leith, Canongate, 
 and Portsburgh, the treasurer to be at the charges thereof. 4 
 
 On the 8th of November 1661, Alexander Wardlaw, vintner was unlawed 
 ^20 Scots " for his disobedience and neglect of dewtie as a constable the 
 year of his office, sufficiently verified and proved," and he was ordained to 
 go to prison till the fine was paid. On the same day constables were 
 elected. 5 
 
 In the following year the nightly watch by the neighbours, under the com- 
 mand of their respective captains, was ordered to be resumed, and proclama- 
 tion was made on 25th July 1662, requiring the inhabitants to attend their 
 commanders, for mounting the guard nightly. 6 On loth October 1662, the 
 council, in consideration of the times " being a little broken," and of certain 
 attempts at housebreaking, ordained, " that in tyme comeing one of the 
 sixteen captanes with his companie watche the streitts of the toun and keip 
 the gairds." 7 
 
 Elections of constables were made on gth January 8 and i8th December 
 i663- 9 In the same year the society of captains of the trained bands received 
 a constitution from the town council. On an overture by Robert Baird for 
 himself and the other captains, the captains were authorised, on iyth June 
 1663, to meet together at such convenient times and places as they might 
 appoint for contriving and appointing things necessary and convenient for 
 securing decent order among themselves in their several companies, whatever 
 should be enacted by the major part present at every such meeting (nine 
 being always a quorum) being regarded as the conclusion and act of the 
 
 1 Council Records, xx. 101. * Ibid. xxi. 8. ' Ibid. xxi. 169. 
 
 '-' Ibid. xx. 175. ' Ibid. xxi. 51. " Ibid. xxii. 18. 
 
 3 Ibid. xx. 203. " Ibid. xxi. 143. : ' Ibid. xxii. 85.
 
 HigJi Constables of t lie City of Edinburgh. 125 
 
 whole. They were also empowered to exact penalties and fines from any of 
 their own number that should not observe the orders concluded at these 
 meetings, the greatest fines not to exceed los. sterling. The inferior officers 
 were also required to observe all such rules, and whatever orders might be 
 given by their respective captains. 1 At the same time the council appointed 
 Robert Mein, merchant, to be inquisitor of the rolls, taking him bound to pay 
 into the guard box 6s. Scots for each one of the neighbours absent without 
 sufficient excuse, and for his reimbursement and salary he was empowered 
 to exact 1 8s. Scots from every such absentee. On i5th July 1664, a com- 
 mittee was appointed to meet anent the best way of keeping and paying a 
 constant guard of twenty or thirty men for the preservation of the peace 
 during the night. 2 
 
 On gth December i664, 3 constables were elected, and in the following year 
 the constables' watch was resumed. On i6th August i665, 4 the constables 
 were ordained " to keep their nightly watch as formerlie, and to begin on 
 Moonday next ;" and on 2d May following, 5 the bailies were appointed "to 
 cause mak twa dissone of bandit staffis to be delyvered to the constablis for 
 the use of the watches of the toun, and these to be markit on the iron and 
 timber with the castle mark." At this time the keeping of the watch by the 
 constables appears to have been strictly enforced, and a minute, of date 23d 
 May i666, 6 bears that " James Carrin constable " was " imprisoned for 
 neglect of his dewty upon the watch the night befoir, and liveing the same 
 be two o'clock in the morning, at which tyme Mr Standfields house in Bells 
 wynd wes broken, so weir the gaird hous." The same minute contains the 
 appointment of Robert Main, merchant, to be " generall watchmaster of the 
 constablis dureing the Counsells pleasure, and allowes to him the fynes of 
 absents for his paines." On I3th July i666, 7 the captains were appointed to 
 " begin to keep the watch this day eight dayes." 
 
 An annual election of constables was made on ist February 1667, 8 
 and on 3d August thereafter, the " counsell considering the great panis 
 
 1 Council Records, xxii. 48. Under the authority thus granted, the captains of the 
 trained bands formed themselves into a society, the records of which, going back to 
 1676, are still extant, and are preserved by the member of the town council who holds 
 for the time the office of " captain of orange colours." 
 
 2 Ibid. xxii. 90. 5 Ibid. xxiv. 29. s Ibid. xxiv. 5. 
 
 3 Ibid, xxiii. 58. lj Ibid. xxiv. 33. 
 1 Ibid, xxiii. 97. 7 Ibid. xxiv. 36.
 
 1 26 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 and trouble the constables are put to in the discharge of their offices, thinks 
 it reasonable that they be free of watching so long as the captains have 
 the guards, and discharge the captains to trouble them thereanent." 1 On 
 the 4th of October, however, the watch was appointed to be " kept by the 
 constables from and efter Sunday night." 3 On 22d April i668, 3 the coun- 
 cil, considering that the captains had been at great pains and trouble in 
 keeping of the guard this long time bypast, and that the town was in a 
 quiet and peaceable condition, appointed the guard to be kept nightly by 
 the constables. 
 
 Constables were elected on 27th March i668, 4 I4th April i66g, 5 4th May 
 1670," 2d June 16717 i8th October i672, 8 i6th January 1674," 28th April 
 i675, 10 i8th August 1676," 26th April i678, 12 I4th March i679, 13 loth March 
 i68o, 14 1 6th August i682 ; 15 5th January i683 16 , 22d February i684, 17 I2th May 
 i685, 18 9th February 1687," 8th June i688, 20 2ist February i69o, 21 gth January 22 
 
 1 Council Records, xxiv. 17. 6 Ibid. xxvi. 126. n Ibid, xxviii. 178. 
 
 2 Ibid. xxiv. 49. 7 Ibid, xxvii. 27. la Ibid. xxix. 60. 
 a Ibid. xxv. 87. 8 Ibid, xxvii. 106. 13 Ibid. xxix. 130. 
 * Ibid. xxiv. 81. u Ibid, xxvii. 183. 14 Ibid. xxix. 213. 
 6 Ibid. xxvi. 58. 10 Ibid, xxviii. 62. 
 
 11 Ibid. xxx. 137. No record of this election appears on the day on which it was 
 made, but two days afterwards bailies Kennedy and Prince reported ' ' that ther is 
 sextein or seventein of the constables that wes the last councill day named to be con- 
 stables that refuses to accept, in respect they alledge they have been so long continewed 
 in office formerly, and becaus of ther refusal they had, conforme to the order of the 
 councell, imprisoned them till they accept of their respective offices, or pay ane unlaw 
 of ane hundred pounds, and delyver up ther burges tickets to be cancelled." The 
 council approved of the bailies' report, and appointed " the said constables and each of 
 them to remane in prison till they accept of ther offices, and in caice they refuse, that 
 the constables so refusing shall pay the said unlaw of ane hundred pounds and forfault 
 thir liberty of the good toun." It does not appear how this dispute ended. 
 
 13 Council Records, xxx. 164. 17 Ibid. xxx. 294. 1S Ibid. xxxi. 172. 
 
 13 Ibid, xxxii. 87, 88. 
 
 20 Ibid, xxxii. 213. On igth July 1689, a constable was elected to supply the place 
 of one Alexander Bernard, who had been deposed from the exercise of his office, "in 
 respect of a great ryot committed be him in breaking up the door of the relict of 
 Dauid Pringle, chirurgeon, her house, and robing and away taking from her five brasse 
 candlesticks and several oyther things" [Ibid, xxxiii. 25]. 
 
 21 Ibid, xxxiii. 98. 22 Ibid, xxxiii. 2 1 6.
 
 HigJi Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 127 
 
 and i8th and 3oth December I69I, 1 nth April i694, a I4th February 
 8th April iSgS, 4 I2th May 1699,' loth April 1700, and 22d November i/oo. 7 
 During all this time they were entrusted with important duties connected 
 with the watching and cleaning arrangements of the city ; and to these, in 
 their order, reference will now be made somewhat in detail. 
 
 On 28th May i669, 8 the bailies were appointed to consider whether it is 
 fitter to continue the captains' guard, or to appoint that of the constables'. Their 
 report is not given, but the former practice seems to have been adhered to, 
 the watch being kept by the town'-s companies under the command of their 
 respective captains, 9 relieved occasionally by a guard of the neighbours 
 under the charge of the constables. 10 Obviously, however, the irksome duty 
 of watching was performed by the citizens in a very unsatisfactory manner, 
 and the records of the council contain various orders intended to provide a 
 remedy. Thus, an act dated ist December 1669," setting forth that the 
 neglect of the citizens to keep guard, or the employment by them of hirelings 
 to do so, had led to the breaking open of shops and houses and the disquietude 
 of the city, ordained all the neighbours, by themselves or by their actual ser- 
 vants, to attend their respective captain's guard in future, and punctually to 
 watch during the whole time appointed to them, under the penalty of ^3 Scots, 
 and farther punishment at the discretion of the council. Another act, dated 24th 
 November i6j6, 12 alluding to the practice of the citizens appointed to attend the 
 guard, absenting themselves from that duty without even providing substi- 
 tutes, ordained that whenever the guard should not turn out in sufficient force 
 to protect the city, the captain on duty should be held responsible for the 
 fines of the absentees, reserving his relief against them. And on 2/th 
 December i6y6, 13 the council are found recommending the bailies to enforce 
 the act rigidly against the captains of the various companies. Still the 
 neglect continued, and on gth February 1677," the council renewed their 
 
 1 Council Records, xxxiii. 325, 327. * Ibid, xxxvi. 71. 7 Ibid, xxxvi. 683, 686. 
 
 2 Ibid, xxxiv. 313. 5 Ibid, xxxvi. 291. 8 Ibid. xxvi. 28. 
 
 3 Ibid. xxxv. 237. B Ibid, xxxvi. 506. 
 
 9 Ibid. xxvi. 1 1 6, 2d March 1670; Ibid, xxvii. 6, 1 5th February 1671 ; Ibid, xxvii. 79, 
 2ist June 1672 ; Ibid, xxviii. 165, 2ist June 1676 ; Ibid, xxviii. 248, i8th May 1677. 
 
 10 Ibid. xxvi. 81, 4th August 1669 ; Ibid. xxvi. 116, 2d March 1670 ; Ibid. xxvi. 169, 
 3Oth November 1670; Ibid, xxvii. 21, 2lst April 1671 ; Ibid, xxviii. 150, 7th April 
 1676. 
 
 n Ibid. xxvi. 101. 12 Ibid, xxviii. 204. 13 Ibid, xxviii. 210. '* Ibid, xxviii. 224.
 
 1 28 Sketch of the History of tfie 
 
 act of I7th June 1663, and appointed Robert Johnston, the town's major, to 
 be inquisitor of the watch rolls, taking him bound to pay into the guard box 
 6s. Scots for each absentee, from whom he was entitled to exact i8s. Scots 
 for his own relief and payment. 1 But this expedient also failed to secure the 
 proper watching of the city, which was so ill performed that the privy council 
 found it necessary to interfere, in January 1678, and to intimate to the lord 
 provost, who was called before them, that the watch must in future be kept by 
 the militia of the city. His lordship, however, succeeded in inducing them to 
 allow the watch to be kept by the trained bands, for whose care and vigilance 
 he engaged for himself the magistrates and council. 3 Fourteen of the sixteen 
 town's companies were thereafter, on 23d January, appointed to guard the town 
 nightly by turns, and the remaining two were ordered to join with the Canon- 
 gate and Potterrow in watching the Abbey. 3 Any improvement which this 
 arrangement may have effected was evidently of short duration, for, on I3th 
 March 1679, the council are found passing the following act : 4 
 
 " The which day the lord provost baillies councill and deacons of crafts ordinar and 
 extraordinar and the nighbours abovementioned being conveined to the speciall effect 
 vnderwritten, it wes represented by the lord provost to them that the lords of his 
 majesties privie councill does greatly complane that the toun guairds are soe ill keept 
 that ther is noe suitable strenth or couradge to resist any comotion which may happen 
 within the City, as they have frequently found when any stirr or vproar hapned, and 
 that if they will not vndertake to keep a strong and constant guaird for securing the 
 peace of the place ther lordships will be necessitat to make vse of his maiesties forces 
 for that effect, and to quarter them within the City ; and lykwayes represented to them 
 that it wes the oppinion of ther lordships that noe les number of men could keep a 
 sufficient guaird then eight scoir besyd officeris whom they ought to mentaine. The 
 which affair being fullie debaited by the councill with consent of the nighboures, con- 
 veined within the old church, and they in consideration that ther is much truth in the 
 forsaid representation, and that to ther owne experience notwithstanding of all the strick 
 proclamations for keeping the guaird and often poynding of the nighboures when 
 absent by the captanes yet all these method hes proven hitherto very vneffectuall, and 
 that albeit a considerable number of the nighboures doe munt the guaird, yet within 
 a feu houres there is scarce any to be seen, swa that ther munting is but a formell shew 
 
 1 The appointment of an inquisitor at this time was made at the request of the society 
 of captains, whose minute of 5th February 1677 refers " to the great trouble that they 
 are att by poynding of the neighbours for not mounting of the gaird." [Minute Book 
 of Society of Captains, i. 3]. 
 
 2 Council Records, xxix. 39. 3 Ibid. xxix. 41. * Ibid. xxix. 129.
 
 High Constables of tJte City of Edinburgh. 1 29 
 
 > 
 
 without leaving any visible force to make resistance in caice of accidentall occasions : As 
 lykwayes considering that the inhabitants whoe are obleidged to guaird and watch the 
 City are necessarlie imployed in ther lawfull callings during the day tyme, wherby they 
 becom wearie and vnfitt to watch in the night tyme, which is the vswall tyme of any 
 comotion within the City, besyds the mispending of ther tyme and spending of ther 
 money when vpon the watch. Vpon these and other important considerations, and fear- 
 ing least shouldiers should be quartered within the toun, which at the long run will 
 vndoubtedly follow in caice they have not sufficient strenth of themselves to preserve 
 the peace and tranquility of the place, therefor they condescended and aggried that 
 such a number of men should be raised and officers choysen and mentained vpon 
 dayly pay as the magistrals and councill from tyme to tyme should think sufficient and 
 requisit for preserving the peace and quyet of the place, with full power to them, for 
 defraying the charges and expensis in mentaining the shouldiers when raised, to take 
 such sober and impartiall wayes for laying the saids charges vpon the nighbours, and 
 that in such a maner and method as the magistrals and councill of the said burgh shall 
 from tyme to tyme judge fit and expedient ; whervnto they all promeise acquiescence 
 obedience and payment of ther proportions accordingly as they shall be stented. " 
 
 On the 26th of March thereafter, a committee was appointed to prepare, with 
 the assistance of the captains and constables, &c., a list of those liable and able 
 to contribute to the support of the guard ; 1 but on 4th April the bailies were 
 appointed to convene the neighbours in their respective quarters, and ascer- 
 tain what they would voluntarily subscribe towards this object, the number 
 of men to be levied being fixed at two hundred. 2 Meanwhile the council, on 
 26th April, authorised twenty men to be engaged at a daily wage of 6s. Scots, 
 to attend the guard during the day, from 5 A.M. till 10 P.M., under the com- 
 mand of the captain of the guard, leaving the nightly watch to be kept by the 
 captains' companies as formerly. 3 Subsequently, on I7th October 1679,* the 
 council, for freeing the neighbours of watching except on extraordinary occa- 
 sions, ordered twenty additional men to be levied to take their turn with 
 those formerly employed in the watching of the town, by night as well as by 
 
 1 Council Records, xxix. 133. " Ibid. xxix. 136. 
 
 8 Ibid. xxix. 142. The practice previous to this time seems to have been for the 
 neighbours to mount guard at four or six o'clock in the afternoon ; but by a minute of 
 the captains, dated 4th November 1678, the hour was changed to one o'clock [Minute 
 Book, i. 6]. On 3Oth July 1683, the guard was ordered to be mounted at seven, in 
 consideration of the great trouble it was to the neighbours to do so at one [Ibid i. 13]. 
 On 6th October 1684, again, one o'clock was fixed on as the most convenient hour in 
 winter [Ibid. i. 16]. * Council Records, xxix. 175. 
 
 Q
 
 130 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 day. Whether these men were levied does not appear, though it rather 
 seems they were not, for on 5th May 1680, an act of council ordained all 
 persons liable in watching, except magistrates and councillors, to attend the 
 guard, under penalty of .10, to be exacted without favour; 1 and on 26th 
 May 1680, the treasurer was authorised to furnish coats for only "the twenty 
 men under the designation of Gray cots," that guard the town. 2 On 24th 
 September 1681, again, 3 an act appointed the guard, which during the sitting 
 of Parliament had been kept by two companies, to be kept by one company 
 only after the rising of Parliament. The difficulty of getting the neighbours 
 to turn out for guard during the day still continued, however, and a minute 
 of the -captains, dated 7th September 1681, referring to that difficulty, 
 
 " appointed Capt. Sympson to have in readiness against the first occasion twelve men 
 in good attyre to wait on the gaird, in the day tyme or in the night tyme, att the plea- 
 sure of the captains, att the expence of the neighbours who shall be absent themselves 
 from mounting or dismounting or watching night or day, excepting onlie those who 
 voluntarily give ther sixpence to be free of watching." 4 
 
 On 1 2th May 1682," the twenty men of the town's guard called " Greycoats" 
 were disbanded, and on the following day the council resolved to levy a com- 
 pany of one hundred and eight soldiers, with a captain, lieutenant, ensign, 
 three sergeants, and three drummers, as a constant guard. It subsequently 
 appears that this resolution was come to in conformity with the minute of 
 1 3th March i6y9, e already referred to. Fountainhall and Maitland both 
 remark that, though ostensibly adopted for the safety of the town, the measure 
 was really passed at the instigation of the Duke of York (then royal com- 
 missioner to the Scottish Parliament, and afterwards James II.), in order to 
 promote his own views. 7 It must be admitted, however, that the unsatisfac- 
 tory way in which the city was watched at the time afforded abundant excuse 
 for the resolution. 8 On the 22d of the same month, an application was made 
 to the Privy Council for a commission to put the act in force, and this was 
 granted by Charles II. on I5th June i682. 9 On the ist of August in the same 
 
 1 Council Records, xxix. 227. 8 Ibid. xxx. 71. * Council Records, xxx. 121. 
 
 2 Ibid. xxix. 230. * Minute Book, i. 7. " Ibid. xxx. 131. 
 
 7 Fountainhall's Historical Notices of Scotch Affairs, i. 354, 357. History of Edin- 
 burgh, p. 286. Chambers's Domestic Annals of Scotland, ii. 438. 
 
 8 See also Act of Council, 24th May 1682, Council Records, xxx. 123 ; enforced 
 against two captains, 3ist May 1682, ibid. xxx. 124. 
 
 9 Ibid. xxx. 126. Engrossed in Maitland's History of Edinburgh, p. 287.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 131 
 
 year, His Majesty approved of an act of council dated I2th July I682, 1 
 setting forth the manner in which it was proposed to levy from the citizens 
 the funds required for the support of the company, 2 and by a letter to the 
 lord provost, magistrates, clerk, and council, dated iyth September i68a, 3 
 he acknowledged their good service in the matter. 
 
 In the preparation and adjustment of the assessment rolls for the support 
 of this company, the constables, along with the captains of the town's com- 
 panies, rendered important assistance, and the constables were further charged 
 with the troublesome duty of collecting the tax. Proclamation was made 
 requiring the whole inhabitants specified in these rolls to pay to the consta- 
 bles within their respective bounds a month's watch silver, from and after 
 24th August, when the company entered upon duty, and monthly thereafter. 
 And on ist September 1682,* an act was passed, which, "to the effect the 
 constables may attend carefully vpon thair duty on receiving the said watch 
 money," discharged them 
 
 ' ' from goeing furth of this burgh, vnles they lay doun some solid way of payment, in 
 ther absence, of the proportions of watch money payable by the inhabitants within ther 
 respective bounds," 
 
 under pain of poinding to the double of the value of the watch money in their 
 list. The collection was subsequently appointed to be made weekly, and the 
 following extract from the council minute of I2th July shews with what 
 nonchalance this additional labour was laid on the constables : 
 "Becaus the saids soumes are to be payed weekly, in respect the souldiers are to 
 receave ther pay weekly, and seing it will be almost impossible for one or two collec- 
 tors to receave the saids soumes weekly from the inhabitants, being soe numerous and 
 the soumes soe small, the expenses in collecting the same weekly wold exhaust a 
 great pairt of the wholl ; and the toune councell being resolved to take all the frugall 
 waves imaginable, both that the pay may be maid effectuall to the souldieris and that 
 the inhabitants may be eased alse much possible, therefore the.y ordaine the persons 
 lyable in payment of the saidis soumes to make payment of ther respective proportions 
 to such persons whom the toun councell shall heirefter appoynt to be constables within 
 the toune, or to be leaders, from whom the souldieris shall imediatly receave their pay. "* 
 
 1 Council Records, xxx. 131. 
 
 z Ibid. xxx. 136. See letter engrossed in Maitland's History of Edinburgh, p. 288. 
 
 8 Ibid. xxx. 144 ; Maitland's History of Edinburgh, p. 288. * Ibid. xxx. 141. 
 
 5 Ibid. xxx. 131. Subsequently a person was commissioned by the magistrates and 
 council to receive the moneys collected by the constables. [Ibid. xxx. 142, 6th Sep- 
 tember 1682. Ibid. xxx. 309, 2d April 1684.]
 
 132 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 On the 1 6th of August, 1 the constables were ordained to collect this watch 
 money " every four weeks togither by advance," and on the 1st of September, 
 a proclamation was issued appointing the payments to commence as from 
 the 24th of August, when the guard entered upon duty. 2 The expense of 
 maintaining this guard soon became the subject of much complaint, and on 
 the application of the council, the king, by letter to the privy council, dated 
 yth May i688, 3 authorised it to be reduced from one hundred and eight to 
 fifty soldiers, besides officers. The reduction thus authorised was ordered 
 in October i688, 4 and is stated to have effected a saving to the city of .6000 
 Scots yearly. Thereafter the train bands were appointed to watch the town, 
 and the minute book of the society of captains contains detailed orders and 
 regulations, of date I5th November 1688, as to the mode in which this was to 
 to be done. 5 After the revolution, by an act dated i6th April 1689, which 
 bears to have been passed on the application of the town council, 6 the 
 estates of the kingdom authorised the company to be disbanded. 7 Recourse 
 was then had to the old practice of watching and warding, but only for a 
 few weeks, for on the ist of June the council resolved to raise a company of 
 one hundred and twenty men, including officers (the lord provost being the 
 captain), for the guarding of the town, 8 and on 2d August i68g, 9 payment of 
 thirty-six days' pay was ordered to be made to the " new company" for their 
 services prior to the ist of the month when they began duty. The levying of 
 this company was approved by the act of parliament 1690, c. 65 ; 10 and the 
 magistrates and council were authorised to continue a company of trained 
 and experienced soldiers within the town, not exceeding one hundred and 
 twenty-six in all, including officers, and to assess, for their maintenance, 
 
 1 Council Records, xxx. 137. * Ibid. xxx. 141. 3 Ibid xxxii. 210. 
 
 * Ibid, xxxii. 233-239. 
 
 * Minute Book, i. 37. The guard was kept after this by the town's company and by 
 the trained bands, but the captains of the trained bands seem to have taken exception to 
 the town's company being invested with an authority co-ordinate with their own, and 
 petitioned the council, on 23d November 1688, to give them all the privileges of a 
 main guard [Minute Book, i. 41-44]. Their request was, however, refused [Ibid, 
 i. 44]. B Council Records, xxxiii. i. 
 
 7 Ibid, xxxiii. 5- Maitland's History of Edinburgh, p. 289. Acts of the Parlia- 
 ments of Scotland, ix. 47, 1689, c. 43. 
 
 8 Council Records, xxxiii. 14. ' Ibid, xxxiii. 30. 
 10 Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, ix. 202.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 133 
 
 all the inhabitants liable in watching and warding. 1 The maximum sum 
 leviable under this act was, however, fixed at ,15,000 Scots, and as this 
 amount proved insufficient to meet the expenses of the company at its 
 full strength, it was reduced to one hundred and two privates on 2ist 
 August i696. 2 Fifteen men were subsequently added, in consequence of the 
 threatened invasion from France ; but on the conclusion of the peace with 
 that country in 1698, it was again reduced to thirty-two men, with an officer 
 to command under the provost, called an "adjutant." 3 On the same day 4 
 the council appointed "Wm Neilsone, captane moderatour, to call for and 
 acquaint the respective capitans of the train bands to be in readiness to 
 guard the good toun nightly," after the following Tuesday, " conforme to their 
 ancient priviledges of watching and warding." The city guard thereafter 
 fluctuated in number till 1700, when it was augmented to ninty-nine men, 
 with two captain lieutenants. 5 By the I5th article of their orders, the officers 
 of this guard were required to receive " all persons committed by the magis- 
 trates, church treasurer, constables, and others, and detain them till examined 
 and discharged by a magistrate. 6 
 
 The duties of the constables in regard to the cleaning arrangements of the 
 city must next be referred to. 
 
 On 1 4th March 16557 all stablers and muckmen were required, by pro- 
 clamation, to remove their middings from the burgh within forty-eight hours, 
 under certification that, if they failed, the council would employ " country 
 horses to remove the same upon their charges, besides punishment of their 
 persons at the will of the magistrate." This was followed, five weeks after- 
 wards, by the appointment of a committee to meet "the neighbours fer- 
 
 1 Contrary to the former practice, the constables seem to have been subjected in this 
 assessment for the year to July 1690. But in the following December, the " Moderator 
 constable and remanent constables of the good toun," petitioned the council to be re- 
 lieved in future. The council thereupon "exeemed" the petitioners, and declared 
 them to be " free of paying any watch money during the tyme of thair office, provyding 
 the said constables collect and uplift the haill watch monie, if the council shall think 
 fitt to employ them, and obleidge themselves conjunctlie and seaverallie for paying 
 what shall be collected, and find sufficient caution for thair respective intromissiones" 
 [Council Records, xxxiii. 211]. 
 
 2 Council Records, xxxv. 278. The cost of this force, including clothing, was 
 ,302, 8s. per week, or ^14,515, 4s. scots per annum. 
 
 8 Ibid, xxxvi. 54, 5th March 1698. * Ibid. 5 Ibid, xxxvi. 564, 28th June 1700. 
 6 Ibid, xxxviii. 65. Maitland's History of Edinburgh, p. 290. 7 Ibid, xviii. 162.
 
 1 34 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 mourers in and about the town anent the removing of the muck furth of the 
 brugh, and to lay down a constant way how it may be kept clean for time to 
 come." ' And on 5th September, an act was passed in which, after reference 
 to the non-compliance by the citizens with former proclamations relative to 
 the cleansing of the town, and the resolution of the council to take a solid 
 course for having the town kept clean in time to come, all middings were 
 ordered to be removed previous to the 2Oth of September, under pain of ^10 of 
 penalty in case of failure. 2 Two days later, an arrangement was formally sanc- 
 tioned by the council, under which Alexander Steill and four others undertook, 
 each under a penalty of ^5 scots per day, to remove to certain places to b'e 
 fixed by the council outwith the ports, and thence to a greater distance with all 
 convenient speed, all middings and the whole fulzie to be collected by them ; 
 to clean the whole streets and closes daily till ist October 1656 ; and to pro- 
 vide such number of men and horses, close carts, sleds, muck creels, and 
 other furnishings as might be necessary. On the other hand, they were to be 
 entitled to the whole fulzie so removed, and to a payment, towards the first 
 expenses of the undertaking, of ^1200 Scots, which the council resolved to 
 raise by an assessment on the inhabitants. 3 This assessment seems to have 
 been forthwith levied, for Nicoll, writing in October 1655, remarks that " thair 
 wes ane new cess imposit upon the inhabitants of Edinburgh for bying of hors 
 and kairtes for carrying away and transporting of the filth, muck, and fulzie 
 out of the closses and calsey of Edinburgh, which much greived the pepill ; 
 and so much the moir," he adds, " becaus the pepill resavit no satisfactioun 
 for their money, but the calsey and closses continued moir and moir filthie, and 
 no paynes taken for cleyngin the streitts." 4 This dissatisfaction doubtless 
 arose from the failure of the contractors to implement their obligation. They 
 were accordingly required to refund the money paid to them, and a new con- 
 tract was entered into with a person of the name of Barrenger. 5 This arrange- 
 ment also appears not to have worked satisfactorily, for on 26th February 1656, a 
 committee was appointed to " take into consideration the office of- scavenger, 
 and to deal with fit persons for undertaking the samin, and to close the busi- 
 ness [as] conveniently as they may ;" 6 and again on I2th March 16567 Bailie 
 Jossie and John Milne were appointed "to lay down a way for clenzing of the 
 toun either be scaffengers or otherwayis by appointing a man in everie quarter 
 
 1 Council Records, xviii. 197, 22d August 1655. 
 
 2 Ibid, xviii. 201. 4 Nicoll's Diary, 168. 6 Ibid. xix. 96. 
 
 3 Ibid, xviii. 204. 5 Council Records, xviii. 219, 229, 233. 7 Ibid. xix. 102.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 135 
 
 of the toun, with power to them to settle the same the -best way they can and 
 to report." What followed on this remit does not appear. On the 5th of 
 December 1660, proclamation was ordered to be made against the laying or 
 throwing out of filth upon the streets by day or night under penalty of ^10 
 Scots, and punishment of the persons of the offenders ; and the constables 
 were ordered " to tak narrow notice of all such abuses, and to give information 
 thereof, that the samen may be punished accordinglie." 1 On 2Qth November 
 1 66 1, the order on stablers and others to remove their middings from the 
 streets and vennels was renewed, under penalty of ,10, the removal thereof 
 at the expense of the contraveners, and punishment of their persons. 8 This 
 order states that the magistrates and council " were to assay some solide 
 course of keeping of the streets cleane in tyme coming." But nothing seems 
 to have been done beyond issuing a proclamation against the keeping of swine, 
 or allowing them to go along the streets by day or night, under penalty of con- 
 fiscation, and punishment of the persons of the owners. 3 On a8th August 1 667, 
 an act of council was passed, which, after referring to the abuses committed 
 by several persons in laying down filth in the Parliament close, " the same 
 being a publict and patent place where all persons of qualitie resorts to 
 about their lawful employments, " contains a stringent order against defiling 
 that place, under penalties proportioned to the offence. 4 On loth August 
 1670, a new contract for cleaning the city was entered into with Robert 
 Leslie, younger, indweller in Edinburgh. 5 It narrates that the council 
 
 ' ' Taking to their consideratioun that pairtlie be reasoun of the cituation of this citie, 
 the streittness and narrowness of the streets closses and vennells thereof, and that the 
 inhabitants duelling one above another in one tenement of land, together with the 
 laissiness and nestiness of the induellors, hes occasioned and does at present occasioun 
 this citie to be exceedinglie dirtie and defyled with filtheness in all the pairts thereof, 
 which is both discreditable to the place amongst strangers, unpleasant to the beholders, 
 and unwholesome to the inhabitants, and altho their predicessors hed made severall 
 acts thereanent, and made several attempts for keeping clean the citie, yet the same 
 hes hitherto proven ineffectual, and the councill having now resolved to doe their 
 utmost endeavour for keeping this brugh clean and nett. hes agreid with the said 
 Robert Leslie, who being ane stranger in this place and knowen and skilful in the 
 said affair, gives the councill good hopes of his keiping the citie clean of filth to the 
 general satisfactioun of all the neighbours. " 
 
 1 Council Records, xx. 207. 8 Ibid, xxiii. 115, 25th October 1665. 
 
 * Ibid. xxi. 61. * Ibid. xxv. 38, 39. s Ibid. xxvi. 143, 144.
 
 136 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 Under this contract Leslie had right, for three years, to the whole fulzie of 
 the city, excluding Canongate, West Port, Potterrow, and Pleasance, and 
 he was empowered to remove and sell it for his own behoof, at prices not 
 exceeding those to be fixed by the council. On the other hand, he undertook 
 to sweep and keep clean the whole streets, closes, and vennels, with the 
 exceptions before referred to. For this service he was authorised to collect 
 from the inhabitants a voluntary yearly contribution (the council undertaking 
 to compel those to contribute who did not do so voluntarily), and also to 
 receive for his own behoof the fines of those who should defile the streets by 
 casting filth thereon. It still seems to have been the practice, however, for 
 brewers and others to keep swine in the city and suburbs, and to allow them 
 to prowl about the streets and closes. This was prohibited by an act dated 
 1 8th November 1670, which certified that all swine found at large there- 
 after should be confiscated for the use of the lockman, and the owners sub- 
 jected to a farther penalty of 10 Scots. 1 From some cause or another the 
 contract with Leslie also failed to secure the desired object. The neighbours, 
 and even the muckmen themselves, continued to lay down filth and middings 
 on the streets and closes in all quarters of the town, and on I3th December 
 1672, the council are found renewing their prohibition against throwing out 
 or laying filth on the streets and closes, and ordering the stablers and 
 muckmen to keep their middings in their closes. The penalties for the con- 
 travention of these orders were most severe, and were appointed to be paid 
 to the informers. 2 So matters seem to have remained till I4th November 
 1677, when the council, unable apparently to devise of themselves any feasible 
 scheme for cleaning the town of the prevailing filth, appointed the bailies, 
 dean of guild, and treasurer 
 
 ' ' to call before them the whole constables the morrow at eght hours in the morning, 
 and take their opinion upon the best expedient for making the whole streitts clean and 
 laying doun some effectual method for keeping the toun neat and clean in tyme coming." 3 
 
 As the result probably of this conference, the council, on the 23d of the same 
 month, ordered 
 
 "the whole muckmen to be daylie and hourly employed to cleange the streitts in the 
 respective constables bounds, and the council allowes to each of them threttie shillings 
 scots weeklie for their paines, and the t'ynes of the transgressors of the acts of council 
 anent the cleanging of the streitts. " 
 
 1 Council Records, xxvi. 167. * Ibid, xxvii. 51, 52. 3 Ibid. xxix. 24.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 137 
 
 Robert Johnston, the town's major, was appointed to uplift these fines, and 
 to oversee the muckmen " that none of them be negligent in their duty." 1 
 On the 1 3th of March 1678, a small committee was appointed to meet every 
 Friday after the council, for seeing that the acts regarding the cleaning of the 
 town were put to punctual execution ; 2 and this committee was appointed as 
 an annual committee on 8th October I6/9, 3 and I3th October i68o. 4 Even 
 this arrangement, however, did not secure the desired object, and on gth 
 February 1681, the council appointed a committee to meet with Bailie Fyfe, 
 and hear and report on his overture for keeping the town clean as to the 
 closes and Cowgate. This minute proceeds on the preamble that, notwith- 
 standing all the endeavours of the council to clean the town, nothing is made 
 [clean] but the High Street, the closes and Cowgate being still more dirty 
 than formerly. 3 Nothing seems to have followed on this remit, but on ist 
 February i682, 6 four horses and four men were hired to take away the muck, 
 and on 26th April i68a, 7 the scavengers were exempted from watching, that 
 their other public duties might not be interfered with. The annual cleaning 
 committee was reappointed on yth June 8 and 27th October i682. 9 The 
 former of these minutes empowered the committee to fix the price of the dung 
 to be sold to the farmers in the neighbourhood, and to see that the muckmen 
 did not exact a higher price than that so fixed ; the latter minute reiterated 
 what had become the frequent complaint, that " the most pairt of the wholl 
 streets and vennells of this citty are very nesty and filthie." Two years later, 
 the council, on the preamble that " the great occasione of the nestines of the 
 streits flowes from the interalls of slaughtered beasts cairied from the north 
 syde of the toun to the sowth syde thairof, and other places thairabout," 
 authorised any person that should see the saids entrails so carried, to seize 
 the same, and dispose thereof at their pleasure ; 10 and on the 28th of Novem- 
 ber in the same year, the council recommended the magistrates to visit the 
 streets, and especially the street of the Canongate, and to lay down some 
 effectual way for cleaning the same, " that they may be neat and clean before 
 his royal highness' arrival in the place." 11 In the beginning of 1685, a new 
 
 1 Council Records, xxix. 27. a Ibid. xxix. 51. 
 
 8 Ibid. xxix. 172. On I7th October 1679, the town was paying^2OO sterling yearly 
 to workmen for cleaning the streets [Ibib. xxix. 175]. 
 
 4 Ibid. xxix. 259. 7 Ibid. xxx. 119. 10 Ibid. xxxi. 74, 24th Sept. 1684. 
 
 5 Ibid. xxx. 9. 8 Ibid. xxx. 125. n Ibid. xxxi. 107. 
 
 6 Ibid. xxx. 103. "Ibid. xxx. 152.
 
 138 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 arrangement was attempted to be made, under which it was proposed that 
 the city should be cleaned by the heritors around the city, who were to receive 
 the fulzie for their pains ; and this arrangement was actually in operation for 
 a few months as regarded a portion of the city and Canongate, which the 
 tenant of Broughton undertook to clean. But it, as well as an arrangement 
 with two other persons to clean another district of the town for an annual 
 payment of ^120 sterling, fell through, 1 and on 23d October 1685, a lease of 
 the whole fulzie for seven years was entered into with Archibald Home, who 
 undertook to clean the town daily before eight o'clock in the morning, and to 
 provide a sufficient number of muckmen, carts, and horses, with slyps for 
 the purpose. The whole control of the muckmen was vested in Home, and 
 the council undertook to pay him ,500 quarterly, in advance, during his 
 lease. 2 Stringent prohibitions were at the same time issued against throw- 
 ing filth upon the streets from the windows, and also against laying filth on 
 the streets or closes on any week day, especially on Saturdays, between eight 
 A.M. and eight P.M. during the winter, and between eight A.M. and ten P.M. 
 in summer, " and from eight houris in the morneing that day [Saturday] till 
 Munday morneing they are to lay downe no muck, fulzie, excrements nor 
 ashes, which most be layed doun vpon the streits, in the places appoynted, 
 befor eight howrs in the morneing." Home was also empowered to remove 
 and sell for his own behoof the fulzie of all stablers and others lying on the 
 streets and public vennels, and the stablers and others were expressly pro- 
 hibited by an order, dated 4th December 1685, from interfering therewith, 
 under penalties which Home was authorised to exact. 3 Home seems, how- 
 ever, not to have been more successful with his contract, than his predecessors 
 had been with theirs, and on 2/th July 1686, the council are found reiterating 
 their resolution " to take some effectuall methods for cleanseing the cittie and 
 Cannogate, and whole wynds, and vennells, and closses within the same, and 
 for that end to enter in contract with some responsall persone or persones 
 that will undertake the cleanseing therof." 4 
 
 At this period the legislature interfered, and the act of parliament 1686, 
 c. 22," intituled, an " act for cleansing the streets of Edinburgh," was passed. 
 This act referred " to the many complaints of the nastiness of the streets, 
 
 1 Council Records, xxxi. 134, gth January; p. 137, 23d January; p. 142, I3th 
 February, p. 151, 4th March 1685. 
 
 ' Ibid. xxxi. 220, 221. 3 Ibid. xxxi. 240. * Ibid, xxxii. 17. 
 
 8 Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, viii. 595.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 139 
 
 wynds, closes, and other places of the city, which is the capital city of the 
 nation, where the chiefe judicatories recide, and to which his Majestie's leiges 
 must necessarily resort and attend ;" and ordained the magistrates "to lay 
 doun effectual ways for preserving the toun of Edinburgh, Canongate, and 
 suburbs thereof, from the nastiness of the streets, wynds, and closes, and 
 other places of the said burgh," under the pain of ^1000 Scots, without relief 
 out of the common good of the burgh, or by stenting the inhabitants. " For 
 the encouragement of the magistrates," it ordained that the lords of council 
 and session should receive from them or others all proposals which the 
 lords should judge rational to that effect ; and the lords were authorised, 
 with advice and consent of the magistrates, to impose such taxes upon all the 
 inhabitants, burgesses, and others within Edinburgh, Canongate, and suburbs 
 thereof, as they might find just and necessary for purging and cleansing the 
 city. In virtue of this act, the lords, after several meetings with the magis- 
 trates, by an act of sederunt dated 25th January 1687, imposed a stent of 
 ^500 sterling yearly, for the space of three years, upon all the inhabitants, 
 burgesses, and others within the city, Canongate, and suburbs thereof, includ- 
 ing the members of the College of Justice, who freely offered to bear their 
 proportion of the assessment. 1 This was done not before time, if the state- 
 ments in certain proposals for cleaning the city, drawn up in 1735, were not 
 grossly exaggerated. The dung, it is said in these proposals, was at this 
 time " lying on the streets of the city and suburbs like mountains, and roads 
 were cut through them to the closses or shops before whom [which] these 
 great heaps or middens lay." 2 On the Qth of February 1687, the council 
 recommended " the four baillies to take exact care to see their respective 
 bounds cleansed," and declared that " if they be remiss in performing their 
 dutie, they are to be lyable in payment of the penalty of 1000 merks Scots, 
 prescribed by the act of parliament toties quoties, reserving their relief off the 
 constables within their respective bounds." 3 On the 3oth of the following 
 month, the council concluded arrangements with Home and two cautioners 
 for cleaning the whole streets, vennels, and closes of the city and suburbs for 
 three years from the previous Candlemas. Under this contract, Home under- 
 took " to keep and maintain twentie closs carts, well pitched and tarred, with 
 ane cover of ane tarr saill over each of them, with two horses for each cairt at 
 
 1 Acts of Sederunt, edition 1740, i. 153. 
 
 * Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, iii. 174- 
 
 8 Council Records, xxxii. 88.
 
 140 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 least ;" to provide thirty muckmen and twenty carters or more if requisite ; to 
 conform to a variety of regulations for the effective cleaning of the town and 
 removal of the filth, under the penalty of^iooo Scots toties quoties; and to 
 relieve the magistrates of the penalties and certification prescribed by the 
 act of parliament. On the other hand, Home was entitled to the whole 
 fulzie collected, and to ^6000 Scots yearly, payable by quarterly instalments 
 in advance. 1 At the same time, the magistrates ordered a proclamation to 
 be issued, requiring every family within the city and suburbs to provide suffi- 
 cient vessels in their houses to contain their soil for at least forty-eight 
 hours ; and prohibiting the throwing of filth out of their doors or windows, 
 under the penalty of four shillings Scots to be paid by each family of the 
 tenement, and of 6 Scots to be paid by the person or family offender. This 
 proclamation contained a number of most stringent regulations for the sup- 
 pression of the prevailing practice of throwing filth on the streets, and, 
 amongst others, imposed the punishment of fine, the pillory, whipping by the 
 hands of the hangman, and banishment from the city, on those servants who 
 contravened its terms. It required the whole inhabitants to bring their filth 
 nightly to the close carts provided for its reception ; and for their better accom- 
 modation it ordained that every night, when it became dark, each family in- 
 habiting the undermost story of tenements, as well in vennels and closes as 
 in the High Street, should bring out lanthorns and candles therein, or other 
 lights, which should continue till eleven o'clock at night, and that the families 
 dwelling in the upper storeys of these tenements should contribute towards 
 the expense of the lanthorn and light under the penalties therein prescribed. 2 
 It also appointed the constables to exact the fines of transgressors within 
 their respective bounds. This was followed on 2Oth April 3 by an act in 
 which the council, referring to the act of parliament, the proceedings that 
 had followed upon it, and the above proclamation, enacted as follows : 
 
 "And seeing the saids fynes is to be exacted by the saids constables, and that ther- 
 for they are obliged to free the magistrats of the penalties and certifications contained 
 Jn the act of parliament, therfor the lord provost baillies and coiincell hereby 
 statutes and ordaines that the constables present and to come free and releive the 
 magistrats and ther successors in office of the penalties and certifications contained in 
 the said act of parliament, and for that effect appoints the saids constables to give 
 their obligements thairfor, reserving their relieff of their said obligements off the neigh- 
 bours who shall happen to transgress the said printed proclamation." 
 
 1 Council Records, xxxii. 99, 101. 2 Ibid, xxxii. 98, 100. 8 Ibid, xxxii. 107.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 141 
 
 Subsequently stent rolls were made up, according to which the inhabitants 
 were required to contribute to the tax for cleaning. 1 
 
 Anxiously though these arrangements appear to have been made, they do 
 not seem to have secured the desired object, for, under a remit to the ma- 
 gistrates to consider and report on some better regulations, they are found, 
 on 2d November i687, 2 recommending that no muckman should receive his 
 weekly wage without a certificate, from the constable of the bounds, that he 
 had done his duty ; that one muckman should be appointed to attend each 
 constable ; that an overseer of the whole muckmen should be appointed, 
 whose duty it should be to visit all the streets, closes, and vennels, and to 
 receive and carry out the orders which the moderator constable might from 
 time to time give him ; that the overseer should be empowered to imprison 
 muckmen who were negligent of their duty ; and that each constable should 
 perambulate his bounds every twenty-four hours, to discover the casting of 
 filth over the windows or shots, and the defilement of the closes or stairs and 
 turnpikes, with a view to the punishment of the offenders. 3 The energy thus 
 displayed by the authorities appears to have been attended for a time with 
 success, " in so far," says the author of the proposals for cleaning the city in 
 1735, already alluded to, "that the streets have never been in that state and 
 condition since." 4 Either, however, the improvement must have been of 
 short duration, or the judges must have been difficult to please, for Sir John 
 Lauder of Fountainhall records 5 that they were not satisfied with the dili- 
 gence of the magistrates. On their first session-day in January (i ith January) 
 1688, the lords, considering the account submitted to them by the magistrates 
 of their diligence in relation to the cleaning of the streets, &c., to be in no 
 ways satisfactory, ordered the magistrates to give in on the following day 
 " the names of those who were constables the last year, and lykewayes the 
 names of thesse who are constables this year," and granted warrant to macers 
 to " cite thesse who were constables the former year in one of the quarters of 
 
 1 Ibid, xxxii. 138. 2 Ibid, xxxii. 164. 
 
 3 It was a few weeks after this time that the council, considering how necessary it 
 was for the keeping of the town "neat and clean" that office-houses should be erected 
 in various parts of it, appointed deacon Sandilands to make as many as the magis- 
 trates thought needful, and that with all convenient speed [Ibid, xxxii. 181, 4th Janu- 
 ary 1688, see footnote anfea, p. 80]. 
 
 4 Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, iii. 174. 
 8 Historical Notices of Scottish Affairs, ii. 845.
 
 142 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 the toun, to compear before the lords on Tuesday next to answere for their 
 neglect in doeing their dewty incumbent to them, in order to their cleansing 
 of the toun of filth and neastiness, conform to the orders enjoyned, and to 
 hear and see such censures inflicted upon them for the same, as the lords shall 
 find just." The bailies of the former year were ordered to be cited to compear 
 before the lords on Friday, " to hear and see it found that they have incurred 
 the certification contained in the act of Parliament for not cleansing the 
 toun," &c. ; Archibald Home, the tacksman of fulzie, was also required to 
 appear the same day, " to answere for his not performing his obleisment in 
 the contract for cleaning of the toun ;" and intimation was appointed to be 
 made to the magistrates, that the lords " have it under their consideration to 
 order the magistrals [of] the former year to refound the imposition formerly 
 imposed and exacted from the inhabitants upon the account of cleansing of 
 the toun, in regard the same has not been effectually done." The lords at 
 the same time issued various orders in relation to the markets of the city. 
 Against all these proceedings, a representation was made for the municipal 
 authorities, to the effect that though by the act of 1686 the lords had the in- 
 spection of the cleaning of the streets referred to them, yet the sole power of 
 the markets, &c., resided in the magistrates, who being both sheriffs within 
 themselves and justices of the peace, and having the government and 
 policy of the burgh committed to them exclusively, by their charters of erec- 
 tion and others, were the sole judges of their constables and servants, 
 and had the only right to the fines arising from their transgression. It was 
 added that if the town and its magistrates malversed and were negligent, 
 they were accountable to the king and his privy council, but not to the 
 session. How the question thus raised was settled does not appear. Pro.- 
 bably the order of the lords, given at a time when Fountainhall is careful 
 to remark they had " litle else adoe," was intended to act merely as a spur 
 to the civic authorities, and that having produced the desired result, no 
 further action was taken upon it. Be that as it may, it cannot be doubted, 
 that the doctrine so spiritedly asserted by the magistrates was right and 
 constitutional. The order referred to did, however, stimulate the council, for 
 on the same day on which it was issued, they appointed a committee to 
 meet frequently till the ist of March, to see to the cleaning of the town. 1 
 On the 1 5th of August also, they appointed John Rutherford, vintner, to 
 oversee the muckmen. 2 
 
 1 Council Records, xxxii. 182. * Ibid, xxxii. 223.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. \ 43 
 
 The contract with Home seems to have been continued till the end of 1692,! 
 the council renewing from time to time their proclamations against the 
 casting forth of filth on the streets, which seem to have been even dirtier 
 on Sunday than on the other days of the week. 3 Economical considerations 
 then induced them, after advising with various persons commissioned by the 
 lords of session for that purpose, to resolve " to use all effectual means for 
 cleansing the city, .... in the most frugal and least burdensome maner 
 to the inhabitants possible," and to invite heritors and tenants desirous to 
 have the benefit of the dung and muck of the town, to undertake the cleaning 
 either of the whole town, or of certain parts or quarters of it. On ad Septem- 
 ber 1692, accordingly, contracts were entered into with various farmers, under 
 which they undertook, for three years after the Whitsunday preceding, to 
 clean the quarters of the town assigned to them, and to provide and pay a 
 number of muckmen or scavengers sufficient to watch the streets at pre- 
 scribed times, and to apprehend all contraveners of the orders against casting 
 filth on the streets. For their pains the contractors were appointed to receive 
 the fulzie and one-half of the fines of defaulters. The tacksman of the south- 
 east quarter was further appointed to receive 1200 merks Scots, the tacksman 
 of the north quarter ,600 Scots, and the tacksman of the south-east quarter 
 1400 merks Scots ; they were also to be supplied with carts in which to 
 collect and remove the fulzie to depots without the town. But they were 
 taken bound to relieve the magistrates of the fines and certifications con- 
 tained in the act of parliament. 3 Though these tacks were entered into 
 in September, it appears that they did not come into operation for some 
 time afterwards. 4 Complaints still continued to be made, however, that 
 the streets were not kept clean, and on 24th March 1693, William Carfrae 
 was appointed not only to collect the "muck money," as the assessment 
 for cleaning was termed, but to inspect and oversee both the tacksmen and 
 muckmen. To assist him in this supervision, he was authorised to employ 
 two persons, for whose pay he was allowed " the pay of two muckmen per 
 diem." 5 Two months later, a proclamation for securing the better cleansing 
 of the town was issued, in which the emptying of chaff beds on the streets 
 or vennels, and the throwing out of night soil upon Saturday nights or Sunday 
 mornings, were prohibited. 6 On I3th October 1693, a committee was 
 
 1 Council Records, xxxiii. 325 ; xxxiv. 81. 4 Ibid, xxxiv. 143. 
 9 Ibid, xxxiii. 301. 5 Ibid, xxxiv. 159. 
 
 8 Ibid, xxxiv. 83. 6 Ibid, xxxiv. 175, I2th May 1693.
 
 144 Sketch of the History of tJte 
 
 appointed " to consider the most effectual means for cleansing the streitts 
 and vennels of the citie," 1 and on ipth September 1694, the council, on the 
 report of a committee appointed to consider certain proposals submitted by 
 Carfrae, the collector of the muck money, who had also become tacksman of 
 the fulzie for the five years subsequent to Whitsunday 1695, resolved, tenta- 
 tively, to leave Carfrae to exercise his own discretion as to the means to be 
 employed by him. For his services, Carfrae was entitled to collect for his 
 own behoof an assessment at the rate " of 365. Scots on each ^100 according 
 to the annuity books." But there were ordered to be excepted from the assess- 
 ment, " all rents payed be the present constables, touns servants whose house 
 rents exceeds not ane hundred merks, and pensioners of charity, conform to 
 ane list thairof subscryved by the dean of gild, and house rents at and below 
 12 Scots." 2 On 24th May 1695, another proclamation was issued, in terms 
 somewhat similar to that in May 1693. It renewed the prohibition against 
 the casting out or depositing of filth so as that it might not be removed by 
 the muckmen. It declared the masters of families to be responsible for the 
 transgressions of their households, giving them relief against their servants who 
 should offend ; it appointed a person to collect the fines, one-half of which 
 was assigned to the discoverer, and the other half to the common charge ; 
 servants offending were declared liable to be pilloried for the second offence, 
 and whipped by the hangman and banished the city for the third offence ; 
 and stablers, cowfeeders, and others allowing their fulzie to lie on the' streets, 
 common closes, or any of the town's avenues, were subjected to penalties 
 besides forfeiture of the fulzie. 3 On nth October 1700, the council appointed 
 Henry Anderson, merchant burgess, to be " supervisor for cleaning the streets 
 from and after Candlemas following," at a salary of .29 Scots per quarter ; 
 and he was appointed to see that the filth of the city was laid down for 
 removal by servants and others at the prescribed times, and thereafter properly 
 removed. 4 
 
 It is thus abundantly obvious that, apart from the labours otherwise im- 
 posed on them by their orders and injunctions, the constables had onerous 
 and responsible duties to discharge in connection with the watching and 
 cleansing of the town. They were frequently required to relieve the trained 
 bands from their day and night watch, and to keep what was termed the 
 "constables guard;" they rendered material assistance in making up the 
 
 1 Council Records, xxxiv. 261. * Ibid. xxxv. 165, 166. 
 
 8 Ibid. xxxv. 69, 70. 4 Ibid. xxxv. 660.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 145 
 
 watch rolls, and in collecting the rates for the support of the hired guard when 
 it was in existence ; they were charged with the enforcement of the town's 
 regulations as to cleaning, with the supervision of the muckmen or scaven- 
 gers, with the reception and disposal of the complaints of the neighbours as 
 to the sanitary condition of the city, and for a time they were subjected to 
 the pecuniary responsibility of relieving the magistrates from the penalties 
 and certifications of the act of 1686. 
 
 In addition to all this, they were called on from time to time to perform a 
 variety of other duties, the nature and extent of which are sufficiently indi- 
 cated in the following extracts from the records of the council. 
 
 On ist November 1674.* "the councill, considereing that there is many 
 waist lands in the citie that thir many yeares bygone has been waist, and 
 to which the good toune may have right be vertew of the act of Parlia- 
 ment," called the moderator of the constables before them, and directed 
 him to require the whole constables to take an account of all the waste tene- 
 ments within their respective bounds, and to report the same to the council. 
 
 On I5th February i67i, 3 the council ordered a proclamation to be made, 
 commanding " all idle personis that cannot give ane accompt how they leive" 
 to remove from the city and suburbs, and appointed 
 
 " the constables in their respective boundis to tak ane exact accompt of the straingeris 
 and vther personis that Judges within the bounds, and present the list of them to the 
 magistrates, that they may pervse the same and tak such effectual course as the quyet 
 of the city be not disturbed." 
 
 On I4th March i679, 3 the council, in consideration of an act of the privy 
 council, dated the I2th of the same month, requiring the magistrates, inter 
 atia, to cause a list of the whole inhabitants in the city and suburbs to be 
 taken up, and nightly lists of all lodgers to be furnished by the bailies to the 
 captain of the guard, commanded and charged 
 
 " the wholl constables of the Citty, Cannogait, south and north Leith, ai\d wholl 
 suburbs of the good toun of Edinburgh, that immediatelie efter publication heirof they 
 take vp ane exact list of the haill inhabitantis, men and women, within ther respective 
 bounds, betwixt the age of sextie and sextein, and to delyver the same to the magis- 
 tratis ; and sicklyk they comand and charge the wholl inhabitantis within the citty that 
 doe at present keip lodgeris, or shall heirefter keip lodgeris, that nightly, befor eight 
 of the clock at night, they delyver vp the names and designations of ther respective 
 lodgearis to thair constable of the bounds wher they receid, that the constable delyver 
 
 1 Council Records, xxviii. 17. - Ibid, xxvii. 6. 3 Ibid. xxix. 130. 
 
 S
 
 1 46 Sketch of tlie History of tlie 
 
 the same to the baillie of the quarter immediatelie efter receipt thereof, under the 
 penalty of ane hundred merks for each persons name if the said lodgeris shall failzie 
 to give vp." 
 
 On 2d March 1696,* the bailies reported that they had 
 
 " appointed the constables to search for and bring in lists of all lodgers within their 
 respective bounds, and to intimat to the inhabitants that hereafter nightly they give in 
 lists to the guard ot thair lodgers, under the pain contained in the former acts there - 
 anent." 
 
 On 1 7th February 1692,* the constables were ordained, 
 
 ' ' to take up ane list of all loose and dissolut persones in their severall bounds, and to 
 report their diligence betwixt and the second Wednesday of March next, and the 
 officers of the town guard were ordered to concur with any elders deacones or consta- 
 bles that shall demand their assistance for seizeing of anie loose or dissolut persones." 
 
 And on I2th May 1699," the council, by the following act, imposed new and 
 onerous duties upon the constables in suppressing, or at all events in punish- 
 ing, the profanation of the Lord's day 
 
 "The council considering that by an act of the Town Councill, August the nynth 
 day Jm Vi c nyntie three yeirsJm pursuance of severall acts of Parliament against the 
 profanation of the Lords day, all persones are strictly prohibit to be found on the 
 streets standing or walking idlie on the Lords day, or to goe in company or vaig to 
 the Castelhill, publick yeards, or feilds, to goe to ale houses or taverns for eating and 
 drinking the tyme of sermon, or unseasonably or unnecessarly at any tyme the said 
 day ; and all keepers of taverns or ale houses are forbid to sell any meat or drink 
 but that which is necessary and seasonable ; and no water be brought in from the 
 weils except in single pints, under the paines contained in the said act ; and the 
 magistrals haveing, besyde the care taken by the sessions, ordained the constables 
 in their respective bounds to visit the same every Lords day and take speciall notice 
 of the transgressors of the said acts, and to (make) up lists of their names, to be present 
 every Munday morning heirafter before the magistrals who are to hold courts for that 
 effect ; Therefore the councill ordains intimation heirof to all persons who shall happen 
 to trangress the premisses they shall be prosecute but favours, conforme to the tenor 
 of the said acts in all poynts. " 
 
 This act, with the previous act of gth August 1693, referred to in it, indi- 
 cate" the commencement of a crusade (which extended over many years), not 
 onkc- 'against Sunday profanation and profane swearing, but against every 
 thing which, according to the strict construction of the times, was regarded 
 
 1 Council Records, xxxvi. 71. - Ibid, xxxiv. n. s Ibid, xxxvi. 291.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 147 
 
 as immoral or profane. Such legislation must not, however, be regarded as 
 an expression of narrow-minded notions peculiar to the municipal authorities 
 of Edinburgh. The acts of council above referred to, and all the subsequent 
 acts of that body intended to suppress immorality and profaneness, were 
 really nothing better nor worse than the acts of successive parliaments and 
 general assemblies on the same subject, and have their counterpart in the 
 contemporary municipal enactments of the larger burghs in Scotland. 1 
 
 On the night of Saturday the 3d of February 1700, a great fire, which broke 
 out at the north-eastern corner of the meal market, destroyed the whole of the 
 magnificent pile of buildings (excepting the treasury room), on the eastern and 
 southern side of the Parliament Close, with the Exchange. 8 Kincaid states 
 that two hundred families were computed to have been dislodged by this fire ; 3 
 but Duncan Forbes of Culloden (father of the president of the same name), 
 describing it in a letter to his brother, Colonel Forbes, three days after- 
 wards, says, " Ther are burnt by the easiest computation, betwixt 3 and 400 
 familys." 4 Probably the correct number of families dislodged had not been 
 ascertained when Forbes wrote, for on the 7th of February the town council 
 appointed the session of the old kirk x< to take up a list of the whole families 
 who have suffered by that terrible conflagration, to the effect that the council 
 may know what persons are liable to sustain their losses, and what not, that 
 some speedie remedie may be taken for their relief." By the same act, the 
 constables of the city, Canongate, Leith, West Port, Potterrow, and hail 
 suburbs, were appointed " to make a diligent search for all abstracted goods, 
 to the effect they may be secured for the right owners." 5 This act was 
 followed, on 24th April i7oo, 6 by another, in which the council, 
 
 " considering the great growth of immoralities of all sorts that is amongst us, and the 
 fearful rebukes of God by a dreadful fire in the Parliament Close, Kirkheugh, and 
 
 1 See on this subject Appendix No. VI. 
 
 a Maitland's History of Edinburgh, p. 112. Arnot's History of Edinburgh, p. 185. 
 Memoirs of Elisabeth West (1825), pp. 127130. Chambers 's Domestic Annals of 
 Scotland, iii. 225. 
 
 * Kincaid's History of Edinburgh, p. 82. 
 
 4 Culloden Papers, p. 27. It is curious, as indicating the remarkable progress of 
 Glasgow since that time, to find the following sentence in the letter referred to : "Its 
 said just now by Sir John Cochran and Jordan-hill that ther is more rent burnt in this 
 fyre then the whole city of Glasgow will amount to." 
 
 8 Council Records, xxxvi. 509. 6 Ibid, xxxvi. 519.
 
 148 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 Cowgate, which happened the third day of February last, and other tokens of wrath 
 lately come upon us since ; and moved with the zeal of God, and the tyes he hath laid 
 on us, and that we taken upon ourselves to appear for him in our stationes doe in the 
 Lords strength resolve to be more watchfull over our hearts and wayes then formerly, 
 and over the manners of the people under our care and government, and each of us in 
 our several capacities to reprove vice with due zeall and prudence, as we shall have 
 occasion, and to endeavour to promote the vigourous execution of these good laws 
 made for suppressing of vice and punishing of the vitious." 
 
 This resolution they appointed to be recorded and read at their meetings 
 four times every year, and the " moderators of the toun companies, and con- 
 stables, and maisters of the merchant societie" were recommended " to move 
 the making of the lyke resolution in their respective incorporations societies, 
 and record the same in their books, and report." The merchant company, 
 " finding themselves in duty bound to do likewise," adopted a resolution in 
 almost the same words on 2Qth May, 1 and there can be little doubt that a 
 similar course was followed by the constables, but unfortunately the minutes 
 of the society at that date have not been preserved. 2 
 
 On the 25th of December, in the same year, 3 it was represented to the 
 council by Bailie Duncan, that the constables were desirous to have certain 
 alterations made on their " orders and injunctions," and also to be provided 
 with convenient short batons for the pocket. The council approved of the 
 proposed alterations, the nature of which, however, does not appear, and 
 ordered the " orders and injunctions " as amended to be reprinted. At the 
 same time they appointed the constables, " out of their fines, to cause pro- 
 vyde the said short battones at the sight of the said Baillie Duncan." 
 
 1 Mr Mackie's Historical Notes as to the Merchant Company of Edinburgh, &c., 
 (1862), p. 49. 
 
 2 No trace of such a resolution having been passed at this time appears-hi the Minute 
 Book of the .Society of Captains of the Trained Bands. 
 
 8 Council Records, xxxvi. 707.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 1701-1800. 
 
 Orders for the internal regulation and discipline of the Society. Elections of Con- 
 stables. Legislation against Sunday profanation and immorality. Duties of the 
 Constables in enforcing that legislation, in attending at fires, in assisting revenue 
 officers, in taking up lists of persons liable to serve as jurymen and in the militia, 
 in attending magistrates on public occasions, in preserving the peace, in assisting 
 recruiting officers, in preparing parliamentary returns, &c. Donations by the 
 Society to charitable objects. "Instructions" to constables in 1728, 1750, and 
 1786. Dangers attending execution of office. Services of the Society connected 
 with the rebellion in 1745. Duties of Constables in relation to the watching and 
 cleaning arrangements of the city. Festive meetings, &c. 
 
 |T has been seen how largely the constables were mixed up with the 
 municipal administration of the city during the ninety years sub- 
 sequent to their institution in 1611. For more than fifty of these 
 years they have been found in the possession of an organisation 
 presided over by their moderator ; but no information has been 
 obtained as to the nature of that organisation, or as to the inner life, so to 
 speak, of the Society. The records of the city shew sufficiently what were 
 the multifarious public duties of the constable of the sixteenth century, and 
 enable his successors still to realise him in the discharge of some of these 
 duties, at the head of his watch, reprimanding a lazy scavenger or a care- 
 less householder or servant for contravening the town's regulations as to 
 filth, dropping into some house of doubtful reputation to note and report 
 the character and doings of its inmates, stopping in the streets or markets 
 to arrest some notorious beggar or infamous person, or to order some profane 
 swearer to the tolbooth or the jugs, inspecting and reporting on the waste 
 lands and ruinous tenements so common at that time, engaged in the obnoxi-
 
 1 50 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 ous task of making up the rolls of the neighbours, with a view to the imposition 
 of some new stent, or in the still more invidious task of collecting the tax. 
 But no information can be gathered from these records as to the internal 
 regulation of the society, when it met, or how it transacted its business. If 
 the proceedings of the body were recorded at all before 1700, the record has 
 perished. The minutes of the society, and these of the most meagre de- 
 scription, commence to run consecutively only from 1708, previous to which 
 date all that remains is a copy of " Orders to be observed by the constables," 
 having by way of addendum, and as of apparently later date, resolutions of 
 the society dated respectively 24th February, August, and 3d November 
 1701, and 22d February I7O3. 1 
 
 The first nine of these "orders" exhibit the constables as a well consti- 
 tuted body, requiring on the part of its members regularity and punctuality 
 of attendance at the meetings, 3 mutual support and co-operation, 3 attention 
 to duty, 4 the methodical conduct of business, 5 monthly meetings, 6 and 
 subordination to discipline/ In all probability these orders regulated the 
 internal arrangement and discipline of the society from its first institution. 
 Article 10, however, is apparently of later date than those which precede, 
 and extended to extraordinary meetings the regulations as to absentees 
 and seros (members late in their attendance) applicable to ordinary meetings. 
 Article 11 imposed fines on swearers at the meetings. Article 12 provided 
 for the regular observance by the society of the kindly custom of attending 
 the funerals of deceased constables, their wives or children. Article 13 
 defined the exemption of constables from watching and warding. Article 
 14 required each constable to have his baton in his hand while poinding. 
 Article 1 5 embodied the order as to the mode in which the constables were 
 to enforce the acts for the proper observance of the Lord's day. Article 16 
 
 1 Minute Book, i. 3-13. See Appendix No. VII. 
 
 The second page of the first volume of the society's minutes contains a memorandum 
 to the effect that it was bought by the society in 1725, and that a part of it was written 
 by James Gow, the clerk or secretary for that year. The minutes (which it will be 
 observed were appointed to be kept by article I7th of the society's orders) were 
 probably written on loose sheets previous to that time, and doubtless all that were 
 in the possession of the society in 1725 were transcribed by Mr Gow, who thus has 
 the merit of having taken the first step towards the preservation of the records of the 
 society in a connected series. 
 
 1 Articles i, 2, 3. * Article 5. 6 Article 8. 
 
 3 Article 4. * Articles 6, 7. 7 Article 9.
 
 High Constables of tJic City of Edinburgh. 1 5 i 
 
 prescribed the settlement of questions by a majority of votes, and gave the 
 moderator a casting vote in cases of equality; and article 17 required the 
 Society's proceedings to be minuted. 1 
 
 Constables were elected on 28th Novgmber I7oi, 3 and on gth December 
 1702.3 Those elected on the latter date were appointed to continue till ist 
 March 1704, and when they were sworn into office, they were privileged to 
 receive an exhortation from " Mr George Hamilton, minister of the New 
 Kirk, to be dilligent in their offices and in dilating those to the magistrates 
 who were guilty of immoralities." 4 
 
 Similar elections were made on 2ist January 1704^ i6th March 1705, and 
 22d March I7o6, 7 and on these occasions the magistrates were recommended 
 " to cause read over the instructiones and to administrate the oath to them 
 before one of the ministers of the citie." 8 
 
 Elections of constables were also made on nth April 1707, 9 28th April 
 I7o8, 10 25th May 1709," 24th November 1710 (for the years 1711 and I7I2), 13 
 2d January I7I3, 13 1st January I7H, 14 5th January I7i5, 15 4th January I7i6, 16 
 2d January I7I7, 17 8th January I7i8, 18 I4th January I7I9, 19 2Oth January 
 I720, 20 4th January I72I, 21 7th March I722, 23 I3th March I723, 23 i8th March 
 I724, 24 igth March 1725,^ 23d March I726, 86 i7th March I727, 27 and i8th 
 March I728. 28 The names of all the constables elected in 1707, and sub- 
 
 1 Previous to this time, and for many years afterwards, the society was merely an 
 annual body, the first act of which, after the members were sworn into office, was to 
 elect its office-bearers, and to adopt, either expressly or by implication, the acts and 
 regulations of its predecessors. 
 
 2 . Council Records, xxxvi. 942. 4 Ibid, xxxvii. 363. 6 Ibid, xxxviii. 259. 
 
 8 Ibid, xxxvii. 360. 8 Ibid, xxxvii. 178. 7 Ibid, xxxviii. 507. 
 
 8 At the very time that the services of the city clergy were thus in requisition to 
 exhort the constables to the faithful discharge of their duties, it is recorded, under 
 date 2d October 1706, that William Crawfurd, wright, having been convicted before 
 the magistrates of "a gross misbehaviour, was suspended from his office by the council, 
 and declared to be ever afterwards incapable of election " [Council Records, xxxviii. 659]. 
 
 9 Ibid, xxxviii. 764. 16 Ibid, xliii. 51. * Ibid. 1. 17. 
 
 10 Ibid, xxxix. 76. l7 Ibid. xliv. 41. 24 Ibid. 1. 237. 
 
 11 Ibid, xxxix. 359. " Ibid. xlv. 63. '" Ibid. 1. 462. 
 '-' Ibid, xxxix. 995. ln Ibid. xlvi. 118. " K Ibid. li. 104. 
 
 13 Ibid. xli. I. 20 Ibid, xlviii. 71. 27 Ibid. li. 301. 
 
 14 Ibid. xli. 315. 21 Ibid, xlviii. 331. 28 Ibid. li. 528. 
 
 15 Ibid. xlii. 2. * Ibid. xlix. 196.
 
 1 5 2 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 sequently, are duly recorded in the minute book of the society. In 1707, 
 the name of the moderator only is given, but in 1708 and subsequent years 
 the minutes of election of office-bearers are regularly entered. The office- 
 bearers consisted of the moderator, Jreasurer, and clerk, with the addition, in 
 1721, of the chaplain. In 1740 and 1741, again, a chaplain was elected. 1 The 
 subsequent elections to that office are shewn in the list of office-bearers. 3 
 
 It will be observed that all the "orders" to which reference has been 
 made, with the exception of Article 15, had reference to the arrangements 
 of the society within itself. The subsequent articles prescribed the manner 
 in which the constables were to exercise the powers with which they were 
 armed for the promotion of virtue, by detecting and punishing vice and all 
 those minor irregularities of conduct with which the authorities felt them- 
 selves called on to deal. Hitherto we have seen the constables mainly occu- 
 pied in securing the peace, or in looking after the cleanliness, of the city ; 
 but for fifty years hereafter a large proportion of their time and labour will 
 be found devoted to domiciliary visitation, and other means for restraining 
 the vice and immorality against which the legislation of that period, secular 
 as well as ecclesiastical, was most anxiously, but it appears not very success- 
 fully, directed. 
 
 To that legislation, then, so far as necessary to explain the action of the 
 constables under their " Orders and Injunctions," special reference must now 
 be made. 
 
 On 27th December 1700, the Town Council, taking to their serious con- 
 sideration the great increase and growth of cursing, swearing, and Sabbath- 
 breaking, and other gross immoralities in the city, notwithstanding their 
 several acts for suppressing these immoralities, prohibited and discharged 
 all persons from committing any of these offences, under the penalties therein 
 specified. 3 Five weeks later the act of parliament 1701, c. I2, 4 ratified, re- 
 newed, and revived all former laws and acts of parliament made against 
 drunkenness, sabbath-breaking, swearing, fornication, adultery, and all man- 
 ner of uncleanness, mocking and reproaching religion, and the exercise thereof, 
 
 1 So long as the office was held by a licentiate of the Church, it seems to have 
 been the practice to allow him an annual fee for his services. The meetings at that 
 time were always opened with prayer, and it was doubtless the duty of the chaplain 
 to perform this duty. 
 
 * Appendix No. I. 3 Council Records, xxxvi. 714. 
 
 4 Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, x. 279.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 153 
 
 and generally all other laws made against profaneness ; ordained ministers, 
 kirk-sessions, and heritors to act their parts faithfully in the premises ; and 
 appointed all persons who might be declared by the church to be guilty and 
 contumacious to be reported to the king, " as not fit to be employed or con- 
 tinued in any place of public trust, civil or military." Thereafter the council 
 passed the following series of acts against vice and immorality : An act 
 dated 28th February 1701, by which they ratified all their former acts against 
 Sabbath profanation and immorality ; prohibited all keepers of taverns, 
 alehouses, victual houses, or cellars from furnishing drink on the Lord's day 
 to any but strangers, or such as had not houses of their own in the place ; dis- 
 charged all persons from carrying through the streets from house to house 
 any kind of clothes, periwigs, shoes, or other apparel, and all barbers or others 
 from trimming or shaving any person in their own houses, shops, or else- 
 where on that day ; and prohibited all persons whatsoever from standing 
 idly on the streets, or walking in the fields or upon the Castlehill on that day. 1 
 An act dated I3th August 1701, by which they discharged all persons from 
 being in taverns, cellars, &c., after ten o'clock at night ; enjoined all retailers 
 of liquors to shut their places of business at the tolling of the ten hours bell ; 2 
 
 1 Council Records, xxxvi. 764. 
 
 " From very early times in Edinburgh, as in England under the Curfew Law, the 
 people were required to retire to their homes on the ringing of the common bell, at a 
 fixed hour at night. In England, the hour was eight o'clock ; but in Edinburgh, it was 
 sometimes nine and sometimes ten o'clock. The enforcement of this regulation doubt- 
 less served the purpose of a precaution against fire, by inducing every family to put out 
 fires and lights at an early hour ; but it also served what in Edinburgh was perhaps the 
 not less important object of preventing brawls on the streets at night, by compelling the 
 people to be within doors early. It was probably with a view to the latter object that 
 the act of James I. 1436, c. 8 [Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, ii. 24], enacted 
 that any man "fundyn in taivernys at wyne, aile, or beir, efter the straik of ix houris, 
 and the bell that salbe rongyn in the said burghe," shall be put " in the kings prisone.'' 
 And it was obviously for the same purpose that the acts of the Town Council and 
 Privy Council, to which reference has been made, were passed in 1584, 1594, and 
 1661. \Antea, pp. 23, 26, 28. See also acts of council dated 25th August 15*3- 
 Council Records, i. 4; 5th February 1556. Ibid. ii. 93 ; 24th November 1585. Ibid, 
 vii. 212; 4th November 1586. Ibid. viii. 54; iith November 1586. Ibid. viii. 56.] Be 
 that as it may, the records of the Town Council contain several acts fixing the hours at 
 which taverns, alehouses, and cookshops should be closed, and after which no person 
 was allowed, without incurring penalties, to eat or drink therein. Thus acts dated 7th 
 November 1589, and 29th October 1591, prescribed ten o'clock [Ibid. ix. 20, and ix. 
 
 T
 
 1 54 Sketch of the History of tJie 
 
 ordered the constables to be diligent in their duty of taking their turn through 
 the streets, and visiting suspected houses in the night time, and declared 
 their resolution to hold " two courts in the week, allenarly for cognoscing and 
 punishing of immoralities, such as cursing, swearing, drunkenness, breach of 
 the Lord's day," &c., and to give informers the third part of the fines as their 
 reward. 1 An act dated 4th December 1702, by which, after referring to 
 the great fire in Kirkheugh, in February 1 700 ; to another great conflagration 
 in the north side of the Lawnmarket, on 28th October 1701, when "several 
 men and women and children were consumed by the flames and lost by the 
 fall of ruinous walls ;" 2 and to a "tremenduous and terrible blowing up of 
 gunpowder in Leith upon the 3d of July last, wherein sundry persons were lost, 
 and wonderful ruins made in the place, they resolved to be not only more 
 watchful over their own hearts and ways than formerly, but to promote the 
 
 1 12] ; an act dated loth February 1608 prescribed nine o'clock in winter and ten o'clock 
 in summer [Ibid. xi. 246] ; an act dated 22d October 1603 reverted to the hour of 
 nine [Ibid. xi. 134]. It appears also from these records that the Council were 
 accustomed to subject the keepers of taverns and alehouses to various restrictions and 
 obligations. Thus by an act, dated 27th January 1567 [Ibid. iv. 214], they were 
 ordained to have their houses on the High Street, and not to tap or sell wine within 
 the closes, vennels, and back sides, under the penalty of confiscation of their goods. 
 Acts dated 4th November 1580, and 23d December 1584 [Ibid. vi. 92, Ibid. vii. 144], 
 ordained that no burgess should be allowed to have more than one tavern or booth, 
 under pain of losing his freedom for the third offence. Tapsters, baxters, taverners, 
 common cooks, and stablers, were, by an act dated 2d November 1586, ordered to 
 hang out lanterns before their houses from 5 till 9 o'clock, under pain of 8s. [Ibid, 
 viii. 54] ; while two subsequent acts, dated 1st November 1591, and gth November 
 1593 [Ibid. ix. 1 1 8, and ix. 228], required taverners to have lanterns in their stairs. 
 Their traffic on Sunday was also made the subject of frequent and minute legislation, 
 enforced by domiciliary visitation of the most arbitrary kind [See Appendix No. VI]. 
 All the acts of council above referred to, it will be observed, were passed previous to 
 the act of James VI. 1617, c. 20 [Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, iv. 548], which 
 " for the restraynt of the vyld and detestable vyce of drunkenes daylie increseing to the 
 heigh dishonour of God and gryit harme of the haill realme," enacted that "all per- 
 sounes laufullie convict of drunkines or of hanting of tavernis and ailhoussis efter ten 
 houres at nycht or ony tyme of the day except in tyme of travel or for ordinarie re- 
 freschment should be subjected to certain fines, and failing payment to imprisonment. " 
 This act was ratified by the acts 1661, c. 282 [Ibid. vii. 262], and 1672, c. 58 [Ibid, 
 viii. 99"), 1693., c. 64 [Ibid. "ix. 327], and 1696, c. 31 [Ibid. x. 65]. 
 
 1 Council Records, xxxvi. 862. 2 Ibid, xxxvii. 357.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. \ 5 5 
 
 vigourous execution of those good laws made for suppressing of vice and 
 punishing of the vitious." This act was appointed to be read every first 
 council day after Whitsunday and Martinmas, and recommended " the dea- 
 cons of crafts, captains commandant of the town companies, constables, and 
 masters of the merchant society, to move making of the like resolution in 
 their respective corporations and societies, and to record the same in their 
 books." 1 An act dated 5th April 1704, by which the council, "considering 
 that the frequenting of taverns, and remaining therein at unseasonable hours in 
 the night, doth not only corrupt the youth of this city, but hath pernicious in- 
 fluence upon debauching all ranks of persons resorting thereto," and that the 
 many good and excellent laws 
 
 "made for restraining of the said vice had not had the desired success, partly through 
 the obstinacy of the offenders, and partly through the not putting the laws and acts 
 already made to a vigourous execution, by which means vertue and piety are under a 
 great decay, and all manner of scandals and immoralities do daily abound, " 
 
 renewed the prohibition against drinking in taverns and public-houses after 
 ten o'clock at night, and commanded and charged 
 
 " all constables and others within their respective bounds to see the execution hereof, 
 as they will be answerable thereanent. And in like manner the captains of the toun 
 guard are commanded to cause the soldiers that nightly go the rounds after ten at 
 night, to observe if they find lights and companies drinking in taverns after the said 
 hour, and delate these houses and others, together with such persons as they find 
 drunk upon the streets, to the magistrates the next day, to the end that disorderly 
 houses and persons may be discovered and brought to condign punishment." * 
 
 And an act dated the I2th of the same month, passed against playing at 
 cards and dice, &c. This act on the preamble, 
 
 "that the playing at cards and dice in coffee houses, taverns, and other public or 
 common houses, is found to be the occasion of horrid cursing, swearing, quarrelling, 
 strife, contention, covetousness, tipling, loss of time, neglect of necessary business, and 
 many other inconveniences, which hath ruined the estates of many, and redacted them 
 and their families to poverty, " 
 
 and that these games were discharged by the act 1621, c. 14," prohibited 
 
 1 Council Records, xxxvii. 357. Similar resolutions were passed and recorded by 
 the society of captains of the trained bands on 4th December 1705 [Minute Book of 
 Captains, i. 79], but no reference is made to the subject in the minute book of the 
 constables. 
 
 3 Council Records, xxxvii. 772. " Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, iv. 613.
 
 156 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 all such play under a penalty of ^40 Scots, to be exacted from the keep- 
 ers of the said houses for the first fault, and the loss of their liberty for the 
 next. 
 
 "And for the more strict execution of the said act, the constables and others bearing 
 office and holding their places of the good toun, are hereby appointed to dilate such 
 as they know to contravene this act, under the pain of being liable for the fine them- 
 selves ; and the informer is to have one-half of the fine, and these but prejudice of ex- 
 acting the other fines contained in the said act of parliament, as persons shall be found 
 to transgress the same. " l 
 
 On 2d January I7o6, 2 the council, referring to their previous acts against 
 profanity and vice, which had not received such vigorous execution as was 
 to be wished, appointed all these acts, made since the Revolution, to be 
 printed, along with the proclamation of the privy council, dated 25th January 
 1698, containing an abbreviate of the acts of parliament against profaneness, 
 and an index " of the whole, shewing the penalties to be inflicted upon trans- 
 gressors." 3 Notwithstanding these acts and proclamations, however, and 
 the zealous efforts of the local authorities, civil and ecclesiastical, to enforce 
 them, immoralities continued to prevail to 'such an extent that, in 1708, 
 it was considered necessary to issue another royal proclamation on the 
 subject. 4 This proclamation, dated i8th August 1708, set forth the resolu- 
 tion of her majesty to discountenance and punish all manner of vice, 
 profaneness, and immorality, and required all judges and magistrates to 
 put the laws against immorality and vice to vigorous execution ; appointed 
 courts to be held once a month at least, for trying and punishing offences 
 under these acts ; ordained presbyteries, ministers, and kirk-sessions to 
 nominate fit persons to take notice of vice and immorality, and to delate and 
 prosecute transgressors ; and required all naval and military officers to 
 exemplify the virtues for the sake of those under them, and to see that the 
 latter duly submitted themselves to the discipline of the church. On 22d 
 June 1709, the council, referring to the proclamation of Queen Anne, enjoined 
 and appointed all whom it concerned " to do what is incumbent on them in 
 
 1 Council Records, xxxvii. 779. 2 Ibid, xxxviii. 456. 
 
 3 Acts of the Town Council of the City of Edinburgh, for suppressing of Vice and 
 Immorality, &c. Printed by George Mosman, Edinburgh, 1706. 
 
 4 Queen Anne's Pious Proclamation for encouragement of piety and virtue, &c. 
 Printed by the heirs and successors of Andrew Anderson, printer to Her Majesty. 
 Edinburgh. 1709. 5-12.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 157 
 
 their respective stations for putting a stop to the abounding immoralities of 
 this place," and appointed her majesty's proclamation, with the abbreviates 
 of the laws thereto subjoined, and various acts of parliament of the general 
 assembly, town council, and general sessions of the churches in Edinburgh, to 
 be printed, along with an index containing the penalties to be inflicted on trans- 
 gressors. 1 
 
 By an act dated 7th March 1711, the council revived their former acts of 
 9th August 1693 and 28th February 1701, relative to the observance of the 
 Sabbath, and certified that the transgressors of these acts should be pun- 
 ished conform to law. 2 Another act, of date i6th March in the same year, 
 appointed the council's act of 28th February 1701 to be read from all the 
 pulpits of the city and suburbs. 3 An act dated 6th May I7I9, 4 and another 
 act dated 24th May I72I, 5 passed on the application of the presbytery, in- 
 terposed the authority of the council to an act of the presbytery dated 2gth 
 April 1719 for the better observance of the Lord's day, and certified all 
 persons found standing on the High Street before, betwixt, or after sermons, 
 or taking their diversion by walking, or otherwise trangressing the act of the 
 presbytery, " that the elders, constables, private censures [censors], and 
 officers of this citie and suburbs will take up lists of all transgressors, and 
 
 1 Council Records, xxxix. 382. Among the acts of the kirk-sessions printed in 
 compliance with this order of council are, (i.) An act dated 7th June 1709, appointing 
 the ruling elders and deacons of each session to visit the families in their respective 
 bounds at least once every half-year, and to report to the several sessions twice a-year 
 at the times therein specified. This act contains specific instructions to be observed 
 by the elders or deacons in their visitations. (2. ) An act of the same date, for the ob- 
 servance of the Lord's day. This act required not only each session " to take their turn 
 in visiting the streets in time of publick worship on the Lord's day, as hath been the 
 laudable custom of this city ; but also every session is to take care of visiting their 
 own parishes, and suspected houses therein, at other convenient hours on the Lord's 
 clay, by an elder and deacon by turns, with a beadle and officers, and likewise when 
 the day is long that each session go with their beadles and officers through the streets 
 after sermons for the evills above mentioned, and reprove such as they find transgress- 
 ing, and when persons do not take with reproof, and do not refrain from such prac- 
 tices in time coming, that they be complained of to the session, in order to be censured, 
 and referred to the civil magistrate, to be punished according to the acts made there- 
 anent" [Queen's Pious Proclamation, pp. 71-73]. 
 
 - Council Records, xl. 44. 3 Ibid. xl. ST. ' Ibid. xlvi. 157. 
 
 "' Ibid, xlviii. 421. Amot's History of Edinburgh, p. 204.
 
 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 lay the same before the magistrates of their respective districts, to the effect 
 they may be punished." 
 
 While the higher authorities were thus engaged in a crusade against immo- 
 rality and the profanation of the Lord's day, it is not surprising to find that 
 the constables were similarly occupied. Upon them was laid to a large 
 extent the duty of enforcing the acts and proclamations referred to, and in 
 addition to their " Orders," various minutes of the society explain how they 
 did so. Thus their first minute, dated 24th February 1701, and forming 
 No. 1 8 of their " Orders," refers to the prevalence of cursing, swearing, and 
 other vices, especially in the public markets, and sets forth their unanimous 
 resolution " to go through the whole mercats four and four as they are classed, 
 each day of the week (except Munday) in order to punish transgressors, as 
 they shall see cause, according to law." * Their second minute, dated in 
 August 1701, and forming No. 19 of their "Orders," refers to the council's 
 act of 1 3th August 1701, and records their unanimous engagement to go 
 through their bounds two or three nights every week, by fours in company, 
 as they are classed, in order to suppress unseasonable drinking and cabal- 
 ling, and to delate to the magistrates such as are obstinate transgressors. 2 
 Another minute, dated 22d February 1703, and forming article 2ist of their 
 " Orders," 3 sets forth that, for " the more effectual suppressing of vice and 
 immorality, the four constables who go through the mercats weekly by turns 
 shall be obliged ... to go through the streets on the Lord's day in the 
 morning, as the first dyet of their week," and also to attend the immorality 
 court during the week, to see that the fines are exacted from transgressors. 
 A minute, dated 3d May I7o8, 4 appointed 
 
 " the first squad to goe through the streets and mercats this week, and to taverns and 
 cellars each Saturday and Sabbath night, and so each squade successively ; and the 
 squade that goes through the week is to advertise the next and so on. " 
 
 1 Minute Book, i. 9. In addition to the statutes on this subject already referred to 
 [antea, pp. 93-96], see ratification thereof by the acts 1661, c. 282 [Acts of the 
 Parliaments of Scotland, viL 262] ; and 1672, c. 58 [Ibid. viii. 99]. See also acts of 
 the General Assembly against profaneness, dated 1 6th April 1694, nth January 1697, 
 3Oth January 1699 [Acts of the General Assembly, pp. 241, 259, 280], and "The 
 Queen's pious proclamation for encouragement of piety and virtue," &c., with collection 
 of acts of the General Assembly, and town council and kirk-session of Edinburgh to 
 the same effect [Edinburgh, 1709], pp. 27-40. 
 
 z Minute Book, i. 10. 3 Ibid. i. 12. 4 Ibid. i. 20.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 159 
 
 The whole society were also appointed to 
 
 " mett in the Laigh Council house each. Lords day night at an half befor five o'cloak 
 
 precisely to goe in companys to search taverns cellars and other houses." 
 
 Again, on 25th September 1712,' the moderator having reported the desire 
 of the parochial societies for reformation of manners in the city, that some 
 one of the constables should be appointed to meet with and assist them at 
 their monthly corresponding meetings, the society approved thereof, and 
 " appointed their moderator to meet with them and others per vices, as they 
 happen to meet." On igth August 1725, the constables passed the following 
 resolution : 2 
 
 " Taking it to their serious consideration that their is a great many petty houses and 
 cellars doun closses and in the fore streets that keeps companys of people drinking in 
 the time of divine worship on the Lords Day, which sin is a meane to bring one the 
 just judgement of God upon this citie, and upon the lands wherein we live ; And there- 
 for to prevent this for the future the said constables has unanimously agreed that each 
 squad, their turn about, shall mee't at the head of Mary Kings close, or any other place, 
 after the ringing in of the bells, with two of the toun officers with them, and they to 
 goe two and two, one each side of the street, doun closses from the castle hill to the 
 Netherbow, including Cowgate [and] Grassmercat to search these bad houses, that 
 this great sin may be crub'd ; and resolves to put the good laws against this abominable 
 practice to a rigorous execution." 
 
 In the following year the constables are found prompting the magistrates 
 to exercise their authority for the suppression of stage plays. One Anthony 
 Alston, with a company of strollers, having " presumed to set up a stage " in 
 the city, the society, on 27th November 1727, petitioned the council " to 
 restrain and by all means extirpate the said stage," tending as it did " chiefly 
 to the debauching of the faith of this generation in their principles and 
 morals," and " condemned and strictly prohibited by the laws of God and 
 all Christian nations." 3 No trace of this petition, however, or of any action 
 following upon it, is to be found in the records of the council. 
 
 On 2oth April 1729^ the constables, for the more effectual suppression 
 of the apparently increasing profanation of the Sabbath, drinking and walking 
 idly on the streets in time of public worship, resolved that the 
 
 " same four of their number who shall be warned by their officer to go through the 
 streets [on] Sunday morning, the two of them in the forenoon and the other two in the 
 afternoon, shall, in time of public worship on that day go to all the publick houses in 
 
 1 Minute Book, i. 24. 2 Ibid. i. 60. 3 Ibid. i. 70, 71. 4 Ibid. i. 82.
 
 160 Sketch of tJie History of the 
 
 this citty, where they suspect people drinking, or otherwise abusing that day, in order 
 that all such houses may be discovered, and the persons so offending secured and 
 brought to condigne punishment," and they recommended to their "successors in 
 office the observance of the above rule in order that indecent practices on that day 
 may be effectually punished, and if possible prevented in time comeing in this citty." 
 
 The various fines imposed upon those who transgressed the laws against 
 Sunday profanation, vice, and immorality, were uplifted by the kirk treasurer, 
 who was charged rigorously with every fine not remitted or modified by the 
 magistrates or session, save in the case of persons unable to pay, and whom 
 he could instruct to have been given over to corporal punishment. 1 Necessarily 
 strict and stern in the discharge of his duty, this officer was a very formidable 
 individual, and the dislike with which he was regarded seems to have been 
 extended even to his " man or servant." 2 This dislike must have been all the 
 greater if, as is alleged by Bent, an English traveller who visited Edinburgh 
 in the early part of the seventeenth century, the treasurer practised a system 
 of hired espionage, so that people lay " at the mercy of villains who would 
 perhaps forswear themselves for sixpence." Bent's statement must, however, 
 be received with hesitation, not diminished by his farther surely exaggerated 
 assertion, that he had known the town guard in Edinburgh under arms for a 
 night, besetting a house into which two persons had been seen to enter. 3 
 
 In the discharge of the duties devolved upon them by the several acts 
 against Sabbath profanation and immorality, the constables, as might be 
 expected, were occasionally brought into trouble. Of this there is an illus- 
 tration in the case of George Young, a shopkeeper in the High Street, one of 
 their number. In the course of his peregrinations through the town on the 
 evening of Sunday the 24th of January 1703, "to see that the Lord's day and 
 laws made for the observance thereof were not violat," Young came to the 
 house of Marjory Thorn, vintner, a little before ten o'clock, and finding several 
 companies in different rooms, expostulated with the mistress, and threatened 
 to delate her to the magistrates. The threat was resented by one of the 
 guests, the eldest son of Lord Neil Campbell (a cousin of the Duke of Argyle), 
 who followed Young, and threatened to make him repent it. On the follow- 
 ing morning, Campbell went to Young's shop, an altercation ensued, Young 
 was. beaten, the guard were called in, and Campbell was made prisoner. 
 
 1 Acts of Council, 2d January 1702, and 5th January 1705; Council Records, 
 xxxvii. 39 ; xxxviii. 216. 
 
 2 Chambers's Domestic Annals of Scotland, iii. 344. 3 Bent's Letters, i. 194.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 1 6 1 
 
 Campbell immediately instituted proceedings against Young before the privy 
 council, which on the 9th of March resulted in a decision against Young, who 
 was found guilty of rioting, and ordered to pay 400 merks to Campbell for 
 expenses. 1 
 
 Reference has been made to the great fires in the Kirkheugh in February 
 iyoo, 2 and on the north side of the Lawnmarket, 'in October of the following 
 year. 3 These calamities, so serious in themselves, and happening so closely, 
 forced upon the magistrates the consideration of how they could best secure 
 order and protect property in such emergencies, and they resolved to request 
 the constables to attend on all such occasions, " to oversee and give needful 
 orders." This request having been conveyed to the society through their 
 moderator on 3d November 1701, they by a minute of that date, which forms 
 No. 20 of their " orders," expressed their willingness to " disburden the 
 magistrates and serve the neighbourhood as much as possibly they can ;" 
 and their engagement to "convene at the Laigh Councilhouse, with their 
 long battons in their hands, at the first tolling of the fire bell, to receive and 
 carry out the orders of the lord provost or magistrates." 4 The " regulations 
 anent fires" issued by the council on 2oth March 1702, contain the following 
 article (10), " That each year the council recommend it to the several deacons 
 of crafts, town captains, and constables to be present in case of fyre." 5 
 
 A minute, dated 3d January 171 3, 6 affords the first trace of the manner in 
 which the fines levied from the constables for breaches of orders and discipline 
 were dealt with. They were deposited in a box, which was opened immediately 
 before the constables went out of office, and were then applied at the pleasure 
 of the society. On the occasion referred to, for example, 203. sterling were 
 ordered to be paid to George Mowbray, their officer, 7 and the balance that 
 remained was handed over to the moderator for distribution among poor and 
 
 1 Chambers's Domestic Annals of Scotland, iii. 271-273. 
 
 2 Antea, p. 147. * Anfea, p. 154. * Minute Book, i. n. 
 5 Council Records, xxxvii. 102. See also Regulations issued by the Town Council 
 
 on 2 1st April 1703 [Council Records, xxxvii. 466; Maitland's History of Edinburgh, 
 p. 330]. 6 Minute Book, i. 24. 
 
 7 At this time and subsequently the society appointed an officer to attend it as its 
 officer, and an annual fee was paid to him for his services. The previous practice, as 
 provided in the rules and instructions for the town officers, dated 26th June 1 702, was 
 for the treasurer, captains, constables, and stentmasters to be served " by any of the 
 officers indifferently " [Council Records, xxxvii. 190]. See List of Officers of the 
 Society, Appendix VIII. 
 
 U
 
 1 62 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 indigent persons. On 3d December 1717, the society voted one hundred 
 merks to the Trades Maiden Hospital. 1 In January 1719, they paid over 
 2os. sterling to the Charity Schools. 2 On 26th December I72O, 3 and 5th 
 January 1721,* sums were paid out of the box to James Galloway, a decayed 
 merchant in Edinburgh, and James Sandilands, wright, whose shop had been 
 burned. 8 
 
 It appears from a minute of meeting held on 3ist January 1715, that the 
 society were in the habit of sending in to the magistrates and council 
 annually a " long leet " of persons eligible for election as constables, 6 from 
 which leet the constables were chosen. At that meeting it was complained 
 that one of the constables of that year, having been put upon the long leet 
 for four successive years, had been as often elected. To prevent the re- 
 currence of this in time coming, it was accordingly agreed 
 
 " that each member who hath served three years in that station shall have a mark at 
 the end of his name in the book, to signify so much, and as they resolve for themselves 
 so they recommend it to their successors in office to take notice that none who hath 
 served three years be given in to the magistrates in their long lite for the future." 7 
 
 On the 25th of April in the same year, the society resolved for themselves, 
 and recommended it to their successors, that when a vacancy occurred 
 in the body, no constable should, under penalty of 6 Scots, toties quoties, 
 presume to recommend any person to the magistrates for election, but 
 that such recommendation should be made by the advice of the society 
 and its moderator to that effect. 8 On 26th November 1716, the society came 
 to the following resolution, which, in so far as it assumed independence 
 of the magistrates and council, cannot be regarded as otherwise than ultra 
 vires : 
 
 " Notwithstanding the constables office in Edinburgh is very honourable, yet it being 
 attended with great trouble ; therefore it is agreed to and enacted by this present 
 
 1 Minute Book, i. 34. 2 Ibid. i. 39. 3 Ibid. i. 43. * Ibid. i. 44. 
 
 5 For the more important donations subsequent to this date, see Appendix IX. 
 
 Eligibility for the office consisted in being a burgess of the city, and in residence 
 within the royalty. See Minute Book, i. 202, 27th April 1754 ; and Ibid. i. 219, 26th 
 January 1756. 7 Minute Book, i. 30. 
 
 8 Ibid. i. 31. A member of the society having, notwithstanding this rule, submitted 
 to the council a leet from which three constables were chosen to supply vacancies in 
 1740, was, on 2Oth October, ordered to ask the pardon of the society for the affront 
 offered them, and thereafter severely rebuked from the chair [Ibid. i. 116],
 
 High Constables of tJie City of Edinburgh. 1 63 
 
 society that all those who have served in the station of moderator, or three times 
 constable (they alwayes documenting the same), shall have their names inserted 
 alphabetically att the latter end of the book and though any such should be made 
 choise of by the council they shall not be received by the constables. " 1 
 
 From a minute of the society, dated Qth March 1722,* it appears that 
 the magistrates had required the constables to give their assistance at all 
 times to the king's officers, in the execution of an act of parliament, intituled, 
 " An Act for preventing frauds and abuses in the publick revenue of Excise ;" 
 that this duty subjected constables " to the reflection " of their neighbours ; 
 and that they petitioned the council to be relieved from it. It does not 
 appear, however, either from the records of the council or of the society, 
 what was done in the matter. 3 
 
 On 9th March 1722, a committee, consisting of four persons, besides the 
 treasurer and clerk, was elected " to attend the moderator," and the practice of 
 appointing a committee for that purpose was regularly observed afterwards. 4 
 
 On 1 8th March 1728, the constable's "instructions" were read to the 
 council, and ordered to be reprinted and recorded. 5 So far as they are 
 essentially the same as the original " orders and injunctions," it is not 
 necessary to refer to them. But they contain some noticeable points of 
 difference, to which allusion must be made. 
 
 The power conferred on the constables by article I of the " orders and 
 injunctions," to take and apprehend suspect persons, idle vagabonds, or night 
 walkers, was, by article I of the " instructions," made applicable also to 
 unfreemen. 
 
 Article 3 of the " orders and injunctions" empowered the constables to take 
 the assistance of the neighbours for sundering parties, &c. By article 3 of 
 the " instructions," he was authorised to take the assistance " of the town 
 guard, town officers, and whole neighbours." 
 
 1 Minute Book, i. 33. 2 Ibid. i. 46. 
 
 3 See appointment of extra constables on aoth June 1739? to co-operate with officers 
 of excise, p. 168. 
 
 * Minute Book, i. 50. Subsequently the number of elected members varied arbi- 
 trarily from four to twelve, and for a time they were called "assistants," as in the 
 merchant company. These committees were appointed sometimes for twelve months, 
 and sometimes for four months. From 1765 [Ibid. i. 194] till 1775 [Ibid. ii. 33], 
 they were termed " the weekly committee," but seem afterwards to have had the title, 
 "the committee." 5 Council Records, li. 528.
 
 1 64 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 Article 5 of the "orders and injunctions" relative to Jesuits, &c., was not 
 repeated in the "instructions," but article 8 of the "instructions," extending 
 the powers conferred by article 9 of the " orders and injunctions," autho- 
 rised the constables to search, not only for vagabonds, beggars, or infamous 
 persons, but also for " priests or Jesuits keeping private masses." 
 
 Article 5 of the " instructions," extending the provision of article 6 of the 
 "orders and injunctions," empowered the constables, not only to take and 
 apprehend all idle persons, &c., but to " incarcerat them or putt them in the 
 guard, or present them before the Lord Provost, or any one of the baillies," 
 for trial and punishment. 
 
 Article 10 of the "instructions" fixed the "last Monday of every month, at 
 8 o'clock in the morning," for the constables reporting themselves to the 
 magistrates, instead of the last Saturday of every month, as prescribed by 
 article 1 1 of the " orders and injunctions." 
 
 Instead of article 14 of the "orders and injunctions," article u of the 
 " instructions " provided as follows 
 
 " Ilk constable within his bounds, or any where else within the city and liberties thereof, 
 shall notice all baudy houses, take and apprehend all banners, cursers, swearers and 
 blasphemers of Gods name, drunkards, sabbath-breakers, or other lewd persons, either 
 in streets, mercats, or at the wells, or in cellars or any where else, and shall commit 
 them to the city guard, the officers whereof shall detain such prisoners untill they are . 
 convicted before, and liberal allenarly by the authority of, the magistrats. And that 
 no constable shall at his own hand take baill bonds or any sort of consignations for 
 presenting prisoners before them, but before the magistrats allenarly, or exact fines 
 or mulcts of any sort untill the offenders are regularly convicted, and that they obtain 
 the magistrats warrand to that effect, under what penalty and censure the magistrats 
 shall inflict. " 
 
 Articles 12 and 13 of the "instructions" were also different from the 
 corresponding article (12) of the " orders and injunctions." They provided as 
 follows : 
 
 "12. Item, The constable shall be obliged to take nottice of the sufficiency of the 
 muckmen, and their seasonable cleansing of the streets and others, and that the 
 tacksmen take away the same in due time conform to the act of council, and poynd 
 such persons as shall be found guilty of throwing over any kind of filth at shots 
 windows or doors in the high streets, or in closses wynds or passages of the city, and 
 for undue laying down the same contrary to the time allowed in the proclamation, 
 when any complaint shall be made to them by any of the neighbours." 
 
 " 13. Item, That each familie shall be poynded for their children or servants that
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 165 
 
 nests the streets turnpikes or stairs, closses or vennals of the city, in 45. scots, when any 
 complaint shall be made." 
 
 The provision in article 15 of the "orders and injunctions" was, by 
 article 14 of the "instructions," made expressly applicable to "any person 
 inhabitant, souldier of the town guard, or officer," delaying or refusing to 
 concur with the constable in executing his office. 
 
 Article 15 of the "instructions" embodied an entirely new regulation. It 
 provided as follows : 
 
 " 15. Item, That every constable, after he is out of his office of constabulary, shall 
 continowe in the office of a censor and assistant to his succeeding constable, for sup- 
 pressing immoralities, during the time of their immediate successor's office, and to 
 attend the quarterly meetings of the said constables and immoralities," &c. 
 
 Article 16 of the " instructions " obliged the constables to receive any in- 
 junctions or statutes that the Lord Provost, bailies, and council, should 
 enjoin to them at any time thereafter relating to their office. 
 
 On the same day on which these instructions were read, and ordered to be 
 printed and recorded, the council empowered the constables " to apprehend 
 all banners, cursers, swearers, and blasphemers of God's name, drunkards, 
 Sabbath-breakers, or any other lewd persons, ... on streets, markets, at the 
 wells, in cellars, or anywhere else," and to " demand from these offenders the 
 pecunial mulcts imposed by law. And in case the offenders should make 
 offer of those fines," the constables were " empowered to receive the same, but 
 in case of refusal, the constables were only empowered to commit these 
 persons to the guard, there to lye untill they be liberat by a special comand 
 of one of the magistrals." * 
 
 Annual elections of constables were thereafter made on 2ist March iy29, 2 
 6th March 1730," i;th March 1731-,* isth March 1732," i4th March 1733,'* 
 27th March I734, 7 I2th March 1735," loth March i736, 9 9th March I737, 10 
 
 1 Council Records, li. 531. ' Ibid. liii. 314. 7 Ibid. Iv. 58. 
 
 8 Ibid. lii. 219. 6 Ibid. liv. 43. 8 Ibid. Iv. 360. 
 3 Ibid. lii. 498. 6 Ibid. liv. 342. 
 
 9 Ibid. Ivi. 280. " Allan Ramsay, stationer," was one of the constables elected on 
 this occasion, and on nth March 1736, he was elected one of the annual committee, 
 or assistants to the moderator, under the designation of ' ' merchant " [Minute Book, i. 
 
 103]- 
 
 10 Council Records, Ivii. 219. The corrupt state of the town council for some years 
 previous to this lime is the subject of remark in the following extract from Provost
 
 1 66 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 ist March I738, 1 yth March 1739,* igth March I74O, 3 25th March 1741,* 
 1 9th March I742, 5 i6th March 1743, 7th March I744, 7 and I3th March 
 
 I745- 8 
 
 From an early period the society evinced the utmost jealousy of its rights 
 and privileges in all questions with third parties, and was not less scrupulous 
 in exacting befitting respect from its own members. Of the strictness of its 
 discipline in dealing with the latter, an amusing illustration is to be found 
 in the minutes, of date 3d November 1729. One George Aiken, a smith, 
 having been elected a lieutenant in one of the town's companies, appeared, 
 and intimated that " he would no longer serve as a constable, and asked the 
 moderator to receive his baton, without signifying a desire to continue, or 
 unwillingness to part with them." The society deeming this conduct dis- 
 respectful, resolved " to cross out his name from among theirs, in order that 
 he may be lyable to serve as long in that station as if he had not been 
 elected a constable for the present year." 9 
 
 Notwithstanding the anxiety displayed by the council and the constables, 
 in their respective spheres, to suppress every species of immorality, the pres- 
 bytery of Edinburgh, on 7th February 1733, addressed an overture to the coun- 
 cil, in which, after referring to the acts against profane swearing of James 
 VI. 1581, c. 5, 10 and Charles II. 1661, c. 282," they asked the magistrates to 
 " direct the constables or other fit persons, as censors, for frequently visiting 
 the markets and other public places of concourse within the city or suburbs, 
 in order to have the pains of the above and other acts of parliament exacted 
 and executed without exception ; and particularly that they would cause 
 
 Drummond's diary, under date 7th April 1737 : " The conduct of our magistrates for 
 some years past has been grieving to all good men in the city. They have been named 
 by the justice-clerk, and have prostituted their power to his will in every instance. The 
 morals of the city has been criminally neglected by them. . . . They have endeavoured 
 to bear down serious religion, not only here, by a bad choice of ministers, councillors, 
 constables, &c. , but as far as their influence reaches in the kingdom. ... A new con- 
 stitution to the town is the only way to make it prosper " [Sommerville's Life and 
 Times, 1741-1814, p. 22, footnote]. 
 
 1 Council Records, lix. 50. 5 Ibid. Ixiii. 14. 9 Minute Book, i. 83. 
 
 2 Ibid. Ix. 46. Ibid. Ixiii. 341. 10 Antea, pp. 93, 94. 
 
 3 Ibid. Ix. 292. "' Ibid. Ixiv. 205. 
 
 4 Ibid. Ixi. 248. 8 Ibid. Ixv. 134. 
 
 11 Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, vii. 262. This act is again ratified by the 
 act of the same reign, 1672, c. 58. Ibid. viii. 99.
 
 HigJi Constables of the City of Edinburgh. \ 67 
 
 compear before them the chairmen, the hackney drivers and street cadies, as 
 being many of them notoriously guilty of horid cursing and swearing in the 
 open street, in order to certify them of their firm resolution to execute the 
 laws upon them if they farder continow in these and such like gross abuses ; 
 and they would also direct the captains their command, and finally that they 
 would encourage the constables and others to all faithful diligence in the 
 execution of their office, by assuring them of their ready and cheerful con- 
 currence therein, in order to the most effectual and speedy suppressing of 
 profane cursing and swearing and other gross immoralities which do presently 
 so much abound, to the dishonour of God and reproach of our holy religion." 1 
 No trace of this overture is to be found in the records of the town council, 
 but the subsequent conduct of the constables sufficiently proves their anxiety 
 to enforce, to the utmost of their power, propriety of conduct on the part of 
 their fellow citizens. 
 
 On nth March 1729, there is further evidence 2 that the execution of the 
 duties of a constable was not unattended with personal risk. In distributing 
 the monies in the society's box at that time, ^15 Scots were ordered to be 
 paid to "a churgion for cureing [William Aikman, cordiner, one of their 
 number] of some wounds and other disorders he received in his body in the 
 execution of his said office." 3 Nor do they seem to have been exempt from 
 dangers scarcely less formidable in the shape of actions at law. On 6th 
 February 1734, the council, upon consideration of a petition by the society 
 for keeping one of their number (Mr Murray) indemnis from the expense of 
 a process depending before the Court of Session, at the instance of Mrs 
 Allardice, superseded " the giving any opinion thereon till the issue of the 
 said process," and appointed the magistrates and deacon convener to inquire 
 " whether the society of constables have been in use to exact any mulcts, and 
 how the same has been disposed of, and whether they have a common box." 
 The report on this remit is not recorded, neither does it appear how the petition 
 was disposed of.* Again, on 23d June 1 736, John Wright, merchant, having, 
 in a petition to the council, set forth the expense and trouble to which he had 
 been put in defending an action of spulzie raised against him by a Mrs Law, 
 in consequence of the execution of his office by order of the bailies, the council 
 resolved to defend the action at the expense of the city, and instructed the 
 town's solicitor to attend to the case. 5 And on I2th May 1742, two accounts 
 
 1 Minute Book, i. 94, 95. 3 Minute Book, i. 84. 5 Ibid. Iv. 359. 
 
 2 Antea, pp. 100, 160. 4 Council Records, Iv. 19.
 
 1 68 Sketch of tJie History of the 
 
 were ordered to be paid in connection with the prosecution of constables 
 before the Court of Exchequer. 1 
 
 On 5th May 1736, the city treasurer was appointed to provide a set of new 
 batons for the constables. 2 
 
 It has been seen, 3 that in 1652 the removal of a constable from his quarter 
 disqualified him from office This rule appears to have been subsequently 
 relaxed, and on 7th March 1739 it was made a special instruction by the 
 council to the constables, " that they order it so among themselves as [that] 
 every three of them doe reside in or at least neigh the respective bounds to 
 be allotted to them." 4 
 
 On 2oth June in the same year, 5 the council appointed four persons to be 
 constables for the special purpose of co-operating with the officers of excise 
 in making night surveys for the prevention of frauds on the revenue. Each 
 of the persons so appointed was ordered to be paid .12 sterling per annum 
 on behalf of the commissioners of excise, and 8 sterling per annum on 
 behalf of the city. On nth June 1740, however, the appointments were 
 recalled, not having effected the object intended. 6 
 
 The practice of the council making grants to the constables for convivial 
 purposes seems to have commenced on 22d October 1740, when $ sterling 
 were voted for an entertainment to the society on his majesty's birthday. 7 A 
 similar grant was made on 27th October I74I, 8 and appears to have been 
 continued annually thereafter. On 2Qth May 1784, the society applied, but 
 without success, to have this allowance increased. 9 On iQth February 1794, 
 it was augmented to ^15 sterling. 10 
 
 There is no evidence that the constables were called upon to assist in the 
 preservation of the peace during the discussions relative to the union with 
 England. The necessity for sterner means of repressing the popular tumults 
 excited by that event, doubtless procured the exemption of the constables from 
 service. But it is noticeable that no reference is made in their minutes to the 
 union riots, to the precautions adopted for the defence of the city on the occa- 
 sion of the rebellion in 1715, nor to the Porteous mob in 1736. They were 
 called upon, however, to discharge important duties in connection with the re- 
 bellion of 1745, and that year is a memorable one in the history of the society. 
 
 1 Council Records, Ixiii. 41. 5 Ibid. Ix 120. 8 Ibid.Jxii. 202. 
 
 2 Ibid. Ivi. 327. fi Ibid. Ixi. 16. 9 Minute Book, ii. 69. 
 
 3 Antea, p. 121. 7 Ibid. Ixi. 143. 10 Council Records, cxxii. 308. 
 
 4 Council Records, Ix. 46.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 1 69 
 
 In the beginning of August, the news of the Pretender being about to 
 invade Scotland reached Edinburgh. On the igth, the day on which 
 Prince Charles reared his standard at Glenfinnin, General Cope set out for 
 Stirling to assume the command of the royal army. On the 3ist, the citizens 
 learned with consternation that he had evaded the highland forces at Dal- 
 whinnie, and had gone northwards to Inverness, leaving the lowlands com- 
 pletely unprotected. On the 3d of September the Prince entered Perth ; on 
 the 1 3th he crossed the Forth ; and on Sunday the I5th his forces bivouacked 
 at Linlithgow. 
 
 Meanwhile the authorities had done little to protect the capital. The 
 citizens were busily engaged in preparing for their municipal elections, and 
 the defence of the city was dealt with as a subject, out of which both the 
 Jacobites who were in power, and the whigs who were in opposition, seem to 
 have been mainly anxious to make capital in their burgal politics. The de- 
 fences of Edinburgh at that time consisted of the walls by which it was 
 surrounded, except towards the north, where it was protected by the " North 
 Loch." But the walls were dilapidated, had no embrasures for cannon, and 
 were overlooked by houses outside ; while the loch was fordable at many 
 places. The first thing to be done, then, was to strengthen the walls, and 
 men were employed to do so. The excitements of the civic contests were, how- 
 ever, sufficient to draw away those thus employed, and the needful repairs were 
 suspended till it was too late to make them effectively. The civic forces 
 were scarcely more trustworthy. These consisted of the town guard, which 
 was increased to a hundred and twenty-six men ; 1 and the trained bands, 
 which, though composed of upwards of a thousand citizens, were ill armed 
 and ill disciplined, scarcely able, according to some accounts, to fire off 
 creditably the feu de joie with which they regularly celebrated the king's 
 birthday. 2 An attempt was made to supplement these forces, and to raise a 
 regiment to be paid by voluntary contributions. 3 But though the subscription 
 paper filled rapidly, only two hundred men offered themselves, and these of a 
 very inferior class. A body of about four hundred volunteers was no doubt 
 collected, but such hasty and ill-assorted levies could not be depended upon, 
 even had there been energy, decision, and heartiness on the part of the 
 
 1 Council Records, Ixv. 277, 291. 
 
 2 Account of the Behaviour of Archibald Stewart. London. 1748. 
 
 3 Council Records, Ixv. 308, 312.
 
 1 70 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 magistrates, instead of indecision, incapacity, and a lukewarmness, especially 
 on the part of the Lord Provost, that excited suspicions of absolute disloyalty. 
 It is not necessary to refer here to the proceedings of the magistrates and of 
 the citizens, when the near approach of the highland forces awakened them 
 from their unaccountable apathy. These, and the capture of the city by the 
 Pretender on the i/th of September, and its occupation by him till the 3ist 
 of October, are matters of general history, 1 in which the constables, as a so- 
 ciety, seem to have taken no active part. Indeed, the only duty which was 
 imposed upon them in connection with the rebellion, previous to this time, 
 seems to have been to make up " lists of all the inhabitants and residenters 
 within their respective districts, and report the same to the magistrates ;" and 
 to inquire and find out " what strangers may happen from time to time to 
 come within this city, and lodge within their several districts." 3 It also ap- 
 pears from the evidence given by the moderator, Archibald Stewart, at the 
 trial of the Lord Provost for neglect of duty, before the high court of justiciary, 
 that the moderator was in official attendance on his lordship during the two 
 days immediately preceding the capture of the city. 3 After the departure of 
 the rebel army from Edinburgh to invade England, the judges and crown 
 officers, who had left on the approach of the Pretender, returned to the 
 capital, followed in a day or two by Hamilton's and Gardiner's dragoons, and 
 by the foot regiments of Price and Ligonier. These, notwithstanding the 
 privileges of the city to be exempt from quartering, it was necessary to billet 
 on the citizens, and the constables were required on I5th November to make 
 the requisite arrangements. Between that date and the 3ist of December, 
 other troops, regulars and militia, arrived, and were also quartered by the 
 constables. The following extract from the minute book of the society 
 explains what took place at this time : 
 
 "Edinburgh, 15 November 1745. 
 "The Society of Constables having been this day convened by Archibald Stewart, 
 
 1 See Dr R. Chambers's History of the Rebellion of 1745-46 (6th edition), pp. 63, 
 68, 74, 96. Maitland's History of Edinburgh, pp. 125-131. The Trial of Archibald 
 Stewart, late Lord Provost of Edinburgh, for neglect of duty, &c. (Edinburgh, 1747). 
 Autobiography of the Rev. Dr Alexander Carlyle, pp. 111-155. Burton's History of 
 Scotland, ii. 422-539. 
 
 2 Council Records, Ixv. 278, 281. 23d and 28th August 1745. 
 
 3 The Trial of Archibald Stewart, Esq., late Lord Provost of Edinburgh, pp. 
 199, 200.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 171 
 
 their precess, he (Mr Stewart) intimate to the society that he had been that morning 
 sent for by the Lord Justice-clerk and other lords of justiciary, who acquainted him 
 that some regiments of the king's forces were that very day on their march from Had- 
 dington towards the city of Edinburgh, and that they were to be all quartered within 
 the town ; and required the constables to have ready billets for the whole of them 
 betwixt and four o'clock that afternoon. To which it was objected by the society, 
 that as the election of magistrates had been at the preceding Michaelmas inter- 
 rupted by the present wicked and unnatural rebellion, 1 and consequently no constables 
 then in office, therefore they could not take upon them to billet soldiers upon the 
 inhabitants of Edinburgh, as it was a thing quite unprecedented, and would be 
 attended with many inconveniences. To obviate which objections, the Lord Justice- 
 clerk and other lords of justiciary issued their warrant, qua justices of the peace, 
 ordering the constables to act as above required, upon their highest perill. Accor- 
 dingly Gardner's and Hamilton's dragoons, and Ligonier's and Price's regiments of 
 foot arrived that afternoon, and were quartered over the city. From this time to the 
 3 1st of December 1745, a great many routs from the commanding officers for billeting 
 both the troops and militia were issued and execute by the constables. At which time 
 Mr Archibald Stewart having resigned his office of constable, Mr John Dinsmuire, 
 merchant, was elected precess in his room nem. con. The same day there was an 
 order presented by him to the society from the Lord Justice-clerk and General Guest,' 2 
 requiring them to collect in their different bounds such a quantity of blankets as would 
 serve to cover the troops who were to be lodged in such houses as were then unpossest 
 within the city, which order was complied with ; and accordingly at two different times 
 blankets were collected to the number of two thousand and sixty-three and a half pairs, 
 which were all distributed among the severall regiments, and none of these blankets 
 were ever returned. " 3 
 
 1 On the 1 8th of September, the magistrates and council resolved to assemble and 
 to proceed with election business, as prescribed by the set of the city, but in conse- 
 quence of the " present commotions in the place," and " the passing and repassing of 
 the door of the council house " by armed men, the magistrates and council ' ' judged 
 themselves not in safety to assemble in their ordinary place of meeting." In these 
 circumstances, after taking a notarial protest at the council door, setting forth the 
 circumstances, they assembled at the house of the Lord Provost, and under the advice 
 of counsel proceeded with various steps in the elections. The persons elected, how- 
 ever, would not accept ; some of the nominees for the magistracy left town, and others 
 peremptorily declined to take office, so that the elections could not be completed, and 
 the city was left without magistrates for a year [Council Records, Ixv. 319, 322, 331. 
 Maitland's History of Edinburgh, 131, 132]. There is in consequence a hiatus in the 
 Council Records from 1st October 1745 till 3d January 1747. 
 
 3 Governor of the Castle of Edinburgh. 
 
 8 Minute Book, i. pp. 132-134. The English troops were very cordially received
 
 172 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 While English troops and other forces were thus pouring into Edin- 
 burgh, the Pretender had pushed forward towards London, as far as Derby, 
 which he reached on the 4th of December. Here, within a hundred and 
 twenty-seven miles of the capital of England, success seemed within his 
 grasp, and perseverance in his bold policy might have led to unimaginable 
 results. But the leaders of his little army wanted his nerve, and resolved on 
 a retreat, which, with sorrow and foreboding, he commenced on the 6th. 
 Passing through Preston, Lancaster, Penrith, and Carlisle, he entered Glas- 
 gow on the day after Christmas day, and there he remained till the 3d of 
 January 1746, when he proceeded to Stirling, of which he took possession on 
 the yth, commencing the siege of the castle on the loth of that month. By 
 this time Lieut-General Hawley, who, in the absence of the Duke of Cum- 
 berland, held the command of the royal army, had collected a force of nearly 
 eight thousand men at Edinburgh, whence he marched on the i6th of January 
 to relieve the garrison at Stirling, and to offer battle to the rebels. The 
 result of this expedition is well known. Profiting nothing by the fatal expe- 
 rience of his predecessors, Hawley allowed himself to be surprised on the 
 field of Falkirk on the afternoon of the iyth ; and on the following evening 
 his jaded and disgraced battalions returned to Edinburgh minus cannon, 
 camp, and a large portion of their baggage. On this occasion the constables 
 were required, upon three hours' warning, to provide quarters for seven of the 
 defeated regiments. 1 The minute which sets forth this fact continues as 
 follows : 
 
 " From this time till the army should leave Edinburgh, the society agreed that two 
 of their members should attend at this place [the laigh council house] every forenoon, 
 from ten to one of the clock, and two every afternoon, from two to six of the clock, to 
 issue billets for the troops passing and repassing, under the penalty of one shilling 
 sterling for each absent. '' 
 
 On the 3oth of January, the Duke of Cumberland arrived in Edinburgh, 
 to assume the command of the royal army, which had been considerably 
 reinforced since the battle of Falkirk, and after a stay of thirty hours set out 
 with his troops for the north. On the 8th of February, and while the Duke 
 
 in Edinburgh, which was illuminated in honour of their arrival. The citizens, more- 
 over, entered into an association to provide the soldiers with blankets [Chambers's 
 History of the Rebellion, p. 183]. 
 1 Minute Book, i. 134.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 1 73 
 
 was still at Perth, five thousand German auxiliaries, under the command of 
 the Prince of Hesse, arrived at Leith, and were cantoned in the city till they 
 received orders in a few days to join the royal army. 
 
 Soon afterwards it became necessary to make arrangements for continuing 
 the services of the constables, whose annual elections took place in March. 
 This, in the absence of the magistrates and council, was done on 2oth 
 March 1746, by an order "of Lord Ross, lord justice-clerk, Lord Elchies, 
 Baron Clerk, and Mr Alexander Lind, 1 qua justices of the peace .... 
 constituting and appointing the twenty-seven gentlemen that was ap- 
 pointed in March last, seventeen hundred and fourty-five years, as con- 
 stables of the city, by the then magistrates, to continue in their office of 
 constables," &c. 2 
 
 On the ist of April, the moderator submitted to the society an order by Mr 
 Sheriff Lind, requiring them to search the city for rebels and arms, which they 
 agreed to do, appointing every member to search his own bounds, and give 
 in his report to the preses, under the penalty of five shillings sterling for not 
 doing so. 3 
 
 Before the date of the next minute of the society, the hopes of the Stuarts 
 were shattered at Culloden, and the Pretender was a fugitive. The battle of 
 Culloden was fought on the i6th of April, and on the 2d of June, and again 
 on the 24th, the constables were required by the sheriff " to attend the burn- 
 ing of the rebels' colours." 4 
 
 The next duty imposed upon them, by an order of the Lord Advocate, was 
 to attend the poll election of the magistrates and town council, 5 which, on 
 24th November 1746, they agreed to do, " seven members at a time by 
 turns, under the penalty of two shillings and sixpence sterling for each 
 absent." 6 
 
 The municipal government of the city having been re-established, the mo- 
 derator, at the desire of the society, gave in to the magistrates and council a 
 
 1 Of Gorgie, one of the sheriffs of Edinburgh. 2 Minute Book, i. 135. 
 
 3 Ibid. i. 136. * Ibid. i. 136, 137. 
 
 5 By an order of the Privy Council, dated 3Oth October 1746, this election was 
 authorised to be made at the sight of the Lord Advocate and others, on whose report 
 the election was approved of and confirmed by the Privy Council on I7th December 
 1746 [Maitland's History of Edinburgh, 133, 134. Arnot's History of Edinburgh, 
 229-231]. 
 
 6 Minute Book, i. 138.
 
 1 74 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 list of persons proposed for election as constables ; l and these were elected 
 on 8th April 1747, the minute of election bearing "that the present constables 
 have served in their stations with great fidelity and care ;" and recommend- 
 ing the magistrates and convener " to convene the late constables, and return 
 them the council's thanks for their good services." 2 
 
 Thereafter elections of constables were made annually on 6th April I748, 3 
 22d March 1749,* Hth March 1750," aoth March 175 1, 6 29th April 17527 4th 
 April I753, 8 2Oth March I754, 9 igth March I75S, 10 24th March 1756," 6th 
 April I7S7, 12 5th April 1758," nth April 1759," 7th May I76o, 15 ist April 
 1 76 1, 16 24th March I/62, 17 gth March I763, 18 29th February 1764," 27th Feb- 
 ruary 1765,* 26th March I766, 21 4th March I767, 22 9th March I768, 23 5th 
 April I769, 24 4th April i77o, 25 6th March I77I, 26 nth March I772, 27 24th 
 March I773, 28 3oth March I774, 29 22d March I775, 30 3d April I776, 31 26th 
 March I777, 32 I5th April I778, 33 I2th May I779, 34 3d May I78o, 35 4th April 
 I78i, 36 22d May I782, 37 i6th April I783, 38 25th February I784, 39 I3th April 
 
 1 Minute Book, i. 138. 3Oth March 1747. a Council Records, Ixvi. 164. 
 
 3 Council Records, Ixvii. 148. Previous to this time an individual was sometimes 
 elected a constable for two or three years in succession ; and so early as 1715, the 
 election of one person for four successive years resulted in a resolution of the Society, 
 that no constable who had served three years should be recommended to the council for 
 re-election. In the following year, the fact of having been a moderator, or of having 
 served three years, was sought to be established as a ground of exemption from future 
 election as a constable \Antea, p. 162]. An annual election of all the constables, how- 
 ever, was the rule. In 1 748, the practice appears to have been commenced of making 
 a distinction between those elected for the first time, and those who had been formerly 
 in office, the oath de fidele administratione qfficio having been administered to the 
 "new members only " [Minute Book, i. 167]. 
 
 * Council Records, Ixviii. 69. 16 Ibid. Ixxvi. 261. * 8 Ibid. xc. 143. 
 
 5 Ibid. Ixviii. 315. 17 Ibid. Ixxvii. 150. 29 Ibid. xci. 173. 
 
 6 Ibid. Ixix. 229. 18 Ibid. Ixxviii. 238. 30 Ibid. xcii. 189. 
 
 7 Ibid. Ixx. 132. 19 Ibid. Ixxix. 290. 81 Ibid, xciii. 275. 
 
 8 Ibid Ixxi. 86. 20 Ibid. Ixxxi. 2. 82 Ibid. xcv. 65. 
 
 9 Ibid. Ixxii. 25. 21 Ibid. Ixxxi. 378. ** Ibid. xcvi. 167. 
 
 10 Ibid. Ixxii. 383. 22 Ibid. Ixxxii. 359. s * Ibid, xcvii. 270. 
 
 11 Ibid. Ixxiii. 236. 23 Ibid. Ixxxiv. 8. 3S Ibid. xcix. 39. 
 18 Ibid. Ixxiv. 85. ** Ibid. Ixxxv. 65. " Ibid. ci. 55. 
 
 13 Ibid. Ixxiv. 395. ai Ibid. Ixxxvi. 235. * 7 Ibid. cii. 275. 
 
 14 Ibid. Ixxv. 268. 26 Ibid. Ixxxviii. 54. 88 Ibid. ciii. 362. 
 
 15 Ibid. Ixxvi. 81. w Ibid. Ixxxix. 129. *> Ibid. cv. 64.
 
 High Constables of t lie City of Edinburgh. 175 
 
 , 1 3d May 1 7 86, 2 4th April 1787," 2d April 1788,* ist April 1789," 7th 
 April I790, 6 2oth April 17917 i8th April I792, 8 I7th April I793, 9 26th March 
 I794, 10 6th May 1795," 27th April I796, 12 i$th March, and igth April 1797," 
 1 6th May 1798," i7th April I799, 15 and 26th March i8oo. 16 
 
 Besides the annual elections thus noticed, various elections were made 
 during several of these years to supply vacancies occasioned by death, elec- 
 tion to municipal offices such as deacons, councillors, and members of the 
 dean of guild court, appointments to commissions in the trained bands, &c. 
 Dispensations from exercising the office of constable were also occasionally 
 granted for various reasons, e.g., bad health, having "a numerous family," 17 &c. 
 
 The constables elected in 1747 appear to have turned their attention, 
 immediately after entering upon their office, to the terms of their printed in- 
 structions, and in April of that year they submitted a memorial to the council 
 on the subject. In that memorial they referred especially to article u of 
 their instructions, and asked specific directions for their guidance in the 
 execution of "the excellent laws against vice and immorality," which 
 they expressed their hearty and unanimous desire to enforce to the best 
 of their ability. 18 Pending the consideration of their memorial, the con- 
 stables continued to exercise their office ; but an action brought by the 
 Procurator Fiscal against two persons for insulting a member of the society 
 " in the execution of his office in Mrs Fyfe's, vintner's, on a Sabbath morn- 
 
 1 Council Records, cvi. 191. 3 Ibid. cix. 241. 5 Ibid, cxiii. 247. 
 
 2 Ibid. cvii. 312. 4 Ibid. cxi. 155. 6 Ibid. cxv. 252. 
 
 7 Ibid, cxvii. 303. Mr Peter Lawson, seedsman, the father of the present Lord Pro- 
 vost, and grandfather of the present Ex- Moderator, was one of the constables appointed 
 at this time [Minute Book, ii. 113]. He was elected secretary of the society on 6th 
 April 1792 [Ibid. ii. 117], and held that office till 2lst April 1795 [Ibid. ii. 131]. He 
 retired from the society at the annual election on 6th May 1 795. 
 
 8 Council Records, cxix. 232. n Ibid, cxxiii. 430. 14 Ibid, cxxviii. 356. 
 
 9 Ibid. cxxi. 160. 1S Ibid. cxxv. 351. 13 Ibid. cxxx. 404. 
 10 Ibid, cxxii. 376. 13 Ibid, cxxvii. pp. 113, 223. 
 
 16 Ibid, cxxxii. 452. At this time Mr James Spittal, afterwards Sir James Spittal, 
 Lord Provost of the city, was admitted a constable [Minute Book, ii. 190]. He was 
 elected secretary of the society on loth March 1801 [Ibid. ii. 201], and held that office 
 till 2Oth March 1802. He resigned on loth October 1806, in consequence of having 
 been elected a merchant councillor [Ibid. iii. 8]. 
 
 17 Council Records, Ixvii. 296. 26th October 1748. 
 
 18 Minute Book, i. 141-145.
 
 1 76 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 ing," having been advocated to the Court of Session, and quashed there, the 
 society, in a representation to the council about the month of June, declared 
 their resolution to lay aside the exercise of their office until they had a de- 
 liverance upon the " memorial formerly given in by them." From that time 
 till November, accordingly, the constables did not act, but afterwards, at the 
 request of the Lord Provost, they agreed to exercise those portions of their 
 office about which there was no doubt. 1 On 5th January 1748, the opinion 
 of the assessors on the memorial and representation, with the draft of 
 various new instructions prepared by the assessors, were communicated to 
 the society, and formed the subject of considerable discussion. The assessors 
 proposed to restrict the powers of the constables to the execution of the war- 
 rants of the magistrates, and to reporting violations of the public law and 
 statutes of the town for trial by the magistrates. 2 The constables, on the 
 other hand, sought to retain their old power of summarily visiting all suspected 
 houses, and of imprisoning and fining transgressors. The arguments of the 
 society, which are vigorously stated, shew that the powers and practice of the 
 constables up to this time were most arbitrary, 3 and that they were very loath 
 to be restrained in their efforts to punish vice and immorality. " Instruc- 
 tions" were finally approved of by the council on 23d May 1750, and were 
 ordered to be printed for the use of the constables. 4 On 7th August 1750, a 
 representation was made by the society to the council, relative to various 
 articles of these instructions which the constables desired to have explained, 5 
 but the result does not appear. 
 
 On 25th April 1748, the society unanimously agreed, when going their rounds, 6 
 to notice particularly " such shops as are kept open on the Lord's day, and 
 practise selling merchandise," either during sermon, or in the intervals be- 
 tween sermons, or after sermons. At the same time it was recommended 
 from the chair, on the resolution of the society, that the constables should 
 " avoid giving countenance by their conduct to the present bad practice of 
 walking idly on the Lord's day." 7 
 
 On the 7th of June in the same year, it was resolved, in compliance with a re- 
 
 1 Minute Book, i. 146. 2 Ibid. i. 150, 159. 
 
 8 Ibid. i. 141-145, 160-166, 178-181. 
 
 4 Council Records, Ixix. 3. See Appendix X. 5 Minute Book, i. 187. 
 
 6 On 8th April 1748, it was resolved that these rounds should be made by three con- 
 stables in turn [Minute Book, i. 167] ; confirmed on 271)1 March 1749 [Ibid. i. 177]. 
 
 7 Minute Book, i. 169.
 
 High Constables of tlie City of Edinburgh. 1 77 
 
 quisition from the Sheriff Clerk, that each constable should take up a list, within 
 his own bounds, of persons liable to serve as jurymen. 1 This was made the sub- 
 ject of a standing order, on 27th August 1750, when two lists were ordered 
 to be given in, one for the exchequer and one for the Lords of Justiciary. 2 A 
 minute, dated I5th May 1771, contains further details as to their duties in 
 relation to this matter ; their lists were to contain none but tradesmen and 
 merchants of good fame, and to exclude surgeons, butchers, publicans, law- 
 yers, and writers of every denomination. 3 On I3th July 1797, the Lords of 
 Justiciary issued an act of adjournal, in which they required that the lists of 
 jurors reported from the city should not be confined to any particular dis- 
 trict or bounds, but should be taken from the inhabitants of the extended, as 
 well as of the ancient royalties, Canongate, and suburbs of the city, and 
 should " contain the names of those fitted for the discharge of that important 
 duty and trust." An extract of this act having been sent to the magistrates 
 and council on 2d August, 4 was transmitted to the society, who, after some 
 correspondence with the council, undertook the preparation of the lists within 
 the ancient and extended royalties, the constables of Canongate, Easter and 
 Wester Portsburgh, and Leith, being required to prepare the lists applicable 
 to their several bounds. 6 
 
 On the 1 6th of March 1749, the society expressed their disapproval of the 
 shops, even of dissenters, being kept open during the time of sermon on 
 the fast days, or on the Saturday preceding, or on the Monday after, the 
 sacrament ; and passed a rule declaring that practice, or any other which 
 the majority of the society might deem a transgression (whether specified in 
 the rules or not), to be punishable at the pleasure of the society. 7 
 
 A representation having been made to the council that the constables' 
 batons required to be repaired in the silver work, the requisite repairs were 
 immediately ordered to be made ; 8 and when these were completed, the 
 society, on 8th February 1750, resolved that at every future election, the 
 batons should be inspected, and any injury to the silver work made good by 
 the constable in whose possession it was at the time. 9 One of these batons 
 having been afterwards stolen, and another broken, the council, on I7th April 
 
 1 Minute Book, i. 170. 2 Ibid. i. 186. 8 Ibid. ii. 9. Appendix VII. Art. 25. 
 4 Council Records, cxxvii. 441. 5 Minute Book, ii. 153. 
 
 6 Council Records, cxxvii. 505. Minute Book, ii. 161. 
 
 7 Minute Book, i. 173. Appendix VII. Art. 22. 8 Council Records, Ixviii. 86. 
 9 Minute Book, i. 182. Appendix VII. Art. 23.
 
 178 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 1771, authorised them to be replaced by the society ; and further ordered 
 long batons to be supplied at the expense of the city, in place of three 
 which had been awanting for several years. 1 On I2th March 1794, the 
 council authorised payment of .30, 153. to be made for painting on the large 
 batons the royal arms and the arms of the city. 3 
 
 In conformity with an overture transmitted by their predecessors on i6th 
 March I75O, 3 the society, on 26th March 1750, ordered that every constable 
 present at the enactment of a woman of bad fame in the magistrates' book of 
 enactments, should transmit a note of her name, with the date of enactment, 
 to the clerk of the society, by whom an alphabetical list should be kept of 
 all such persons, enacted for better behaviour at the instance of the con- 
 stables, or banished under prosecutions at the instance of the fiscals, with 
 the pains and penalties contained in their sentence. 4 
 
 On 27th August 1750, the society, considering that, "by the flitting and 
 removing at the term of Whitsunday several persons that keep houses of bad 
 fame escape the notice and observation of the constables," ordered lists of 
 such persons to be taken up " with as much care and exactness as possible," 
 and given in at the first general meeting thereafter. 5 
 
 It has been seen 6 that the constables were required to execute poindings. 
 A minute, dated 2Qth July 1751, referring to "the inconveniency of lodging 
 poinds drawn by them in officer's hands," set forth the agreement of the 
 society, " that for the future each constable shall retain in his own hands 
 each poind drawn by him till delivery of the same to the persons from whom 
 they were taken." 7 
 
 On ist September 1755, reference is made to a case in which two con- 
 stables, having given offence to a gentleman whom they had followed to 
 a house of ill fame, were subsequently inveigled into a house and severely 
 beaten by him and two other accomplices. The society memorialised 
 the council on the subject, but in consequence of representations and 
 reasonable offers made to them by the father of the gentleman, and of 
 the constables who were assaulted having proposed terms for an ami- 
 cable settlement without consulting the society, the society resolved to 
 withdraw their petition, and to take no farther action in the matter, which 
 
 1 Minute Book, ii. 57. Council Records, Ixxxviii. 101. 
 
 * Council Records, cxxii. 358. * Ibid. i. 185. Appendix VII. Art. 24. 
 
 3 Minute Book, i. 182. 6 Ibid. i. 186. Appendix VII. Art. 26. 
 
 6 Antea, p. 150. See also Appendix VII., Article 14. 7 Minute Book, i. 193.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 1 79 
 
 thereupon seems to have dropped. 1 Another case is recorded under date 
 iyth January 1757, in which four constables, while making their ordinary 
 rounds on the previous Saturday night, for suppressing vice, were deforced 
 by four journeymen tanners, and a riot ensued, in which some of the town- 
 guard were injured. The offence was admitted by the rioters, who, in con- 
 sideration of the scarcity of tanners, and the injury which would have resulted 
 to their masters, who could not have got their places supplied had they been 
 criminally prosecuted, were subjected in certain fines, a portion of which was 
 applied to rewarding the soldiers of the town-guard and a chairman who had 
 assisted the constables, and the balance was retained by the treasurer of the 
 society. 3 On 2Qth June 1757, the society addressed an urgent remonstrance 
 to the council relative to a case in which two constables, while visiting houses 
 of bad fame, committed certain females to the guard, and on the following 
 morning appeared at the council house to prosecute a complaint against 
 them. Instead of being punished, however, the girls, at the desire of 
 two members of council, were dismissed unpunished, and the constables 
 were reflected upon for their rashness " in going out of their bounds." This 
 was resented most strongly by the society, who urged the council to streng- 
 then their hands in putting down these houses, which, it is said, were " never 
 in the memory of man" so numerous as at that time. 3 What followed on 
 this remonstrance is not recorded ; but it appears that the magistrates were 
 not disposed to support the constables in their claims to exercise an arbitrary 
 power of visiting improper houses. In fact, the coup de grace was given 
 shortly afterwards to the whole system of domiciliary visitation, without a 
 magisterial warrant. In September 1760, one Jean Lindsay brought a com- 
 plaint before the magistrates against two constables " for entering and search- 
 ing her house late in the night, to the prejudice of her reputation in the neigh- 
 bourhood, and to the affrighting of her nurse and young child." The society 
 subscribed the funds requisite to defend the case, which was fully litigated. 
 The constables, however, were unsuccessful in their plea, were found liable to 
 Lindsay in 6 of expenses, and had to pay their own expenses, amounting to 
 iS, 1 8s. gd. The statement of this case, prepared by order of the society, 
 and recorded in their minute book, 4 concludes with a recommendation to 
 their successors " that they will take care of the rock upon which we have 
 split, and never give themselves any trouble about the suppression of bawdy 
 
 1 Minute Book, i. 207-216. 3 Ibid. i. 236-243. 
 
 2 Ibid. i. 225-229. * Ibid. i. 257-270.
 
 1 80 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 houses." This recommendation appears to have been acted upon till 1764, 
 when a representation, dated 5th November, was addressed to the council, in 
 which, referring to the fifth article of their instructions, and to the number of 
 improper houses in the city, and persons frequenting the same, the society 
 expressed their readiness to do all in their power to suppress vice and immo- 
 rality, by carrying out their instructions, but complained that their efforts 
 were not supported by the authorities. Two instances were referred to in 
 illustration of their complaint, that " after spending their time in business of 
 this sort," the constables had " the mortification to find all their endeavours 
 entirely fruitless, and the guilty more and more hardened in their wickedness." 1 
 The representation was handed to the Lord Provost, who requested to be 
 furnished with a list of all the " houses of bad fame." Lists of them were 
 accordingly prepared by the several constables within their respective bounds, 
 and on igth November 1764, were appointed to be delivered to his Lord- 
 ship." After this the constables seem to have been very careful not to force 
 their way into such houses, even on complaint by the neighbours, without a 
 magistrate's warrant. But even that did not secure them from legal proceed- 
 ings, as appears from a case referred to of date i3th January 1766. In that 
 case the society, approving of the conduct of their member, resolved to sup- 
 port him, and each constable undertook to pay his proportion of the expense 
 in connection with the prosecution. 3 On the I2th of the following month, 
 however, the council assured the constables that if they were ultimately found 
 in the right by the proper judge, the council would indemnify them of all the 
 expense and charge to which they might be put in maintaining their defence. 4 
 A minute dated ist December 1755, records the desire of the magistrates 
 and council that, " in all time coming," the constables should accompany 
 them in their procession, on his majesty's birthday, to drink the health of the 
 king and the royal family, and that the society should also drink the royal 
 healths in a room by themselves. 5 The society seem to have been previously 
 in the practice of accompanying the council on these occasions. 6 But in 
 
 1 Minute Book, i. 287. 3 Ibid. i. 295, 296. 
 
 * Ibid. i. 289. 4 Council Records, Ixxxi. 350. 
 
 5 Minute Book, i. 218. Absence on the king's birthday, save in the case of sick- 
 ness, was, by a minute dated 4th June 1771, punished by a fine of 2s. 6d. [Ibid. ii. 12. 
 Ibid. ii. 102]. For absence from the entertainment in the evening, a minute dated 4th 
 June 1789, appointed a fine of 55. [Ibid. ii. 102]. See Appendix No. XII. 
 
 6 On I4th June 1800, the society received intimation that, instead of accompanying
 
 Higli Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 1 8 1 
 
 that year they did not attend, thinking they should have had an invitation 
 to do so. On ascertaining the reason of their absence, the desire above 
 expressed was conveyed to the society. A minute dated Qth May 1765, 
 describes the costume worn on such occasions to have been " white stock- 
 ings, white gloves, and other apparell proper for that occasion." 1 These 
 minutes contain incidental allusion to meetings for the purpose of drinking 
 the king's health; but a minute dated I5th May 1771, refers to the society's 
 practice of supping on his majesty's birthday, and recognises the right of 
 the moderator, or preses, as he is there called, to nominate the place 
 where these festive meetings were to take place, "providing that the house 
 shall be thought proper to accommodate them genteely." 2 On the 4th of 
 June 1771, it is accordingly recorded that, after drinking the loyal toasts in 
 the Goldsmiths' Hall, they supped " in the house of their provisor James 
 Hutchison, vintner, who had provided a most elegant supper and desert for 
 their entertainment." 3 This practice was afterwards regularly followed. It 
 appears also to have been the custom of the society to dine together after the 
 annual election of office-bearers ; 4 and, indeed, to refresh themselves at the 
 hospitable board after all their more important meetings. The election dinner 
 on 1 2th May 1796, it may be remarked, is the first occasion on which " the 
 magistrates of the city and other gentlemen of the town" are recorded to have 
 been entertained as guests. 5 The Earl of Errol, Lord High Constable, the 
 Earl of Cassels, and others, appear as guests at the supper on the king's 
 birthday in June iyg6. 6 The election dinner on 22d May 1797 was attended 
 by the Lord Provost and most of the council, besides other guests ; 7 and the 
 practice of inviting a number of guests on such occasions, was regularly fol- 
 lowed afterwards. 8 
 
 the magistrates, they should remain in the justiciary court room, to be in readiness to 
 prevent any riot by the people who assembled to witness the procession. Against this 
 order the society remonstrated very warmly, as an interference with their previous 
 practice and privileges ; and it was accordingly recalled [Minute Book, ii. 196]. 
 
 1 Minute Book, i. 293. Lord Cockburn furnishes a vigorous description of the mode 
 in which the king's birthday was kept in Edinburgh during the reign of George III. 
 [Memorials of his Time, p. 69]. 2 Minute Book, ii. 9. 
 
 3 Ibid. ii. ii. The annual committee had, by a previous minute, dated 3ist May 
 1771, agreed "to pay their bill at present, and at each of their meetings for the future, 
 as a precedent for the time to come " [Ibid. ii. 10]. 
 
 4 Ibid. ii. 75, 77. 5 Ibid. ii. 141. 6 Ibid. ii. 142. 7 Ibid. ii. 147. 
 8 The Earl of Errol was again a guest of the society at the election dinners on 3ist
 
 1 82 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 On 5th November 1760, the council authorised the city treasurer to cause 
 500 copies of the constables' instructions to be printed, after being revised by 
 the city's assessors. 1 
 
 On 4th June 1763, the society, referring to the inconveniences attendant on 
 the admission of vintners, and "considering that vintners are frequently 
 exposed to receive loose and irregular companies into their houses, and that 
 it belongs to the constables' office to visit and inspect public houses where 
 such companies resort," recorded their opinion " that it is altogether incom- 
 patible with the good order of this society, as well as the necessary and im- 
 partial suppression of vice and immorality, to receive vintners or publicans 
 amongst them," and unanimously resolved for themselves, and earnestly 
 recommended it to their successors in office, not to nominate persons of that 
 employment to succeed them." 3 This rule seems to have been acted upon 
 till 1802, when a "spirit dealer" was elected a constable. 3 In the following 
 year three spirit dealers were elected ; 4 and the rule may be held to have 
 fallen into disuse. 
 
 Between 1763 and 1765, a series of bread riots of a serious description, 
 occasioned by the high price of provisions, took place in Edinburgh. Formal 
 resolutions were passed, and printed proclamations were issued, intimating 
 the intention of the magistrates and council to prosecute all who should take 
 part in them ; and proceedings were thereupon adopted with that object, 
 when anonymous letters were sent to the Lord Provost, requiring the autho- 
 rities at their peril to release their prisoners, and to stop farther prosecutions. 
 A reward of ^40 was offered for the discovery of the writer of these letters, 
 and the magistrates continued their precautions to secure the peace of the 
 city. In the riots of 1765, it was found necessary to call out the military in 
 the castle from time to time, and two troops of dragoons were quartered in the 
 town. Throughout all these disturbances, the constables rendered important 
 assistance to the magistrates in the preservation of peace. On i4th Decem- 
 ber 1763, an account of expenses, amounting to 8, 45. sterling, incurred by 
 them in connection with the riots previous to that date, was ordered to be 
 
 May 1805 [Minute Book, ii. 299], and 3d June 1817 [Ibid. iii. 219] ; and appears 
 to have been frequently invited to subsequent entertainments. The musical services of 
 Neil Gow and his band were often in requisition on these occasions during the first 
 quarter of the present century. 
 
 1 Council Records, Ixxvi. 193. 3 Ibid. ii. 222. 
 
 2 Minute Book, i. 281. Appendix VII. Art. 27. 4 Ibid. ii. 234.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 
 
 repaid to them ; and at the same time the lord provost was requested to 
 convey the thanks of the council to the society for their good services. 1 
 
 On 2gth March 1768, the first illustration is given of the mode in which the 
 society dealt with persons elected constables, but who declined to accept office. 
 Robert Johnston and Archibald Gilchrist, merchants, having so acted, the 
 society reported their conduct to the magistrates, and requested that they 
 might be reprimanded and compelled to accept. The magistrates, however, 
 excused Mr Johnston and Mr Gilchrist for one year, and intimated to the so- 
 ciety that they might choose two persons in their place. This was regarded 
 by the society as disrespectful, and a petition was accordingly addressed to 
 the magistrates, in which the constables complained of the disrespect and par- 
 tiality evinced by the magistrates, and intimated that " if they did not return 
 Johnston and Gilchrist to the society as constables then . . . the con- 
 stables looked upon themselves to be no longer bound to act in their office, 
 and that they waited all in a body to receive the magistrates' answer." 2 The 
 petition had the desired effect. Messrs Johnston and Gilchrist were com- 
 pelled to accept office ; 3 and in the following year Mr Johnston was elected 
 moderator of the society. 4 A similar course was followed with equal success 
 in the case of James Donaldson, bookseller, in May 1780." 
 
 It has been seen that the constables were frequently exempted from assess- 
 ments for watching. But on ist August I774, 6 the society, in conformity with 
 a recommendation of the committee on 3ist May, and a previous resolution 
 of the body dated 4th June, presented a petition to the council, praying that 
 " each and all of them, while bearing office, should be exempted from all the 
 proper city burdens, as other officebearers in this city, and constables in 
 other burghs are." 7 After farther consideration, however, the petition was 
 withdrawn, mainly on the ground, apparently, that their exemption would 
 entail a greater burden on the other burgesses, and eventually on them- 
 selves, and that thus no real relief would be obtained. 8 
 
 The practice, previous to 1775, seems to have been for the moderator to 
 propose a leet of persons from among whom his successor was elected. 
 On 3 ist March of that year, however, the society unanimously agreed that 
 the moderator should not have any such exclusive right? 
 
 1 Council Records, Ixxix. 177. 
 
 2 Minute Book, i. 308, 311. 3 Ibid. Council Records, Ixxxiv. 25. 
 
 4 Minute Book, i. 316. 8 Ibid. ii. 29. 8 Ibid. ii. 30. 
 
 5 Ibid. ii. 52, 54. 7 Ibid. ii. 28, 29. 9 Ibid. ii. 32, 33.
 
 1 84 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 On 28th May 1777, the constables attended the public funeral of Lord 
 Provost Kincaid. 1 
 
 In consequence of a message from the Lord Provost and others, " commis- 
 sioners for carrying into execution the act of parliament for comprehending 
 all idle and disorderly persons for soldiers and marines," the society, on 2oth 
 July 1778, met the Lord Provost and magistrates, and received his Lordship's 
 recommendation to assist the recruiting of the royal forces, by sending notice 
 to the commissioners of every person within the meaning of the act, whether 
 within their particular bounds or not, with a view to their being examined, 
 and either levied or dismissed, as the commissioners might think proper. 2 
 
 One of the constables having failed to attend the election dinner on 3oth 
 April 1785, and having refused to pay his share of the bill, was summoned 
 before the magistrates for payment, but was absolved. The constables 
 thereupon made a strong representation to the magistrates and council on 
 the subject, and on i7th December 1785, returned the badges of their office, 
 " until such time as we are favoured with your instructions for our future 
 guidance." The magistrates, however, induced the constables to continue 
 to discharge their duties, undertaking to relieve them of the expense to 
 which the society had been put, and requesting the society to prepare, for 
 revisal by the assessors of the city, a set of rules and regulations which 
 would be satisfactory to themselves. 3 " Instructions for the Constables in 
 the discharge of their public duties," and " rules " for the internal government 
 of the society, were accordingly framed by the society on 24th December 
 1785, the former being submitted to the assessors, and the latter being ap- 
 pointed to be signed by every new constable when sworn into office. 4 The 
 " instructions" submitted to the assessors, and revised by them, were approved 
 of by the magistrates and council on 2Qth March 1 786, 5 and were afterwards 
 printed and distributed among the constables, whose duties, as therein de- 
 nned, were, it will be seen, 6 much more circumscribed than those specified in 
 the former orders and injunctions of the body. The "rules" for the internal 
 government of the society were also approved of by the magistrates and 
 council at the same time, 7 and contain various regulations for securing the 
 attendance of the members on festive occasions. These regulations, how- 
 
 1 Ibid. ii. 39. See Order of Procession, Arnot's History of Edinburgh, Appendix 
 XL, p. 649. 
 
 2 Minute Book, ii. 46. 4 Ibid. ii. 80. G See Appendix XI. 
 
 3 Ibid. ii. 75, 79. 5 Council Records, cvii. 227. 7 See Appendix XII.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 185 
 
 ever, do not seem to have gained their object, and on 4th June 1789, a series 
 of new rules of a much more stringent character were enacted. 1 
 
 At the same time, it was resolved to abandon the practice of electing the 
 moderator after the new constables had been admitted, and to elect him at a 
 special meeting to be called for the purpose, previous to the annual election 
 of constables, at which meeting the leets for new constables should be ad- 
 justed. 2 This resolution, it will be observed, related to the moderator alone, 
 but was made applicable to all the office-bearers, who, in 1790 and subsequent 
 years, were elected at the meeting at which leets for new constables were 
 given in. 
 
 The limitation of the powers and duties of the constables, especially in 
 their relation to public morals, indicated by the terms of the " Instructions" of 
 1786, was probably the natural result of the change which was taking place 
 in the feelings and habits of the citizens. Notwithstanding the minute and 
 anxious legislation against vice and immorality to which reference has been 
 made, the strictness of the former half of the century was being succeeded 
 by great laxity of manners and morals. This deterioration is brought out 
 most prominently in Creech's Letters, where he contrasts the state of matters 
 in Edinburgh in 1763 with those in 1783 and 1791. On the matter of Sabbath 
 observance he thus writes : 
 
 "In 1763 It was fashionable to go to church, and people were interested about 
 religion. Sunday was strictly observed by all ranks as a day of devotion, and it was 
 disgraceful to be seen in the streets during the time of public worship. Families 
 attended church, with their children and servants ; and family worship was frequent. 
 The collections at the church doors, for the poor, amounted yearly to ^1500 and 
 upwards. 
 
 " In 1 783 Attendance on church was greatly neglected, and particularly by the men. 
 Sunday was by many made a day of relaxation ; and young people were allowed to 
 stroll about at all hours : families thought it ungenteel to take their domestics to 
 church with them. The streets were far from being void of people in the time of 
 public worship ; and, in the evenings, were frequently loose and riotous ; particularly 
 owing to bands of apprentice boys and young lads. Family worship was almost dis- 
 used. The collections at the church doors for the poor had fallen to ^"icoo. 3 
 
 " In 1763 Masters took charge of their apprentices, and kept them under their 
 own eye in their own houses. 
 
 "In 1783 Few masters would receive apprentices to stay in their houses, and yet 
 
 Minute Book, ii. 102. See Appendix XII. 2 Ibid. ii. 103. 
 
 3 Edinburgh Fugitive Pieces (1815), p. 100.
 
 1 86 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 from them an important part of succeeding society is to be formed. If they attended 
 their hours of business, masters took no further charge. . . . In 1791, the practice had 
 become still more prevalent. . . . 
 
 " In 1791 The wages to journeymen in every profession were greatly raised since 
 1763, and disturbances frequently happened for a still further increase. Yet many 
 of them riot on Sunday, are idle all Monday, and can afford to do this on five days' 
 labour. 1 
 
 " In 1637 hairdressers were few, and hardly permitted to dress hair on Sundays ; 
 and many of them voluntarily declined it. 
 
 "In 1783 . . . Hairdressers were more than tripled in number, and their busiest 
 day was Sunday." 2 
 
 On the subject of public morals again, he writes : 
 
 "In no respect were the manners of 1763 and 1783 more remarkable than in the 
 decency, dignity, and delicacy of the one period, compared with the looseness, 
 dissipation, and licentiousness of the other. Many people ceased to blush at what 
 would formerly have been reckoned a crime. 3 
 
 "In 1763 The breach of the seventh commandment was punished by fine and 
 church censure. . . . 
 
 "In 1783 Although the law punishing adultery with death was unrepealed, yet 
 church censure was disused, and separations and divorces were become frequent, 
 and have since increased.* . . . 
 
 "In 1763 The fines collected by the kirk-treasurer for bastard children amounted 
 to .154 ; and upon an average often succeeding years, they were 190. 
 
 " In 1783 The fines for bastard children amounted to 600, and have since greatly 
 increased. 5 
 
 " In 1 763 There were five or six brothels, or houses of bad fame, and a very few of 
 the lowest and most ignorant order of females skulked about the streets at night. A 
 person might have gone from the castle to Holyrood House (the then length of the 
 city) at any hour in the night, without being accosted by a single street walker. 
 Street robbery and pocket picking were unknown. 
 
 "In 1783 The number of brothels had increased twenty-fold, and the women of the 
 town more than an hundred-fold. Every quarter of the city and suburbs was infested 
 with multitudes of females abandoned to vice, and a great many at a very early 
 period of life, before passion could mislead, or reason teach them right from wrong. 
 Street robbers, pickpockets, and thieves, had much increased." 6 
 
 In 1763, early dinners, plain fare, and social tea parties, were the rule. In 
 
 1 Edinburgh Fugitive Pieces (1315), p. 102. s Ibid. p. 101. 5 Ibid. p. 104. 
 Ibid. p. 78. * Ibid. p. 103. 6 Ibid. p. 105.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 187 
 
 1783, the late and prolonged dinner was followed by wine, cards, and supper. 
 Men of all ranks took pleasure in cock-fighting, which was unknown twenty 
 years previously. Among the lower orders, swearing had greatly increased 
 in 1790, but, according to Creech, immoderate drinking was getting out of 
 fashion. " Every one," says he, " was allowed to do as he pleased in filling or 
 drinking his glass. The means of hospitality, and the frequency of shewing it, 
 had increased, and excess on such occasions had decreased." The descrip- 
 tion of the habits of the upper classes a few years later, furnished by Lord 
 Cockburn, is, however, much less favourable. The two vices of swearing 
 and drunkenness, he says, " were very prevalent, if not universal, among the 
 whole upper ranks. Nothing was more common than for gentlemen who 
 had dined with ladies, and meant to rejoin them, to get drunk. To get 
 drunk in a tavern seemed to be considered as a natural, if not an intended, 
 consequence of going to one. Swearing was thought the right and the mark 
 of a gentleman ; and, tried by this test, nobody, who had not seen them, 
 could now be made to believe how many gentlemen there were." 1 
 
 On I3th June 1787, an additional constable was appointed for "detecting 
 thieves, vagabonds, and disorderly or suspicious persons, and committing them 
 to the guard till examined by the magistrates." 2 This seems to have been 
 the origin of a special detective branch of police in Edinburgh. Subsequently, 
 on 7th May 1794, the janitor of the college and his depute were appointed 
 constables, for the more efficient protection of the college and High School, 3 
 and on I5th March 1797, a constable was appointed for the special purpose 
 of "taking up and committing vagrants." 4 None of these persons, however, 
 were members of the society of constables. The appointment, in March 
 1797, did not relieve the society from the duty of patrolling the streets to 
 apprehend vagrants. A minute, of date nth April 1797, shews that two 
 constables were fined for not performing that duty, and ordered to be prose- 
 cuted for the fines. 5 
 
 For some years previous to 1788, there had been "riots and disturbances 
 on the streets on New Year's mornings. 6 These the magistrates determined 
 
 1 Memorials of his Time, p. 32. 2 Council Records, cix. 339. 
 
 3 Ibid, cxxii. 144. 4 Ibid, cxxvii. 113. 5 Minute Book, ii. 176. 
 
 6 "In no respect," says Creech, " was the sobriety and decorum of the lower ranks, 
 in 1763, more remarkable than by contrasting them with the riot and licentiousness of 
 1783, particularly on Sundays and holidays. The King's birthday, and the last night 
 of the year, were, in 1783, devoted to drunkenness and riot ; in 1763, they were peace-
 
 1 88 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 to put a stop to in future, and with that view they ordered the constables to 
 meet and patrol the streets. The society accordingly supped together on the 
 last night of the year, and sent out deputations, who, attended by the city 
 guard, cadies, &c., patrolled the streets till 6 o'clock in the morning, and 
 prevented any disturbance. 1 This was the commencement of the practice 
 which, it is believed, has, with very few exceptions, been regularly observed 
 since. Similar patrols were ordered on other occasions of popular excite- 
 ment, such as illuminations, &c. 2 
 
 In consequence of an order from the Lord Provost, the society, on 2$d 
 February 1789, made a general search for vagabond and disorderly persons, 
 believed to be lurking about the city. A number of suspected houses were 
 visited, and in them a number of suspicious persons were found, and com- 
 mitted to the city guard for examination by the magistrates. 8 
 
 In April 1789, the magistrates signified to the moderator their wish to 
 appoint two additional constables for the " new extended royalty," and 
 " ordered two leets to be given in to the council for their choice." These 
 leets having been lodged accordingly, two constables were elected on 
 1 5th April. The total number of the society was thus increased to thirty- 
 two. 4 
 
 On 24th July 1790, the society, by order of the magistrates, attended at 
 Holyrood Palace on the occasion of the election of the Scotch representative 
 
 ful " [Letters on Edinburgh ; Edinburgh Fugitive Pieces, p. 107]. A footnote to this 
 passage says, "From 1788 till 1792 this folly had much abated, by the attention of 
 the magistrates to strict police. " 
 
 1 Minute Book, ii. 97. 2 gth March 1789. Minute Book, ii. 98. 
 
 * Minute Book, ii. 97. 
 
 4 Council Records, cxiii. 272. Minute Book, ii. IOO, 101. The royalty of the city 
 was first extended by an act passed in 1769 [7 Geo. III. c. 27], over a part of the 
 Barony of Broughton, Barefoot Parks, and other lands the property of the corporation, 
 certain lands granted to the town in feu by the governors of Heriot's Hospital, and a 
 part of Broughton Parks belonging to Watson's Hospital [Acts of Parliament relating 
 to Edinburgh, vol. i. No. 17]. By another act passed in 1785 [25 Geo. III. c. 28], 
 it was further extended over an additional part of the lands of Broughton. This act 
 divided the city into two districts, called the ancient and extended royalty [Ibid. i. 
 No. 26]. A third act passed in 1786 [26 Geo. III. c. 113], provided for the extension 
 of the royalty over other portions of the lands of Broughton, which that act authorised 
 the corporation to purchase [Ibid. i. No. 27]. See Special Report on Edinburgh of 
 Commissioners on Municipal Corporations in Scotland, p. 285.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 1 89 
 
 peers, to assist in preserving order among the crowds then assembled. After 
 that ceremony the society dined together. 1 
 
 The system of a triennial rotation, under which one third of the society 
 retired after three years' service, to be succeeded by an equal number of new 
 constables, seems to have been gradually established. In the roll of the 
 society for I763, 3 a classification was introduced of those who had served 
 one year ; and the roll for the following and subsequent years distinguished 
 those who were in their first, second, and third year of office respectively. 
 The rolls for 1764 and subsequent years also shew the names of new con- 
 stables taking the places of those who had served for three years. But it is 
 only in 1771 and subsequent years, when, the minutes being more fully kept, 
 it is seen to have been the practice of the society to submit to the council leets, 
 with a view to the election of new constables to take the place of those who 
 had served for three years. It further appears to have been the practice to 
 administer the oath defideli administratione only to the new constables thus 
 elected, who were afterwards admitted into the society. A minute dated i4th 
 March 1774, shews that the leets submitted to the council were made up from 
 leets furnished by the outgoing constables, each member who had served 
 three years being required to give in " a list for his successor." These lists 
 were submitted to the committee, under whose directions the general lists 
 were made up for the council ; 3 and the committee exercised the power of 
 rejecting the names of those who were considered unsuitable, and of inserting 
 others. 4 On 3131 March 1787, the first innovation upon the system of triennial 
 retirement is recorded, three constables who should have retired, having " at 
 their own request (and by the unanimous consent of the committee), begged 
 to continue for another year in office." 5 In April 1789, only four constables 
 retired, 6 and it appears that there was an inclination on the part of some of 
 the constables to prolong their tenure of office, for on 6th April 1792, the so- 
 ciety resolved, almost unanimously, and it was ordered to be observed as a 
 " fixed law," "that no gentleman, after serving the usual period of three years, 
 can stand candidate, or be chosen preses or any other office in the society." 7 
 This resolution indicates a state of feeling very different from that which 
 existed in 1715 and I7i6, 8 when service as a constable was regarded as a bur- 
 den, which, however honourable, should not be prolonged beyond three years. 
 
 1 Minute Book, ii. in. * Ibid. ii. 51. 7 Ibid. ii. 117. 
 
 - Ibid. i. 278. 5 Ibid. ii. 86. 8 Antea, p. 162. 
 
 3 Ibid. ii. 25. 6 Ibid. ii. 98.
 
 190 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 During the latter part of the eighteenth century, the subject of reform 1 was 
 exciting much attention in Scotland, and in 1791 a serious riot took place in 
 Edinburgh in consequence of Henry Dundas, afterwards Lord Melville, having 
 opposed the reform of the Scottish burghs. In 1793, Sheridan succeeded in 
 obtaining the appointment of a committee of the House of Commons to con- 
 sider the petitions of the royal burghs for reform. 2 But the outbreak of the 
 French Revolution, and the atrocities perpetrated by its leaders, created a 
 reaction in British feeling, and enabled the government to oppose any exten- 
 sion of popular rights. Foiled thus in their legitimate wishes, the people formed 
 themselves into organisations, called " Friends of the People," to carry their 
 object. Counter associations, called " Friends of the Constitution," were also 
 formed, and political feeling ran very high. On nth December 1792, a con- 
 vention of delegates from the various societies of " Friends of the People" took 
 place in Edinburgh ; and in the following year the government^ who were at 
 this time engaged in a war with France, resolved to crush the popular agitation 
 by legal prosecutions. Thomas Muir was tried, condemned, and transported. 
 Still the agitation continued, and meetings were held. One held in Blackfriars 
 Wynd on 5th December 1793, was dispersed by the magistrates and sheriff; 
 and a few days afterwards, William Skirving, the secretary of the Convention, 
 was arrested by warrant of the Lord Provost. Skirving, too, was tried, con- 
 demned, and transported, as were afterwards other leaders of the movement. 
 But still the agitation continued, and grew more and more powerful, till, in 
 later and happier times, but not without persistent struggle, it gained its object. 
 
 Of these agitations the constables were not uninterested spectators. It 
 appears from a minute of council, dated i8th December 1793, that the 
 society "evinced their alacrity in co-operating with the magistrates and 
 sheriff-depute of the county when dissolving the meeting of the persons 
 styling themselves 'The British Convention,'" and for "their uniform steadi- 
 
 1 For a description of the political state of Scotland during the last ten years of the 
 eighteenth century, see Lord Cockburn's Memorials of his Time, pp. 80-104 ; and 
 Lord Cockburn's Life of Lord Jeffrey, pp. 73-84. So early as 1746, the Merchant 
 Company had under consideration the improvement of the set of the burgh, with a 
 view to its being made more agreeable to the constitution of Britain, where people 
 are represented and governed by men of their own choice [Mr Mackie's Notes, p. 63]. 
 
 2 Historical Sketch of the Municipal Constitution of Edinburgh. Edinburgh, 1826; 
 p. Ivii. This sketch contains an account of the agitation for the reform of the Scottish 
 Jiurghs. Ibid. pp. xlviii-lviii, &c.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 191 
 
 ness on the above occasion," the thanks of the council were voted to the 
 society. 1 Again, on I7th February 1794, the society addressed a letter to 
 the Lord Provost, in which they requested that such of the society as were 
 entitled to retire on account of three years' service, should be permitted to 
 continue their services for another year. The magistrates and council accepted 
 the offer, and passed a unanimous vote of thanks to the constables " for their 
 conduct and alacrity in supporting the magistrates in their civil capacity, and 
 for the resolution of those who go out of office to continue to give their services 
 for preserving the public peace." 2 The effect of this was to increase the 
 
 1 Council Records, cxxii. 227. Minute Book, ii. 126. On 7th June 1792, the 
 Merchant Company laid down certain rules to check disturbances in the city, and sub- 
 scribed fifty guineas as a reward for the discovery of offenders. The thanks of the 
 magistrates and council were voted to them, on I3th June 1792, for their support and 
 assistance [Mr Mackie's Notes, p. 73, 74]. 
 
 8 Council Records, cxxii. 308. The offer of the constables had been anticipated by 
 a similar offer on the part of the society of captains. On 28th January 1794, those cap- 
 tains of the trained bands who fell to retire, as having served the usual time, intimated 
 their willingness to continue their services in their capacity of captains, to support the 
 civil power for another year. This offer, which was communicated by the society to 
 the Lord Provost, was made "in consideration of the late attempts to disturb the public 
 peace, and in testimony of their approbation of the conduct of his lordship and the 
 magistrates " [Minute Book of Captains, vol. ii., not paged]. On I4th February 1798, 
 the magistrates and council suspended the appointing of officers for the trained bands 
 of the city during the subsistence of the Royal Edinburgh Volunteers (which had 
 been raised in 1794), or the pleasure of the council [Council Records, cxxviii. 159. 
 Minute Book of Captains, vol. ii.]. In consequence, the society, approving of the 
 council's resolution, minuted an expression of their opinion, that " their duties were at 
 an end," and recorded a statement of the circumstances that had led to their dissolution. 
 Their last minute is dated 4th March 1798 [Minute Book of Captains, vol. ii.]. They 
 still, however, claimed certain rights and privileges, and one of their number having 
 been elected a constable in April 1799, they petitioned the council, not only to be 
 exempted from all service in that character, but to be allowed, on the demise or 
 removal of any of their number, to be allowed to give in a list to the council as for- 
 merly, from which the vacancies should be supplied, and the corps kept complete, in 
 the event of a future call for their services. The council, adopting the report of their 
 committee on this petition, only exempted for a period of four years from the date of 
 their respective appointments, those gentlemen who were in office when the services of 
 the corps were dispensed with, and ordered an extract of their minute to be transmitted 
 to the last captain of orange colours [Council Records, cxxx. 415]. As already noticed, 
 the practice of electing a captain of orange colours and commandant of the trained
 
 1 92 Sketch of the History of tJie 
 
 number of constables to forty persons, at which number it was afterwards 
 maintained till still further increased. It does not appear from the records 
 of the society that any election of office-bearers took place in 1 794. The dis- 
 turbed state of the city at the time probably rendered it expedient to retain 
 the services of the office-bearers of the former year. Assuming that to be the 
 fact, this is the first occasion on which any of the office-bearers held office for 
 two successive years. 
 
 On the 3 ist of May 1794, an offer was made by a "Committee of the 
 Association of Gentlemen for keeping the public peace," to place their ser- 
 vices at the disposal of the magistrates and council in the character of con- 
 stables. The offer was accepted with thanks, and it was remitted to the 
 magistrates to receive and admit as constables such persons as should be 
 named in a list to be given up by the committee. 1 Six hundred persons were 
 thereafter organised and furnished with batons as " Loyal Constables," under 
 Colonel Murray as " Preses and Commandant." * The council afterwards, 
 on 29th June 1796, appointed 8, 195. 8d. sterling to be paid to the assistant 
 secretary of the body, on account of disbursements by him. 
 
 At this time the constables also were thoroughly conservative in their sym- 
 pathies, and were quite prepared to support the magistrates and government. 
 In 1795, accordingly, they are found presenting an address to the Throne, 
 in which they expressed their sorrow and indignation at certain insults 
 which the King had received in going to and coming from parliament at the 
 opening of the session, and their hope that "parliament will adopt such 
 measures as may effectually prevent such abuses in future, and tend to the 
 suppression of every attempt to overturn the constitution of our country." 8 
 
 This was a period of great distress in Edinburgh. On the 4th of March 
 1795, says Lord Cockburn, 4 about eleven thousand persons, being probably 
 about an eighth of the population, were fed by charity in Edinburgh, and a 
 public proclamation specified the exact quantity of bread which each family 
 ought to consume. 
 
 On 22d June 1797, the whole new town, as well as the old town, was divided 
 into districts, one of which was assigned to each of the forty constables. 5 
 
 bands is still continued, and several minutes have been inserted in the minute book of 
 the captains by the gentlemen so elected subsequent to 1850. 
 
 1 Council Records, cxxii. 447. 4 Memorials of his Time, p. 72. 
 
 2 Ibid, cxxiii. 93. 5 Minute Book, ii. 148, 313-317. 
 Minute Book, ii. 135.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 193 
 
 In 1797, the society elected James Clark to be their surgeon, and he appears 
 to have held that office till his death in 1802, when Andrew Inglis was ap- 
 pointed to succeed him. No election of surgeons subsequent to 1802 is 
 recorded till 1831, when the office was re-established, and the surgeon became 
 one of the regular office-bearers of the society. 1 
 
 In obedience to a precept by the Lord Provost as Lord Lieutenant, 2 and 
 others deputy-lieutenants, of the county of the city, dated 1st August I797, 3 
 the constables took up lists of all the men within the ancient and extended 
 royalties of the city, between nineteen and twenty-three years of age, liable 
 to serve as militia-men. These lists were delivered on nth September 1797,* 
 and for the constables' services in preparing them, the council ordered a pay- 
 ment to be made to the society of ^50, yielding 253. to each member. 6 
 Similar lists were ordered on ist August I799, 7 an d were furnished on 3d 
 September thereafter. 8 ^50 were paid to them by the council for this 
 service. 9 
 
 In compliance with an order from the sheriff and magistrates, dated 24th 
 April 1798, the constables took up a list of all the aliens, foreigners, and 
 others, not natives of the country, but resident in the city and county of 
 Edinburgh. 10 On yth June in the same year, they were required by the Lord 
 Lieutenant and deputy-lieutenants of the county of the city, to prepare lists 
 of all the work horses, carts, and waggons, in Edinburgh, with the names of 
 the owners, and the number of carriages and horses belonging to each. 11 
 
 Owing to the war with France, and the deficiency of the crops in the 
 previous year, the price of provisions during the year 1800 was very high, 
 
 1 See Appendix No. I. 
 
 2 On 25th August 1794, His Majesty King George III., by a commission under the 
 great seal, appointed Thomas Elder, Lord Provost of the city, and his successors in 
 office for the time being, Lord Provosts of Edinburgh, Sheriffs and Coroners Principal 
 within the city and its liberties, to be His Majesty's Lieutenants within the city and 
 liberties, with power to raise the lieges in arms, to appoint deputy-lieutenants, &c. 
 This commission was renewed by Her present Majesty on 4th November 1837, in 
 favour of Sir James Spittal, knight, Lord Provost, and his successors in office. See 
 Precedence of Edinburgh and Dublin (Edin. 1865), pp. 84, 87. 
 
 8 Minute Book, ii. 149. * Ibid. ii. 161. 
 5 Council Records, cxxviii. 227 ; Minute Book, ii. 165. 
 
 G Minute Book, ii. 162. 7 Ibid. ii. 180-182. 8 Ibid. ii. 183. 
 
 9 Council Records, cxxxii. 131 ; Minute Book, ii. 187. 
 
 10 Minute Book, ii. 167, 168. u Ibid. ii. 172, 173. 
 
 A a
 
 194 Sketch of the Histoiy of the 
 
 and the people suffered great distress. In Edinburgh arrangements were 
 made, by means of voluntary subscriptions, for supplying the poorer classes 
 with food and fuel at reduced prices, and various means were adopted to 
 reduce the consumption of bread as much as possible. Still, however, great 
 suffering prevailed, and several "meal mobs" broke into and pillaged the 
 stores of victual dealers both in Edinburgh and Leith. In the suppression 
 of these riots in the city, the constables, along with the Royal Edinburgh 
 Volunteers, rendered important assistance, and the society's minutes, of dates 
 29th and 3oth April, and I5th May, refer to their services on this occasion. 1 
 
 On 23d May 1800, the society presented an address to the King, congratu- 
 lating him on his providential escape from assassination in Drury Lane 
 Theatre on the 1 5th of that month. 8 
 
 While the constables were thus required to exercise a supervision of the 
 morals of the community, and to perform various duties affecting more or less 
 directly the peace and good order of the city, the regular watching of the town 
 (save on two or three occasions when the trained bands were called on to 
 act) was performed by the town guard, whose services, however, the con- 
 stables were entitled to require whenever they found it necessary to do so. 3 
 The town guard consisted in 1700 of ninety sentinels, three Serjeants, three 
 corporals, and three drummers, commanded by two captain-lieutenants. 4 It 
 was subsequently increased to one hundred sentinels, at which number it is 
 stated in the Cess Assessment Books for 1701-2. One ensign appears also 
 to have been added to the company by that time. On 24th April 1702, it 
 was reduced to ninety sentinels, as from the ist of May thereafter. 5 On 
 3d February 1703, the council approved of its being still further reduced by 
 two men, 6 but on 3ist December 1703, ten sentinels were added, 7 and the 
 company remained at this strength till 3ist May 1704, when ten men were 
 disbanded. 8 On I4th July I7O4, 9 the council enacted rules for the regulation 
 
 1 Minute Book, ii. 193, 194. 
 
 * Ibid. ii. 194, 196. The council transmitted their address on 2 1st May [Council 
 Records, cxxxiii. 116] ; the Merchant Company on 6th June 1800 [Mr Mackie's 
 Notes, p. 74]. 
 
 8 See " Instructions" to Constables issued in 1728 [antea, pp. 163, 165] ; " Instruc- 
 tions" issued in 1750 [Appendix X. Article 7] ; " Instructions" issued in 1786 [Ap- 
 pendix XI. Article 5]. 
 
 4 Council Records, xxxvi. 564 ; 28th June 1700. 7 Ibid, xxxvii. 707. 
 
 fi Ibid, xxxvii. 124. 8 Ibid, xxxviii. 35. 
 
 8 Ibid, xxxvii. 407. 9 Ibid, xxxviii. 65.
 
 HigJi Constables of tlie City of Edinburgh. 195 
 
 of the guard, as well in their moral conduct as in the discharge of their 
 official duties. By the I5th article of these rules, the officer of the guard 
 was required to receive all persons committed by the magistrates, church 
 treasurer, constables, and others, and to detain them till examined and dis- 
 charged by a magistrate. 1 On i5th December 1704, nine sentinels were added 
 to the company, as from the 1st of January I7O5. 2 On 3ist October 1705, the 
 guard consisted of one hundred sentinels, but was reduced at that time to 
 ninety, as from the ist of November. 3 In anticipation of an invasion " from 
 French papists," the council, on 2ist March 1708, authorised the Lord Provost 
 to increase the company by thirty sentinels, and on the 24th of March thirty 
 more men were added, making a total of one hundred and fifty sentinels. 4 
 On 1 2th September 1708, twelve sentinels were ordered to be added, 5 but on 
 22d June 1709, these were ordered to be disbanded previous to the ist of 
 July. 6 On 22d January 1714, thirty-six sentinels were ordered to be added, 
 bringing up the company to its full complement, 7 but on the 1 5th of April 
 1715, it was appointed to be reduced to seventy-two sentinels. 8 In July 
 1715, the news of an intended invasion by the Pretender having reached the 
 council, they ordered forty sentinels to be added to the guard, making one 
 hundred and twelve in all. 9 But on nth April in the following year, the 
 company was reduced to ninety sentinels. 10 On 25th March 1719, the council 
 recommended the magistrates " to take care of the peace and safftey of this 
 cittie," and for that end authorised them to increase the town guard as they 
 might see fit. 11 On 4th November 1720, intimation of a threatened invasion 
 by Spain having reached the council, they authorised the Lord Provost to 
 make such addition to the city guard as he might consider necessary. 13 In 
 May 1722, a communication was received from the government relative to the 
 bishop of Rochester's conspiracy in favour of the Pretender, and the council, 
 on the 1 7th of that month, ordered eighteen sentinels to be added to the 
 guard, making a total of one hundred and twenty men. 13 On 26th March 
 1725, it was remitted to a committee " to consider the state of the city guard, 
 and to bring in such regulations as they shall think fit for its better establish- 
 ment in time coming." 14 The result of this remit does not appear. On joth 
 
 1 Maitland's History of Edinburgh, p. 289. a Council Records, xxxviii. 208. 
 
 3 Council Records, xxxviii. 414. 7 Ibid. xli. 329. u Ibid. xlvi. 142. 
 
 4 Ibid, xxxix. 64. 8 Ibid. xlii. 74. 12 Ibid, xlviii. 16. 
 
 5 Ibid, xxxix. 216. 9 Ibid. xlii. 125. 13 Ibid. xlix. 235. 
 
 6 Ibid, xxxix. 379. 10 Ibid, xliii. 92. " Ibid. 1. 471.
 
 196 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 July 1735, the council, considering that the disorders which had arisen in 
 the management of the guard had in a great measure been occasioned by 
 the captains not conforming themselves to the instructions and regulations 
 that were in that behalf made, appointed a committee to revise and amend 
 these instructions and rules as to them might appear necessary. 1 Rules and 
 regulations, as revised by this committee, were accordingly enacted on 6th 
 August I735- 2 On 8th September 1736, the day immediately after the Por- 
 teous mob, the council ordered two companies of the trained bands to mount 
 guard every night by turns till the apprehension of danger had ceased ; and 
 further, considering that all or most of the soldiers of the city guard were unfit 
 for service, ordered the captain-lieutenants to dismiss them after they had en- 
 listed others to take their place. 3 On I3th July 1737, a committee was appointed 
 to consider the act of parliament constituting the guard, the present state and 
 condition of the company, and the estimated expense of its maintenance for 
 the year then current. 4 Two days afterwards a committee was named to make 
 out a plan for the intended reformation of the city guard, 3 and on the 22d 
 of that month, the guard was ordered to be disbanded and a new company to 
 be raised, a company of the trained bands mounting guard by turns between 
 the disbanding of the old and the raising of the new company. A committee 
 was at the same time appointed to prepare a plan for the discipline, clothing, 
 and maintenance of the new company. 6 On the I2th of August, the council 
 resolved that one at least of the three officers to be chosen should have served 
 in the army as a commissioned officer. 7 On the I7th of August, the guard 
 was disbanded, and the trained bands mounted guard by turns. 8 The Lord 
 Provost for the time was authorised to nominate the Serjeants, corporals, and 
 drummers, and the sentinels were ordered to be raised by the lieutenants 
 under the direction of his Lordship. 9 From the accounts of cess and watch- 
 money for the years 1737-38, it appears that the new company was organised 
 on ist September 1737, on which date their pay commenced. The company 
 then consisted of three lieutenants, three Serjeants, three corporals, three 
 drummers, and seventy-five private men, and seems to have been kept at this 
 
 1 Council Records, Ivi. 69. * Ibid. Iviii. 38. 6 Ibid. Iviii. 57, 59. 
 
 2 Ibid. Ivi. 81. ' 5 Ibid. Iviii. 45. 7 Ibid. Iviii. 98. 
 8 Ibid. Ivii. 54. 
 
 8 Ibid. Iviii. 100. No reference is made to this in the minute books of the captains 
 of the trained bauds. 
 
 9 Council Records, Iviii. 106.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 197 
 
 strength till August 1745. On 3d November 1738, a committee was ap- 
 pointed to consider what rules should be observed in enlisting the guard, 
 their height, and what further regulations were necessary to make them 
 useful. 1 On 23d August 1745, as has been seen, the guard was increased 
 by thirty sentinels, 3 and was afterwards, on 2d September, raised to the full 
 complement of one hundred and twenty-six men of all ranks. 3 The extra 
 thirty-nine men thus added were retained till I4th November 1745, and their 
 cost, amounting to ^75, was paid out of the city's proper revenue. The subse- 
 quent accounts shew that the company was maintained at its former number 
 of seventy-five sentinels, down to 1780. It appears, however, from the re- 
 cords of the council, that it occasionally received extra assistance. Thus, on 
 1 8th January 1749, the council ordered sixteen men to be chosen out of the 
 most able-bodied and best recommended scavengers and lamplighters, to 
 watch the town till 1st April, under the direction of the captain of the guard. 
 These men were divided into two companies, one of which was ordered to walk 
 the streets, and the other to be in the guard-house, every alternate hour from 
 1 1 p.m. till 5 a.m. The company engaged in out of door duty was provided 
 with watch coats, lanterns, and poles, and each man was appointed to receive 
 fourpence per day in addition to his pay (of equal amount) as a scavenger, 
 the duties of which were finished at 10 a.m. 4 This patrol having proved 
 " singularly useful in preventing riots and disorders in the streets," was ap- 
 pointed to be continued during the following winter. 5 On I4th November 
 1750, the soldiers of the city guard were ordered to patrol the streets at night 
 as usual, to prevent disorders. 6 On ist November 1752, two men were 
 ordered to be hired each night as an addition to the guard, 7 and a similar 
 order was issued on 7th November 1753. In 1753, when Maitland pub- 
 lished his History of Edinburgh, the town guard consisted of seventy-five 
 private men, with three drummers, three corporals, three Serjeants, and there 
 captain-lieutenants. 9 On 27th October 1756, and again on 5th November 
 1760, two men were ordered to be hired nightly as an addition to each 
 squad of the guard during the winter season. 10 But no permanent addition 
 had been made to the force when Arnot wrote his History of Edinburgh in 
 
 1 Council Records, lix. 253. Ibid. Ixix. 145. 
 
 a Ibid. Ixv. 277. 7 Ibid. Ixx. 325. 
 
 3 Ibid. Ixv. 291. 8 Ibid. Ixxi. 333. 
 
 4 Ibid. Ixviii. 14. 9 History of Edinburgh, p. 290. 
 
 5 Ibid. Ixviii. 255, 6th December 1749. 10 Council Records, Ixxiii. 440 ; Ixxvi. 193.
 
 198 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 1788, though he says, "considering the enlarged extent of the city, and 
 the increased number of the inhabitants, it ought undoubtedly to be aug- 
 mented." 1 This, however, could not be done without the authority of par- 
 liament, as the maximum sum leviable under the act of 1690 was only ^1250 
 sterling, and the actual cost exceeded that amount, debt being incurred 
 by the magistrates in consequence. It was probably with a view to get 
 over this difficulty that, on yth February 1787, the council petitioned the 
 House of Commons for leave to introduce a bill for the purpose, ititer alia, 
 of increasing the number of the guard. 2 But nothing further seems to have 
 been done, 3 and on 8th August 1798, the council directed the sum of ^1250 
 to be imposed for the maintenance of the guard. 4 Two years later, viz., on 
 2oth November 1790, they remitted to a committee to consider the state of 
 the debt on account of the guard. The watching of the city, however, 
 continued to be discharged by the town guard till 1805, when the police act 
 was passed, to which reference will afterwards be made. 3 
 
 Notwithstanding the appointment, on i ith October 1700, of an inspector of 
 
 1 The smallness of the guard in 1783, was also the subject of complaint by Creech 
 in his letters on Edinburgh (appended to Arnot's History of Edinburgh, 4to ed. p. 
 671). "The city guai'd," he says, "consists of the same number of men as in 1763, 
 although the city is triple the extent, and the manners more loose. The High Street 
 is the. only one that can be said to be guarded. The new town to the north, and all 
 the streets to the south, with the whole suburbs, are totally unprotected." Referring 
 to their peculiarities of speech, he adds, ' ' The countiy in general has improved much 
 in the English language since 1763, but the city guard seem to preserve the purity of 
 their native Gaelic tongue, so that few of the citizens understand or are understood by 
 them. On disbanding the army, one would have imagined that a corps of good men, 
 who understood English, might have been procured." 
 
 For a description of the police of Edinburgh in 1775, see Topham's Letters from 
 Edinburgh, written in 1774 and 1775 (London, 1776), pp. 355-364. 
 
 z Council Records, cix. 124. 
 
 3 In a "New Guide to the city of Edinburgh," published in 1792, it is stated that 
 "at present the establishment consists of three officers, and about ninety men who mount 
 guard by turns. The officers have a lieutenant's pay ; the Serjeants, corporals, drum- 
 mers, and common soldiers, the same with those in the army. Their arms are the 
 same with those of the king's forces, but when called upon to quell mobs, they use 
 Lochaber axes, a part of the ancient Scottish armour now in use only among them- 
 selves." Pp. 103, 104. * Council Records, cxxix. 58. 
 
 5 See Sketch of the Town Guard, by Sir Walter Scott, in "The Heart of Mid- 
 Lothian," vol. i. chap. iii.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 199 
 
 cleansing, 1 it still remained the duty of the constables to oversee the cleansing 
 of the city, and to investigate and deal with the complaints made by the neigh- 
 bours in regard to that matter. This was expressly enjoined on them, as well 
 as on the inspector, by a proclamation of the council dated igth December 
 1701,* which renewed the order on the whole inhabitants to provide vessels 
 sufficient to contain the soil of their houses for forty-eight hours ; prohibited 
 the throwing of any refuse on the streets or closes, otherwise than as therein 
 prescribed, and under the penalties specified in the proclamation of 1695 ; di- 
 rected that no filth should be laid on the streets " on Saturday nights, and the 
 nights before the days of humiliation or thanksgiving ;" prohibited the laying 
 down or keeping of middings within the ports, or within six feet of the "good 
 town's causeyes, or of the avenues leading to the city ;" and subjected to fine 
 and imprisonment all persons who laid heaps of redd or stones on the streets, 
 courts, or closes of the town without the authority of the dean of guild and 
 his council. It at the same time required the muckmen to have the whole 
 filth removed before seven A.M. from ist March to ist September, and before 
 eight A.M. during the remainder of the year, under a penalty of ^5 scots per 
 day, to be paid by the tacksmen over and above the penalties specified in 
 their contracts. On the 24th of the same month, George Bell, merchant, was 
 elected overseer of cleansing, with a salary of 200 merks ; 3 but not having been 
 sufficiently careful in his oversight, John Russell was conjoined with him 
 on ist February 1706, and the salary of the former was divided between them. 4 
 On 4th February 1713, James Riddell was appointed overseer, and was 
 authorised to receive 6 scots yearly from the tacksman of each of the bounds ; 5 
 but this arrangement was terminated on 2oth June 1720, and the act of 
 1713 was declared null and void. 6 Riddell was succeeded by Lauchlan 
 Rattray, 7 but his appointment was recalled on loth June I743, 8 and David 
 Jackson was named his successor, burdened with an allowance to Rattray. 9 
 During this time, the removal of the filth of the city was usually entrusted to 
 tacksmen, each of whom had assigned to him a particular district, the refuse 
 from which, collected by the muckmen, he was bound, under penalties, to 
 carry without the ports before an early hour in the morning, and to lay at least 
 six ells distant from the calsays and avenues leading to the city. Occasionally, 
 however, the tacksmen did not implement the conditions of their tack, and 
 
 1 Antea, p. 144. * Ibid, xxxviii. 474. 7 Ibid. 
 
 2 Council Records, xxxvii. 10-13. 8 ^id. xli. 21. 8 Ibid. Ixiv. 12. 
 * Ibid, xxxvii. 17. 6 Ibid, xlviii. 73. 9 Ibid. Ixiv. 17.
 
 2OO Sketch of the History of the 
 
 then different courses were adopted. Sometimes, as on 3oth December 
 
 1 7O2, 1 a proclamation was issued empowering all persons to remove for their 
 own behoof, after the lapse of ten days, such muck as might be found lying 
 within six feet of the calsay and avenues of the city. Again, as on 2oth June 
 
 1704. 2 all middings found on the good town's avenues were ordered to be sold 
 by the town's servants. At other times, the tacksmen of fulzie were ordered to 
 be called before a committee of the council and dealt with. Of this last there 
 is an illustration under date 3d October I7i8, 3 proceeding apparently on the 
 report of a committee dated I3th June i/i6, 4 which set forth the fact that 
 the several tacksmen had been most remiss, and had incurred the penalties 
 specified in their bonds, and recommended that their bounds should be 
 assigned to other persons. These tacks were sometimes granted by the council 
 to persons selected by themselves, and were sometimes rouped to the highest 
 bidders ; and it behoved the constables, under their " Instructions" of I728, 5 
 to see not only that the muckmen and tacksmen respectively did their duty, 
 but that those who threw filth from their windows or doors upon the streets, 
 or who deposited dung on the streets at untimeous hours, were poinded in 
 terms of the several acts of council. But still complaints were made, and on 
 7th January 1730, a committee was appointed to consider certain proposals 
 for cleaning the town, submitted to the council by Michael Russell, or any 
 other proposals that might be offered with that object. 6 What followed on 
 this remit does not appear, but certain MS. proposals for cleaning and light- 
 ing the city in 1735, now in the possession of the Society of Antiquaries 
 of Scotland, shew that matters were then in a deplorable condition. 7 
 " There is," it is said, " a very evil practice to be observed, that some mis- 
 tresses, and those not of the lowest order, do agree and paction with their 
 servants for lower wages on this very account ; that they tell them they 
 shall be allowed to cast all their nastiness over the windows, shew them 
 how to do it, and encourage them therein." It was the object of these pro- 
 posals to put "an effectual stop to that pernitious practice," 8 and to secure 
 
 1 Council Records, xxxvii. 381. s Ibid. xlvi. 73. 5 Antea, pp. 164, 165. 
 
 2 Ibid. xl. 436. 4 Ibid, xliii. 116. 6 Council Records, lii. 452. 
 
 7 These manuscript proposals are the work, Mr D. Laing conjectures, of Mr Robert 
 Mein, who reissued his proposals in the form of a tract in 1760, and will be found 
 referred to in the text. See notice of these proposals by Mr Laing in the Proceedings 
 of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, iii. pp. 171-180. 
 
 8 It is not to be supposed that this practice, which secured for Edinburgh the un-
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 201 
 
 that "the streets, winds, closes, &c., of the city" should be kept neat and 
 clean, by employing " two men scaffingers " to serve as many houses as were 
 entered in the stent books at ,800 of yearly valued rent. These scavengers 
 it was proposed to pay "half a scots merk a day each," by a voluntary assess- 
 ment of 6d. in the pound from occupiers ; and it was proposed that the pro- 
 prietors should supply the requisite vessels and utensils for the work, which 
 vessels should remain in the house for the use of the tenants in all time coming, 
 The proposals of 1735 met with considerable support from the citizens, but it 
 does not appear that it was then attempted to carry them into effect ; and on 
 7th November 1739, a committee was again appointed to consider the subject 
 of cleansing the city. 1 Their report, which was presented on 29th August 
 I74O, 2 sets forth, "that in order to remove the many just complaints made of 
 unclean streets," the town should be divided into thirty districts, assigned to 
 the several persons therein named, subject to certain conditions which ex- 
 plain the nature of the cleaning arrangements of the period. These condi- 
 tions prescribed, (i.) That each district should be kept clean by two scavengers, 
 who should reside in the city, and be ready to assist on all occasions of fire ; 
 (2.) That each scavenger should receive ijd. for each cart load of dung re- 
 moved ; (3.) That each tacksman should pay 8s. sterling for each district to 
 the overseer of cleansing ; and (4.) That the dung should be removed out of 
 
 savoury reputation that so long attached to it, was peculiar to the capital of Scotland. 
 The height of the houses in Edinburgh, each storey occupied by a separate family, no 
 doubt increased the temptation to adopt ejection by the window or " shot " as the most 
 expeditious and least troublesome mode of getting quit of offensive matter ; but there 
 is reason to believe that a similar practice prevailed in most of the large towns of 
 Europe. In his ' ' Reekiana ; or, Minor Antiquities of Edinburgh, " Dr Chambers 
 gives a translation of a chapter in a book of general criminal law, printed at Antwerp 
 in 1570, under the title of " Praxis Rerum Criminalium," in which the author, 
 Jodocus Damhouderius, lays down the law "concerning damage by things thrown 
 out of houses." The chapter, Mr Chambers remarks, is headed by an illustrative 
 woodcut, representing a gentleman tapping at a door upon the street, while a woman 
 above is emptying a large vessel, the contents of which hit him right between the 
 shoulders [pp. 48-52]. What was thus made the subject of a chapter in a law treatise 
 was doubtless a matter of frequent occurrence. An order in the Liber Albus, that no 
 one ' ' shall throw water, or other thing from the windows, but shall carry the same 
 nto the streets," indicates that the practice was known in London during the thirteenth 
 and fourteenth centuries [Munimenta Gildhallae Londonienses, iii. 229]. 
 1 Council Records, Ix. 204. y Ibid. Ixi. 80. 
 
 B b
 
 2O2 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 town every morning at 4 A.M. from 1st April to ist September, and at 7 A.M. 
 from ist September to ist April, under a penalty. On the 24th of December 
 in the same year, however, these bounds were found to be too small, and a new 
 division into twenty-four quarters was substituted ; it was put in the option of 
 the scavengers or rakers to receive i^d. a cart, 4d. a day, or 2od. a week ; and 
 the tack duty payable for each district was increased from 8s. to los. a year. 1 
 Despite the repeated prohibitions, to which reference has already been 
 made, against throwing filth on the streets, the practice continued, and was 
 made the subject of many acts and proclamations of council. In parti- 
 cular, an act dated 6th January 1714 renewed the order for all families to 
 have vessels to contain their soil for at least forty-eight hours ; prohibited the 
 throwing out of filth on the streets under stringent penalties, of which one 
 half was appointed to be paid to the discoverer, and the other half to the 
 common charge ; gave the masters of families relief as against their servants, 
 who for a second fault were ordered to be pilloried, and for a third offence 
 were appointed to be whipped by the hangman, and banished from the city ; 
 ordained all filth to be brought to the streets between ten P.M. and eight A.M. 
 from ist September to ist March, and between eleven P.M. and six A.M. from 
 ist March to ist September; prohibited any filth from being laid on the 
 streets upon Saturday evening, or at any time of the Sabbath day ; and dis- 
 charged all stablers from keeping their dung upon the High Street longer 
 than twenty-four hours. 2 Still, however, as has been seen, the throwing of 
 filth from the windows remained common ; and on 6th February 1745, a com- 
 mittee was appointed to consider and report as to what measures could be 
 adopted to suppress the practice. 8 This committee appear to have conferred 
 with a committee of the Lords of Session on the subject ; and on I2th July 
 1745, tne Lord Provost reported, as the result of the conference, that the 
 Lords approved highly of the proposals submitted to them by the committee 
 of the council, but suggested some points for the consideration of the council. 
 The remit to the committee was accordingly renewed, and, on their report, 
 the council, on I4th August 1745, passed an act in which they appointed their 
 act of 6th January 1714 to be stringently enforced, and ordained the constables 
 in their several bounds to be aiding and assisting in putting the same to execu- 
 tion. 4 So matters continued till February 1747, when some difficulty seems to 
 
 1 Council Records, Ixi. 195. z Ibid. Ixv. 262. 8 Ibid. Ixv. 118. 
 
 4 Ibid. Ixv. 262. Of a stranger's experiences of Edinburgh about this time, there 
 
 is an account in a work entitled, " Letters from the North of Scotland," first published
 
 Higk Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 203 
 
 have been experienced in getting the fulzie of the city let on such favourable 
 terms as formerly. 1 On lith March 1747, accordingly, the town was again 
 divided into thirty districts, one-third of which was ordered to be let for one 
 year, one-third for two years, and one-third for three years. 2 On 1st June 
 
 1748, however, the council resolved to let the streets be cleaned by any persons 
 who would find security to do so once a day, at such hours as might be 
 appointed by the Magistrates. This resolution was adopted on the con- 
 sideration, that the city fulzie had been sundry times advertised to be let 
 in tack ; that no bidders had appeared to give any valuable consideration 
 therefor ; and that the streets, wynds, and closes were very much encum- 
 bered with dung and nastiness. Arrangements were afterwards made with 
 farmers in the neighbourhood, who undertook to clean the streets ; 3 and 
 a tack was entered into with them on 2Oth July 1748 for three years after 
 Lammas ; 4 but still complaints appear to have been made, and on 26th Octo- 
 ber a committee was appointed to consider the contract with the farmers, and 
 to see the same strictly performed, " so as the streets be regularly cleaned, 
 and all after complaints on that head be fully removed." 5 On i8th January 
 
 1749, the committee were authorised to concert measures with the farmers 
 
 in 1754, and reprinted with notes in 1815. Having been invited to sup in a tavern, 
 the writer says : ' ' We supped very plentifully, and drank good French claret, and were 
 very merry till the clock struck ten, the hour when every body is at liberty, by beat of 
 drum, to throw their filth out at the windows. Then the company began to light pieces of 
 paper, and throw them upon the table, to smoke the room, and, as I thought, to raise 
 one bad smell with another. Being in my retreat to pass through a narrow wynd or alley 
 to go to my new lodgings, a guide was assigned to me, who went before me to prevent 
 any disgrace, crying all the way, ' Haud your haunde ! ' The throwing up of a sash, 
 or otherwise opening a window, made me tremble ; while behind and before me, at 
 some little distance, fell the terrible shower. Well, I escaped all danger, and arrived, 
 not only safe and sound, but sweet and clean, at my new quarters ; but when I was in 
 bed, I was forced to hide my head between the sheets, for the smell of the filth thrown 
 out by the neighbours at the back of the house came pouring into the room to such a 
 degree, I was almost poisoned with the stench. " He then proceeds to say that, setting 
 himself to consider of this great annoyance, he found it remediless, owing to the pecu- 
 liar character of the houses. He repudiates the charge made by some "maliciously, 
 or at best inconsiderately," that this evil proceeded from " a love of nastiness, and not 
 necessity ;" and adds, " that the main street is cleaned by scavengers every morning 
 early, except Sunday, which therefore is the most uncleanly day." 
 
 1 Council Records, Ixvi. 83. 3 Ibid. Ixvii. 205. 5 Ibid. Ixvii. 297. 
 
 2 Ibid. Ixvi. no. 4 Ibid. Ixvii 221-
 
 204 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 relative to cleaning the streets, and for a settlement of the arrears due by 
 them, for which proceedings were in dependence. 1 On i2th July I749, 3 the 
 council, on a petition from sundry of the inhabitants complaining of the in- 
 conveniences to which they and the whole neighbourhood were liable by the 
 scavengers and others emptying foul water and filth on the streets, &c., at 
 unseasonable hours, and the report of the committee to which the petition 
 had been remitted, prohibited filth to be laid on the streets after six A.M. and 
 before nine P.M. from ist May to ist August ; nor after seven A.M. and before 
 eight P.M. during August, September, March, and April-; nor after eight A.M. 
 and before eight P.M. during October, November, December, January, and 
 February ; nor upon any Saturday except before the hours in the morning 
 before mentioned, all under the penalty of 55. sterling. In the " Instructions " 
 to the constables, issued on 23d May 1750, they were again required to see to 
 the sufficiency of the muckmen, and that the tacksmen removed the fulzie in 
 due time, conform to the orders of council. They were also charged with the 
 enforcement of the laws against throwing filth on the streets. 3 The tacks with 
 the farmers having expired at Lammas 1751, they petitioned the council to have 
 them renewed ; and their petition having been considered by a committee, it 
 was agreed on nth September 1751, that though the tacksmen had not 
 implemented the conditions of their tack, "yet as that was in a great measure 
 owing to the negligence and sloth of their servants and of the overseers kept 
 by the tacksmen, and as these gentlemen had engaged to keep two overseers 
 in place of one, and that the council should be at liberty to name any person 
 they pleased as one of these overseers, to whom they agreed to give an 
 allowance of 16 sterling per annum, the tack should be renewed for one 
 year after Martinmas next on the former terms." 4 In December 1752, it 
 was reported to the council " that not only the High Street, but all the other 
 streets and closes within the city have been for some months past so intolera- 
 bly dirty as to be almost impassable, and had occasioned one universal com- 
 plaint from the whole inhabitants, especially people of character, and that 
 this no doubt arose from the negligence of the scavengers or others employed 
 in raking ; yet the fault was more immediately chargeable upon those who 
 had the oversight and direction of them, as it is their peculiar business to 
 keep them to their duty, or complain when their orders are not obeyed." And 
 as the tacks to the farmers had expired, it was suggested that the overseer to 
 
 1 Council Records, Ixviii. 17. 3 Appendix No. X. Art. 9. 
 
 8 Ibid. Ixviii. 134. 4 Council Records, Ixix. 364.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 205 
 
 be thereafter appointed should be named by the council, and be subject to 
 them, receiving such salary, payable by the tacksmen, as the council might 
 think reasonable. This matter was accordingly remitted to a committee, on 
 whose report the council, on I3th December 1752, resolved, (i.) That the filthy 
 state of the streets, wynds, and closes, for months past arose from the negli- 
 gence and inactivity of the overseers, and the insufficient number of the 
 scavengers or " rakers." (2.) That the town should be divided into twenty-eight 
 bounds, as previous to the tacks to the farmers. (3.) That an overseer should 
 be appointed by the council to traverse the different bounds from the time 
 when the rakers began work till the hour appointed for carrying off the dung. 
 (4.) That the overseer should have power to appoint such number of rakers for 
 each of the bounds as he thought necessary, and to dismiss them when they 
 disobeyed his orders ; and that he should be answerable to the Magistrates for 
 any complaints that might be made as to the imperfect cleaning of the streets. 
 (5.) That he should make a daily report to the Magistrates of his own dili- 
 gence, and the diligence or neglect of the several tacksmen and rakers in 
 each of the bounds. (6.) That the tacksmen should, under a penalty, remove 
 all dung from the bounds from 1st March to ist September before ; 
 
 and from ist September till ist March before ; for which penalty the 
 
 overseer should be entitled to seize and detain the tacksman, horse, and cart, 
 the first time they came to remove the dung. (7.) That, further, the overseer 
 should be at liberty to dispose of what dung might remain after the hours 
 appointed for its removal, to whomsoever he should think proper. (8.) That 
 every Saturday morning the tacksmen should pay to the overseer the wages 
 of the rakers for the preceding week, and the salary of the overseer quarterly, 
 or when the council might appoint. And (9.) That the tacksmen and overseer 
 should submit themselves to any regulation or alteration which the council 
 might think necessary in the execution of this plan. 1 At this time Robert 
 Mein held the appointment of overseer of the rakers, but his appointment 
 was cancelled, and Yaaly Davidson, formerly stabler and innkeeper, Cow- 
 gate, was appointed to succeed him. At the same time the dung was or- 
 dered to be rouped, subject to the conditions above expressed. 2 An attempt 
 was thereafter made to roup the city's dung, but the result does not appear, 
 though in all probability the farmers were continued in their tack for another 
 year. On 2Qth August 1753, John Douglas, armourer, burgess, was appointed 
 overseer of the streets, at a salary of ^36 ; 3 and in December 1753, another 
 
 1 Council Records, Ixx. 357. 2 Ibid. Ixx. 360. * Ibid. Ixxi. 240.
 
 206 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 attempt was made to roup the dung, but without success, for on the 26th of 
 that month the roup was adjourned till January I7S4. 1 In December I754, 3 
 a memorial was given in by the tacksmen, in which they proposed that, in- 
 stead of the former system of employing rakers who were only engaged a few 
 hours each morning, twenty-four rakers, or such additional number as might 
 be found necessary, should be employed for thoroughly cleaning the streets ; 
 that these should begin early in the morning, leaving off about nine A.M. in 
 summer, and ten A.M. in winter, beginning again at three P.M. in winter, and 
 five P.M. in summer, and continuing so long as they had anything to do in 
 their respective bounds ; that the fulzie collected by them should be deposited 
 where least offensive ; that the rakers should be paid at the rate of 8d. per 
 day, and should not undertake any other business ; that the overseer should 
 make a daily report to the magistrates as to how the rakers had done their 
 duty, certifying the names of those who had been negligent ; that he should 
 also report whether the tacksmen had carried off the dung, and that the 
 tacksman so failing one day might be cut off and another appointed. The 
 council having considered this memorial on nth December, granted the far- 
 mers a tack for one year from the preceding Martinmas, and thereafter during 
 the council's pleasure, subject to the conditions noticed above, and subject 
 to the further conditions that the farmers should consign ,1 6 in the hands 
 of the youngest bailie, to be applied for carrying off the dung when they 
 neglected to do so. 
 
 In 1758, the farmers, who were still tacksmen of the dung, under the re- 
 gulations of 1 3th December 1752, made a representation to the council, setting 
 forth that, in terms of that act, they had given an additional allowance to 
 thirty-three rakers at a groat each per week, but that the effect of this arrange- 
 ment had been prejudicial to them, inasmuch as they had not got a cartful of 
 more dung than formerly. They therefore asked permission to give this 
 increased allowance to an additional overseer to be named by them, who 
 would keep the rakers more closely to their duties. This representation 
 having been remitted to a committee, the council, on their report, allowed 
 the tacksmen to name an additional overseer of their own, to remain during 
 the council's pleasure. 3 
 
 1 Council Records, Ixxi. 380. On 6th November 1754, an act of council was issued 
 against stablers and others keeping swine or goats, or any species of them [Ibid. 
 Ixxii. 268]. 
 
 2 Ibid. Ixxii. 295. 3 Ibid. Ixxiv. 55 ; i6th February 1757.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 207 
 
 On 6th December 1758, the city was divided into twenty districts for the 
 purposes of cleaning. 1 As thus divided, the dung was exposed to roup, and 
 set in tack to various persons on 3ist January 1759.* On 7th February 1759," 
 an act of council was passed for keeping the streets clean. That act sets forth 
 that the magistrates, " being sensible of the many complaints that the unclean- 
 liness of the streets of this city have but too justly occasioned, and being fully 
 determined to use their outmost endeavours to wipe off a reproach under which 
 this metropolis has so long laboured, had unanimously agreed and resolved " 
 to make various regulations to effect that object. Then follow a series of re- 
 gulations for keeping common stairs clean ; for cleaning the pavements and 
 gutters opposite the several tenements ; regulating the time for laying down 
 filth on the streets ; prohibiting the shaking of carpets over windows or in 
 common stairs ; the riddling of ashes out of doors ; the use of timber water 
 spouts for conveying nuisances from houses ; the throwing of filth out of 
 doors or windows, &c. It is noticeable that while this act, of which four 
 thousand copies were appointed to be printed and circulated, contains a re- 
 commendation to the magistrates to allot one day in every week for inquiring 
 into, and punishing, all trespasses committed against it ; requires the town's 
 officers, guard-soldiers, and rakers to enforce its provisions, and appeals to 
 all the inhabitants to " cheerfully concur in a measure so much for the public 
 good ;" it does not impose any duty upon the constables. 
 
 In 1760, Robert Mein reissued his proposals in the form of a printed 
 tract, entitled, " The city cleaned and improved. By following out this 
 proposed method, for paying only one penny per week for an 8 rent, 
 &c. Edinburgh, 1760."* These proposals seem to have met with consi- 
 derable support, and porters were employed to carry away the fulzie from 
 the houses of those who subscribed to the scheme. Mein was indefatigable 
 in his exertions. A thousand copies of his proposals were printed and 
 circulated among the citizens, and he appears to have gone from house to 
 house advocating the general adoption of his scheme. Thereafter he peti- 
 tioned the council to give it their support and recommendation, and also to 
 contribute something towards the expense to which he had been put. This 
 petition was remitted to a committee, on whose report 6 were ordered to be 
 paid to him on 4th March I76i. 5 At the same time he was recommended to 
 
 1 Council Records, Ixxv. 114. * Ibid. Ixxv. 181. 3 Ibid. Ixxv. 192. 
 
 * Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, iii. 1 79. 
 5 Council Records, Ixxvi. 248.
 
 208 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 endeavour to get the whole families within one district to subscribe, so as to 
 give the scheme a fair trial. In this he succeeded, and on 3d June 1761 the 
 council, on the report of their committee, authorised ^3 to be paid to Mein, 
 to purchase the utensils requisite for the cleaning of the district from the 
 Castlehill to the head of Forrester's Wynd, in which the experiment was to be 
 made. It was also agreed that he should receive a small weekly allowance 
 to superintend the work. 1 Subsequently, on his application, a further sum of 
 ^2, 8s. was ordered to be paid him on account of utensils purchased by him * 
 and Bailie Hutton was ordered to see the plan put into execution ; but it was 
 at the same time resolved that no more money should be paid to Mein in con- 
 nection with it. 3 While the attempt was thus being made to work out Mein's 
 proposals in one of the bounds, the others were let out from time to time by 
 public roup or private bargain, not, however, without complaints as to the in- 
 efficiency of the cleaning arrangements. Thus, on I2th October 1763, it was 
 remitted to a committee to consider the act of council of 7th February 1759, and 
 to make such alterations thereon as were considered proper. On I2th August 
 1767, again, the council, on a petition by Mungo Ponton and others, tacks- 
 men of the city's fulzie, setting forth the inconveniences of the mode of collect- 
 ing dung, and suggesting a new method for doing so, allowed them to make 
 trial of the plan proposed by them. 4 This petition complained that the system 
 of collecting fulzie from the closes and vennels, and laying it on the streets in 
 small quantities, was most inconvenient, inasmuch as the dung so collected was 
 soon scattered, and the streets were thus dirtied and rendered offensive. To 
 remedy this, it was proposed, by way of experiment, that eight or nine troughs 
 or boxes should be set down in the evening at particular places, and allowed 
 to remain till the morning, for the reception of the fulzie collected by the sca- 
 vengers ; that the carters of the tacksmen should then clean out these boxes ; 
 and that, after being emptied, the boxes should be put away till next evening. 
 On loth January 1770, a committee of the council reported that all the pre- 
 vious methods had proved insufficient, 5 and they suggested that instead of 
 having thirty scavengers employed during the morning only, twenty should 
 be permanently engaged, not only to clean the streets with rake and besom in 
 
 1 Council Records, Ixxvi. 305. " Ibid. Ixxvii. 29; 25th November 1761. 
 
 3 Ibid Ixxvii. 30. This active and public-spirited citizen died at Edinburgh on the 
 25th of July 1776, aged 93. See notice of him by Dr Laing in Proceedings of Society 
 of Antiquaries of Scotland, iii. 178-180. 
 
 Council Records, Ixxix. 120. 6 Ibid. Ixxxiii. 139.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 209 
 
 the morning, but to gather into suitable places all the occasional filth that 
 might be deposited during the day ; that the wages of the thirty scavengers 
 should be paid to the twenty proposed to be retained, and that they should 
 receive 55. per week certain, besides a share of the fines exacted from trans- 
 gressors ; that they should undertake no other business, and that the overseer 
 should see to the efficient performance of their duties. It was also suggested 
 that if any of the tacksmen failed to remove the dung by the hour specified 
 in his contract, the treasurer of the charity workhouse should send the carts 
 belonging to that establishment to remove it for the benefit of the institution. 
 It was further recommended, that the riddling of ashes should be strictly pro- 
 hibited ; that the scavengers should clean the pavements and gutters on both 
 sides of the streets every Sabbath morning ; that the possessors of shops 
 from the Exchange to the entry to the New Bridge should keep the pavements 
 and gutters on both sides of the streets clean ; and that the youngest bailie 
 and his committee should set apart an hour every week for hearing complaints. 
 The other suggestions in the report, as to keeping common stairs clean, pre- 
 venting the laying of stones and rubbish on the streets, &c., are very similar to 
 the provisions of the act of February 1759. This report was approved of, 
 and ordered to be proclaimed to the citizens ; * and on the same day 2 a letter 
 from the tacksmen of dung was submitted to the council, acquiescing in the 
 proposed change. 
 
 In 1771, a bill for the cleaning, lighting, and watching of the southern 
 suburbs, afterwards known as the "southern districts," was under the consider- 
 ation of the Lord Provost's committee, who reported that it contained nothing 
 objectionable, but that a clause reserving the rights and jurisdictions of the 
 city should be inserted. 3 This was accordingly done, and the act was passed 
 in the same year. 4 In the following year, a bill to provide for the lighting, 
 cleansing, and watching of the Canongate, Pleasance, and Leith Wynd, was 
 carried through Parliament. 5 This act also contains a reservation of the 
 rights of the city. 
 
 In 1774, the tacksmen are found complaining that the new method of 
 collecting the fulzie, introduced by the council's act of loth January 1770, had 
 occasioned them loss. Their complaint was remitted to a committee of the 
 council, who, after a meeting with them, reported, on 1 7th August 1 774, that the 
 scavengers employed under that act had not constant employment ; and that the 
 
 1 Council Records, Ixxxvi. 95. * Ibid. Ixxxviii. 17. 5 12 George III. c. 15. 
 
 1 Ibid. Ixxxvi. loo. * 1 1 George III. c. 36. 
 
 C c
 
 2 io Sketch of the History of the 
 
 cleaning of the city would be as well effected, and the dung better collected, 
 under the following arrangement, viz. : (i.) That the scavengers should be em- 
 ployed from four to nine A.M. during the period from 1st March till ist Octo- 
 ber, and from six till eleven A.M. for the period from ist October to ist March. 
 (2.) That the tacksmen should remove the fulzie collected by the scavengers 
 before nine A.M. during the first six months, and before eleven A.M. during 
 the remaining six months. (3.) That four out of the twenty scavengers 
 should be employed during the remainder of the day in cleaning the streets, 
 and sweeping the pavements and gutters on both sides of the street. (4.) 
 That these four scavengers should be paid 53. per week, and the remaining 
 sixteen 2s. 6d. per week, the overseer previously certifying weekly that they 
 had severally performed their duties ; and (5.) That on the death of one of 
 the two then existing overseers, only one should be continued, at a salary of 
 ^25 per annum. These recommendations, it appeared, would effect an annual 
 saving of .104 sterling, and as the minute bears that this saving was an "object 
 of great importance," they were approved of, and ordered to be carried into 
 effect. 1 On i5th February I77S, 2 the council passed an act whereby they 
 superannuated Douglas, one of the overseers, and required Cleghorn, the other 
 overseer, to reside within the town, so that he might superintend the rakers. 
 At the same time, finding that the four rakers employed during the whole day 
 to clean the streets were too few, they resolved to increase them to eight 
 from ist November to ist April in each year, paying six of them a wage of 55. 
 each weekly, and two, who were to oversee the others, eight shillings per week. 
 During the period from ist April to ist November, it was resolved to employ 
 six rakers, four at 55., and two, as assistant overseers, at 6s. per week. These 
 assistant overseers were directed to report to the youngest bailie every week 
 as to how the rakers had done their duty ; and with a view to encourage 
 those rakers who were only employed in the morning at a wage of 2s. 6d. per 
 week, it was resolved that when a vacancy among the porters occurred, it 
 should be supplied from among those rakers who were most highly recom- 
 mended as having done their duty in that capacity. 3 On gth April 1777,* the 
 
 1 Council Records, xci. 295. a Ibid. xcii. 161. * Ibid. xcv. 87. 
 
 8 It may be presumed that the description of Edinburgh by Mrs Winifred Jenkins, in 
 "Humphrey Clinker," published in 1771, applies to the state of matters previous to 
 Smollet's last visit to Scotland in 1766. Announcing her arrival "at Haddingborough, 
 among the Scots," Mrs Jenkins proceeds, "They should not go for to impose upon 
 foreigners : for the bills in their houses say they have different easements to let ; and,
 
 High Constables of tJie City of Edinburgh. 211 
 
 council passed an act for keeping the streets clean, and for preventing nui- 
 sances ; this act was very similar in its provisions, though more minute in 
 its details, than several of the acts already referred to ; and every " town 
 officer, town guard soldier, porter, or scavenger," was required, under pain 
 of dismissal from the town's service, to report to the magistrates at the 
 council chamber, within twenty-four hours, any offence committed against 
 it which might come to his knowledge. The following passage in the act 
 indicates the difficulty which the authorities had in enforcing compliance 
 with their requirements, especially on the part of servants : 
 
 "As by experience it is found, that the prosecuting and convicting of servants has 
 not answered the intention of former regulations upon this subject, the procurator-fiscal 
 is hereby enjoined henceforward to cite the possessors, that is, the master or mistress 
 of the family ; and it is recommended to the magistrates to proceed with perseverance 
 and vigour ; and in questions between masters and servants, to sustain the servants 
 having been guilty of transgressing this act while in their service, as a sufficient ground 
 for dismissing such servant." 
 
 behold there is nurro yeaks in the whole kingdom, nor anything for pore servants but 
 a barrel with a pair of tongs thrown across ; and all the chairs in the family are 
 emptied into this here barrel once a day, and at ten o'clock at night the whole cargo 
 is flung out at a back window, that looks into some street or lane, and the maid calls 
 Gardy loo to the passengers, which signifies ' Lord have mercy upon you ! ' and this is 
 done in every house in Haddingborough ; so you may guess, Mary Jones, what a sweet 
 savour comes from such a number of perfuming pans. But they say it is wholesome, 
 and I truly believe it is ; for being in the vapours, and thinking of Isabel and Mr 
 Clinker, I was going into a fit of asteriks, when this sifT, saving your presence, took 
 me by the nose so powerfully, that I sneezed three times, and found myself wonder- 
 fully refreshed ; and this, to be sure, is the reason why there are no fits in Hadding- 
 borough." Some years later, however, a more favourable account of the condition of 
 the city is given by an English visitor, Captain Topham, who, in his "Letters from 
 Edinburgh written in the year 1774-1775" [London 1776, pp. 14, 15], thus speaks: 
 ' ' This town has long been reproached with many uncleanly customs. A gentleman, 
 who lately published his travels through Spain, says [Twisse's Travels, p. 140] ' that 
 Madrid some years ago might have vied with Edinburgh in filthiness. ' It may pro- 
 bably be some pleasure to this author, and to those who read him, to learn that his 
 remarks are now very erroneous. But if a stranger may be allowed to complain, it 
 would be that in these wynds, which are very numerous, the dirt is sometimes suffered 
 to remain two or three days without removal, and becomes offensive to more senses than 
 one. The magistrates, by imposing fines and other punishments, have long put a stop 
 to the throwing anything from the windows into the street ; but as these allies [alleys] 
 are unlighted, narrow, and removed from public view, they still continue these prac-
 
 2 1 2 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 In the following clause of the act, which refers to the constables, they are 
 invested with a semi-judicial character : 
 
 "Persons easing themselves in stairs or in closes, wynds, courts, or squares, to be 
 carried to the next constable, who is hereby empowered to confine them to the city 
 guard for four hours, unless the offender instantly pay sixpence sterling, which shall 
 belong to the person who first makes the challenge," 
 
 On 7th May 1783,* the council fixed the cleaning establishment as under : 
 From ist April to ist October, eight rakers employed all day at 55. each per 
 week, ten men employed half a day at 2s. 6d. per week, and an overseer at 
 6s. per week, making the total weekly cost of the staff during summer, ^3, us. 
 From ist October to ist April, twelve rakers employed all day, at 53. per 
 week, ten half day's men at 2s. 6d. per week, and an overseer at 6s. per week ; 
 the total weekly cost of the winter staff being 4, us. They farther directed 
 that the half day's men should continue their work till 9 A.M. On 3d of Sep- 
 tember in the same year, the council, on an application by the tacksman, 
 complaining of the way in which the dung was collected, agreed to the 
 appointment of James Baird as joint-overseer of cleaning with Andrew 
 
 tices with impunity. Many an elegant suit of clothes has been spoiled ; many a pow- 
 dered, well-dressed maccaroni sent home for the evening : and to conclude this 
 period in Dr Johnson's own simple words, ' Many a full-flowing perriwig moistened 
 into flaecidity' [Vide "Idler"]. Such particulars, however, as these scarce merit 
 observation : they are circumstances resulting from the peculiar inconveniency of the 
 buildings, and not from the natural disposition of the Scotch, who love cleanliness 
 and practise it. They lament the impropriety of these customs, and join in the laugh 
 at the accidents they occasion." Further on the same author remarks [Ibid. pp. 151, 
 152.], "I am informed that Edinburgh is greatly improved in this respect [cleanliness] 
 within a few years, occasioned by the diligence and management of the Police ; which 
 set an example, by being particularly careful of the cleanness of the streets, into 
 which, as a common sewer, all the nuisances of the houses are emptied at a stated time 
 in the night, on the ringing of a bell, and immediately removed by persons appointed 
 for that purpose ; and at the same time the reservoirs being set open, which are 
 placed at certain intervals in the streets, carry everything away ; so that in the morn- 
 ing the streets are so clean, that foot-passengers walk in the middle of them. It is 
 likewise a severe penalty to throw anything out of the windows. But I cannot help 
 observing the intolerable stench that is produced at this season of the night, on the 
 moving the tub of nastiness from each floor : such a concatenation of smells I never 
 before was sensible of ; it has been sometimes so powerful as to wake me, and prevent 
 my sleeping till it was somewhat pacified." 
 1 Council Records, civ. 21.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 2 1 3 
 
 Beatson, Beatson retaining ^20 of his salary, and Baird receiving the other 
 ;5, with 6s. per week, being the wage allowed the assistant overseer. 1 On 
 2Oth October 1783, one of the half day's men was discontinued, and an addi- 
 tional whole day's man was added to the rakers. 2 Subsequently, on I2th 
 April 1786, the allocation of salaries was changed, Baird receiving ,15, and 
 Beatson ^10 yearly. 3 
 
 On 3oth August 1786, the council passed several regulations relative 
 to the cleaning of the streets in the new extended royalty. By these the 
 royalty was portioned out into five divisions, the dung of which was let for 
 one year, and a licence and ticket issued for each division separately. The 
 licence and ticket, which were not transferable, entitled the holder to send 
 carts to the respective divisions for the removal of the fulzie therein, in 
 summer, from six to eight A.M., and from nine to eleven P.M. on Saturday 
 nights ; and in winter from seven to nine A.M., and from seven to nine P.M. 
 on Saturday nights. The carters were ordered to summon servants by 
 ringing bells, and to empty the utensils into the carts ; and it was declared 
 that the proprietor of any cart found collecting dung at other hours, or whose 
 carters were guilty of any contravention of the regulations, should forfeit his 
 licence for a month on the first offence, and be deprived of it altogether 
 for a second offence. Any servant contravening the council's act of Qth April 
 1777, or these regulations, was appointed to be subject to the penalties in that 
 act. 4 On 1st November 1786, the above regulations were ordered to be en- 
 forced from and after the nth of that month, with this exception, that the 
 carts were not to go round on Saturday nights. All fulzie therefore behoved 
 to be either given to the carters on Saturday morning, or retained till Monday 
 morning. 3 On 7th January 1795, Robert Denham was appointed overseer of 
 the streets "vice Baird, deceased. 8 
 
 Such were the regulations under which the cleaning of the city was carried 
 on, and the records of the council contain, in almost a consecutive series, 
 from 1762 till the appointment of the Police Commission in 1805, abstracts 
 of the accounts for dung during these years. It appears that the tacksmen, 
 at the passing of that act, had paid a grassum to the town for their leases, 
 for on the 3d of July 1805, the city chamberlain was directed to pay a pro- 
 portion of these grassums to the police commissioners. 7 
 
 1 Council Records, civ. 74. 4 Ibid, cviii. 186-188. 6 Ibid, cxxiii. 257. 
 
 2 Ibid. civ. 268. 6 Ibid, cviii. 281. 7 Ibid, cxlii. 125. 
 
 3 Ibid. cvii. 281.
 
 214 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 1801-1865. 
 
 Elections of Constables. Regulations by the Town Council as to the constitution and 
 management of the Society. Question as to the relation of the Society to the 
 ordinary Police. Society authorised to assume the distinctive title of "High 
 Constables." Alterations in its numbers. Disputes with the Town Council. 
 Rules enacted by the Society for its internal administration, and questions in con- 
 nection therewith. Miscellaneous duties ; keeping the peace ; collisions with the 
 military authorities in the discharge of that duty ; attending magistrates at public 
 ceremonials ; preparation of parliamentary returns, jury lists, and lists of persons 
 liable to serve as militia men. Philanthropic services. " High Constables' 
 Volunteer Company." Questions of Precedency with other Local Bodies. Loyal 
 Addresses. Festive Meetings. Annual Excursions, &c. Insignia. General 
 Observations, &c. 
 
 [JOTWITHSTANDING the discouragement given by the society 
 in 1792 to the practice of constables remaining in office beyond 
 three years, 1 it is noticeable that of the forty members who were 
 on the roll in 1800, there were, one member who had held office 
 for eight years, two for five years, one for four years, and sixteen 
 for three years ; and in the roll of the following year, one member had held 
 office for nine years, two for six years, one for five years, six for four years, 
 and ten for three years. This shews that the triennial rotation, established 
 merely by use and wont, was not in rigorous observance at this period. Those 
 constables who wished to remain in the society beyond three years appear to 
 have done so, and elections were made from time to time to supply the vacan- 
 cies occasioned by the retirement of those who chose to leave. An explanation 
 
 1 An tea, p. 189.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 2 1 5 
 
 is thus afforded of the differences in the number of those who from time to 
 time were appointed constables at the usual period of the annual elections. 
 Thus, eight constables were elected on 26th March iSoo, 1 eleven on i8th 
 March i8oi, a and twelve on 3ist March 1802.* 
 
 Owing to the extension of the city, and the increase of the duties devolved 
 upon the constables, their office became so burdensome, that in 1802 the 
 society found it necessary to apply to the magistrates and council, either to 
 increase the number of constables by not less than twenty persons, or to order 
 " twenty pay constables" to be placed under the directions of the society, 
 in taking up the militia lists, and other similar duty. In consequence of this 
 application, the council, on ist December 1802, 
 
 " agreed that an additional number of constables shall be appointed, and that the 
 society of constables shall be directed to give in lists of persons for having any number 
 they think necessary, not exceeding twenty additional constables, during the pleasure 
 of the council." 4 
 
 A leet containing the names of twenty persons was accordingly given in to 
 the council on 26th January 1803, and on the following day the persons so 
 recommended were elected constables. 5 The council at the same time autho- 
 rised Bailie Hill and the moderator to settle the divisions of the several dis- 
 tricts. The ancient and extended royalties of the city 6 were accordingly, on 
 ist June 1803, divided into sixty districts, with a view to each of the con- 
 stables having one district. 7 
 
 1 Council Records, cxxxii. 452. a Ibid, cxxxv. 82. 
 
 3 Ibid, cxxxvi. 374. Among the persons elected at this time were, Mr William 
 Trotter, upholsterer, and Mr Kincaid Mackenzie, merchant, both afterwards Lord 
 Provosts of the city. 
 
 Mr Trotter was elected moderator on 7th April 1806 [Minute Book, iii. 15], and re- 
 tired in April 1807. 
 
 Mr Mackenzie was elected treasurer on 7th April 1806 [Minute Book, iii. 15], and 
 moderator on 6th April 1807 [Ibid. iii. 27], He retired in April 1808. 
 
 4 Council Records, cxxxvii. 353 ; Minute Book, ii. 231. 
 
 5 Council Records, cxxxviii. 26 ; Minute Book, ii. 233. Alexander Henderson, 
 seedsman, afterwards Lord Provost of the city, [see Anderson's History of Edinburgh, 
 p. 391 ; Mr Mackie's Notes as to the Merchant Company of Edinburgh, p. 84] was 
 elected a constable at this time. He retired from the society on 22d April 1809. 
 
 6 See antea, p. 188, footnote 4. 
 
 7 A description of these districts is inserted in the end of the second volume of the 
 society's minutes.
 
 2 1 6 Sketch of tJie History of the 
 
 Elections of constables, to supply the places of those who retired at the 
 usual period, 1 were made on i6th March 1803, when eight constables were 
 elected. 3 In like manner, five constables were elected on 2d May i8o4, 3 
 and four were elected on 2Qth May i8o5. 4 
 
 In 1805, the position of the society and its public relations were mate- 
 rially changed. The necessity for an improved system of police had long 
 been felt, and at a public meeting of the citizens, held on 29th November 
 1802, it was unanimously resolved to apply to parliament for an act to estab- 
 lish such a system. 6 The cleaning, lighting, and watching of the southern 
 districts were provided for by the act u Geo. III. c. 36, passed in 1771, while 
 the cleaning, lighting, and watching of the Canongate, and the liberties of 
 Pleasance and Leith Wynd, were provided for by the act 12 Geo. III. c. 15, 
 passed in 1772. The lighting of the ancient and extended royalty of the city 
 was provided for in 1785, by the act 25 Geo. III. c. 28, which empowered the 
 commissioners thereby appointed, to impose an assessment, for lighting the 
 
 1 From time to time elections were made to supply vacancies occurring during the 
 year, but to these it is not considered necessary to refer except in special cases. 
 
 a Council Records, cxxxviii. 90. * Ibid, cxxxix. 442. 
 
 4 Council Records, cxliii. 19. On igth March 1806, Mr James Ballantyne, 
 "printer" [see Encyclopedia Britannica, xix. 821, 822 ; Anderson's History of Edin- 
 burgh, p. 432], was elected [Council Records, cxlv. 329 ; Minute Book, iii. 1 1]. On 
 6th April 1807, he was appointed chaplain [Minute Book, iii. 27], and on 4th April 
 1808, treasurer of the society [Ibid. iii. 46]. On 22d April 1809, he retired from the 
 society [Ibid. iii. 84]. 
 
 On 23d April 1806, Mr Archibald Constable, "bookseller" [see Encyclopedia 
 Britannica, voce " Constable ;" Chambers's Biographical Dictionary of Eminent 
 Scotchmen, voce "Constable;" Peter's Letters to his Kinsfolk, ii. 174; Anderson's 
 History of Edinburgh, p. 393], was elected [Council Records, cxlvi. 194 ; Minute 
 Book, iii. 20]. On 6th April 1807, he was elected secretary [Minute Book, iii. 27], 
 and on 4th April 1 808, moderator of the society [Ibid. iii. 46]. On 22d April 1809, he 
 retired. 
 
 6 The co-operation of the council was thereupon invited; and on 1st December 1802, 
 they appointed a committee to meet with the committee of the inhabitants on the sub- 
 ject [Council Records, cxxxvii. 352]. Thereafter the council are found petitioning 
 parliament for leave to introduce a bill to improve and regulate the police of the city 
 [Ibid, cxxxviii. 37, 47, 125 ; Ibid, cxxxix. 293 ; Ibid. cxli. 242 ; Ibid, cxlii. 30] ; and 
 reference is made in their minutes to committees of merchants and traders engaged in the 
 consideration of the bill [Ibid, cxlii. 81]. The Merchant Company also appear to 
 have taken an active interest in the measure [See Mr Mackie's Notes, pp. 72-74].
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 217 
 
 streets, of two per cent, on the valued rent of all houses, shops, and tenements, 
 within the ancien t and extended royalty. The watching of the city was still per- 
 formed by the town guard, the cost of which was defrayed by a stent, leviable 
 under the act of 1690 from the burgesses liable in "watch and waird." Such 
 was the state of matters with which it was necessary to deal, and the first 
 Edinburgh Police Act, 45 Geo. III. c. 21, passed in 1805, did so. 1 It sus- 
 pended, so far as regarded watching, the acts of 1771 and 1772, and extended 
 the powers of the commissioners under the act of 1785 to cleaning as well as 
 lighting the streets of the ancient an.d extended royalty. It reduced the town 
 guard to thirty-seven men, and laid the burden of their maintenance on 
 the whole body of the inhabitants. It established a uniform system of 
 police over the whole of the city and suburbs, placing the administration 
 in the hands of general and resident commissioners, partly official and 
 partly elected by householders possessing a certain qualification. It autho- 
 rised the imposition of an assessment for the purposes of the act, extending it 
 to members of the college of justice, and it gave the commissioners power 
 to appoint a superintendent, who, besides having the control and direction 
 of the police force, and acting as public prosecutor, was also, vested with ample 
 powers as a judge of police. 2 
 
 1 For a description of the police system established by this act, see Lord Cockbum'si 
 Memorials of his time, pp. 197-200. "Nobody foresaw," says his Lordship, "and 
 least of all its authors, the indirect consequences of this police establishment. So far 
 as I am aware, it was the first example of popular election in Scotland. Aversion to be 
 taxed was overcome by allowing the people to choose the police commissioners, a 
 precedent always appealed to till the Reform Act superseded the necessity of using it. 
 The gradual extension of the police system over our towns, trained the people to ex- 
 pect and to exercise the elective privilege ; and the effect of this in exciting and organis- 
 ing public spirit was so great, that the rise of the Edinburgh establishment is one of 
 our local eras. Dr John Thomson was not extravagant when, in reference to our position, 
 he used to call it a divine institution." It is to be observed, however, that the act II 
 George III. c. 30, passed in 1771, "for cleaning and lighting the town of South Leith, 
 the territory of St Anthony's and Yardheads, thereunto adjoining, and for supplying the 
 several parts thereof with freshwater," and also the act for cleaning, lighting, and 
 watching the southern districts, obtained in the same year, both provided for the elec- 
 tion, by the ratepayers, of commissioners to carry out the provisiqns of these acts. 
 The Canongate act was appointed to be executed by the magistrates and treasurer of 
 the burgh, with the preses of the stentmasters thereof. 
 
 8 The system of police established by the act of 1805, it may be remarked, was 
 
 D d
 
 2 1 8 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 The body of police constituted by this act had been but a few months in 
 existence, when, in the exercise of their functions, they came into collision with 
 the constables. It became necessary, in consequence, to have the relative duties 
 and powers of the constables and police denned; and on igth August 1805, 
 the society appointed a petition to be presented to the magistrates and coun- 
 cil with that view. 1 In that petition, they referred to the powers vested in 
 them as constables under various acts of the Scotch parliament, and specially 
 under the act 1661, c. 38,* no part of which had, they represented, been 
 trenched upon or rescinded by the local police act ; they asked whether they 
 were warranted in the opinion they had formed, 
 
 " That the batons put into their hands by your Lordship and council, are to be re- 
 spected by the officers appointed by the superintendant of police, and that in all cases 
 when the city constables come to act together with the said officers of police, within 
 the ancient and extended royalty, that the city constable shall in every instance be 
 
 superseded in 1812 by the act 52 George III. c. 172, which laid the foundation of the 
 present system. It suspended the acts of 1771 and 1772 in regard to cleaning and light- 
 ing, as well as watching, and repealed the provisions of the acts of 1785 and 1805 for the 
 lighting and cleaning of the ancient and extended royalty by separate commissioners. 
 It placed the whole watching, lighting, and cleaning of the city under the manage- 
 ment of one board, and divided the city into wards, each of which chose one general and 
 two resident commissioners, the general commissioners and certain official persons 
 forming the board. It limited the assessment to is. 5d. per pound on the rental ; 
 constituted the bailies, with the sheriff, judges in the police court ; and appointed the 
 superintendent of police to be procurator-fiscal of court. The act of 1812 was amended 
 in 1816 by 56 Geo. III. c. 74, and in 1817 by 57 Geo. III. c. 33, and was repealed in 
 1822 by 3 Geo. IV. c. 78, which gave the ratepayers a more direct control over the 
 management and expenditure of the police establishment, and extended the police 
 bounds. The act of 1822 was amended in 1826 by 7 Geo. IV. c. 115. In 1832, 
 the police bounds were still further extended by the act 2 and 3 William IV. c. 87, 
 which renewed the previous acts of 1822 and 1826, except in so far as expressly altered. 
 The act of 1832 was continued in 1834 by 4 and 5 William IV. c. 76, and was con- 
 tinued and amended in 1837 by 7 William IV. and I Victoria c. 32. All these acts, 
 so far as relating to watching, cleaning, lighting, and paving, were repealed in 1848 
 by the existing police act II and 12 Viet. c. 113, which was amended in 1854 by 
 the act 17 and 1 8 Viet. c. 1 1 8. The powers of the commissioners of police under 
 these acts, were transferred to the council in 1856 by the act 19 and 20 Viet. c. 32, 
 which extended the municipal bounds, making them co-extensive with the parliamen- 
 tary boundaries. 
 
 1 Minute Book, ii. 303. 2 See Appendix V.
 
 High Constables of tlie City of Edinburgh. 219 
 
 looked upon as the superior officer, he being always answerable to your lordship and 
 council for his conduct ;" 
 
 and they concluded by requesting the council to intimate their opinion and 
 pleasure as to the course of conduct which the constables should follow, in 
 any case in which, while discharging their duty, they might be brought into 
 contact with the officers of police. This petition was remitted to the magis- 
 trates, old magistrates, and convener on the 2ist of August, and the following 
 report 1 was made by them on nth September 1805: 
 
 " The magistrates, old magistrates, and convener, beg leave to assure the moderator 
 and society of constables, that they are impressed with the strongest sense of the 
 obligations which the community owe to the society for their public-spirited, important, 
 and gratuitous services on every occasion. To retain the valuable support of the 
 society, will always be the desire of the magistrates and council ; and they conceive the 
 powers of the society to remain unimpaired in all cases where any of their members 
 may be called upon or expected to act. 
 
 " But it was impossible to expect that gentlemen occupying the first stations and 
 most respectable and laborious professional employments in the city, should discharge 
 the duties of watching over the peace and police of this metropolis. To provide for 
 the constant discharge of these duties by night, as well as by day, it was therefore 
 necessary to have a peculiar magistrate appointed, with the powers of a sheriff-sub- 
 stitute and justice of peace annexed to his office, and with officers under him with the 
 authority of constables when acting by his orders. This was accomplished by the 
 police act, and the magistrates and council did not apprehend that any interference 
 could take place between the highly respectable society and the common police officers. 
 For they never imagined that the former could be asked to undertake any of the func- 
 tions of the latter, and never proposed to degrade the society by associating any of 
 their members in the same duties with the hired watchmen. 
 
 " Upon all occasions of emergency, and in confidential and important business of 
 the city and lieutenancy of Edinburgh, the magistrates and council hope to merit and 
 receive the able assistance which they have hitherto on all occasions experienced from 
 the society. In no such case is it intended to employ along with any of their members 
 the police officers likewise. 
 
 ' ' In the ordinary duties of watchmen and apprehension of disorderly people, and 
 other offenders falling under the magistracy of the police, it is apprehended that the 
 magistrates and council, and the society of constables connected with them, will have 
 no occasion to take a part. One object of the police act is to relieve them from any 
 such call. From respect to the desire of the society, the magistrates and council, 
 however, are bound to say that they apprehend that, in the proper duties of his office, 
 
 1 Council Records, cxliv. 109.
 
 22O Sketch of the History oftke 
 
 the chief magistrate of police would necessarily have authority over all constables who 
 may take a part in the discharge of these duties ; and were the society to do so, their 
 members would stand in the same situation, in point of legal power, relatively to the 
 police officers (upon w'hom the act bestows the powers of common constables in that 
 capacity), as the society did before the passing of the police act, in relation to the 
 common constables acting for hire by the authority of the justices of peace. It shall 
 t>e the study of the magistrates to prevent any occurrence which might seem to tend 
 to pat the society m any respect upon a level with ordinary constables or police 
 officers, or which might bring their members into collision with those hired servants of 
 the public, who are in every respect so much their inferiors. Whenever the society, 
 'or any of their members, are called upoh to act, the magistrates and council shall like- 
 wise express their desire to the police magistrate that his officers shall treat every 
 member of the society with proper respect ; and the society may be assured that they 
 'will permit no indignity to be offered to any of their members without taking that 
 Active part which is due to the society in obtaining examplary redress." 
 
 This report was approved of by the council, and an extract thereof was 
 ordered to IDC transmitted to the moderator constable. 1 The decision of the 
 council was not regarded as " quite so conclusive as the moderator and com- 
 mittee could have desired," but in the circumstances it was not considered 
 advisable to press matters further. 2 
 
 To supply the places of retiring constables, eight persons were elected on 
 i 6th April i8o6, 3 and four on 22d April r8o7. 4 No constables retired, and no 
 election took place, at the usual period in 1808, but six constables were elected 
 to supply vacancies arising during the year. 5 One of the constables thus ap- 
 
 1 Minute Book, iii. 2-6. 
 
 * Obviously, however, a feeling of jealousy towards the police existed for several 
 years. On 28th September 1820, the society are found instructing the moderator 
 and committee to watch the progress of the new police bill, and endeavour to procure 
 the insertion into it of a clause which would protect the respectability of the society by 
 preventing the possibility of their being subject to any interference either from the 
 superintendent of police or any of his officers, on the occasion of their public duty 
 [Minute Book, iii. 298]. 
 
 * Council Records, cxlvi. 57. * Ibid, cxlviii. 237. 
 
 8 On 20th July 1808, Mr John Ballantyne, "printer " [see Encyclopedia Britannica, 
 xix. 821, 822; Chambers's Biographical Dictionary, vote "Ballantyne;" Anderson's 
 History of Edinburgh, p. 365], was elected [Council Records, cli. 253 ; Minute Book, 
 iii. 50]. On 22d April 1809, he was elected secretary of the society [Minute Book, 
 iii. 84], and in July 1813, he retired.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 221 
 
 pointed was Mr William Marr, whose election formed the subject of the first 
 serious collision between the society and the council. 
 
 One of the constables having died during November 1808, the council, on 
 2 ist December, 1 elected Mr Marr without any communication to the society. 3 
 He was sworn into office, and had his baton and instructions delivered 
 to him on loth January 1809 ; 8 but at a meeting of the committee of 
 constables on I3th March 1809, the moderator, Mr Archibald Constable, 
 drew attention to the subject, and moved a series of resolutions to the 
 effect, (i.) That the invariable practice, when a vacancy occurred, was 
 for the society to submit a list of names from which the council supplied 
 the vacancy ; (2.) That the election of Mr Marr was a deviation from 
 that practice, and disrespectful to the society; (3.) That, while acknow- 
 ledging the right of the council to elect constables, the admission of persons 
 into the society, which was a voluntary association, must be the act of the 
 body itself; and (4.) That strict adherence to the ancient mode of recom- 
 mendation, election, and admission, was essential to the preservation of 
 that concord and unanimity on which the utility of the society depended. 
 These resolutions were adopted by the committee, and subsequently by a 
 majority of the society, on 3d April iSog. 4 On the same day they were 
 communicated to the Lord Provost, who submitted them to the council on 
 the 5th of April. It was then explained that his Lordship and one of the 
 magistrates had called twice for Mr Constable, to communicate with him 
 as to the vacancy, but had not found him at home ; and as it was believed 
 that the resolutions were framed in ignorance of that fact, Mr Kincaid 
 Mackenzie, a former moderator of the society, and then the eldest mer- 
 chant councillor, was authorised to convey to the society the readiness 
 of the council to allow the minute containing these resolutions to be 
 withdrawn. This duty Mr Mackenzie performed with much delicacy in a 
 letter to Mr Bridges, the then moderator, dated 5th April. On the same 
 day Mr Constable wrote the Lord Provost, explaining that owing to an illness 
 of two months' duration he had never learned of his Lordship's call, and 
 stating that, had he known it, he " should certainly have considered such a 
 mark of respect as more than sufficient to have satisfied the society that no 
 slight was intended them." In reply to Mr Mackenzie's communication, Mr 
 Bridges, by letter dated loth April, also disclaimed any intention on the part 
 
 1 Council Records, cliii. 58. * Minute Book, iii. 55. * Ibid. iii. 54. * Ibid. iii. 55-57.
 
 222 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 of the society to give offence to the council, whose right to " enrol High Con- 
 stables in such manner as they should judge proper" he unreservedly admitted ; 
 explained that the resolution was passed in ignorance of what the Lord 
 Provost had done, and stated the willingness of the committee that the reso- 
 lutions should not be recorded. This letter was transmitted by Mr Mac- 
 kenzie to the Lord Provost on the nth of April. Notwithstanding these 
 communications, Mr Callender, depute city-clerk, on the I3th of April, inti- 
 mated to the society that the Lord Provost and magistrates considered the 
 resolutions of the society " to be derogatory to the council, with whom the 
 nomination of the constables rests," and requested 
 
 "that a meeting of the society should be called, and that these resolutions [should] 
 be expunged from their minutes, and a certified extract to that effect transmitted to the 
 Lord Provost, previous to the meeting of his Lordship's committee on Tuesday next, 
 together with a list of the society, and stating the periods which they have severally 
 remained in office. 1 ' 1 
 
 Mr Callender's letter was submitted to the society on i/th April 1809, when 
 a motion that the objectionable minutes be expunged was lost by seventeen 
 to twenty-two. A series of seven resolutions, moved by Mr James Ballantyne, 
 was then agreed to by a majority of twenty-one to five. These resolutions re- 
 capitulated the facts ; the satisfaction of the society that no slight towards them 
 had been intended, and their willingness that the previous resolutions should not 
 be recorded in the books of the council, but respectfully declining to expunge 
 the minutes referred to, on the ground that to do so was unnecessary in the 
 circumstances, and would be a virtual acknowledgment of a " charge of dis- 
 respect to the magistracy, of which they were utterly unconscious, and which 
 they feel it their bounden duty in the strongest manner to disclaim." A copy 
 of these resolutions, with a list of the members of the society arranged accord- 
 ing to their seniority in office, was transmitted to the Lord Provost on i8th 
 April iSog, 2 and was submitted to the council on the following day. 3 At that 
 meeting the council adopted a motion by the Lord Provost, that forty-six of 
 the constables who had served three years and upwards, should be " desired 
 to lodge their batons at the Council Chambers betwixt and Monday the 24th 
 
 1 Minute Book, iii. 63, 64. 
 
 2 Ibid. iii. 67, 76. From this list it appears that, as at 2d April, one member had 
 served ten years ; four, nine years ; three, eight years ; five, seven years ; sixteen, 
 six years ; two, five years ; three, four years ; and seven, three years. 
 
 8 By this time four additional members had completed three years' service.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 223 
 
 current, so as the council may proceed to the election of other gentlemen in 
 their place." 1 The council's order was intimated to the society on 22d April, 
 when six resolutions expressive of the sentiments of the society as to the 
 inexpediency of the council's conduct towards them were unanimously ap- 
 proved of, and ordered to be transmitted to the Lord Provost ; at the same 
 time, as the moderator and two of the other office-bearers were among the 
 number of those called on to retire, the society elected new office-bearers, 
 and afterwards all those who had served three years placed their batons in 
 the hands of the moderator. 2 To supply the vacancies thus occasioned, the 
 council, on 26th April 1809, elected forty-six constables 3 without consulting 
 the society. 
 
 Having thus vindicated their rights, and established the rule that no 
 constable should serve longer than three years, 4 the council reverted to their 
 old custom, and on I7th May 1809 made an election of a constable from a 
 list given in by the society. 5 But on 28th February 1810, the council required 
 the society to send in a list of those members who had served three years or 
 upwards as constables, with a list of such persons as were proposed to be their 
 successors, 6 and on 28th March three constables were elected. 7 
 
 On 2d April 1810, the society resolved to request the permission of the 
 
 1 At this time Mr Archibald Constable had not completed three years' service, but 
 was included in the list of those called on to retire, while four other constables who had 
 been elected about the same time, and two of whom had voted against the expunging 
 of the obnoxious resolutions, were allowed to remain. 
 
 2 Minute Book, iii. 79-84- 3 Council Records, cliv. 64. 
 
 4 This regulation had obviously been lost sight of by the society, for, on 7th April 
 1806, the moderator, referring to the rumoured existence of the law against the election 
 to the office of moderator of any constable who had served three years, observed, "If 
 such a law really did exist, it certainly was not now applicable to the circumstances of 
 the society, for many reasons : that it must have been enacted when the services of 
 members in the society were limited to three years, and imposed as a duty ; whereas 
 many of the members present had served voluntarily for seven, eight, and even nine 
 years, and consequently, were such a law to be given effect to, it would follow that 
 most part of the present members were not eligible ; and it might even so happen in 
 course of time that, with such a law in force, perhaps no one member would be eligi- 
 ble" [Minute Book, iii. 13]. This view having been adopted by the society, Mr 
 William Trotter was elected moderator ; Mr Kincaid Mackenzie, treasurer ; and Mr 
 Robert Miller, chaplain ; each of these gentlemen having been at the time upwards of 
 four years in office. 5 Council Records, cliv. 115 ; Minute Book, iii. 87. 
 
 B Council Records, civ. 331. 7 Ibid. civ. 400.
 
 224 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 council to use the title of " High Constables of the City of Edinburgh," 1 as 
 a proper distinction from the officers employed under the sheriff and judge 
 of police ; a and the requisite application having been made by the moderator, 3 
 the council, on 4th April 1810, <* authorised the society of constables to assume 
 the distinguishing appellation of the Society of High Constables for the 
 reasons before assigned." 4 
 
 Elections of constables, apparently from leets submitted by the society, 
 were afterwards made on four several occasions during i8jo; and on i2th 
 December in that year, the council unanimously passed the following resolu- 
 tion : 
 
 "Considering that it is of the first consequence to the peace and tranquility of the city, 
 that the office of constable should be filled by persons of some standing in business in 
 the city, and known to their fellow-citizens," resolved that every " constable to be here- 
 after appointed, [shall] have been at least three years a burgess and in business, and 
 that no person [shall] be eligible thereto who has not been at least a burgess and in 
 business for three years," 5 
 
 During 1811, two elections took place, and four constables were admitted. 
 In 1812, three several elections were made, and nine constables were admitted. 
 In 1813, elections of five constables were made on I3th January, 3151 March, 
 and 2 ist and 28th April; but on the last mentioned date, the council again 
 called for a list of members who had served three years and upwards. 6 
 From the list of thirty-one names furnished on I2th May i8i3, 7 in compli- 
 ance with this requirement, it appears that twenty-six had served upwards of 
 four years. Nothing, however, was done with that list till Qth June 1813, 
 when the resignations of four members, with lists of persons proposed by 
 the society to succeed them, having been lodged with the council, 8 a remit 
 
 1 The society assumed the title in 1805, after which period they used it in memorials 
 to the town council, and in other formal documents, apparently without remark. 
 
 2 Minute Book. iii. 99. 3 Ibid. iii. 102. 
 * Council Records, civ. 411 ; Minute Book, iii. 102. 
 
 6 Council Records, clvii. 258. This act of council is inaccurately recorded in the 
 minute book of the society [Minute Book, iii. 109], and it is made to appear that 
 burgess-ship, with having carried on business for three years, was the qualifications re- 
 quired. The real qualifications, it will be observed, was the having been a burgess 
 for at least three years, as well as the having carried on business for the same period. 
 
 6 Minute Book, iii. 138. f Ibid. iiL 138, 139. 
 
 8 Council Records, clxiii. 371.
 
 HigJi Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 225 
 
 was made to the magistrates to act in the matter as they might think proper. 
 What they did under the remit does not appear to have been reported ; but 
 on 26th July 1813, twenty-three new constables were qualified, and had their 
 batons and instructions delivered to them. 1 The introduction of so large a 
 number of new members into the society at one time, was felt to be attended 
 with many disadvantages, and on 1st March 1814, the moderator, in submit- 
 ting a list of three persons from whom the election of a constable to succeed 
 one who had retired after three years' service might be made, represented to 
 the council that it would be of essential service to the society, if a limited 
 number of members (say ten or twelve) were to resign at the end of every year. 
 He added that much inconvenience must have arisen had so large a propor- 
 tion of the society, strangers to each other, been called upon to act at that 
 time ; and further, that the taking up the jury and militia lists could not be 
 so correctly performed by members recently admitted, as by those who pos- 
 sessed longer experience. 2 
 
 No action on the part of the council appears to have followed on this 
 representation, but they seem to have adhered strictly to their determination 
 to limit the service of the constables to three years. Accordingly, on igth 
 April 1815, they are found insisting most strongly on compliance with their 
 former orders to that effect. On that occasion there were presented to 
 them two lists of members of the society, who, having served three years, 
 fell to retire. One of these lists contained the names of the secretary and 
 treasurer for the year, and considerable discussion took place as to whether, 
 in conformity with the precedent in 1809, they should not be required to 
 send in their batons. A consideration of the inconvenience which the re- 
 moval of these office-bearers might occasion the society, induced the council 
 to allow them to remain. 
 
 " At the same time, however, the council could not refrain from expressing their sur- 
 prise and disapprobation, that the society should have elected gentlemen as office- 
 bearers who were ineligible according to the act of council of 1809, limiting the 
 term of a constable's service to three years." 
 
 They intimated at the same time their expectation that that act would 
 
 1 Minute Book, iii. 143. 
 
 - Ibid. iii. 148. On gth March 1814, 26, ias. 6d. were ordered to be paid to 
 George Lee for painting the batons of the High Constables [Council Records, clxvi. 
 6t} 
 
 EC
 
 226 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 " be strictly attended to in future, as they are of opinion that the rigid observance of this 
 regulation, without respect of persons, will be the most effectual means of preventing 
 those jealousies which are apt to arise from the zeal or supposed partiality on the part 
 of the office-bearers in selecting those whom they require to resign." 
 
 A copy of this act of council was directed to be sent to the moderator for the 
 information of the society, 1 and on i/th May, thirteen constables were 
 elected. 2 Fourteen constables were elected on 24th April i8i6, 3 twenty-six 
 on 3oth April iSiy, 4 six on 22d April i8i8, 5 twelve on 2ist April iSig, 6 nine- 
 teen on the 3d, and four on the loth of May i82O. 7 
 
 The manner in which the society had invariably distinguished themselves 
 in the discharge of their public duties, induced the council, on 6th December 
 1820, to resolve to increase the number of High Constables from sixty to one 
 hundred. A remit was at the same time made to the magistrates to prepare 
 and submit a set of regulations for the government of the society ; and a 
 supply of long and short batons was ordered to be provided. 8 This resolu- 
 
 1 Council Records, clxviii. 228. 
 
 1 Ibid, clxviii. 301. 
 
 * Ibid. clxx. 344. Among the persons elected at this time was Mr Adam Black, 
 "stationer" [see Walford's Men of the Time (1862), voce "Black], afterwards Lord 
 Provost, and subsequently M.P. for the city [Minute Book, iii. 208]. He had been 
 proposed by the society (as one of a leet of three) for election on 1st March 1814 [Ibid, 
 iii. 148], but was not selected by the council at that time. He acted as secretary of 
 the society from 7th April 1817 [Ibid. iii. 213], to 6th April 1818, and retired in 
 April 1819. While acting as secretary, Mr Black was taking a leading part in the 
 discussion of burgh reform in the Merchant Company and elsewhere [see Mr Mackie's 
 Notes, pp. 78-80; Lord Cockburn's Memorials of his time, pp. 350-352]. 
 
 4 Council Records, clxxiv. 43. 
 
 6 Ibid, clxxvi. 132. 
 
 6 Ibid, clxxviii. 206. 
 
 7 Council Records, clxxx. 337, 349. Mr William Blackwood, "bookseller" [see 
 Chambers's Biographical Dictionary, voce "Blackwood ;" Peter's Letters to his Kins- 
 folk, ii. 186-202 ; Encyclopedia Britannica, xxi. 877], was appointed a constable at 
 this time [Minute Book, iii. 292]. 
 
 8 Council Records, clxxxi. 360. On loth April 1821, an estimate for furnishing 
 forty small batons, at twelve shillings each, was accepted [Ibid, clxxxii. 259], and on 
 3Oth May 1821, the chamberlain was authorised to pay Deacon Fenwick 24. for 
 the batons so furnished [Ibid, clxxxii. 357]. On I3th June 1821, John Jackson was 
 ordered to be paid ^IO for painting batons [Ibid, clxxxii. 377].
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 227 
 
 tion was communicated to the moderator in the most complimentary terms on 
 8th December, and the society were requested to send in a list of forty 
 gentlemen, to make up the number specified. 1 On the same day a list of 
 sixty persons was prepared by the society, and transmitted to the council, 
 and from this list forty constables were elected on I3th December. 2 Some 
 of those so elected declined to accept office, and others were elected on 2oth 
 December. 3 Elections to supply vacancies were made on ad and gth May 
 1 82 1, 4 i yth April and 2gth May i822. 5 
 
 The society did not long consist of one hundred members. For some 
 years the financial condition of the city had formed the subject of much dis- 
 cussion, and in 1822, a committee was appointed to inquire into the municipal 
 expenditure, " and to report whether any and what savings can be made in 
 any branch thereof." That committee reported to the council on ryth July 
 1822, and inter alia recommended, "that the society of High Constables 
 should be allowed to return to their original number of sixty, and that the 
 allowances now given to them should be reduced in proportion." 6 This 
 recommendation having been adopted, the society was reduced, in June 1823, 
 to sixty constables, by the retirement of those whose period of service had 
 expired, and the non-election of successors to them. The batons of the 
 constables who retired were sent to the council on ist July i823- 7 Of the 
 sixty who composed the society in March 1824, upwards of forty, having 
 completed three years' service, fell to retire. This was considered by the 
 society to be inexpedient, and on an application by the moderator, the coun- 
 cil, on 3 ist March 1824, appointed the first twenty constables on the list 
 to retire at that time, the next twenty to retire in 1825, and the remaining 
 twenty in 1826. By this arrangement the society obtained an accession of 
 twenty new members in each of these years. On the recommendation of the 
 moderator, the council also allowed any of the constables forming the first 
 twenty, who might wish to remain, to do so, provided an equal number of 
 
 1 Minute Book, iii. 303. 
 
 * Council Records, clxxxi. 372. 
 
 3 Ibid, clxxxi. 397. 
 
 4 Ibid, clxxxii. 284, 324. 
 8 Ibid, clxxxiv. Ill, 196. 
 
 6 Ibid, clxxxiv. 309. 
 
 7 Ibid, clxxxvii. I2O; Minute Book, iii. 375, 376.
 
 228 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 the second twenty preferred to resign immediately. 1 In consequence of this 
 change, it became necessary to re-divide the city into sixty bounds, which was 
 done by the committee of the Society on 2yth June 1823.* Under the ar- 
 rangement of 3ist March 1824, twenty constables were elected on 2ist April 
 i824, 3 eighteen on the I3th and two on the 2oth April 1825,* fifteen on igth 
 April i826, 5 and twenty-one on i8th April i827. 6 
 
 In consequence of repeated applications from the society to have their in- 
 structions, which were issued in March 17867 revised and made applicable 
 to the circumstances in which they were at the time, the council, on igth 
 April 1826,* and again on i6th January 1828, remitted to the magistrates to 
 take these instructions into consideration. "Instructions and Regulations" 
 were accordingly prepared, and, as revised by the assessors of the city, were 
 submitted to the society, by whom they were approved of, with some verbal 
 alterations, on Hth March 1828.' On the igth of the same month, they 
 were finally approved of by the council, 10 who at the same time confirmed the 
 designation of " The Society of High Constables of the City of Edinburgh," 
 and enacted and declared 
 
 "that no one but a burgess, and who has been three years in business, shall be 
 appointed a High Constable ; and that the period of his service be limited to three 
 years. But if he is appointed at a later period of the year than six months after the 
 election of office-bearers, which it is hereby declared shall take place annually on the 
 first Monday of April, his period of service shall not expire till three years after the 
 election of office-bearers immediately subsequent to his own appointment. Should he, 
 however, be elected an office-bearer previous to the expiry of his time of service, in 
 that case he shall continue in office till the next general election." 11 
 
 At the same meeting the council approved of a report by the magistrates 
 against " the expediency of committing all matters connected with the High 
 Constables, as being purely magisterial, to the Lord Provost and magis- 
 trates." A suggestion to this effect had a short time previously been made 
 by the Lord Provost, and referred to the magistrates for consideration. 
 
 1 Council Records, clxxxix. 138; Minute Book, iii. 383, 385. 
 
 2 Minute Book, iii. 374. 7 Appendix XI. 
 
 * Council Records, clxxxix. 203. 8 Council Records, cxcvii. 195. 
 
 4 Ibid, cxcii. 92, 113. 9 Minute Book, iv. 84. 
 
 5 Ibid, cxcvii. 195. 10 Appendix XVII. 
 
 8 Ibid. cci. 40, 76. n Council Records, cciii. 62.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 229 
 
 Sixteen constables were elected on i6th April I828, 1 five on 2oth August 
 1828 ; 3 and fourteen on I5th April i829- 8 
 
 While the constitution and management of the society were regulated by 
 the magistrates and council, as has thus been described, its internal ad- 
 ministration was conducted under rules and regulations, or bye-laws, made 
 from time to time by the High Constables themselves. In 1786, the rules 
 proposed by the society for this object were approved of by the council ; 4 
 but various additions to, and alterations on, these rules were subsequently 
 made by the society from time to time without any confirmation by the 
 council. The more important of these additions and alterations were made 
 on 4th June lySg, 5 igth March i8o3, 6 2/th April i8oy, 7 and i8th May 1809. 
 
 1 Council Records, cciii. 162. 
 
 2 Ibid. cciv. 51. At this time Mr William Johnston, afterwards Sir William John- 
 ston of Kirkhill, and Lord Provost of the city, was elected a constable. He was qualified 
 on 2ist August 1828 [Minute Book, iv. 107]. On I4th May 1830, he was elected 
 secretary, vice Mr George Wright, resigned [Ibid. iv. 184, 185]. On 2d March 1831, 
 he was elected treasurer, vice Mr Charles Lawson, now of Borthwickhall, and Lord 
 Provost of the city, elected moderator [Ibid. iv. 214] ; and on 2ist March 1831, he 
 was elected moderator, vice Mr Lawson, resigned [Ibid. iv. 223-225]. At the annual 
 election on 4th April 1831, he was re-elected moderator [Ibid. iv. 230231] ; and he 
 retired from the society in April 1832. He returned to the society, and was elected 
 moderator on nth January 1839 [Ibid. v. 6], and was re-elected moderator, for a 
 fourth time, on 1st April 1839 [Ibid. v. 10]. He retired finally from the society in 
 April 1840. 
 
 8 Council Records, ccv. 141. At this time Mr Charles Lawson, above referred to, 
 was elected a constable. He was qualified on 2Oth April 1829 [Minute Book, iv. 123] ; 
 was elected secretary on 2lst October 1829, vice Mr James Pattison who resigned 
 [Ibid. iv. 172], treasurer at the annual election on 5th April 1830 [Ibid. iv. 183], and 
 moderator on 2d March 1831, vice Mr Andrew Sievwright, who resigned [Ibid. iv. 
 214]. He retired from the society on igth March 1831 [Ibid. iv. 224]. Mr Lawson 
 is the son of Mr Peter Lawson, referred to anfea, p. 175. 
 
 * Antea, p. 185. Appendix XII. 5 Minute Book, ii. 102, 103. 6 Ibid. ii. 251-252. 
 
 7 Minute Book, iii. 29. At a meeting of the committee held on i8th May 1807, it 
 was unanimously resolved "that a search should be made through the books of the 
 society with a view to ascertain the existing laws, and for this purpose that the treasurer, 
 Mr Constable, should be requested to procure, as speedily as possible, some proper 
 person to examine the books, and to prepare an accurate index or digest of the laws of 
 the society" [Ibid. iii. 38]. So far as can now be ascertained, nothing appears to have 
 been done towards carrying this resolution into effect. 
 
 8 Minute Book, iii. 89. See Appendix, pp. xlvii, xlviii.
 
 230 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 On 4th June 1812, the society appointed a committee to revise the "bye- 
 laws," and to report to the next general meeting any alterations and improve- 
 ments they might consider necessary. 1 The report of the committee was 
 made and approved of by the society on 23d June 1812 ; and the rules then 
 adopted were ordered to be printed and circulated among the members. 2 
 On 4th June 1814, however, considerable discussion was raised as to the 
 liability of members absent from the election dinner for their full share of 
 the cost of that entertainment, and it was resolved to have the bye-laws re- 
 printed and copies furnished to all the members " present and future." 3 
 Several alterations upon the laws adopted in 1812, were accordingly made 
 on 8th August 1814, and as thus amended, they were ordered to be printed. 4 
 Alterations on these rules were subsequently made 6 on 2ist February i8i5 6 
 and 3d April i82o. 7 In 1825 again, the society considered it desirable to 
 have their bye-laws, as then in force, collected, revised, and printed ; 8 and 
 the committee had several meetings for this "purpose. The committee's 
 report was presented to the society on 2d August ; 9 and after considerable 
 discussion, the society, on 12th August in the same year, approved of a series 
 of rules and regulations, which were " ordered to be inserted in the minute 
 book as superseding all former laws, excepting the magistrates' instructions." 10 
 A set of regulations, drawn up by the moderator, for the guidance of the 
 society at fires and riots, and embodying also " that part of the ' fire regula- 
 tions' which treated of the duty of constables on such occasions," was ap- 
 proved of by the society, and ordered to be printed. 11 Alterations on and 
 additions to these rules and regulations were passed by the society 18 on 1st 
 May 1 826," 23d April 1827," 25th October 1827," 7th April i828, 16 and 28th 
 April i82g. 17 On 2oth June 1829, they appointed a committee to revise the 
 laws ; 13 and their report having been lodged on 6th July thereafter, was ap- 
 proved of, and the laws, as then submitted, were confirmed and ordered to be 
 
 1 Minute Book, iii. 121. l Ibid. iv. 8-13. See Appendix XV. 
 
 * Ibid. iii. 125-127. See Appendix XIII. u Minute Book, iv. 5. 
 
 1 Minute Book, iii. 176. 12 See Appendix XVI. 
 
 4 Ibid. iii. 179-181. See Appendix XIV. 13 Minute Book, iv. 38. 
 
 6 See Appendix, pp. li, Iii. 14 Ibid. iv. 57, 66. 
 
 6 Minute Book, iii. 187. 15 Ibid. iv. 74. 
 
 7 Ibid. iii. 289, 290. 18 Ibid. iv. 85, 92. 
 
 8 Ibid. iii. 417. " Ibid. iv. 126. 
 
 9 Ibid. iv. i. 18 Ibid. iv. 156.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 231 
 
 printed. 1 On 3ist December 1829, a new law relative to the mode of filling 
 up vacancies occurring among office-bearers during the year, was enacted and 
 added to the laws previously approved of, which, with this addition, wer 
 printed under an order of the society on I4th May i83o. 3 
 
 It has been seen how, in 1768, the society upheld its position, and compelled 
 two gentlemen elected constables to accept office. Their successors in 1803 
 were not less tenacious of their rights. Of the twenty gentlemen elected on 
 26th January 1803, sixteen were sworn into office on 3ist January 1803, but 
 four, viz., Messrs William Forbes, banker ; James Stein, banker ; James 
 Gibson, merchant ; and Charles Hay, insurance broker, sought exemption 
 on the following grounds : Mr Forbes, of non-residence in the city ; Mr 
 Stein, of being about to proceed to London ; Mr Gibson, of being a justice 
 of the peace for the county ; and Mr Hay, of having been chief magistrate 
 of Dunbar, and of being one of the deputy-lieutenants of East Lothian. 
 The society, however, demurred most strongly to these excuses being 
 entertained, and in a memorial to the council, dated 8th February 1803, 
 intimated their expectation, " that in no situation whatever should any person 
 be exempt from taking his share of that duty," and that the magistrates would 
 " either enforce the services of those gentlemen, or authorise the society to 
 levy the fines incurred by their refusal." 3 On considering that memorial on 
 the following day, the council resolved " to adhere to their former nomination 
 and appointment." 4 A good deal of correspondence ensued, from which it 
 appears, as regards Mr Gibson, that the Lord Provost was advised by the 
 Lord Advocate and Solicitor-General, " that by Mr Gibson being in the com- 
 mission of the peace for the county," he must be " considered as a magistrate, 
 and not amenable to serve as a constable;" 5 and as regards Mr Forbes, 
 that he had obtained an opinion from Mr Adam Rolland, advocate, to the 
 effect that " though engaged in business in the city," he was " not liable to 
 serve if not a residenter." 6 The opinion in Mr Gibson's case seems to have 
 been acquiesced in by the society ; and as regards Mr Forbes, it was ulti- 
 mately arranged with the council that a memorial should be prepared by the 
 society, to be submitted for the opinions of the Lord Advocate and Solicitor- 
 General, the council pledging themselves that if the opinion of these gentlemen 
 should coincide with that of the society, they would compel Mr Forbes to 
 
 1 Minute Book, iv. 160, 167. * Council Records, cxxxviii. 45. 
 
 2 Ibid. iv. 173, 176. See Appendix XVII. 5 Minute Book, ii. 242. 
 
 3 Ibid. ii. 237. 8 Ibid. ii. 245.
 
 232 Sketch of tlie History of the 
 
 serve, and the society undertaking that if the opinion should be otherwise, 
 they would not prosecute the business further. 1 A memorial appears to 
 have been accordingly prepared, on the case of Mr Forbes, and also on 
 the case of Mr John Hay (elected on i6th March 1803, and who also de- 
 clined to act), 2 but the result does not appear, and neither Mr Forbes nor 
 Mr John Hay seem to have ever been members of the society. Mr Charles 
 Hay was sworn into office on i8th March 1803, and Mr Stein having re- 
 mained in London, a constable was elected in his place on ist June i8o3. 3 
 
 By a regulation of the society, dated 6th April 1792, to which reference has 
 already been made, 4 every person who had served as a constable for three 
 years was declared to be ineligible for the moderatorship or any other office. 
 The expediency of this rule (the existence of which, however, was doubted) 5 
 was under the consideration of the society at their meeting on 7th April 1806, 
 and it was agreed generally that length of service did not disqualify a member 
 from filling the chair or any other office in the society. But the former law 
 does not appear to have ever been formally rescinded. At the same meeting 
 it was agreed that the election of office-bearers should take place in future 
 on the first Monday of April. 6 
 
 At the election of office-bearers on 6th April 1818, a question was raised as 
 to the eligibility of the moderator for re-election on the eve of his completing 
 three years' service as a constable. Mr John Stenhouse was appointed a con- 
 stable on May 1815, and on 7th April 1817 was elected moderator of the society. 
 On 6th April i6i8 7 he was re-elected moderator. A protest was immediately 
 taken, and a petition was afterwards presented to the council, praying them not 
 to sanction his election, on the grounds, inter alia, (i.) That it was inconsistent 
 with the acts of council igth April 1809, and iQth April i8i5, 9 by the former 
 of which members of the committee had been required to retire though elected 
 previous to the completion of their third year of office as constables ; (2.) That 
 it was inconsistent with the principle recognised in the act of council igth 
 April 1815, which expressed disapproval of the election to the treasurership 
 of a person who was on the eve of completing three years' service as a con- 
 stable ; (3.) That it was contrary to the law of the society passed on 6th April 
 
 1 Minute Book, ii. 246. 6 Minute Book, iii. 14, 15 
 
 2 Ibid. ii. 271. 7 Ibid. iii. 228. 
 
 3 Council Records, cxxxviii. 90; Minute Book, ii. 259. 8 Antea, pp. 222, 223. 
 * Antea, p. 189. 9 Antea, pp. 225, 226. 
 5 Antea, p. 223, footnote 3.
 
 High Cotistables of the City of Edinburgh. 233 
 
 1792,' explained by a protest taken on ad April i8io; a and (4.) That the re- 
 election of an office-bearer was unprecedented and inexpedient. To this pro- 
 test and petition answers were lodged, in which it was urged, (i.) That, as 
 Mr Stenhouse had not completed three years' service, his election was quite 
 competent, and unaffected by any act of the council ; (2.) That the society, 
 being partly changed every year, had no right to make permanent laws with- 
 out the sanction of the council, whose ordinances had been strictly observed ; 
 and (3.) That there was a precedent for the re-election of a moderator in the 
 case of Mr Burnet in 1794.* The council having considered the petition and 
 protest, and answers thereto, on 8th April 1818, refused the desire of the peti- 
 tion, 4 thus confirming the election. 
 
 One or two attempts have been made to engraft upon the society schemes 
 quite foreign to its primary object ; but these have met with little success. 
 Thus, on i gth March 1803, it was proposed to establish a "charitable 
 fund for the society," to be supported by the payments received for making 
 up the militia lists, and an annual contribution from each member. A 
 committee was appointed to prepare a plan, and to get it printed and 
 circulated among the members for consideration at a special meeting. 5 
 But the proposal was not approved of by several of the members, and as it 
 could not be carried out without the unanimous concurrence of the society, it 
 was abandoned. 6 Again, on 2ist February 1815, it was suggested that a com- 
 mittee should be appointed to consider and report as to the advisability of 
 appropriating the funds of the society as a sinking fund, from which loans 
 on security might be given to members requiring temporary assistance. 7 
 This proposal was also negatived. 8 
 
 1 Antea, p. 189. 
 
 a This was a protest against the election of Mr Sutherland Mackenzie as moderator, 
 on the ground that at the time he was within a few days of completing three years of 
 service as a constable. Another candidate having been proposed, was preferred by a 
 vote of the society. There was no decision by the society as to the competency of Mr 
 Mackenzie's nomination [Minute Book, ii. 100, 101]. 
 
 * Antea, p. 192 ; Appendix No. I. p. vi. 
 
 4 Council Records, clxxvi. 88 ; Minute Book, iii. 228-245. 
 
 5 Minute Book, ii. 251. 6 Ibid. ii. 261. 7 Ibid. iii. 18$. 
 8 It is curious to find that, on gth October 1733, the Society of Captains of the Trained 
 
 Bands resolved to raise a fund for the support of any of their number who should be 
 reduced to poverty, or their wives and children [Minute Book of Captains, i. 133-135, 
 139 ; Acts 142, 143, and 147]. 57, i6s. were actually collected for this purpose, but 
 
 F f
 
 234 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 The annual allowance by the council to the society, which was fixed at ^15 
 in 1794, 1 remained at that amount till 6th July 1803, when, on an application 
 by the society, 3 which had received an addition of twenty members in January 
 of that year, 3 it was increased to ^3o. 4 On 4th September 1805, the council 
 authorised a payment to the moderator of ^36, 193. for expenses on the even- 
 ing of the king's birthday, including expenses of printing and other disburse- 
 ments. 5 An application by the society for an increased allowance was refused 
 on 28th June iSog. 6 On 2/th June 1810, the society sent in to the council a 
 bill amounting to ^48, incurred by them on the king's birthday, with a re- 
 quest that it would be paid. This, however, the council declined to do, but 
 increased the annual allowance to ^40 stg. 7 On i8th June 1817, the allow- 
 ance was increased to ,50. On 6th December 1820, when the society was 
 increased from sixty to a hundred, their allowance was augmented to ^84 ; 
 but on the reduction of the body in 1823 to their previous number of sixty, 
 their allowance was also reduced to the former amount of ^5o. 9 
 
 Several of the high constables being also constables of Calton, the commit- 
 tee of the society resolved that it was not competent for any person to hold 
 batons in both bodies, and required those members who did so to state in 
 what body they preferred to remain. 10 The committee also required those 
 high constables who were extraordinary constables to send their batons, as 
 extraordinary constables, to the council chambers, with a view to their being 
 transferred to other persons. 11 This resolution was confirmed by the society 
 
 on 24th November 1738 the inexpediency of the scheme was unanimously admitted, 
 the acts establishing it were rescinded, a portion of the sum which had been collected 
 was distributed among decayed captains, and the balance was paid over as a contribu- 
 tion towards building the Infirmary [Ibid. i. 156, 157]. In taking this course in 1738, 
 the society of captains were advised by Mr James Graham of Airth, advocate, whose 
 opinion is engrossed in the Minute Book, i. p. 157. 
 
 1 Antea, p. 168. 4 Council Records, cxxxviii. 298. 
 
 3 Minute Book, ii. 260. 5 Ibid, cxliv. 105 ; Minute Book, iii. 7. 
 
 8 Antea, p. 215 8 Council Records, cliv. 217. 
 
 7 Ibid. clvi. 157 ; Minute Book, iii. 108. In 1814, the arrangement under which 
 the allowance from the city was appropriated to defraying the expense of a supper on 
 the king's birthday was changed, and thereafter it was applied towards the expense of 
 a dinner. The first dinner under the new arrangement took place on 5th July 1814 
 [Minute Book, iii. 117], 
 
 8 Council Records, clxxiv. 178. 10 Minute Book, iii. 268- 
 
 9 Antea, p. 227. u Ibid. iii. 269.
 
 HigJi Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 235 
 
 on 3ist December 1819. * At the same time, the society approved of a corres- 
 pondence which the moderator had had with the Lord Provost, 2 in which his 
 lordship announced that those members of the society who preferred to act as 
 members of the "volunteer body," then being raised, should intimate their pre- 
 ference, when other persons would be elected constables. 
 
 On 5th January 1820, the society sanctioned a plan which had been ap- 
 proved of by the Lord Provost, for calling them together speedily on any 
 emergency. Each member of the committee was furnished with a set of 
 tickets containing the names of those constables whom it was his duty to 
 summon whenever required by the moderator. 3 
 
 On 2 ist February 1820, the society took the oath of allegiance to King 
 George IV., and voted an address of congratulation to His Majesty on his 
 accession to the throne. 4 
 
 As regular and recognised conservators of the peace of the city, the 
 constables, it has been seen, were often required to assist the magistrates in the 
 preservation of order on occasions of public excitement ; and frequent refer- 
 ence is made to their services in that character during the present century. 
 Thus, on the occasion of the Union with Ireland on ist January 1800, it is 
 recorded that the society were ordered to be in readiness to quell any disturb- 
 ance consequent on the recommendation of the magistrates, founded on 
 the hardship of the times, that no illumination should take place. 5 On 4th 
 June 1801, the king's birthday, they patrolled the streets, and apprehended 
 six rioters. 6 On 23d June 1801, they dispersed a mob in the meal market, 
 and afterwards patrolled the streets, and preserved the peace. 7 On I3th 
 October 1801, they were in readiness, but were not required to act in preserving 
 order during the illuminations, on account of the ratification three days pre- 
 viously of the preliminaries of peace between Great Britain and France. 8 
 On 27th October 1801, they escorted the magistrates to the meal market and 
 southern suburbs, to suppress rioting there, 9 and next day were on duty at the 
 Council Chamber, to prevent any recurrence of similar disturbances. 10 On 
 4th June 1802, the society patrolled the streets, and effectually "put a stop to 
 the disgraceful practice of burghering, throwing dead cats," &c. n On 4th 
 June 1803, they were on duty, and patrolled the streets, preventing any recur- 
 
 1 Minute Book, iii. 274. 5 Ibid. ii. 198, 199. 9 Ibid. ii. 219. 
 
 " Ibid. iii. 270-273. 6 Ibid. ii. 206. 10 Ibid. ii. 210. 
 
 3 Ibid. iii. 276. 7 Ibid. ii. 207. " Ibid. ii. 227. 
 
 * Ibid. iii. 281-285. 8 Ibid. ii. 219.
 
 236 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 rence of those former practices, " which were a disgrace to the police of the 
 city." 1 On 3Oth November 1806 (St Andrew's day), a detachment consisting 
 of thirty members of the society was on duty, assisting in keeping the peace 
 at the procession which took place on that day. 2 On i6th June 1806, the 
 day on which the intelligence of Lord Melville's acquittal by the House of 
 Peers reached Edinburgh, the society were called out to preserve the peace. 3 
 On the evening of the 25th October 1809, which was observed as a jubilee 
 in consequence of the king entering the fiftieth year of his reign, the society 
 patrolled the streets in small parties. 4 On 4th June 1810, they paraded the 
 streets, " where a considerable degree of riot and tumult took place, in which 
 several of the members were severely hurt in the discharge of their duty." 
 After quelling the disturbances on this occasion, and while supping together 
 as usual on the evening of the king's birthday, they were called out for a 
 short time in consequence of a fire in the premises of an old constable in the 
 Grassmarket. 5 On 22d April 1812, the society, by order of the magistrates, 
 attended the execution in the High Street of M'Intosh, M'Donald, and 
 Sutherland, convicted of murder, and in the evening they were on duty to 
 prevent disturbance. 6 On i8th August 1812, the society were called out, 
 along with the military, to quell rioting occasioned by the high price of meal. 7 
 Next morning, they were again on duty at half-past eight, but were not re- 
 quired to act. 8 .On the morning of the 25th of August, they were also on 
 duty from eight till ten o'clock, but no disturbance took place. 9 On I4th July 
 1813, the constables attended the execution, at the west end of Prince's Street, 
 of M'Donald and Black, convicted of murder. 10 On 25th January 1815, they 
 escorted Kelly and O'Neil (who had been convicted of different acts of robbery 
 
 1 Minute Book, ii. 259. 2 Ibid. iii. 8. 
 
 3 Ibid. iii. 22. See Lord Cockburn's Memorials of his Time, pp. 216-219. 
 
 4 Minute Book, iii. 97. 5 Ibid. iii. 107. 
 
 6 Ibid. iii. 119, 120. The crime for which these persons suffered, arose out of the 
 practice of ushering in the new year with rioting on the streets. On the morning of 
 1st January 1812, serious riots took place, many robberies were committed, and a 
 policeman was murdered [Anderson's History of Edinburgh, pp. 316, 317]- The 
 excitement connected with this execution was so great that the magistrates enrolled a 
 number of extraordinary constables to assist in preserving the peace, which it was 
 feared would be broken. On 6th May i8i2, ^31, is. were ordered to be paid to 
 George Lee, painter, for furnishing the requisite batons [Council Records, clx. 373]. 
 
 7 Minute Book, iii. 128. 9 Ibid. 
 
 8 Ibid. iii. 120. 10 Ibid. iii. 141.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 237 
 
 under circumstances of great brutality) from the Tolbooth to the limits of the 
 town's jurisdiction, where they were handed over to the sheriff-clerk for execu- 
 tion near Braid's Burn, on the high road to Dumfries. 1 On the evening of 
 the 3Oth of March, and on the two following evenings, the society were called 
 out to prevent rioting. 2 On 3<Dth December 1818, the society were called out 
 to prevent rioting, consequent on the execution of Robert Johnston for high- 
 way robbery. They were also on duty for the same purpose on the evening 
 of the following day. 3 On I4th April 1819, they were assembled to prevent 
 any disposition to riot at the execution of George Warden, a post-office clerk, 
 who had been convicted of opening letters and abstracting money. 4 On 4th 
 June 1819, the king's birthday, the society, along with the extraordinary con- 
 stables, and the police, cleared the streets and preserved the peace, which there 
 was some disposition on the part of the populace to break. 5 On i8th August 
 1819, they were in attendance to preserve the peace on the occasion of the execu- 
 tion of James Whiteford for robbery. 6 On I3th December 1819, the authorities, 
 anticipating the receipt of news of insurrection in the west country, called out 
 the society to assist them in preserving the peace. Happily, however, their ser- 
 vices were not required. 7 They were again called out under similar circum- 
 stances on 3 1st December iSig. 8 On 5th January 1820, they were in attend- 
 ance in the bakers' hall, Lawnmarket, on the occasion of the execution 
 
 1 Minute Book, iii. 182. 8 Ibid. iii. 253, 254. 6 Ibid. iii. 263. 
 
 2 Ibid. iii. 190. 4 Ibid. iii. 258. 6 Ibid. iii. 264. 
 
 7 Minute Book, iii. 267. At this time the country was suffering under great agri- 
 cultural and manufacturing distress, and in an alarming state. Low wages and the action 
 of political incendiaries had induced, throughout the inland and manufacturing dis- 
 tricts of England, a spirit of discontent and insubordination which was fanned into 
 fury by the collision between the military and the populace at Manchester on i6th 
 August. These discontents soon extended to Scotland, assuming the most threaten- 
 ing aspect in Lanarkshire, whither the yeomanry cavalry of Mid-Lothian and the ad- 
 joining counties were ordered in the beginning of December. In Edinburgh, a body 
 of volunteers, including the survivors of the old Edinburgh gentlemen volunteers, was 
 raised to garrison the castle (which was drained of regular troops), and to preserve 
 order in the city. Glasgow especially was in a precarious state, and during the whole 
 of the I3th of December the citizens of Edinburgh anxiously awaited intelligence of 
 apprehended tumults there. Fortunately, however, the peace was not broken [Ander- 
 son's History of Edinburgh, pp. 339, 340]. Lord Cockburn describes, somewhat in 
 burlesque, what took place at this time [Memorials of his Time, pp. 363-366]. 
 
 8 Minute Book, iii. 274.
 
 238 'Sketch of the History of the 
 
 of Judd and Clapperton for housebreaking and robbery. 1 On 23d April 1820, 
 the first occasion on which the birthday of King George IV. was observed, 
 the society were required, with the assistance of the police, to clear the streets, 
 and to check the disposition to riot. 2 On i/th November 1820, the society 
 were called out to prevent rioting and destruction of property, on the occasion 
 of the partial illumination consequent on the withdrawal by the government 
 of the bill of pains and penalties brought into the House of Peers against 
 Queen Caroline. The civil power, however, was unable to suppress the pre- 
 vailing disorder, and it was found necessary to invoke the aid of the military. 3 
 On the following evening, the society, with the extra constables, police, and 
 detachments of cavalry and infantry, were again on duty. The society 
 acted in four bodies with great efficiency. 4 On the 2Oth of November, 
 the society were in attendance to prevent the threatened recurrence of the 
 previous disturbances, but were not required to act. 5 For their services on 
 these occasions, the society received the thanks of the magistrates. On nth 
 December 1820, the society were in attendance in the High Church aisle 
 during the execution of John Dempsey for murder. 6 On the evening of igth 
 January 1821, the day on which King George IV. was crowned, the society 
 were called out to preserve the peace during the illumination of the city, 
 but their services were not required. 7 On i8th January 1823, the society 
 were called out to prevent snowballing between the students in the college, 
 and the boys of the High School, but were not required to act. 8 On the 
 evening of 22d April 1824, the king's birthday, the society did good ser- 
 vice in suppressing riots on the Mound. 9 In November 1824, the society 
 were actively employed at the great fires in the High Street, from the I5th 
 till the 1 7th of that month. On this occasion, the Yeomanry, as well as 
 the police of the city, were also on duty ; and the minute of I7th November 
 records, that "at 10 p.m., the society were relieved by the Leith constables, 
 who had offered their services." 10 On I4th December 1824, the society were 
 
 1 Minute Book, iii. 275. 4 Ibid. iii. 201, 202. 7 Ibid. iii. 328. 
 
 4 Ibid. iii. 290. 6 Ibid. iii. 202. 8 Ibid. iii. 360. 
 
 * Ibid. iii. 300. 6 Ibid. iii. 304. 9 Ibid. iii. 389. 
 
 10 Minute Book, iii. 395. A description of the great fires of 1824 is given in Lord Cock- 
 burn's Memorials of his Time, pp. 420-425, and Anderson's History of Edinburgh, pp. 
 374, 375. On 24th June, the whole of the large tenement at the head of the Royal 
 Bank Close, including John's Coffeehouse, was destroyed. On I5th November, four 
 lofty tenements at the head of the Old Assembly Close, extending about one hundred
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 239 
 
 called out, and, with the assistance of the police, put down disturbances which 
 had been growing for some evenings between the lower classes of the inhabi- 
 tants and the Irish ;* and on 3ist December they were again on duty, with about 
 one hundred extraordinary constables, and a large body of extra police, to 
 check apprehended disturbances, which, however, did not take place. 2 On 
 the evening of the king's birthday, 23d April 1825, the society, as well as the 
 extraordinary constables, were in attendance ; but owing to the arrangements 
 of the authorities, who caused the streets to be patrolled, from an early hour, 
 by strong parties of police, the evening passed over " without being marked 
 by any of those disgraceful scenes of riot and mischief which had so long 
 characterised, and been a reproach to, the metropolis of Scotland." 3 On 
 5th March 1828, the society were assembled in the High Church aisle, 
 to be ready to check any disturbance by the unemployed operatives who had 
 collected on the Calton Hill, but no rioting took place. 4 On 24th December, 
 1828, the society were again called out to preserve the peace during the trials 
 of Burke and Hare, and remained on duty all night, the trial having lasted 
 till between 9 and 10 a.m. of the 25th. No disturbance occurred, however, 
 though the excitement was intense. 5 
 
 It was also in their character as guardians of the peace of the city, that, on 
 1 8th May 1803, the society were requested by the magistrates to appoint depu- 
 tations to attend at the council chamber on such nights as the press-gangs were 
 to be in town, in order that "the officer having command of the gang might lay 
 before them his information ; that they might accompany the gang to the 
 places where search might be made within the royalty, and prevent all tumult, 
 riot, or wanton insult, so frequently committed on the inhabitants on such 
 occasions." After learning from the Lord Provost the precise nature of the 
 duties they were required to discharge, it was arranged on igth May, that 
 
 and twenty feet in length, were consumed. Next day the steeple of the Tron Church 
 was burned ; and in the evening another fire broke out in one of the highest tenements 
 at the south-east corner of the Parliament Square, and spread along the whole re- 
 maining buildings of the square, reducing them to ruins. By these fires in November, 
 about 300 families were rendered houseless, and several persons were killed and injured. 
 See a more detailed description in an account of great fires in Edinburgh since 1700 
 (Edinburgh, T. & W. Nelson, 1824). 
 
 I Minute Book, iii. 397. 8 Ibid. iii. 413. 
 
 II Ibid. iii. 399. 4 Ibid. iv. 81. 
 6 Ibid. iv. in. Lord Cockburn's Memorials of his Time, pp. 456-458.
 
 240 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 three constables should attend at the council chamber every night when sum- 
 moned for that duty, and that absentees should be fined a guinea, save when 
 they provided a proxy, as it was provided they might do, the proxy being 
 a member of the society. 1 The moderator and two of the office-bearers at- 
 tended the pressgang on their first visit to the city on 2Oth May i8o3. a On 
 nth May 1805, the magistrates having again permitted press-gangs to enter 
 the city, each party being under the control of the constables appointed to 
 accompany them, nine members of the society were summoned to discharge 
 this duty, and several suspected persons were apprehended. 3 One of the 
 constables summoned on this occasion failed to attend, and incurred the fine 
 prescribed by the society's minute of igth May 1803 ; but the fine was re- 
 mitted, on the ground that it had not been exacted on other similar occasions. 4 
 While employed in preserving the peace, the constables were occasionally 
 brought into collision with the military authorities. On 23d June 1801, the 
 first recorded case of this kind occurred. One of their number, Mr Tony, held 
 a commission as lieutenant in the Royal Highland Volunteer Regiment, and 
 while acting as a constable, was required by his commanding officer, Colonel 
 Campbell, to attend his duty as an officer of the picquet guard. On com- 
 municating this order to the society, they held that Torry's civil duties as a 
 constable must be attended to in preference to his military duties, and de- 
 tained him. Torry was in consequence put under military arrest ; but on a 
 complaint by the society, the Lord Provost ordered Colonel Campbell to 
 withdraw the arrest, which was accordingly done. 5 Not content with this, 
 the society appointed a letter to be sent to the Lord Provost, as Lord Lieu- 
 tenant of the county of the city, setting forth the facts, representing that 
 more than one half of the constables were also volunteers, and requesting 
 instructions as to how they should conduct themselves on any similar occasion 
 in future. In answer to that communication, the Lord Provost (Fettes) ex- 
 pressed his opinion that the conduct of the society in Torry's case " was per- 
 fectly legal, and that in all time coming the same line of conduct should 
 be observed." At the same time he requested it to be intimated to those 
 constables who were also volunteers, " that it was quite optional their con- 
 tinuing to serve in both capacities." 6 A somewhat similar collision took place 
 on the 3oth of November 1806. Mr Thomas Paterson, one of the constables, 
 having used intemperate language to Major Tulloch, commanding the mili- 
 
 1 Minute Book, ii. 253-256. 3 Ibid. ii. 283. 5 Ibid. ii. 207, 211. 
 
 2 Ibid. ii. 256. 4 Ibid. ii. 301. 6 Ibid. ii. 214.
 
 High Constables of tJie City of Edinburgh. 241 
 
 tary on duty the same evening, was ordered to be arrested. Another con- 
 stable, Mr Allan, having interfered, was arrested instead of Paterson, but was 
 forthwith relieved by the moderator and other constables. An appeal was 
 immediately made to the magistrates, who had a meeting with the parties on 
 the following day. The magistrates espoused the cause of the constables, 
 while the officers of Major Tulloch's regiment sided with their major, and 
 were supported by Earl Moira, the commander-in-chief. The dispute was at 
 length arranged on the footing that Mr Allan should apologize to the major 
 for having peremptorily refused to give his name when asked, and that the 
 major should apologize "for having refused to acknowledge in a proper man- 
 ner the powers of the constables." The major, however, was shortly afterwards 
 dangerously wounded in a duel, and the matter was dropped ; but not until 
 the originator of the dispute, Paterson, had been obliged to give in his resig- 
 nation as a constable. 1 
 
 Besides regularly attending the magistrates and council in the procession 
 on the king's birthday, the society were in the habit of accompanying them 
 on other public ceremonials. Thus, on 8th September 1808, they attended 
 the council, with a select party of noblemen and gentlemen, at the laying 
 with masonic honours, by the Hon. Mr Ramsay Maule, of the foundation- 
 stone of a new jail for the city at the middle of Forester's Wynd. 2 On 
 25th October 1809, they accompanied the magistrates in procession from 
 the Assembly Rooms in Leith to witness the laying of the foundation-stone 
 of the military- works for the defence of the port. 3 On 2ist April 1810, 
 they attended the public funeral of Lord Provost Coulter. 4 On igth Septem- 
 ber 1815, they accompanied the magistrates in the procession on the occasion of 
 laying, with masonic honours, the foundation-stones of the Regent Bridge and 
 the new jail. 5 On 3d February 1820, the society formed part of the procession 
 
 1 Minute Book, iii. 911. 
 
 2 Ibid. iii. 52. This building was intended to supersede the old Tolbooth, or 
 "Heart of Mid-Lothian," which was demolished in 1817. The only portion ever 
 completed, however, was that known as the "the Lock-up," on the space immediately 
 behind the Advocates' Library and Sheriff Court buildings. A more appropriate site for 
 the jail was found on the Calton Hill, and the foundation stone was laid in September 
 1815. The Lock-up was recently removed, under arrangements between the govern- 
 ment and the prison board, whereby the latter have the use of the cells under the 
 High Court of Justiciary. 3 Ibid. iii. 98. 
 
 4 Ibid. iii. 103 ; Anderson's History of Edinburgh, p. 313. 
 6 Minute Book, iii. 203 ; post, p. 247. 
 
 Gg
 
 242 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 on the occasion of proclaiming King George IV. at the Royal Exchange, 
 at the Castle, and at Holyrood Palace. 1 In 1822, the society took a part in 
 all the more public ceremonials in the city connected with the reception and 
 entertainment of His Majesty on his visit to Scotland ; 2 and their minutes of 
 date 3ist July, 5th, I3th, I4th, I5th, 22d, 24th, 25th, and 27th August, are 
 occupied with that event. 3 On the day of the king's arrival (i5th August), 
 the society, according to the wish of the Lord Provost and Sir Thomas Brad- 
 ford, commander of the forces, " took the direction and charge of the military 
 in that part of the line through which His Majesty passed to Holyrood House, 
 extending from the barrier gate erected at the boundary of the city at 
 Picardy Place to the corner of North St Andrew Street." On the 22d of 
 August, when the king visited the castle, the society were stationed in front 
 of the platform erected for the council at the cross, opposite the Royal 
 Exchange. On 24th August, the day of the great civic banquet to his 
 majesty, the society took " charge of the avenues leading to the banquetting- 
 hall, within the Parliament Square, and in front of the Advocates' Library, 
 and the different approaches to the hall." Parties of the society were also 
 stationed in the interior of the hall, and were, as far as practicable, changed 
 every fifteen minutes. On Sunday the 25th of August, the society lined the 
 streets, on either side, from the door of the High Church, where the king 
 attended divine service, to the entrance into the Exchange. And on 27th Au- 
 gust they accompanied the magistrates in procession at the laying of the foun- 
 dation-stone of the National Monument on the Calton Hill. 4 On 28th July 1825, 
 they formed part of the procession at the laying, with masonic honours, of the 
 foundation-stone of the High School at the Calton Hill. 5 For their services 
 on this occasion, they received the thanks of the Lord Provost and magis- 
 trates. 6 On 1 5th August 1826, the society accompanied the magistrates in 
 procession to witness the driving of the first piles of the new pier in Leith ; 
 and afterwards had an aquatic excursion. 7 On I5th August 1827, the society 
 attended the magistrates in the procession to lay the foundation-stone of the 
 new West and South Bridges, i. e. George IV. Bridge and the bridge forming 
 part of the west approach by the south of the Castle. 8 
 
 1 Minute Book, Hi. 276-280, where there is a minute description of the ceremonial. 
 J Anderson's History of Edinburgh, 382. 4 Post, p. 247. 
 
 3 Minue Book, iii. 341-358. 8 Ibid. iii. 433-437 ; post, p. 247. 
 
 6 Ibid. iv. 4, 5. 7 Ibid. iv. 42. Anderson's History of Edinburgh, p. 388. 
 
 8 Ibid. iv. 71. Lord Cockburn's Memorials of his time, pp. 426-429.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 243 
 
 The society were still occasionally employed in the preparation of parlia- 
 mentary returns. Thus, on I4th May 1801, the constables of the new town 
 were required to take up the census of the new extended royalty, 1 and in 
 181 1, they were entrusted with the taking up of the census of the ten parishes 
 of the city. An abstract of the latter census is entered in the minute of 
 date agth June i8u. 2 In 1821, a similar duty was imposed upon them with 
 reference to the eleven parishes into which the city was at that time divided, 
 and an abstract of the census is recorded in the minute book under date 
 loth July 1821. 3 
 
 On 1 6th August 1803, they were ordered by the lieutenantcy to make 
 returns of all the men in their respective bounds between the ages of 
 seventeen and fifty-five, dividing them into four classes, as prescribed by 
 the act 43 Geo. III. c. 96. 4 On 2ist October in the same year, they 
 were required to take up the names of the owners and numbers of carts, 
 carriages, &c., and horses, in the ancient and extended royalties of the 
 city, that the same might be brought into the public service with the 
 least delay. 5 To facilitate the preparation of this return, the lieutenantcy 
 divided the city into eight districts, and recommended the society to ap- 
 portion themselves among these districts. 6 In compliance with that recom- 
 mendation, the whole constables were distributed among the several dis- 
 tricts on 24th October, reference being had as far as possible to the 
 position of the constables' bounds relatively to the districts ; and the senior 
 constable of each district was appointed convener. 7 
 
 The society also continued to furnish the annual returns of persons liable to 
 serve as jurymen and militiamen ; and for the latter duty various payments 
 were made to them by the Exchequer. Thus they received, in 1802, 50* 
 and in 1803, ioo. s In 1806, however, they were required to make 
 oath to the exact time they were engaged, the number of lines of entry in 
 their returns, and other mimttice, and they were informed, that unless this 
 
 1 Minute Book, ii. 205. a Ibid. iii. 1 14. 
 
 8 Ibid. iii. 327. For their services in connection with the taking up of this census, 
 Mr Spankie, moderator, and Mr Brash, secretary, received from the society the present 
 each of a handsome silver punch-bowl, with a suitable inscription thereon [Minute 
 Book, iii. 335, 339], 
 
 4 Minute Book, ii. 262. 7 Ibid. ii. 267-268. 
 
 5 Ibid. ii. 266, 268, 271. 8 Council Records, cxxxvi. 229 ; Minute Book, ii. 220. 
 
 6 Ibid. ii. 263, 266. 9 Minute Book, ii. 261.
 
 244 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 order was complied with, they would not be remunerated for their labour. 
 Finding it impossible to comply with this requisition, the society addressed 
 memorials on the subject to the Lord Chief Baron, on igth January I8O7, 1 
 and to the Lord Provost as Lord Lieutenant of the city on 24th March 
 i8o8. 3 That these memorials were not attended with the desired effect may 
 be inferred from the fact that a petition was addressed by the committee to 
 the Barons of Exchequer in 1809, and refused, on the ground that the con- 
 stables had not complied with the requirements of the Exchequer regulations 
 on the subject. 3 After that period, however, the committee were authorised to 
 comply with the regulations of Exchequer, and doubtless the allowances to 
 which the constables were entitled were regularly received. 4 On 28th October 
 1813, the society received ,67, os. 4d. from the receiver-general of Exchequer 
 for militia returns. 5 Of the care with which the society required all its members 
 to take up the returns, there is an illustration under date 1st November 1813, 
 when they applied to the magistrates, with effect, to compel a constable to do 
 his duty in this respect. 9 On i6th February 1815, the society received ,70, 
 7s. lod. from the Exchequer for militia duty. 7 On igth February 1816, they 
 received ^60, gs. id ; 8 in March 1817, ^67, is. 6d; 9 in August 1817, ^65, 
 2s. 6d. ; 10 and in August 1818,^63, 155. 2d. n In the following year, the Barons 
 of Exchequer, on an application by the moderator, modified the sum to be an- 
 nually paid to the constables for their Militia returns to ^60 ; and dispensed with 
 the necessity for their making oath to the correctness of their account. 12 In 
 1819, the society received two sums of ,60, 6s. iod., and ^60 from Exchequer. 13 
 To equalize as far as possible the labour of the respective constables in 
 taking up these militia lists, the society, on 28th September 1820, em- 
 powered the committee to revise and readjust the bounds of the city. 1 * 
 This was accordingly done on 24th January 182 1, 15 and the division into 
 one hundred bounds, corresponding to the number of constables, was ap- 
 proved of by the society on 2d April i82i. 18 On the reduction of the 
 society to its former number of sixty, the city was re-divided into a corres- 
 
 1 Minute Book, iii. 24, 25. 
 2 Ibid. iii. 41-44. 
 8 Ibid. iii. 98. 
 4 Ibid. 
 5 Ibid. iii. 170. 
 
 6 Ibid. iii. 146, 147. 
 7 Ibid. iii. 191. 
 8 Ibid. iii. 205. 
 9 Ibid. iii. 214. 
 10 Ibid. iii. 246. 
 
 11 Ibid. iii. 257. 
 l * Ibid. iii. 265. 
 13 Ibid.' iii. 291. 
 u Ibid. iii. 297. 
 
 15 Ibid. iii. 307-320. A description of each of the hundred districts into which the 
 ci y was divided is here engrossed. 16 Ibid. iii. 321.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 245 
 
 ponding number of districts, on 27th June I823- 1 Subsequently, in conse- 
 quence of the extension of the city northwards, and the creation of the new 
 parish of St Mary's, which had been taken from the parishes of St George's 
 and St Andrew's, a new division of the bounds of the different parishes be- 
 came necessary. This was effected on 2d August i825. a 
 
 On 26th January 1825, the society petitioned the Barons of Exchequer for 
 some allowance on account of their trouble in making up the Jury lists, which 
 cost them about ^10 per annum of outlay. The petition was refused, how- 
 ever, on the ground that they had no funds applicable to such a purpose. 3 
 On Qth August 1825, the society received intimation that the duty of taking 
 up Jury lists had been transferred, by the act-of parliament 6 Geo. iv. c. 22, 
 from the magistrates to the sheriff, who might not, as the magistrates had 
 invariably done, entrust it to the constables. A deputation was thereupon 
 appointed to wait on the sheriff, and ascertain his wishes on the matter. 4 
 As the result of this interview, and of subsequent communings, the society 
 continued to take up the Jury lists. 8 It appears, however, that they had con- 
 siderable difficulty in obtaining remuneration for their services ; for on 29th 
 March 1828, they addressed a memorial to the Sheriff on the subject, in 
 which they stated that they had not received any payment for two years' 
 labours, and they claimed ^90 therefor. 6 On 24th June, the sheriff was re- 
 minded of this claim by a letter from the moderator; 7 and on ist July, the 
 sheriff's answer was received. It explained that the Barons of Exchequer had 
 decided that they had no power to sustain the claim ; that, in consequence, 
 the sheriffs of Scotland had communicated with the Lord Advocate on the 
 subject, but that his reply had not been received. 3 On nth September 1828, 
 ^45 were paid to the society for taking up the jury list of the previous year. 9 
 A similar sum was paid for the following year. 10 The duty of taking up the 
 jury lists having then been transferred to others, the society, on 28lh Decem- 
 ber, resolved as follows : 
 
 ' ' That this society, understanding that a change has been made by the sheriff of the 
 county in the mode of taking up the lists of persons in .the city qualified to serve as 
 jurymen, (while they have no wish to resume this troublesome duty) cannot help ex- 
 pressing their surprise that this change should have been adopted without reason being 
 
 1 Minute Book, Hi. 374. 
 
 6 Ibid. iv. 1 6, 17. 
 
 9 Ibid. iv. 
 
 108. 
 
 2 Ibid. iv. I. 
 
 6 Council Records, iv. 89-90. 
 
 10 Ibid. iv. 
 
 118. 
 
 3 Ibid. iii. 402. 
 
 7 Ibid. iv. 102. 
 
 
 
 4 Ibid. iv. 3. 
 
 8 Ibid. iv. 104. 
 

 
 246 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 given, or any annunciation whatever [being] made to the society on the subject, 
 although they have performed this duty for a very great number of years, to the entire 
 satisfaction of the authorities. " l 
 
 Nor were the services of the constables limited to matters purely offi- 
 cial. The organisation of the society has always been available for the 
 promotion of philanthropic and other beneficial public objects. Shortly 
 after the battle of Waterloo, intelligence of which reached Edinburgh on 
 the 24th of June 1815, arrangements were made for collecting a fund for the 
 relief of the widows and orphans of those who had fallen. The co-opera- 
 tion of the constables was invited by the magistrates, and the society re- 
 sponded heartily to the call ; the members undertaking to go personally 
 through their respective bounds and receive subscriptions. The result was 
 that ^1422, 35. 6d. were collected by the society, and paid over to the fund. 3 
 So also after the great fires in 1824, to which allusion has been made, 3 imme- 
 diate steps were taken for the relief of the sufferers by these calamities, and 
 the magistrates contemplated an appeal to the society to undertake the col- 
 lection of subscriptions, as they had previously done for the Waterloo fund in 
 1815. The Commissioners of Police, however, offered to discharge the duty, 
 and their services were accepted ; but the society, though many of its mem- 
 bers had previously subscribed, raised among themselves a sum of ^40, 8s. 
 6d., which was paid over to the treasurer of the fund. 4 On I3th March 1826, 
 again, the society acceded to a request made to them by the Lord Provost, 
 that they should co-operate with the members of the committee appointed to 
 raise subscriptions for the new High School on the Calton Hill, the founda- 
 tion stone of which had been laid on 28th July previous. 5 Books for receiv- 
 ing subscriptions were delivered to the respective constables on 27th March 
 1826, and they were appointed to deliver them to the city chamberlain, along 
 with the amount subscribed, at the earliest possible period. 6 The subscrip- 
 tions thus collected were handed directly to the chamberlain, and the amount 
 does not appear in the records of the society. 
 
 In the discharge of their various public duties, the society were also called 
 on to assert, as against other local bodies, what they believed to be their 
 rights, not only of precedency but of superior authority. Of this there is 
 
 Minute Book, iv. 113, 114. 4 Minute Book, iii. 396. 
 
 Ibid. iii. 196-202. 6 Ibid. iv. 24. 
 
 Antea, p. 238, footnote IO. 6 Ibid. iv. 28.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 247 
 
 one illustration in the question as to their relations to the police established 
 under the act of iSc^. 1 Another is to be found in the discussions with the 
 constables of Calton, as to which of the two bodies was entitled to prece- 
 dency within the barony of Calton on occasions of public ceremonial. The 
 question with the Calton constables was first mooted when the foundation 
 stones of the Regent Bridge and New Jail were laid on igth September 
 1815. It was again raised in connection with the arrangements for laying the 
 foundation-stone of the National Monument on the Calton Hill, on 27th 
 August 1822, and Mr L'Amy, one of the city's assessors, having been con- 
 sulted, was of opinion that, when the society formed part of a city proces- 
 sion, and accompanied the magistrates, who were the superiors of the barony, 
 they were entitled to precede the Calton constables even within the barony. 
 The constables of Calton, however, declined to give effect to this opinion, and 
 took possession of the site of the foundation-stone, which they were allowed 
 to retain. 3 The question was again revived in the prospect of the ceremony 
 of laying the foundation-stone of the High School on the Calton Hill, in July 
 i825. 3 In the course of the correspondence which then ensued between the 
 two bodies on the subject, the society referred to the opinion of Mr L'Amy in 
 1822, while the Calton constables referred to a minute in their records, dated 
 2d November 1815, in which it was stated that Sir William Rae, the then 
 sheriff of the county, had investigated the subject, and had taken consider- 
 able pains to convince the Lord Provost and magistrates of the validity of 
 the claim of the Calton constables, who had accordingly preceded the high 
 constables 4 at the laying of the foundation-stone of the Regent Bridge. A 
 more detailed statement of the facts connected with that ceremony was fur- 
 nished in a letter by the constables of Calton to the Lord Provost, dated 
 23d July i825- 5 At the ceremony of laying the foundation stone of the High 
 School on the 28th of July 1825, however, arrangements were made by which 
 the decision of the question was evaded by the magistrates and council. 6 
 
 A question was also raised between the society and the constables of Canon- 
 gate, in 1825, as to their respective rights and privileges. On 27th January 
 1825, the council and the sheriff of the county issued " Regulations to be ob- 
 served at fires," by which, inter alia, the moderator of the high constables of 
 the city was empowered to call out the extra constables, and to give notice to 
 
 1 Antea, pp. 218-220. 8 Ibid. iii. 425. 6 Ibid. iii. 430-432. 
 
 2 Minute Book, iii. 358. * Ibid. iii. 429, 430 6 Ibid. iii. 433-437.
 
 248 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 the moderator of Canongate, Calton, and Portsburgh, to call out the con- 
 stables of these districts." When these regulations were submitted to the 
 Canongate constables on 1st March 1825, they resolved, (i.) That on the occa- 
 sion of any fires in the city or suburbs, they would act only under the magistrates 
 or the proper authorities of the city ; and (2.) That on the occasion of any fire in 
 the burgh of Canongate, they would act under the authority of the magistrates, 
 or, in their' absence, of the moderator of their own body, and would "recognise 
 no other authority or direction except that of the sheriff." 1 Copies of these reso- 
 lutions were transmitted to the society, by whose direction 2 a communication 
 was addressed to the Lord Provost on 26th April i825, 3 inquiring whether, in 
 the event of a fire in the Canongate, " the power of the high constables is to 
 be superseded by that of the Canongate constables, or, on the contrary, if the 
 privileges of the high constables do not, like those of the magistrates of the 
 city, extend over the burghs of Canongate and Portsburgh, and barony of 
 Calton. 4 At the same time the society complained of the assumption by the 
 Canongate constables of the title of " High Constables." No reply having 
 been made to this communication, the moderator, on 3ist May 1825, recalled 
 the Lord Provost's attention to the subject. 5 On i/th August 1825, the 
 moderator again wrote the Lord Provost, and craved that the " opinion of the 
 city's assessors [might] be taken," and that the printed instructions of I786 6 
 might be revised and reprinted for the future guidance of the society. 7 This 
 application, and a subsequent letter from the moderator to the acting chief 
 magistrate on the same subject, dated igth April i826, 8 not having secured 
 the desired object, the society, on nth April 1827, approved of a memorial to 
 the council, in which they reiterated their claim to precedence of all other 
 constables within the magistrates' jurisdiction, and craved the council to 
 declare " that none of the bodies of suburban constables have any right to 
 bear the title of ' High Constables,' and that the society of High Constables 
 of the city shall take precedence of all other bodies of constables within their 
 jurisdiction." 9 This memorial had the desired effect; and, on I4th March 
 1828, the moderator submitted to the committee a proof of new instructions 
 about to be enacted by the magistrates and council. These were approved 
 by the committee with one or two verbal alterations, 10 and were enacted by 
 
 1 See copy Resolutions engrossed in Minute Book, iii. 423. 
 
 2 Minute Book, iii. 415. 5 Ibid. iii. 422. 8 Ibid. iv. 32. 
 
 8 Ibid. iii. 418. 6 Appendix XI. fl Ibid. iv. 61-65. 
 
 * Ibid. iii. 420. 7 Minute Book, iv. 15. 10 Ibid iv. 84.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 249 
 
 act of council, dated igth March I828. 1 In terms of these instructions ac- 
 cordingly, the society took precedence of the constables of Calton at the 
 ceremony of opening the new High School, on 23d June 1829. 2 
 
 One instance has been referred to, in which the society resented a resig- 
 nation by one of the members in terms which were considered disrespect- 
 ful. 3 Reference has also been made to several instances in which the society 
 asserted its dignity, by insisting on gentlemen who had been elected con- 
 stables accepting and acting. 4 In 1828, however, a new question was raised, 
 first, as to the power of the council to compel any member of the society to 
 serve as a constable for three years ; and, second, with whom rested the right 
 to accept or refuse resignations by members of the society. In 1828, five 
 members resigned before they had completed three years' service as consta- 
 bles, and the committee, on I5th August 1828, recorded their determination 
 to exact the full penalty of five guineas from all persons who should so act in 
 future. 5 On 6th April 1829, accordingly, when Mr Robert Alexander, after 
 being only one year a constable, tendered his resignation, without assigning 
 any reason, the society declined to consider it till he had explained his reason. 8 
 This, however, he declined to do. The society thereupon requested the modera- 
 tor " to report proceedings to the Lord Provost and magistrates, in order that 
 the fine imposed for non-completing of service may be levied." 7 The moderator 
 (Mr J. P. Mitchell), accordingly, on 5th May 1829, transmitted to the council 
 a copy of the correspondence which had taken place between the secretary 
 and Mr Alexander, and asked them to impose the fine exigible from those 
 who decline to discharge this necessary duty of a citizen. In reply, the 
 council, on 2Oth May 1829,* directed the following intimation to be made to 
 the moderator : 
 
 ' ' They are of opinion it would not be consistent with the dignity of the society of high 
 constables, to compel an individual to hold a situation which most of the citizens con- 
 sider to be an honourable distinction ; and on this ground they do not consider it to be 
 expedient to enforce the continuance of Mr Alexander by the infliction of any fine, and 
 therefore the magistrates and council have accepted his resignation." 
 
 At the same time they intimated that they had accepted of the resignation, by 
 
 i 
 
 1 Minute Book, iv. 157. 5 Minute Book, iv. 106. 
 
 a Council Records, cciii. 62. Appendix XV. 6 Ibid. iv. 119. 
 3 Antea, p. 166. 7 Ibid. iv. 124. 
 
 * Antea, pp. 183, 231. 8 Council Records, ccv. 222-224. 
 
 H h
 
 250 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 Mr Alexander Brown, 1 of his office of high constable, and it was added, " You 
 may therefore now take the usual steps for supplying the vacancies thus occa- 
 sioned." 2 After receiving this intimation, the committee of the society, on 
 3d June 1829, memorialised the council to reconsider their former applica- 
 tion, and to ordain Messrs Alexander and Brown to complete the required 
 period of service. 3 In support of this application, they referred to the cases 
 of Johnston and Gilchrist in 1768, and of Donaldson in 1780,* and to the 
 council's act of igth March 1828, and urged that, to comply with the unani- 
 mous wish of the society in the matter, would be " not only to do what is in 
 strict conformity to usage and to law, but what is also necessary to the future 
 prosperity and usefulness of that body which has on so many occasions re- 
 ceived the approbation of the magistrates of Edinburgh." The memorial was 
 submitted to the council on 3d June, and having been remitted to the Lord 
 Provost's committee, 5 his Lordship suggested a conference between his com- 
 mittee and the committee of the society. To this conference the moderator 
 agreed, but called a general meeting of the society to receive their instruc- 
 tions. The meeting took place on 1 5th June, when the proceedings of the 
 committee of the society were approved of, and the following series of resolu- 
 tions was agreed to, and appointed to be recorded : 
 
 " 1st, That although the Lord Provost, magistrates, and council, are empowered to 
 appoint constables, and to accept of their resignations, yet, the practice of permitting 
 the society of high constables of the city of Edinburgh, for upwards of a century, to 
 name its own members, and to accept or decline their resignation as might seem pro- 
 per to the society itself, affords the strongest proof of the expediency of such a practice, 
 and, as that practice has existed so long, the present members of the society conceive 
 that a privilege has thereby been conferred and acquired by the high constables, which 
 they feel it to be their imperative duty to maintain. 
 
 " 2d, That the records of the society establish that from the commencement of the 
 last century, the shortest period of a high constable's service has been three years, and 
 that this important fact is confirmed by several acts of council. 
 
 "3d, That notwithstanding these laws and established practice, the society has 
 learned with the deepest regret, that the Lord Provost, magistrates, and council had 
 
 1 Mr Brown had previously expressed his wish to resign, but after communicating 
 with the committee of the society, had agreed to complete his period of service [Minute 
 Book, iv. 124], 
 
 2 Minute Book, iv. 128, 129. 5 Council Records, ccv. 268. 
 8 Ibid. iv. 130, 131. 6 Minute Book, iv. 132, 133. 
 4 Antea, p. 183.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 251 
 
 agreed to accept of the resignations of Mr Robert Alexander and Alexander Brown, 
 who had not completed their regular period of service, and that too, without intimat- 
 ing to the society, through their moderator, such resolution, a resolution in direct oppo- 
 sition to the prayer of the society, which was in the possession of the Lord Provost, 
 magistrates, and council at the time when it was resolved in council to accept of the 
 above mentioned resignations. 
 
 "4th, That as the Lord Provost and magistrates had expressed a desire to have a 
 conference with the deputation to-morrow at twelve o'clock noon, the society authorise 
 these gentlemen, along with the standing committee, to wait upon the Lord Provost 
 and magistrates, and to report their proceedings to the society to-morrow evening, at 
 eight o'clock, in the council chamber." 
 
 The conference took place on the following day, when it was explained, on 
 the part of the council, that though the power of appointing and dismissing 
 constables lay entirely with them, yet they could not compel any individual 
 to serve for more than one year ; that while, under the council's act of igth 
 March 1828, a constable might serve three years, or in certain circumstances 
 for a somewhat longer period, yet it was not intended to bind, and could not 
 bind, any one to remain for that period ; that so far from any disrespect or 
 discourtesy being intended towards the society by the acceptance of these 
 resignations, the council entertained the highest respect for the body, and 
 the non-communication with the moderator previous to the acceptance of the 
 resignations was a mere overlook, which the council much regretted. This 
 explanation, however, did not satisfy the committee of the society, who main- 
 tained that so early as 1715, the period of a constable's service was under- 
 stood to be three years ; that the uniform practice since that time supported 
 this view ; that while parties who had been appointed constables had been 
 compelled to serve, other parties seeking to retire without a sufficient excuse 
 had been prevented from doing so, their period of service not having been 
 completed, but had afterwards been allowed to retire for reasons deemed 
 sufficient by the society ;* that the right of granting or declining resignations 
 
 1 The case here referred to was that of George Hunter, on 8th March 1800 
 .[Minute Book, ii. 187]. Hunter resigned on the ground that his "present situation 
 in business would not permit him to hold office." His resignation was remitted to the 
 committee, who were of opinion that the reason assigned was " no reason whatever," 
 and that, in recording it, it was necessary " to assign a more cogent reason to justify 
 their conduct in receiving it." They then, "merely to -prevent any encroachment 
 upon the constitution of the society," indicate that Hunter's conduct was such as to 
 render his resignation necessary.
 
 252 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 was vested in the society ; and they indicated that unless Messrs Alexander 
 and Brown were brought back to complete their period of service, the society 
 might be considered as at an end. The Lord Provost (Brown) and his com- 
 mittee expressed a hope that, should the society resolve to break up, it would 
 at all events delay doing so till it had the written answer of the council to 
 the memorial, which would be submitted to the first meeting of council on the 
 24th of the same month. He also expressed a wish that the society should 
 attend the procession at the opening of the High School on the following 
 Tuesday. The result of the conference, and the Lord Provost's wishes, were 
 reported to the society on i6th June, when a motion and an amendment were 
 submitted, the former to the effect that the society should not come to a 
 final resolution on the subject till an answer was received from the council ; 
 and the latter, that the constables should at once send in their resignations. 
 Before putting the question to the vote, it was agreed that, whatever should 
 be the result, the minority should acquiesce in it, and follow the example of 
 the majority. In these circumstances, the amendment having been carried 
 by twenty-seven to twenty-one, the whole constables present subscribed a 
 letter of resignation, which was immediately sent in to the Lord Provost, and 
 the moderator declared the society to be dissolved. 1 
 
 On receipt of this communication, the Lord Provost summoned an ex- 
 traordinary meeting of the council, which was held on the igth of June, 
 when, after receiving the report of the Lord Provost's committee, the re- 
 signations of the constables were accepted, and sixty-one persons were 
 elected high constables, and requested to attend and be sworn into office. 2 
 At the meeting of constables on the same day, the office-bearers for the 
 former year were unanimously re-elected, and instructions were given to the 
 moderator to demand from the former office-bearers the minute books and 
 properties of the society. 3 Possession of these was immediately got, the trea- 
 surer advancing a sum of ,128, 155. lod. due to his predecessor, and in security 
 of which he claimed to have a lien over the properties of the society. 4 Two of 
 
 1 Minute Book, iv. 133, 139. 
 
 2 Council Records, ccv. 288, 289. These elections were made from lists furnished 
 at the request "of the Lord Provost and magistrates, by those office-bearers who had 
 gone out in April, and it is noticeable, that at least fifteen of those who had resigned 
 on the 1 6th, were re-elected on the igth of June. 
 
 3 Minute Book, iv. 150, 152. 
 * Ibid. iv. 153.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 253 
 
 the persons appointed constables on the igth having declined to accept office, 
 the moderator requested others to be elected, but before doing so the council, 
 on 24th June, 1 requested the moderator to state the grounds of their declina- 
 ture. Having received the moderator's explanation on ist July, the council 
 sustained the reasons of declinature, and appointed two other persons to be 
 constables. 3 
 
 In connection with the misunderstanding which has thus been described, 
 it is only necessary to observe farther, that Mr Mitchell having declined, 
 when requested by the society, to alter his designation in the attestation of 
 the accounts of the former treasurer from " moderator of the late society," to 
 " late moderator of the society," the society on 6th July protested against the 
 attestation, and the implication thereby conveyed that the society was dis- 
 solved ; and declared, " that the minutes of i6th instant should not be con- 
 sidered as part of the society's records, having been written by Mr Cros- 
 bie after he had not only resigned his office as secretary, but his status as a 
 constable." At the same time it was resolved unanimously, 
 
 "That as the Lord Provost, magistrates, and council state they have not power to 
 force members to continue longer than one year, the society are satisfied with that 
 understanding of the law, and with the farther declaration that, in future, all resigna- 
 tions shall come through the moderator." 
 
 On 2 ist April 1830, twelve constables were elected,* and on 6th April 1831, 
 seventeen constables were elected. 4 
 
 The agitation for parliamentary and burgh reform, nowhere more ably or 
 persistently conducted than in Edinburgh, received a fresh impulse, in 
 November 1830, from the retirement of the ministry of the Duke of Welling- 
 ton, and the succession of that of Earl Grey. A series of public meetings in 
 favour of the extension of the elective franchise was held, and when Lord 
 John Russell propounded the Reform Bill to the House of Commons, on 
 the ist of March 1831, a petition by the inhabitants in its favour received 
 thirty-one thousand signatures. This petition was despatched on the I7th of 
 March, and on the following day, a special meeting of the society was convened, 
 in terms of a requisition presented to the moderator, Mr (now Lord Provost) 
 Lawson, requesting him to call a meeting of the society " for the purpose of 
 
 1 Council Records, ccv. 311. 3 Ibid ccvii. 214. 
 
 3 Ibid. ccv. 327. 4 Ibid. ccix. 208.
 
 254 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 addressing His Majesty, and of expressing their confidence in his ministers 
 and also petitioning both Houses of Parliament to pass into a law the present 
 bill introduced by Lord John Russell, with the sanction of His Majesty and 
 his ministers, for an effective change in the representation of the Commons 
 House of Parliament." This meeting was presided over by the treasurer, 
 Mr (now Sir William) Johnston, in the absence of the moderator, who was 
 confined to his house by ill health, and after affirming the expediency of the 
 society " interfering with political affairs, so far as to vote an address and 
 petition in the present emergency," adapted an address to the throne, and 
 passed a series of resolutions of the nature indicated in the requisition. The 
 address was ordered to be transmitted to the Earl of Errol, with a request 
 that his lordship would present it to the King. 1 Petitions in conformity with 
 the resolutions were also ordered to be transmitted to the Lord Chancellor and 
 to the Lord Advocate, for presentation to the respective houses of parliament. 3 
 On the following day, the moderator, chaplain, secretary, and seven members 
 sent in their resignations, 3 which were accepted at the meeting of the society 
 held on 2ist March, and at the same meeting Mr (now Sir William) Johnston, 
 was elected moderator. He was re-appointed at the annual election on 
 4th April 1831,* and discharged the duties of the office with great tact and 
 ability, during the stirring, and so far as the high constables were concerned, 
 perilous, times of the Reform Bill agitations. To these, and the loyal services 
 rendered by the society in connection with them, reference will afterwards be 
 made. Meanwhile suffice it to observe that the aspect of affairs was so 
 threatening, and the popular excitement so great, that on nth May i83i, 5 the 
 council approved of a resolution of the magistrates to increase the high con- 
 stables to their former number of one hundred. 6 This resolution was in- 
 timated to the society on I4th May, and on the i8th of May a committee 
 was appointed to confer with the moderator as to the persons to be appointed, 
 with powers to make the requisite elections. 7 The requisite elections having 
 
 1 Post, p. 2 Minute Book, iv. 218-223. 
 
 3 No reason for these resignations was assigned, or appear in the minutes ; but it is 
 understood that they were tendered on the ground that, as a society expressly appointed 
 to conserve the peace, and discharge other strictly official duties, it was incompetent 
 for the high constables to interfere with political questions, or to divert their organiza- 
 tion to any other purpose than that for which it was formed. 
 
 4 Minute Book, iv. 230. 6 Ibid. ccix. 335. 
 8 Council Records, ccix. 335. 7 Ibid. ccix. 356.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 255 
 
 been made, twenty-nine persons appeared on 2oth May, thirteen on 26th May, 
 and on loth June were qualified. 1 
 
 On i2th December 1832, three constables were elected. 3 On 3ist July 
 1833, ten were elected. 8 On 4th December 1833, eight were elected. 4 Three 
 were appointed on i8th March, 5 fifteen on 2Oth May, 6 and ten on 28th October 
 18347 Twenty were elected on 26th May, 8 and six on I3th October i835- 9 
 Four were elected on 8th March, 10 fifteen on 3d May, 11 and eight on ryth May 
 i836. 12 Seventeen were elected on 28th March, 13 and six on i6th May 1837. 14 
 Six were elected on 6th March, 15 thirteen on ist May, 16 and five on i6th 
 October i838. 17 
 
 At the nomination of office-bearers on i8th March 1833, an objection was 
 stated to the eligibility of Mr John Carfrae as moderator, on the ground that 
 he had completed three years' service as a constable in June, and that while 
 he was entitled to retain his position as an office-bearer till the next election, 
 it was incompetent, under the council's acts of iQth April 1815, and igth 
 March 1828, to elect him to office for the following year. A vote having been 
 taken on the question of eligibility, twenty-one voted in the affirmative, and 
 seventeen in the negative, six declining to vote. Against this decision Mr 
 Girdwood protested, and took instruments, and subsequently a memorial 
 
 I Minute Book, iv. 247-249. Mr Duncan M'Laren, afterwards Lord Provost, 
 and now M.P. for the city, was elected a constable at this time, and qualified on 
 2oth May 1831 [Ibid iv. 247]. He retired from the society on 28th May 1832 '[Ibid, 
 iv. 283]. 
 
 * Council Records, ccxiii. 35. * Ibid, ccxiv. 444. 
 
 * Ibid, ccxiv. 104. 6 Ibid. ccxv. 372. 
 
 6 Ibid, ccxvi. 184. At this time Mr P. S. Fraser was elected a constable. He 
 was elected treasurer on 4th April 1836 [Minute Book, iv. 432], and moderator on 
 loth April 1837 [Ibid. iv. 446]. He retired from the society on 2d April 1838 [Ibid, 
 iv. 470]. On loth August 1838, the High Constables presented him with an elegant 
 and massive silver jug, "in token of the society's regard " [Ibid iv. 478]. 
 
 7 Council Records, ccxvii. 343. 
 
 8 Ibid, ccxix. 193. At this time Mr James Miller, surgeon, afterwards professor of 
 surgery in the University, was elected a constable. On 4th April 1836, he was elected 
 surgeon [Minute Book, iv. 432] ; on loth April 1837, secretary [Ibid. iv. 446] ; and on 
 2d April 1838, moderator of the society [Ibid. iv. 470]. He resigned on igth Decem- 
 ber 1838 [Ibid. iv. 487]. 
 
 9 Council Records, ccxx. 135. 12 Ibid, ccxxi. 242. ls Ibid, ccxxvi. 214. 
 10 Ibid ccxxi. 49. 13 Ibid, ccxxiii. 279. I0 Ibid, ccxxvi. 424. 
 
 II Ibid, ccxxi. 212. 1J Ibid, ccxxiv. 56. 17 Ibid, ccxxviii. 193.
 
 256 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 and protest were lodged with the moderator, to be laid by him before the 
 council. This document was transmitted to the council, with a letter, 
 in which the moderator requested instructions as to whether he should " en- 
 force or depart from the acts of council referred to." The council, however, 
 on 2Oth March I833, 1 resolved that, "having established certain regulations 
 for the society of High Constables, [they] did not think it expedient to in- 
 terpret the same on the application of individual members of the society." 
 This decision having been intimated to the moderator, he renewed the appli- 
 cation for instructions how to act in the circumstances ; and the council on 23d 
 March, " not considering it proper that they should interpret the effect of a 
 law made by [themselves] recommended the parties to consult counsel on 
 the subject." 3 In these circumstances, the moderator consulted Mr L'Amy, 
 one of the city's assessors, and obtained from him an opinion that Mr Carfrae 
 was not eligible. At the meeting on ist April, accordingly, the moderator 
 reported what he had done, and proposed to read Mr L' Amy's opinion. The 
 society, however, decided by a majority of one that it should not be read, and 
 it was proposed to take the vote as between Mr Carfrae and the other candi- 
 date, Mr Kennedy. The moderator thereupon protested that Mr Carfrae was 
 ineligible, and declared Mr Kennedy to be the only candidate for the office 
 of moderator. Subject to this protest, the vote was then taken, when twenty- 
 two members voted for Mr Kennedy, and twenty-three voted for Mr Carfrae, 
 eight gentlemen declining to vote. Against this vote the moderator again 
 protested, took instruments in the hands of the secretary, and having de- 
 clared Mr Kennedy duly elected moderator, left the chair. It was thereupon 
 taken by Mr Carfrae, who, with Mr Kennedy, severally proposed treasurers 
 for the ensuing year. Considerable discussion ensued, but it was ultimately 
 arranged that the " person who should be confirmed moderator by the magis- 
 trates and council, should bring into office with him the parties nominated 
 on 1 8th March as office-bearers and committee." 3 Both parties then ap- 
 pealed to the council, who, on I7th April 1833, 
 
 " resolved, on a division, by a majority of fourteen to nine, that the said John Carfrae 
 jun. was not eligible to hold the said office, found his election thereto null and void, 
 and declared that the said Charles Kennedy had been duly elected moderator of the 
 society." * 
 
 1 Council Records, ccxiii. 299. a Ibid, ccxiii. 306. 8 Minute Book, iv. 367, 373. 
 
 4 One of the members of council, who voted in the minority, was a high constable, and 
 
 his vote was protested against [Council Records, ccxiii. 372 ; Minute Book, iv. 373, 374]-
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 257 
 
 Messrs Gillespie and Burr (nominees of Mr Carfrae), designing themselves 
 respectively secretary and treasurer of the society, thereafter memorialised 
 the council to confirm the election of office-bearers and committee, which 
 they alleged had been made on 1st April. But the council, on ist May 
 1833, "declined either to receive or decide on the request contained in 
 said memorial." 1 Considerable dissatisfaction, however, seems to have 
 existed in the society as to the election of the office-bearers and commit- 
 tee, and on I2th June a meeting was convened by order of the magis- 
 trates, to ascertain whether it had been arranged, on the ist of April, that 
 the person confirmed moderator " should bring into office with him his 
 list of office-bearers and committee." One of the magistrates attended this 
 meeting, and the vote having been taken, it was declared by a majority that 
 such an agreement had been entered into. Afterwards the several office- 
 bearers and members of committee proposed by Mr Kennedy on i8th March 
 were elected in the usual manner. A protest was, however, taken against 
 the legality of the meeting, 2 and a petition was thereupon presented to 
 the council by the protesters, craving to have the elections set aside. The 
 petition was remitted to the law committee, on whose report the council, 
 on 3 ist December, declined to enter upon the subject, unless there was a 
 reference of the matter. 3 This resolution was adhered to on I4th January 
 1 834.* Afterwards a minute by both the parties, agreeing to refer the ques- 
 tions between them to the council, was lodged, and remitted to the law 
 committee, who, by a majority, found " that the names contained in Mr 
 Kennedy's list should be declared office-bearers, as there appears to have 
 been an understanding on the day of election of moderator, that whoever 
 should be found by the town council to have been elected moderator, should 
 have the choice of his new office-bearers." Their report was approved of by 
 the council on i8th February, 5 and on the 25th of the same month letters of 
 resignation from nine constables were read and accepted by the council. 8 
 Intimation of this was made to the moderator on the following day, and was 
 communicated by him to the society on 24th March, when they " expressed 
 their regret that the magistrates had done so without the concurrence of 
 the society." 7 
 
 1 Council Records, ccxiii, 399. 8 Ibid ccxv. 244* 
 
 " Minute Book, iv. 375, 378. 6 Ibid. ccxv. 274. 
 
 3 Council Records, ccxv. 62. J Minute Book, iv. 388. 
 
 * Ibid. ccxv. 123. 
 
 I i
 
 258 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 In consequence of the gradual reduction of the society from the number of 
 one hundred members, to which it was raised in 1831, to meet the exceptional 
 circumstances to which reference has been made, and the consequent irregu- 
 lar observance of the system of triennial rotation, it was found in February 
 1831, that one section of the society had served above three years, while 
 another and more numerous portion had been admitted within eighteen 
 months. With only one exception, the office-bearers and committee were in 
 the first class, and fell to retire in April. In these circumstances, the office- 
 bearers and committee, on i8th February 1835, submitted a statement of the 
 facts to the society, who unanimously resolved 
 
 ' ' That considering it is highly expedient that some of the present committee, who are 
 acquainted with the affairs of the society, should continue for another year ; and con- 
 sidering the peculiar circumstances which have occasioned the difficulty, that the stand- 
 ing rules be dispensed with to the extent that any one of the present office-bearers, and 
 any two of the committee, shall be held competent to be again elected as office-bearers 
 or members of committee, notwithstanding of their period of service having expired, 
 but that this departure from the rules shall not be held as a precedent on future occa- 
 sions when such circumstances do not exist." * 
 
 On igth May i834, 3 it was proposed by the committee that an application 
 should be made to the council to alter the laws so far as to render persons 
 who had been three years in business in the city eligible for election as con- 
 stables though they were not burgesses. The proposal was, however, opposed 
 by several members, and it was ultimately agreed to postpone the matter for 
 a time. But it was again brought forward on 2/th April 1835,* when the 
 society approved of a memorial craving the council to sanction the alteration 
 proposed. This memorial proceeded on the statement 
 
 ' ' that in consequence of the great number of respectable citizens who now carry on 
 business in the New Town, and who cannot be compelled to become burgesses, added 
 to the circumstance of the various corporations having waived their privilege in regard 
 to the burgess qualification ; as also from the great proportion of burgesses in the old 
 town having already served, and many of these repeatedly, the period required ; your 
 memorialists have experienced great difficulty of late years in filling up the vacancies 
 of the society with properly qualified persons." 4 
 
 On being presented to the council, the memorial was remitted to the Lord 
 Provost's committee, who, on 5th May 1835, recommended 
 
 1 Minute Book, iv. 403, 404. z Ibid. iv. 391. 9 Ibid. iv. 413. 4 Ibid. iy. 416 ,417.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 259 
 
 " that the desire of the petition should be granted in so far as to dispense with the 
 requisite of being a burgess (the qualification of being in business three years running), 
 provided that the individual recommended should be qualified as an elector of the 
 city ;" 
 
 and their report was approved of by the council on 5th May I835. 1 This 
 modification, however, was not long continued. Two persons having, on 4th 
 November 1838, been recommended by the society to the council for election 
 as constables to supply vacancies in the body, it was remitted to the Lord 
 Provost's committee, on the 2Oth of that month, to consider the propriety of 
 again requiring all persons proposed as constables to be burgesses of the 
 city; 2 and on the report of the committee, the gentlemen recommended 
 were appointed, but the council, on 2yth November, resolved that " in future 
 the former practice must be followed out, of giving in lists of three persons 
 for each vacancy, all of them being burgesses of the city." 3 This resolution 
 was received with great dissatisfaction by the office-bearers and committee, 
 and on 3d December, the moderator applied to the council to reconsider it. 
 The council, however, on nth December, adhered to the resolution, by a 
 majority of nineteen to eight. 4 A special meeting of the society was in conse- 
 quence held on i4th December, and the resignation of the whole constables 
 was recommended by the office-bearers and committee. 5 A series of resolu- 
 tions was thereupon unanimously adopted, setting forth, 
 
 "(l.) That from time immemorial the members of the society of High Constables 
 had been elected from the community at large of Edinburgh. That, in the year 1810, 
 the Lord Provost and council resolved that thereafter the members of the society should 
 be elected from among the burgesses of the city only. That this limitation having been 
 found by experience to be injurious to the best interests of the society, the same was, 
 in the year 1835, unanimously rescinded by the magistrates and council, and the 
 ancient and liberal system of election restored." 
 
 (2. ) The recommendation and appointment of the two persons referred to, and the 
 resolution of the council on 27th November, already quoted. 
 
 (3.) The society's remonstrance, and the adherence by the council on i8th Decem- 
 ber to their former resolution. 
 
 "(4.) That, under the liberal system of election by which the right to become a 
 member of this body is open to all classes of the community, qualified to be electors of 
 the city, the society has attained the highest degree of respectability and efficiency, 
 and no complaint has been made from any quarter as to any want of zeal, discretion, 
 
 1 Council Records, ccxix. 99. 3 Ibid, ccxxviii. /|/|/|- 8 Minute Book, iv. 483. 
 * Ibid, ccxxviii. 423. 4 Ibid, ccxxix. 62.
 
 260 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 or utility, and therefore it is highly inexpedient to alter, more especially by any 
 measure of exclusion, the present constitution of the body, for which no reason has 
 been, nor so far as the society are aware can be, assigned ;" and 
 
 " (5.) That under these circumstances the moderator be requested respectfully to- 
 intimate to the Lord Provost, magistrates, and council, that unless their resolutions be 
 immediately rescinded, the members of the society will be under the necessity of re- 
 signing. And further, that in that event he shall intimate that they will be ready to 
 deliver up their batons of office on the day after the next ordinary meeting of council ; 
 and that the magistrates and council will accept of this notification of the resignation 
 of the whole members of the society unless in the event foresaid." l 
 
 These resolutions were immediately transmitted by the moderator to the 
 council, to whom they were submitted on i8th December, when the resolu- 
 tions complained of were adhered to by a majority of eighteen to eleven. 2 
 The constables accordingly met on the following day, when the moderator 
 and fifty-seven members subscribed a declaration of the reasons of their 
 resignation, and gave up their batons of office. 3 These resignations were 
 accepted by the council on 2ist December, and it was remitted to the trea- 
 surer's committee to see that the batons of the constables who had resigned 
 were duly delivered up. 4 
 
 On 8th January 1839, sixty burgesses tendered to the council their services 
 as high constables, and of these, many had previously served in that 
 capacity for the full period of three years. The tender thus made was at once 
 accepted, 5 and on nth January, fifty-one persons were sworn into office, and 
 authorised "to constitute themselves as the society of High Constables," and 
 to elect their office-bearers. The meeting of the society for this purpose took 
 place on the same day, when Mr (now Sir William) Johnston, was elected 
 moderator, and the office-bearers and committee were empowered to receive 
 the insignia from the former office-bearers, and to conduct such negotiations 
 with them as might be necessary. 6 Considerable correspondence thereafter 
 ensued between the society and the former office-bearers, and ultimately a 
 reference of all questions between them was arranged, under which a sum of 
 ^39, i8s. I id. was found due to the latter. This sum the council agreed to 
 pay on 23d April following, 7 and the whole insignia were delivered over to 
 the society. 8 
 
 1 Minute Book, iv. 483-486. 3 Minute Book, iv. 487, 488. 
 
 * Council Records, ccxxix. 93. 4 Council Records, ccxxix. 132. 
 
 5 Council Records, ccxxix. 203 ; Minute Book, v. I, 2. 6 Minute Book, v. 7. 
 7 Council Records, ccxxx. 180. 8 Minute Book, v. II.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 261 
 
 On I2th May 1840, the council agreed "to admit burgesses as constables, 
 although they do not reside or carry on business within the royalty, provided 
 they have resided for three years within the parliamentary bounds, and that 
 the sheriff shall agree to extend their jurisdiction to these bounds." 1 Sixteen 
 persons were admitted constables on ist December i84o; 3 eight on i8th May 
 1841 ; 8 ten on ist February, 4 and seventeen on 23d August, 1842 ; 5 twenty- 
 one on 1 3th June 1843 ; e twenty-two on 23d July 1844 ; 7 six on i8th February, 8 
 and nineteen on 25th November, i845. 9 
 
 Some of the persons thus admitted appear not to have been burgesses, 
 and on 24th December 1844, Mr James Brydone, one of the members of the 
 society, presented a petition to the council, in which he complained that the 
 society were not acting in conformity with their rules. This petition was 
 ordered to lie on the table, 10 but on the 25th of March following, the complaint 
 was renewed in a petition by Mr Brydone and other members. On this occa- 
 sion the council resolved that, if any constables had been admitted who were 
 not burgesses, they should either become burgesses or withdraw from the 
 society. 11 This resolution having been intimated to the moderator on the 
 following day, he called a meeting of the society to consider it, when, after a 
 desultory conversation, an adjournment was agreed to, no written objections 
 to the laws or management having been lodged. 12 
 
 Eight constables were elected on 3d March, 13 and twelve on I2th May 
 1846 ; 14 and eighteen on 28th March i848. 13 
 
 On 25th April 1848, the council adopted the following resolution : 
 
 "That in future it shall not be imperative, in the election of high constables, to confine 
 the selection to burgesses ; but they may be elected also from merchants and shop- 
 keepers of not less than three years' standing in business, and qualified voters of the 
 city of Edinburgh." 16 
 
 On 24th May 1849, eleven constables were sworn into office; 17 but no 
 record of their election has been discovered. Ten persons were elected 
 
 1 Council Records, ccxxxiii. 12. 5 Ibid, ccxxxvii. 291. 9 Ibid, ccxlv. 74. 
 
 2 Ibid, ccxxxiv. 99. 6 Ibid, ccxxxix. 249. 10 Ibid, ccxliii. 87. 
 
 3 Ibid, ccxxxv. 93. 7 Ibid, ccxlii. 199. u Ibid, ccxliii. 320. 
 
 4 Ibid, ccxxxvi. 227. 8 Ibid, ccxliii. 227. 12 Minute Book, v. 100. 
 13 Council Records, ccxlv. 277. 16 Ibid, ccxlix. 471 ; Minute Book, v. 132. 
 J * Ibid, ccxlv. 462. 17 Minute Book, v. 146. 
 
 15 Ibid, ccxlix. 353.
 
 262 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 on 25th February, 1 eighteen on 2oth May, 4 five on 26th August, 3 and 
 three on 3Oth December 1851.* Six were elected on 3oth March, 5 and 
 ten on nth May i852. 6 Thirteen were elected on 8th February, 7 five on 
 loth May, 8 and six on I5th November i853. 9 Nine were elected on 23d 
 May, 10 five on 5th December, 11 three on 2yth March, 12 two on 22d May, 13 
 and five on 2d October 1855 ; 14 two on 25th March, 15 and seven on 6th May 
 i856. 18 
 
 On the 23d of June 1856, "The Edinburgh Municipality Extension Act, 
 i856," 17 was passed. By it the municipal boundaries of the city were en- 
 larged so as to be co-extensive with its parliamentary boundaries ; the 
 magistrates and council were increased in number, and their jurisdiction 
 was extended over the whole city as so extended ; the subordinate and 
 separate magistracies and jurisdictions of the regality of Canongate, and of 
 the baronies of Calton and Portsburgh, were abolished ; and the powers and 
 duties of the commissioners of police were transferred to, and vested in, the 
 magistrates and council. It also enacted that the councillors of the thirteen 
 wards, into which it appointed the city to be divided, should be 
 
 "head constables in, and have a general superintendence of, their respective wards, 
 for enforcing the provisions of the police acts, and the regulations made in virtue there- 
 
 1 Council Records, cclv. 312. 6 Ibid cclvii. 442. n Ibid, cclxiv. 164. 
 
 * Ibid, cclvi. 70. 7 Ibid, cclix. 237. 12 Ibid, cclxv. 114. 
 
 * Ibid, cclvi. 295. 8 Ibid. cclx. 120. 13 Ibid, cclxv. 298. 
 
 4 Ibid, cclvii. 122. 9 Ibid, cclxi. 244. 14 Ibid, cclxvi. 214. 
 
 5 Ibid, cclvii. 315. 10 Ibid, cclxii. 357. 15 Ibid, cclxvii. 389. 
 16 Council Records, cclxviii. 90. In consequence of an intimation by the city clerk 
 
 to the society, that the constables elected at this time were appointed " conditionally on 
 their possessing the required qualifications," a remit was made by the committee of the 
 society to a sub-committee, "to consult the minutes previously passed relative to the 
 qualifications of gentlemen desiring to become high constables. " The report of the 
 sub-committee, dated 23d May 1856, expressed their opinion, that the qualifications 
 referred to were fixed by the acts of council, igth March 1828, I2th May 1840, and 
 25th April 1848, and that no persons were eligible as constables, but such as were 
 (i. ) Burgesses three years in business ; (2.) Burgesses not residing or carrying on busi- 
 ness within the royalty, but who had resided for three years within the parliamentary 
 bounds of the city, the jurisdiction being extended to these bounds ; or (3.) Merchants 
 and shopkeeepers not burgesses, but of not less than three years' standing in business, 
 and qualified voters of the city of Edinburgh [Minute of Committee, 23d May 1856]: 
 17 19 and 20 Viet. c. 32.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 263 
 
 of, and for promoting and enforcing all measures necessary for the peace, order, and 
 security of the inhabitants therein." l 
 
 In consequence of these and the other changes effected by this act, it 
 became necessary to have the position of the various bodies of constables 
 within the extended boundaries of the city considered ; and after the new 
 council had been elected under the provisions of" The Municipality Extension 
 Act," a remit was made to a committee to report on the subject. 2 
 
 This remit, and rumours of an intention on the part of the council to re- 
 organise the body of high constables, having reached the committee of the 
 society, they appointed a deputation to wait on the Lord Provost (Melville) 
 for information on the subject. His Lordship explained that the city was to 
 be divided into thirteen wards ; that each ward should have twelve constables 
 and a captain ; and that the affairs of the society should be managed by a 
 committee, consisting of the office-bearers and captains ; and he recommended 
 the deputation to confer with the gentlemen who had been constables of 
 Canongate, Calton, and Easter and Wester Portsburgh, with a view to their 
 incorporation into the society as thus proposed to be re-organised. Acting 
 on that recommendation, the deputation had several meetings with the repre- 
 sentatives of the several bodies of constables referred to, and finding them 
 favourable to the plan proposed, reported accordingly to the Lord Provost. 
 The Lord Provost's committee thereupon instructed the city clerk to frame 
 the draft of an act of council for regulating the constitution of the society, 
 and the draft having been prepared, the Lord Provost invited a conference 
 with a deputation from the society, to consider its details. At this con- 
 ference the deputation objected specially to the proposal " to dissolve the 
 society and re-constitute it," and asked for a copy of the proposed act, that 
 they might take the instructions of the society in regard to it. This, how- 
 ever, was declined, and the conference terminated without anything being 
 done. Subsequently, on iyth February, the deputation had an interview 
 with the Lord Provost, when the whole subject was fully discussed, and the 
 draft of the proposed act was approved of, subject to the following sugges- 
 tions : (i.) That arrangements should, as far as possible, be made under which 
 the members of the society should have it in their power, if they wished, to be 
 elected members of the re-organised body ; and (2.) That after its re-organi- 
 sation, the society should be empowered, according to the former practice, to 
 
 1 Section 52. s Council Records, cclxix. 321 ; i8th November 1856.
 
 264 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 elect a vice-moderator, who, in the absence of the moderator, should act as 
 chairman of the society. 1 The draft of the act was afterwards approved of 
 by the Lord Provost's committee, who submitted it to the council, 2 along 
 with a report of their proceedings, on 24th February, when both the report 
 and the draft of the proposed act were approved of. At the same time, the 
 council remitted to the Lord Provost's committee to prepare and submit a 
 list of gentlemen to be appointed high constables. 
 
 By this act of council, which still regulates the constitution of the society, 
 the number of the high constables was increased to one hundred and fifty- 
 six, of whom twelve were appointed to be chosen from each of the thirteen 
 municipal wards ; and it was enacted that one-third of the constables of each 
 ward should retire annually, but should be eligible for immediate re-election ; 
 that all elections should be made by the council ; that no person should be 
 eligible for election but such as were registered electors of the city, and were 
 either bona fide householders or carried on business on their own account 
 within the ward for which they were appointed ; and that no members of the 
 town council should be appointed, or hold office as, high constables. The act 
 farther prescribed an annual election of office-bearers, consisting of a moderator, 
 a vice-moderator, a treasurer, a secretary, a surgeon, a custodier of batons, and 
 also an annual election from among the constables for each ward of a captain, 
 who should hold no other office in the society ; and it appointed the office- 
 bearers and captains to be the committee for managing the affairs of the society. 
 It directed that the powers of the high constables should be exercised in sub- 
 ordination to those conferred on the councillors of the several wards by " The 
 Municipality Extension Act ;" authorised the society to make bye-laws for 
 the regulation of their affairs ; and repealed all former acts of council 
 affecting the constitution of the society, but confirmed the " Instructions" con- 
 tained in the act of council dated igth March 1828, except in so far as these 
 instructions referred to " the former suburban bodies of constables which have 
 ceased to exist." 3 
 
 The society had this act, along with a report from their committee, under 
 consideration on Qth March 1857, when, after a lengthened discussion, it was 
 resolved to apply to the Council to delay further procedure till the society 
 
 1 See Minutes of Committee, 2ist and 27th November; ad, 5th, and I2th Decem- 
 ber 1856 ; 8th, 5th, and 28th January, and i8th February 1858. Minute Book of 
 Society v. 289 ; 27th January 1857. Ibid. v. 291 ; gth March 1858. 
 
 ' 2 Council Records, cclxx. 299. 3 Ibid, cclxx. 295-299. See Appendix XX.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 265 
 
 could have time to submit such facts as might induce the council to amend the 
 second and eighth clauses of the act, " in respect it removes from the society 
 the power of nominating their successors and that those gentlemen now mem- 
 bers of the society shall be held as members of the new society." In terms of 
 that resolution, the moderator, Mr Smith, 1 applied to the council on the follow- 
 ing day to alter the act, so as to allow the nomination of members to remain with 
 the society, subject to the approval of the council, and to delete that part of 
 the act which required the retirement of the present members. On consider- 
 ing this application, the council, on loth March, adhered to their former resolu- 
 tion, approved thereof, and authorised the city clerk to extract the act with- 
 out abiding another reading in council, and to print the same. 2 Afterwards 
 the Lord Provost's committee proceeded to carry out the remit to select and 
 recommend suitable persons to be elected constables, and with this view 
 they constituted the councillors of each ward a sub-committee, the senior 
 councillor being convener, to select and recommend twelve persons to be 
 appointed constables within their respective wards. The requisite list 
 having been prepared from the returns by the several sub-committees, was 
 approved of by the Lord Provost's committee on i8th, and by the council 
 on 24th, March. 3 At the same time the council remitted to the Lord 
 Provost's committee a memorial for the old moderators relative to the act 
 of 24th February. The memorial, which was dated 2Oth March, requested 
 that the constitution of the society might be allowed to remain unaltered, 
 but the committee reported that this could not be entertained, and their 
 report was approved of by the council on yth April. 4 On the same day, a 
 letter from Mr Smith, dated 3d April, transmitting a copy of a resolution of 
 the society dated 2d April, was read and ordered to be recorded. The 
 resolution was in the following terms : 
 
 " That the society cannot, consistently with their ancient constitution, enter the body 
 of constables to b,e sworn into office in the police board room, on Monday the 6th curt., 
 under the act of the Town Council dated 24th February last." 
 
 A report by the Lord Provost and magistrates as to the swearing in on the 
 previous day of the newly appointed constables, was also submitted to the 
 council on yth April, and the society were requested to prepare a list of gentle- 
 men, qualified in terms of the act, whom they recommended to be appointed 
 
 1 Minute Book, v. 291-294. * Ibid, cclxx. 442-451. 
 
 * Council Records, cclxx. 365. 4 Ibid cclxxi. 36. 
 
 K k
 
 266 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 to supply the vacancies in the several wards. The city clerks were also 
 directed to request delivery of the insignia, &c., in the possession of the late 
 members of the society. 1 An application for the insignia was accordingly 
 addressed to Mr Smith on gth April, and was submitted to a meeting of the 
 former members of the society, on I3th April, when a committee was ap- 
 pointed to wait on the Lord Provost immediately, and on receiving his Lord- 
 ship's assurance that the ancient laws of the society would not be interfered 
 with, to express the. willingness of the society to retain office and assume the 
 gentlemen nominated by the council as colleagues. This resolution, it must 
 be stated, was come to in consequence of information received from a former 
 moderator that the Lord Provost was willing to have the act of council 
 of 24th February altered, so as to reconcile the differences to which it had 
 given rise. On waiting on his Lordship, however, the committee found that 
 he entertained quite a different feeling, and on reporting this to an adjourned 
 meeting of the society held the same evening, they passed the following 
 resolution, 
 
 "That all negotiations for the purpose of obtaining a continuance of the long estab- 
 lished privilege enjoyed by the society of nominating its members having now been 
 brought to a termination by the magistrates declining to grant this privilege, the society 
 resolve not to join the body of constables created by the act of council, 24th February 
 1857." 
 
 This resolution was immediately read to the Lord Provost, who remarked, 
 that further argument was unnecessary. The meeting thereupon remitted 
 to the committee to act as they might think proper. 2 On the I5th of April, 
 the former secretary replied to the city clerks' demand for the insignia of the 
 society, stating that " the matter was under consideration, and would receive 
 the society's earliest attention." The letter having been laid before the coun- 
 cil on 2oth April, they " directed the procurator-fiscal to take the necessary 
 legal steps to enforce delivery of the insignia of office." 
 
 At a subsequent meeting of the former members of the society, held on 22d 
 April, they adopted the following resolutions : 
 
 "ist, That this ancient society has from time immemorial possessed and exercised the 
 right of presenting to the town council, from time to time, a leet of gentlemen from 
 whom the Council might select and appoint persons to fill up vacancies, or increase, 
 as occasion might require, the number of members. 
 
 1 Council Records, cclxxi. 36-38. 2 Minute Book, v. 297-300.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 267 
 
 "ad, That the town council have lately disputed this right, and now maintain that 
 they have the exclusive privilege of nomination and appointment of high constables, 
 whereby not only would the rights of the society be encroached on, but all control on 
 the part of its members, with respect to the persons to be associated in office with them, 
 would be taken away, and the society would become the mere nominees of the town 
 council. 
 
 "3d, That the members of the society cannot consent to continue their services on 
 such a footing, and the meeting now resolve to dissolve the society of high constables ; 
 and they hereby declare the same to be dissolved accordingly, immediately upon the 
 fourth and fifth resolutions being fulfilled by the moderator. 
 
 " 4th, That the meeting further resolve to deliver up to the council the small silver 
 batons of office, and the large wooden batons used in the execution of their duties as 
 constables, and forming their insignia, and also the charter box and papers contained 
 in it. 
 
 " 5th, That the private property of the society, consisting of five large ornamental 
 batons, silver mounted, with a small silver baton attached to one of them, the gold 
 medal and chain, the snuff-horn, and the seal, which have been acquired through con- 
 tributions of the private funds of members, and also the small ornamental baton of 
 the moderator, the vice-moderator's small ornamental baton, and the custodier's small 
 ornamental baton, which were recently [presented] by Mr Beattie, Mr Gill, and Mr 
 Mossman respectively, and likewise the ancient box used for fines, and the minute 
 books which the members have kept for their own satisfaction, be presented to the 
 Society of Antiquaries, and that the moderator request that society to accept and pre- 
 serve them as memorials of this ancient body. " 
 
 These resolutions were communicated to the Lord Provost on the 25th 
 of April, and were acknowledged on the 6th of May thereafter. 1 On the 
 following day, the procurator-fiscal intimated that he was about to insti- 
 tute legal proceedings for recovery of the insignia, and his communica- 
 tion was submitted to the former constables, who, at a meeting held on 
 1 3th May, adopted a series of resolutions, in which they asserted their 
 claim, as a society, to a separate existence, which could not be summarily 
 dissolved by any act of council. At the same time, they declined to surren- 
 der the property of the society until the position which they had assumed 
 was shewn to be legally untenable, and they instructed a solicitor to attend 
 to their interests. 2 Legal proceedings were thereupon instituted in name 
 of the council, and of the society of high constables as re-organised, for 
 delivery of the property of the society ; and a decree was obtained from the 
 
 1 Minute Book, v. 304. a Ibid. v. 306.
 
 268 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 sheriff-substitute (Jameson) on 4th March 1858, affirming the views of the 
 council. An appeal to the sheriff-depute (Gordon) was afterwards entered, 
 and from him also a decision was obtained, on 8th November thereafter, 
 affirming the findings of the sheriff-substitute. The interlocutors of both the 
 sheriff-substitute and sheriff place the position of the society on a footing so 
 clear and distinct as to obviate all further question on the subject. 
 
 The interlocutor of the sheriff-substitute, inter atia, found " that the so- 
 ciety of constables derived their authority solely from the Lord Provost and 
 magistrates of the city, and exercised their office under them, with the 
 exception of the years 1745 and 1746, when, in the absence of the city 
 authorities, they acted under the warrant of certain of the judges as justices 
 of the peace;" that "the constables, whether nominated directly by the 
 magistrates, or approved by them through a leet given in by the old 
 constables, were admitted into their office, and received their batons 
 from some of the magistrates or Lord Provost ;" " that the society of con- 
 stables, or high constables as they were allowed to be called in 1810, was 
 not an incorporation, but was merely the aggregate body of the constables 
 deriving their office from the magistrates of the city, but had no independent 
 or permanent existence as a separate society ;" " that for a century and a half 
 there has been a constant succession of constables, who, acting under the 
 civic authorities, chose annually their own office-bearers, and kept records of 
 their principal transactions, and that latterly various insignia of office have 
 been presented to the society, or purchased by them at different times, which 
 records and insignia have been handed from one set of constables to another ;" 
 " that these articles being presented to, or provided by, the existing body of 
 high constables for the time, for the purpose of being preserved and used by 
 their successors in office, cannot be legally appropriated to another body, or 
 retained by any office-bearers or members of the retiring society ;" " and that 
 the existing body or society of high constables are entitled to the possession 
 of the insignia mentioned in the summons, and that the defender [the mode- 
 ator of the former society] is bound to restore the same." It therefore 
 ordained the defender to deliver to the office-bearers of the existing society 
 the articles called for, and found the pursuers entitled to expenses. To this 
 interlocutor an elaborate note was appended, in which, reviewing the history 
 of the society as disclosed in its minutes, the learned sheriff-substitute held 
 it to be evident that " it was in the power of the magistrates to limit and in- 
 crease the number" of constables, to " vary the mode of their appointment, 
 and to regulate their duties as they thought fit;" that "any changes that
 
 HigJi Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 269 
 
 were made, in the lapse of time, in regard to the mode of election, the persons 
 eligible, or the tenure of office had either the express or tacit consent of the 
 magistrates," and that the society " were never independent of the governing 
 and electing body." With reference to the plea which had been maintained 
 for the defender, that the society had " two entities or existences, one in its 
 public or official character as constables," in which it was admittedly amenable 
 to the authority of the council, and "the other in its private and social 
 character, as a voluntary association or club of private individuals," in which 
 it claimed independence of the council, the sheriff-substitute remarked, that 
 there was no trace of such a "separation of existences" in the records of the 
 body ; that for some years the admission of constables into the society bore 
 on the face of the minutes, to be made by one of the magistrates ; and that 
 even as regarded the social meetings, these " were a mere adjunct and not a 
 primary or essential object of the society." * 
 
 In adhering to the interlocutor of the sheriff-substitute, which he did in a 
 long and interesting note, evincing a careful study of the minute books of 
 the society, the sheriff remarked that these minute books " established be- 
 yond all doubt, ihat during the whole known period of the existence of the 
 society, the right at once to appoint the constituent members of the body, 
 and to clothe the society individually and collectively with official status and 
 authority, has been exclusively and invariably vested in and exercised by the 
 Lord Provost, magistrates, and town council of Edinburgh." As for the plea 
 that the " society had a two-fold being, as a body of public officers, and 
 as a club of private citizens, and that the insignia belonged to the society 
 truly under its second phase," the sheriff remarked, 
 
 '" Now assuming this theory to be correct, it is not quite obvious, and there is nothing 
 whatever to shew by what means, or when, or where, the defender himself comes into 
 legitimate possession of these articles as private property. Since if they are indeed 
 private property of particular citizens in any one year, the defender could have no 
 more right to pick them up next year and call them his own than the sheriff would 
 have to do so. The private property of gentlemen whose companionship is dis- 
 solved at the end of a year, does not, and cannot, because it shall happen to be left 
 lying on the table of the room where they met, become, if so facto, the private property 
 
 of the next occupants of the room But really there is not one word in the whole 
 
 annals of the society, during a hundred and fifty years, which affords the slightest indi- 
 cation of the idea of a double existence. Nor was such a duplicity ever inculcated on 
 
 1 See Interlocutor of Sheriff-Substitute, engrossed in Council Records, cclxxvi. 321.
 
 2/O Sketch of the His tot y of the 
 
 these pleasant occasions when their guest, with honest gratitude, could recognise in his 
 hosts, within doors, the High Constables of the City of Edinburgh, who had, out of 
 doors, constantly in troubled times strengthened the efforts of the Sheriff with their 
 powerful aid. The insignia, in short, including even a snuff-horn as a portion of the 
 furniture of the society, do not belong to any individual, or to any company of indi- 
 viduals, as private property, but alike upon legal principle and by uniform usage 
 enforcing the intention either of creation or donation, appertain generally to the society 
 as a society, and when particularly to an office in the society, then in trust to its incum- 
 bent during his official life." 1 
 
 Under the new constitution created by the council's act of 24th February 
 1857, one hundred and fifty-six persons were elected constables on 24th 
 March, 3 and the first meeting of the re-organised society took place on 6th 
 April of that year. 3 On that occasion sixty-seven persons, who had been 
 elected, were sworn into office by the Lord Provost. At a subsequent meet- 
 ing on 1 3th April, fourteen constables were sworn into office, and the society 
 elected office-bearers and captains of the several wards. 4 On 2Oth April, a 
 list of seventy persons willing to act as constables was approved of, and 
 directed to be transmitted to the council. 5 From these, sixty-one persons 
 were elected on 5th May, 6 and on nth May, forty-nine persons were sworn 
 into office. 7 Eight constables were elected on i6th June, 8 and eleven on 
 
 1 See copy of Sheriff's Interlocutor engrossed in Council Records, cclxxvi. 321 ; 
 Minute Book, v. 332-345. 
 
 * Council Records, cclxx. 442. * Minute Book, v. 309. 
 
 4 Minute Book, v. 312-314. The first moderator of the re-organised society was 
 Mr Frederick Hayne Carter, C.A. He was re-elected on 5th April 1858 [Ibid. v. 
 328]. On his retirement from that office, he was presented by the society with a 
 handsome silver tea service, bearing an inscription acknowledging "the able manner 
 in which he had discharged the duties of moderator." The presentation was made at 
 the dinner of the society on I3th May 1859 |Ibid. v. 354, 355 ; see also Minutes of 
 Committee, igth April and 9th June 1859]. He was elected captain of the third 
 ward on 7th April 1862 [Ibid. v. 407], and retired from the society on igth March 
 1863. 
 
 6 Minute Book, v. 314. 6 Council Records, cclxxi. 168. 
 
 7 Minute Book, v. 317-319. 
 
 * Council Records, cclxxi. 314. At this time Mr Charles Lawson Jim. (the present 
 ex-moderator) was elected a constable [see also Minute of Committee, I4th September 
 1857]. On 7th October 1859, the committee accepted his resignation. He was re- 
 elected a constable on i8th [Council Records, cclxxxiv. 49 ; see Minute of Com- 
 mittee, 27th February 1862], and sworn into office on I9th, March 1862 [Minute
 
 HigJi Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 271 
 
 2Oth October, I857- 1 Seven constables were elected on gth February, 2 four 
 on 23d March, 8 and eight on 28th June 1858 ; 4 twenty-five on 22d February, 5 
 fifty-five on 22d March, 6 and seventeen on I3th September 1859 \' twenty- 
 one on loth January, 8 forty-nine on 2Oth March, 9 and thirteen on 9th July, 
 1860 ; 10 seventy-four on igth March, 11 and ten on nth June 1861 ; ia fifty-seven 
 on 1 8th March, 13 and eleven on 3d June 1862 ; 14 thirteen on 27th January, 15 
 forty-nine on 24th March, 18 fifteen on igth May, 17 and six on I5th December 
 1863 ; 18 fifty-two on 22d March, 19 and nine on 2Oth December 1864 ; 20 and 
 fifty-two on 28th March i865- 21 
 
 On 27th March 1865, the society resolved to memorialise the council to 
 " create" the ex-moderator " an office-bearer," and this was done by a letter 
 from the society to the city clerk on the following day. In that letter it was 
 stated, that it was not proposed that the office should have any particular 
 duties assigned to it, but that on all public occasions it should rank next in 
 place of honour to the moderator. " The office," it was added, " will thus be 
 very much of an honorary nature, but this will be sufficient to give the ex-mode- 
 rator such a status in the society, as to induce a prolonged connection with 
 it." This application was remitted by the council to the Lord Provost's corn- 
 Book, v. 402] ; was elected vice-moderator on 7th April [Ibid. v. 407], and modera- 
 tor, vice Mr William Skinner elected councillor, on I3th November 1862 [Ibid, 
 v. 431] ; was re-elected moderator on 5th April 1863 [Ibid. v. 459}, and again on 
 4th April 1864 [Ibid. v.]. He became "ex-moderator" under the council's act of 
 loth April 1865 constituting that office. 
 
 His marriage having taken place on gth June 1864, the committee met in the Cafe 
 Royal on the evening of that day to celebrate the event [see Memorandum of that date 
 in Committee Minute Book] ; and on i6th September, the society presented him with 
 an address of congratulation, and Mrs Lawson with a casket [see Minutes of Commit- 
 tee, 23d and 26th May, Qth June, and i6th September 1864]. 
 
 1 Council Records, cclxxii. 349. l2 Ibid, cclxxxii. 260. 
 
 2 Ibid, cclxxiii. 405. 13 Ibid, cclxxxiv. 49. 
 
 3 Ibid, cclxxiv. 163. u Ibid, cclxxxiv. 248. 
 
 4 Ibid, cclxxv. 66. 15 Ibid, cclxxxv. 404. 
 
 6 Ibid, cclxxvii. 164. 16 Ibid, cclxxxvi. 134. 
 8 Ibid, cclxxvii. 325, 326. 17 Ibid, cclxxxvi. 248. 
 
 7 Ibid, cclxxviii. 455. 18 Ibid, cclxxxvii. 360. 
 
 8 Ibid, cclxxix. 298. 19 Ibid, cclxxxviii. 123. 
 
 9 Ibid, cclxxx. 25. 20 Ibid, cclxxxix. 306. 
 
 10 Ibid, cclxxx. 299. 21 Ibid. ccxc. 94. 
 
 11 Ibid, cclxxxii. 72.
 
 272 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 mittee for consideration on 28th March, 1 and on their report, the council, on 
 roth April, ordered that " the ex-moderator shall be an office-bearer of the 
 society of high constables as craved." 2 Mr John Greig Jun. having been 
 elected moderator on 3d April, Mr Charles Lawson Jun., the moderator for 
 the two former years, became the first ex-moderator. 3 
 
 The rules printed by the society under their order of I4th May 1830,* were 
 engrossed in the minute book for the regulation of the body in 1832, but 
 alterations on, and additions thereto, 5 were made on 22d September i832, 6 
 7th April 18347 and 6th November i835- 8 At this time it appears to have 
 been the practice to print the rules, with lists of the office-bearers and mem- 
 bers, annually. 9 Such a print was specially ordered on 24th September 
 i833. 10 Subsequently, in 1835, the rules were revised and printed, and there 
 were appended to that print " regulations issued by the moderator for the 
 guidance of the society at fires and riots." u How far these regulations were 
 similar to those approved of by the society on I2th August i825, 12 does not 
 appear. Probably the experiences of 1832 were made available in the revisal 
 of the former. At all events, the articles prescribing the "signals," and the 
 " duty of the surgeon," cannot have been framed previous to 1831, when the 
 " silver calls" referred to were got, and the office of surgeon was revived, after 
 being in abeyance for upwards of thirty years. After the reconstitution of 
 the society in 1839, the laws were again revised, and were ordered to be 
 printed on 1st April i839. 13 They were reprinted apparently without altera- 
 tion in 1841 and 1842." The propriety of revising the laws was under the 
 consideration of the society in April i848, is and a print appears to have been 
 ordered at that time ; but no change of importance was made. Additions to 
 the laws were made on 24th May i849, 16 an d minutes of the society, dated 
 ist April 1850," and igth March i855, 18 inter alia, created the new offices of 
 " custodier of batons," and " vice-moderator." 19 On the re-organisation of the 
 
 1 Council Records, ccxc. 99. n See Appendix XVI II. 
 
 3 Ibid. ccxc. 139. w An tea, p. 230. 
 
 3 Minute Book, v. 13 Minute Book, v. 10. 
 
 4 Antea, p. 231. 14 See Appendix XIX. 
 
 5 See Appendix, No. XVII- 15 Minute Book, v. 130, 131. 
 
 6 Minute Book, iv. 288. 16 Ibid. v. 145. 
 
 7 Ibid. iv. 389, 390. 17 Ibid. v. 1 66, 168. 
 
 8 Ibid. iv. 424, 426. 18 Ibid. v. 251. 
 
 8 Ibid. iv. 379. 19 See Appendix XIX. 
 10 Ibid.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 273 
 
 society in 1857, by the act of council dated 24th February 1857,* the society, 
 on 2oth April 1857, remitted to the committee to prepare "bye-laws," 3 which, 
 on their report, were approved of by the society on nth May 1857, and 
 ordered to be printed and circulated. 3 Several additions to. and alterations 
 on, these bye-laws were made by the society on I3th October i858, 4 5th January 
 i86o, 5 8th February i86i, 6 2d July i86i. 7 As so amended, these bye-laws, 8 
 with the " instructions" by the magistrates and council, of date igth March 
 1828, and the council's act of 24th February 1857, at present regulate the 
 constitution and management of the society. 
 
 In October 1838, the committee of the r,cc : ety had under consideration the 
 propriety of forming a corps of honorary members, and their minute on the 
 subject, dated the igth, was submitted to the society at a meeting on the 24th 
 of that month. 9 On 7th November following, the society resumed considera- 
 tion of various resolutions submitted by the committee, when it was agreed 
 to elect honorary members, " only old constables who had served the society 
 with distinction" being eligible. At the same meeting, Sir James Spittal, 
 Messrs William Henderson, Alexander Clapperton, Thomas Sawers, Peter 
 Forbes, and Eagle Henderson, were, on the recommendation of the commit- 
 tee, unanimously elected honorary members. 10 After the rupture between the 
 society and the council, in December 1838, and the reconstitution of the 
 former in January 1839," the subject seems to have been lost sight of, and no 
 further reference is made to it in the minutes. 
 
 The allowance by the town council to the society continued at the rate of 
 $o from 1 823 12 till 4th December 1833, when, on the report of the Lord 
 Provost's committee, the council resolved that intimation should be given to 
 the society, 
 
 ' ' that in the circumstances in which the revenues of the town now stand, they will 
 not have it in their power to continue the annual pecuniary allowance heretofore in 
 use to be made to the society." 13 
 
 1 Appendix XX. 6 Ibid. v. 363. 9 Minute Book, iv. 479. 
 
 2 Minute Book, v. 314. 6 Ibid. v. 376. 10 Ibid. iv. 481. 
 8 Ibid. v. 319. 7 Ibid. v. 387. n Antea, p. 260. 
 4 Ibid. v. 331. 8 See Appendix XXI. 12 Antea, p. 234. 
 
 13 Council Records, ccxiv. 445. On 1 8th March 1834, however, the council, by a 
 majority of fourteen to seven, authorised $ to be paid to the society, on account of 
 their expenses for refreshments on the night of 3ist December 1833 [Ibid. ccxv. 
 
 3H]- 
 
 L 1
 
 274 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 This intimation having been made, a representation was addressed to the 
 council by the society, setting forth that their expenses for printing, officer's 
 salary, &c., amounted on an average of five years to about ,37, and craving 
 that these expenses at least should be borne by the town. This representa- 
 tion was remitted to the treasurer's committee, on whose report the council, 
 on 25th November 1834, resolved that no specific allowance should be made 
 to the society, but that their necessary expenses for officer, stationery, &c., 
 should be paid on their presenting an account thereof, such payment not 
 to exceed 20 per annum. 1 20 were accordingly paid to the society for 
 i833-34. 3 The election of constables on 26th May 1835, was made, however, 
 on the express declaration that the allowance could not be paid unless 
 approved of by the Court of Session. 3 This intimation caused great dis- 
 satisfaction, 4 and on ayth August, the moderator wrote the Lord Provost 
 remonstrating against the withdrawal of any portion of the allowance, as 
 indicative that the services of the society were not duly appreciated, and re- 
 questing his Lordship to bring the matter " before the council as early as 
 possible, as the result may materially affect the constitution of the society." 5 
 On receipt of this communication, the council, on ist September, directed 
 application to be made to the trustees for the city, to sanction the annual 
 allowance of^2o, 6 which they immediately did, "considering the services of 
 the society essential to the preservation of the peace of the city." 7 In the fol- 
 lowing year, the moderator applied to the council for payment of the allowance 
 in advance, but the request was declined on 3d May i836. 8 On 2ist April 
 1840, the society applied to the council to pay certain tavern bills incurred by 
 them while on extra duty, and amounting to ,16, 2s. The council, however, 
 declined to pay more than the annual allowance of ^2o. 9 At the following 
 meeting of council on 28th April, it was remitted to the treasurer's com- 
 mittee, on the motion of the Lord Provost, to report whether the annual 
 allowance should not be increased to ^40 ; 10 but the committee, on 2ist July 
 1840, recommended that the existing arrangement regarding the allowance 
 should not be disturbed, and the council approved of the recommendation. 11 
 
 1 Council Records, ccxvii. 428. 7 Ibid, ccxix. 426. 
 
 * Minute Book, iv. 411. 8 Ibid, ccxxi. 212. 
 
 * Council Records, ccxix. 193. 9 Ibid, ccxxxii. 394. 
 
 * Minute Book, iv. 419. 10 Ibid, ccxxxii. 401. 
 9 Ibid. iv. 421, 423. u Ibid, ccxxxiii. 181. 
 8 Council Records, ccxix. 419.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 275 
 
 On 4th January 1845, however, they authorised payment of an account for 
 refreshments to the constables on the occasion of a fire ; * and on I4th 
 February 1854, it was unanimously agreed, on the motion of the Lord Pro- 
 vost, that the allowance should be increased from ^20 to ^30 per annum. 2 
 After the society had been reorganised and increased to its present number 
 in March i857, 3 the treasurer applied for payment of the usual allowance, 
 " under reservation of a claim for such additional sum as may be necessary 
 to defray the expenditure of organising the new body, or from their increased 
 numbers, or otherwise." And on i6th June thereafter, the council authorised 
 the usual allowance of ^30 to be paid. 4 Afterwards, on loth March 1858, the 
 society applied for an increase, and on the report of the treasurer's commit- 
 tee to whom the application was referred, the council, on 23d March, in- 
 creased the allowance from ^30 to its present amount of ^50, commencing 
 with the payment after the next annual election. 5 For this increase, the 
 society, on 25th March, returned their thanks, in a letter submitted to the 
 council on 6th April. 6 
 
 Reference has been made 7 to the intense interest with which the progress 
 ot the Reform Bill through parliament was regarded in Edinburgh, and here, 
 as elsewhere throughout the kingdom, popular excitement sometimes found 
 vent in rioting and breaches of the peace. The bill was read a first time in the 
 House of Commons on the I4th, and passed the second reading by a majority 
 of one, on the 22d of March 1831. In honour of the event, an illumination 
 took place in Edinburgh on the 28th, when several riots happened, and damage 
 was done to property to the extent of ^2,000. The society were actively 
 engaged in suppressing these riots, and some of the high constables were 
 injured. For their services on this occasion, the society received the thanks 
 of the magistrates and sheriff. 8 On the 22d of April, the society were again 
 called out to assist in preventing apprehended disturbances consequent on a 
 meeting of the working classes, and the partial defeat of the Bill in Com- 
 mittee. The high constables patrolled the streets till half-past eleven o'clock, 
 when, after partaking of refreshments, they were permitted to retire. 9 They 
 were again on duty on the evenings of the 23d and 25th of April, but 
 
 1 Council Records, ccxlix. 92. 6 Ibid, cclxxiv. 163. 
 
 z Ibid, cclxii. 26 ; Minute Book, v. 235. 7 Atitea, p. 253, 254. 
 
 3 Antea, p. 270. 8 Ibid. iv. 227-229. 
 
 4 Ibid, cclxxi. 313. 9 Ibid. iv. 236. 
 6 Ibid, cclxxiv. 137.
 
 276 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 happily their active services were not required. 1 Foreseeing that it would be 
 impossible to carry their measure through the House of Commons as then con- 
 stituted, the government resolved to appeal to the country. Parliament was 
 accordingly dissolved on the 22d of April, and a new election was ordered. 
 In Edinburgh, Lord Advocate Jeffrey was brought forward to oppose Mr 
 Robert Adam Dundas, and the election was fixed for the 3d of May, on which 
 day a petition in favour of the Lord Advocate, signed by 17,000 inhabitants, 
 was laid on the table of the council. So strong, indeed, was public feeling 
 in favour of his Lordship, that on the 2d of May, the society addressed a 
 memorial to the council, in which they represented that they must experience 
 difficulty " in preserving the public peace and property should the council 
 determine on returning Mr R. A. Dundas to parliament." 2 This memorial 
 was courteously received by the Lord Provost, but Mr Dundas was elected, by 
 a majority of seventeen to fourteen, two members having voted for the 
 Lord Provost, who had previously declined to come forward. The announce- 
 ment of the result of the election exasperated public feeling to such an extent, 
 that on his way home, the mob attacked the Lord Provost [Allan], who, it 
 is said, narrowly escaped being thrown over the North Bridge, and was pur- 
 sued into a shop in Leith Street. While there, intimation of the fact was 
 conveyed to the moderator, who stated " that under the present circum- 
 stances, considering the unprecedented numbers and fury of the mob it would 
 be a useless waste of life to attempt to do anything ;" but a large party of 
 special constables having expressed their readiness to co-operate with the 
 society, the whole body marched from the Council Chambers (where the 
 society had been on duty during the day) to the Register House, and succeeded 
 in dispersing the mob. The Lord Provost was shortly afterwards escorted 
 home by a troop of dragoons. During the remainder of the day, and 
 especially after eight o'clock, the society were actively engaged with the 
 mob, "the great numbers and extreme turbulence" of which made the restora- 
 tion of order extremely difficult. In this service many of the high con- 
 stables were severely injured. 3 On the following morning, nine members 
 of the society who had refused to act on the previous day, were ordered to 
 send in their batons. The society were in attendance in the Council Chambers 
 on the evenings of the 4th and loth of May, but were not required to act. 4 
 
 1 Council Records, iv. 236, 237. 2 Ibid. iv. 239, 240. 3 Minute Book, iv. 241, 242. 
 
 * On 8th June 1831, the council authorised 13, 155. to be paid for japanning and 
 
 gilding fifty constables' batons, and empowered the magistrates to settle the bills in
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 277 
 
 On the latter occasion the office of surgeon was revived, to provide against 
 the inconvenience of not having a properly qualified medical attendant, 
 when, as had several times happened during these commotions, high con- 
 stables met with severe wounds and bruises in the execution of their duty. 
 An assistant surgeon was at the same time appointed, to act with or for the 
 surgeon in cases of emergency ; 1 and the moderator, treasurer, and secre- 
 tary, were provided with silver calls, in the form of a boatswain's whistle, 
 by means of which they were enabled to convey preconcerted signals to the 
 body, when acting together or in divisions. On nth May 1831, the council 
 passed a vote of thanks to the high and special constables, as well as to the 
 different military bodies who had been called out on the 3d of May, for 
 their services on that occasion, and at the same time, as has already been 
 noticed, they approved of a resolution of the magistrates to increase the num- 
 ber of the high constables to one hundred as formerly. 3 
 
 At this time it was also considered expedient to have the high and special 
 constables drilled, and their first exercises were commenced on the king's 
 birthday, 28th May i83i. 3 Subsequently the society met for this purpose 
 twice a week, for a few weeks, members late or absent on such occasions being 
 fined one shilling. 4 
 
 On 22d September, the Reform Bill passed the House of Commons by a 
 majority of one hundred and nine, and was sent to the House of Lords, where 
 on 7th October it was rejected on the second reading by a majority of forty- 
 one. On nth October, the House of Commons resolved by a majority of 
 one hundred and thirty-one, in a house of five hundred and twenty-seven, to 
 adhere to the leading features of the bill, and the two branches of the legislature 
 were brought into direct collision. Parliament was thereupon prorogued till 
 
 curred for refreshments to the society during these riots [Council Records, ccix. 400, 
 401]. In December 1831, a claim of ,13, 7s. 6d. was made for surgical assistance, 
 rendered to certain members who had been injured in these riots, and as the value of 
 hats and other articles of dress destroyed at that time. These claims were remitted to 
 the magistrates, who, on loth December, reported against payment, but on 2oth 
 December a committee to whom the subject was remitted, recommended payment to 
 be made, under the express declaration that their doing so should not be drawn into a 
 precedent, and this recommendation was approved of by the council, on 2lst Decem- 
 ber [Ibid. ccxi. 75]. 
 
 1 Minute Book, iv. 246. 3 Council Records, iv. 248. 
 
 8 Council Records, ccix. 335. 4 AJinute Book, iv. 255-258.
 
 278 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 the 2Oth of October. Meanwhile the country was in a highly excited state, 
 and rioting took place in various districts. In Edinburgh, as elsewhere, 
 large meetings were held, and the society were called out on several occasions 
 to prevent apprehended breaches of the peace. For this purpose, they were 
 in attendance on nth October, but were not required to act. 1 Parliament 
 re-assembled on 6th December, when Lord John Russell re-introduced the Re- 
 form Bill, which passed the third reading by a majority of one hundred and six- 
 teen on 22d March 1832. In the House of Peers, the bill passed the second 
 reading by a majority of nine on I3th April. So eagerly was the news of this 
 decision awaited in Edinburgh, that it is said about 10,000 people were con- 
 gregated on the arrival of the mail to learn the result. On 24th April, a great 
 public meeting of the inhabitants was held in the Queen's Park, to adopt a 
 petition to the House of Lords, expressive of the popular satisfaction at the 
 second reading of the bill, and to pray their lordships to pass the measure. 
 About 40,000 people were present. On this occasion, the society were in at- 
 tendance in the Council Chambers in case of commotion, but the meeting 
 was conducted in the most orderly manner, and no disturbance took place. 2 
 Popular expectation was, however, doomed to further disappointment. In 
 discussing the bill in committee, on the 7th of May, the ministry found them- 
 selves in a minority of thirty-five, and on the following day recommended the 
 King to create such a number of peers as would ensure the passing of the 
 bill. This, however, His Majesty refused to do, and the ministry resigned on 
 the 9th of that month. The Duke of Wellington was thereupon summoned 
 to form an administration, but failed in the attempt, and on the i8th of May 
 Earl Grey resumed office, receiving the assurance that every power would be 
 placed in the hands of the government to secure the passing of the bill unmu- 
 tilated. The bill was read a third time, and passed the House of Lords on 
 the 4th of June by a majority of eighty-four, and on 7th June it received the 
 royal assent. The Reform Bill for Scotland was passed into law on I7th June, 
 and that for Ireland in the following month, and thus the questions which 
 had so long agitated the nation were happily settled. 
 
 It has been seen that, during the Reform Bill discussions, the society did 
 not shrink from expressing their political opinions, nor from representing these 
 opinions to the Crown and to the Legislature.* Neither did they hesitate as 
 a society to make known to the council the state of popular feeling relative 
 
 1 Minute Book, iv. 259. " Ibid. iv. 281. 3 Antea, p. 254.
 
 High Constables of tlie City of Edinburgh. 279 
 
 to Mr Dundas and the Lord Advocate Jeffrey, as candidates for the repre- 
 sentation of the city in parliament. 1 On the latter occasion, no doubt, they 
 were entitled to justify their representation by the plea that it seriously con- 
 cerned the peace of the city. But that plea could scarcely be maintained as a 
 ground for their memorialising the council relative to the exercise of the 
 patronage of the University. On the death of Sir John Leslie, in November 
 1832, the chair of Natural Philosophy was offered to Sir John Herschel, 
 who declined it. Public opinion then seems to have pointed to Sir David 
 Brewster as the person to whom it should be offered ; and, with a view it 
 is believed to that, the society, on 23d January 1833, resolved by a majority 
 of twenty-five to twenty-three, to memorialise the council, as patrons of the 
 University, to delay the election. Against this resolution, a protest was 
 taken by thirteen of the members, on the ground that it was incompetent 
 for the society, " elected by, and acting under the Lord Provost and magis- 
 trates, for the preservation of the peace and protection of the inhabitants," 
 to interfere in that, " or any other public or political matter emanating from 
 them or their superiors." 2 On 3oth January, the council elected Mr James 
 D. Forbes to the chair.* 
 
 In the discharge of their duties as conservators of the public peace, the 
 society were in attendance on 8th September 1831, the day of the corona- 
 tion of King William IV. and his queen, Adelaide, to prevent any rioting 
 consequent on the illuminations in honour of that event, but their services 
 were not required. 4 On i7th December 1832, again, the society, by desire 
 of the magistrates, were in attendance in the Royal Exchange coffee- 
 house during the nomination of the two representatives which the Reform 
 Bill assigned to Edinburgh, but no disturbance took place. 5 On 28th 
 May 1835, the anniversary of the king's birthday, the society were called 
 out to suppress rioting in the High Street, and while thus engaged several 
 members were severely injured. They succeeded, however, in suppressing 
 the disturbance. 6 On I7th September in the same year, they were in attend- 
 ance to check any disorder consequent on the dinner to O'Connell in the 
 hall at Tanfield. 7 On nth January 1838, the society were called out to 
 assist the magistrates in the preservation of the peace, which it was feared 
 
 1 Antea, p. 276. * Minute Book, iv. 253. 
 
 2 Minute Book, iv. 291-294. 5 Ibid. iv. 290. 
 
 3 Ibid, ccxxiv. 56 ; Council Records, ccxiii. 131. 6 Ibid. iv. 419. 
 7 Ibid. iv. 421 ; Anderson's History of Edinburgh, p. 447.
 
 280 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 might be disturbed by the crowds of operatives who were assembled in the 
 Parliament Square, waiting the result of the trial of the Glasgow cotton- 
 spinners. So soon as the verdict of the jury was announced, however, the 
 crowd dispersed without causing any trouble. 1 On the evening of the 
 following day the attendance of the high constables was required in conse- 
 quence of the " turbulent conduct" of the students in the somewhat celebrated 
 " snowball riot." The riot had been previously suppressed with the assistance 
 of the military, but there still seemed to be a disposition to renew it. After 
 remaining on duty till a late period, the constables were dismissed, but were 
 required to attend next day, to prevent apprehended disturbances. This 
 they did in the morning, and afterwards in the afternoon, and again at 
 night, but their active services were not required. 2 On the evening of the 
 coronation of her present Majesty, on 28th June 1838, the society were in 
 attendance in " Sorlie's Hotel," Prince's Street, to be ready in case of any 
 disorder on the part of the crowds who were in the streets to witness the 
 illuminations, but the evening passed off quietly. 3 On igth June 1839, the 
 society were in attendance in the Waterloo Hotel, by order of the magistrates, 
 to check any disturbance that might be attempted by the Chartists assembled 
 on the Calton Hill, but they dispersed without trouble. 4 On the evening of 
 9th June 1846, the Queen's birthday, a riot took place, in which several of the 
 police were injured. The society being in attendance at the Council Chambers, 
 were called out, and patrolled the streets in two divisions till order was 
 restored. 5 On 3ist December 1847, they were on duty assisting in extinguish- 
 ing a fire. 6 On nth February 1848, they were called out, by order of the 
 magistrates, to repress rioting on the part of the students, but beyond 
 patrolling the streets their services were not required. 7 On the isth of the 
 same month they were again called out for a similar purpose, but no breach 
 of the peace took place. 8 On the evening of the 7th of the following month 
 their services were required by the magistrates to assist in the suppres- 
 sion of a Chartist riot, which assumed so threatening an aspect that the 
 pensioners, and the cavalry at Piershill, were also called out. With these 
 bodies the constables acted, clearing the streets by successive charges, and 
 
 1 Minute Book, iv. 462, 463. 6 Ibid. v. 107. 
 
 2 Ibid. iv. 464, 465. e Council Records, ccxlix. 92. 
 8 Ibid. iv. 477, 478 T Minute Book, v. 116. 
 
 * Ibid. v. 15. * Ibid. v. 117.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 281 
 
 assisting in the capture of several prisoners. 1 On the following afternoon, 
 and again in the evening, they were in attendance, and patrolled the streets, 
 but no outbreak took place. In this emergency the authorities enrolled a 
 strong body of special constables, who were also in attendance at various 
 parts in the city. On the gth, nth, and I5th of March, the society were on 
 duty, but happily no outbreak took place. 2 At this time the society again 
 resolved to meet for drill, and spent several evenings in receiving drill 
 instructions. On the 6th, 7th, 8th, roth, nth, I7th, and igth of April, they 
 were called out in apprehension of an outbreak on the part of the unemployed 
 operatives, which, however, did not take place. 3 On the I2th of June, the 
 society met by order of the magistrates, and were directed to disperse a 
 Chartist procession which was reported to be moving up Leith Walk ; but, 
 on arriving at the head of the Walk, they learned that the procession 
 had been dispersed near Pilrig Street. They accordingly returned to the 
 Council Chambers, and, after sending out patrols to inspect the state of the 
 town, were dismissed by the Lord Provost. 4 Meetings for drill were resumed 
 in August 1850, and ten meetings for that purpose took place. 5 Drill meetings 
 were again held on 26th and 27th August i85i. 6 On 5th August 1857, a body 
 of high constables was on duty, and rendered important services at the fire in 
 James's Court, which destroyed the large pile of buildings immediately to the 
 east of the Free Church College. 7 On I ith January 1865, the society were on 
 duty at a fire in Beaumont Place, 8 and on the i3th of the same month they 
 were called out to assist in the preservation of order at the great fire which 
 destroyed the Theatre Royal, Broughton Street, On this occasion, Dean of 
 Guild Lorimer, a former high constable, was killed by the fall of a wall while 
 he was gallantly engaged in the attempt to rescue human life. Five other 
 persons were buried with him under the same wall, and perished. On the 
 1 8th of the same month the society formed part of the great public proces- 
 sion at the Dean of Guild's funeral in the West Kirk burying-ground. 9 On 
 25th March following, the office-bearers of the society were in attendance on 
 the magistrates and council at the ceremony of inaugurating the statues of 
 Professor Wilson and Allan Ramsay, 10 the latter an old constable of the city. 
 
 1 Minute Book, v. 118. 6 Ibid. v. 196, 197. 
 
 1 Ibid. v. 121-123. 7 ^id. v. 321. 
 
 3 Ibid. v. 127. 8 Ibid. v. 
 
 4 Ibid. v. 135. 9 Ibid. v. 
 
 * Ibid. v. 174, 176, 179, 180. 10 Minute of Committee, 2ist March 1865. 
 
 M m
 
 282 Sketch of the History of tJie 
 
 In accordance with the society's long continued practice of accompanying 
 the magistrates on public ceremonials, the high constables, on 23d June 1829, 
 formed part of the procession at the opening of the new High School on 
 the Calton Hill, and were suitably accommodated in the hall. 1 On 2Qth 
 September 1829, they attended the magistrates in the procession at the 
 laying of the foundation stone of " The John Knox Church." 2 King George 
 IV. having died on 26th June, and the 3oth of June 1830 having been fixed 
 for proclaiming the accession of King William IV., the society accompanied 
 the Lord Provost and magistrates in the procession to the Royal Exchange, 
 the Castle Gate, and Holyrood Palace, at each of which places the proclama- 
 tion was made ; 3 and on the i2th of July, the society took the oath of allegiance 
 to his majesty. 4 On I5th September 1834, the society took part in the pro- 
 cession which accompanied Earl Grey into the city, on his arrival to accept 
 the public dinner to which he had been invited by the citizens. The society 
 afterwards attended the magistrates to the Waterloo Rooms, where the corpora- 
 tion presented his Lordship with an address, and the freedom of the city in a 
 gold box. In the evening, the great " Grey festival" took place, in the pavilion 
 erected for the purpose in the vicinity of the High School. 5 On ?oth June 
 1837, King William died, and on 24th June her present Majesty was pro- 
 claimed Queen at the Royal Exchange, the Castle, and at Holyrood Palace. 
 A public procession took place on this occasion, in which the society occupied 
 a prominent position. 6 
 
 About the middle of August 1 842, the citizens of Edinburgh were informed 
 that Her Majesty contemplated a visit to her Scottish metropolis, and the 
 society seem to have participated largely in the excitement which that an- 
 nouncement occasioned. A meeting was called on 22d August to make the 
 requisite arrangements, the dress to be worn on the occasion was resolved on, 
 and an application was ordered to be made to the council to have the large 
 batons reduced to a uniform size and repainted. 7 On the 3oth of August the 
 society were again convened to receive their orders for the following day, 
 when the Queen was expected to land, 8 and it was arranged that they should 
 escort the magistrates to the barrier gate at Brandon Street, where the Lord 
 
 1 Minute Book, iv. 156-159 ; Anderson's History of Edinburgh, p. 399. 
 
 2 Minute Book, iv. 169. This church was proposed to be erected where the Vic- 
 toria Hall now stands, but was never built. 
 
 3 Minute Book, iv. 195-199. 5 Ibid. iv. 396. 7 Ibid. v. 71, 72. 
 * Ibid. iv. 202, 204, 205. 6 Ibid. iv. 445-458 8 Ibid. v. 73.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 283 
 
 Provost was to present the keys of the city to Her Majesty. By some mal- 
 arrangement, however, Her Majesty landed at an earlier hour than was 
 expected, and when the magistrates were leaving the Council Chamber to 
 take up their position at the barrier, it was announced that the royal party 
 were passing through the city on their way to Dalkeith Palace. The whole 
 arrangements for the royal reception were thus overturned, and it was only 
 by a hurried rush down the Canongate, and through the Watergate to the 
 road at the east end of the Calton Hill, that the council and the society 
 obtained a hurried glimpse of the royal cortege as it swept on to Dalkeith. 
 The universal disappointment and dissatisfaction occasioned by this contre- 
 temps was, however, somewhat allayed when the magistrates who had pro- 
 ceeded to Dalkeith to request an interview with Sir Robert Peel, and to 
 obtain an explanation returned, and announced that Her Majesty would 
 graciously make a royal progress through the city on the following Saturday. 1 
 On the 2d of September the constables were on duty during the illuminations 
 in honour of the Queen's visit. 2 On the following day the society took up 
 their position on the right and left of the barrier gate at the Royal Exchange, 
 when the magistrates presented the keys of the city to Her Majesty. This 
 ceremony concluded, the Queen proceeded to the Castle, attended by the 
 magistrates, who were escorted by the high constables. After inspecting the 
 Castle, Her Majesty proceeded by the Mound and along Prince's Street and 
 Dean Bridge to Dalmeny Park. 3 For their services on the occasion of the 
 royal visit, the society received the thanks of the council on 2Oth September 
 1842.* 
 
 Since that time the Society have had frequent opportunities of shewing 
 their loyalty to Her Majesty. Her marked predilection for Scotland, evinced 
 by her purchasing the estate of Balmoral in Aberdeenshire, and erecting 
 upon it a castle to which she and her family have repaired with unvarying 
 regularity for a series of years, has given to the citizens of Edinburgh fre- 
 quent opportunities of seeing them in Edinburgh. On the occasions of 
 their reception, the society have always been in attendance on the magis- 
 trates and council, and have occupied a conspicuous and honourable position. 
 On 27th September 1849, tne society were in attendance on the magistrates 
 and council when they received Her Majesty and the Royal Family, on 
 
 1 Minute Book, v. 74, 77. 3 Ibid. v. 80, 81. 
 
 2 Ibid. v. 77-79. * Council Records, ccxxxvii. 345.
 
 284 Sketch of the History of tJie 
 
 their arrival in Edinburgh en route for Balmoral. 1 On the arrival of Her 
 Majesty at Holyrood on 29th August 1850, the society were on duty at 
 Holyrood, and were assigned a prominent place to the right of the main 
 entrance. 3 On 28th August 1851, the society escorted Her Majesty and the 
 Royal Family from St Margaret's Station to Holyrood Palace. 3 On the arrival 
 of Her Majesty at Holyrood Palace on 28th August 1857, and again on her 
 departure for Balmoral the following morning, the high constables were on 
 duty at the Palace by order of the magistrates. On these occasions the 
 society were drawn up in two divisions, right and left of the grand entrance. 
 A similar arrangement was followed on Her Majesty's return on the I5th of 
 October, and on her departure for the south next morning. 4 The constables 
 were again in attendance at Holyrood Palace on the arrival of Her Majesty 
 on 3oth August 1859 ; on her departure for Balmoral next morning ; s on her 
 arrival from Balmoral on 22d, 6 and on her departure for the south on the 
 evening of the 23d of October i86i. 7 
 
 In the farther discharge of their duty of attending upon the magistrates 
 and council, while taking a part in public ceremonials, the society, on 
 29th July 1844, were present at the ceremony of laying the foundation- 
 stone of the Edinburgh Public Baths. 8 On I5th August 1846, they 
 formed part of the procession at laying the foundation-stone of the Scott 
 monument, with masonic honours. 9 On the 3oth of August 1850, they were 
 on duty at the laying of the foundation-stone of the National Gallery by 
 Prince Albert. 10 On 3ist March 1851, the society took part in the procession 
 on the occasion of laying the foundation-stone of the new slaughter-houses at 
 Lochrin. 11 On i8th June 1853, the society took part in the ceremonial of 
 
 1 Minute Book, v. 151. * Ibid. v. 181. 3 Ibid. v. 198, 199. 
 
 4 Ibid. v. 323. On these occasions, the constables of Holyrood seem to have 
 claimed precedence of the high constables within the precincts of the palace, and 
 a committee was appointed on I2th November 1857 to investigate their claim [Ibid, 
 v. 324]. This committee reported on 6th January 1858 that the constables of Holy- 
 rood had the right which they claimed, and that it would be for the society to con- 
 sider whether they would attend at the Palace in future [Ibid. v. 324]. 
 
 6 Minute Book, v. 357, 359. 7 Ibid. v. 392, 398. 9 Ibid. v. 108. 
 
 6 Ibid. v. 390. 8 Ibid. \. 98, 94. 
 
 10 Minute Book, v. 182, 183. At the conclusion of that ceremony, the society were 
 entertained by the moderator [Mackie] in his house, 108 Prince's Street, whence they 
 were called out to salute Her Majesty and Prince Albert, who passed along in the course 
 of the afternoon. n Minute Book, v. 189, 190.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 285 
 
 inaugurating the statue of the Duke of Wellington in front of the Register 
 House. 1 On 7th April 1854, they attended the magistrates and council at the 
 funeral of Professor Wilson. 3 On 2d May 1856, they escorted the magistrates 
 and council to the market cross, to hear proclamation made of the peace 
 with Russia ; 3 and on the 29th of the same month they were invited by the 
 magistrates to take a part in the rejoicings consequent on that event. They 
 were accordingly present at the entertainment given in the police board- 
 room, and were accommodated in the High School in the evening, to wit- 
 ness the display of fireworks in the Queen's Park. 4 On 25th June 1858, 
 the society, by invitation of the magistrates, attended the banquet in the 
 Parliament House to celebrate the marriage of the Princess Royal to Prince 
 Frederick William of Prussia. 5 On 28th September 1859, they accompanied 
 the council at the funeral of Professor Alison. 6 On 23d October 1861, they 
 rendered important services at the laying of the foundation-stone of the New 
 General Post-Office by the Prince Consort. His Royal Highness, and the 
 distinguished party who officiated on that occasion, assembled in the General 
 Register House, whence they passed in procession, preceded by the office- 
 bearers of the society, to the foundation-stone, and after the ceremony had 
 been completed, entered carriages at the north-east corner of the North Bridge 
 and proceeded to lay the foundation-stone of the Industrial Museum. The 
 passage from the Register House to the site of the Post-Office, and thence 
 to the carriages, was admirably kept by the high constables, aided by a 
 strong detachment of the Scots Greys. The society afterwards escorted the 
 council to the site of the Museum, through the College, and witnessed the 
 ceremony of laying the foundation-stone of that important building. Their 
 next meeting, on the 26th of December, was called to perform the sad 
 duty of expressing, in an address of condolence to Her Majesty, their par- 
 ticipation in the grief into which the nation was plunged by the untimely 
 death of the good prince, with whose latest public act in Scotland a few 
 weeks previously they had been so closely associated. 7 On the loth of 
 November 1862, the society attended the magistrates and council, and 
 were assigned a prominent position, at the inauguration of the bust of 
 His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, in the hall of the High School. 8 
 
 1 Minute Book, v. 216. 2 Ibid. v. 243. 
 
 3 Minute of Committee, 1st May 1856 ; Minute Book, v. 286. 
 
 4 Minute Book, v. 288. 6 Ibid. v. 359. 8 Ibid. v. 425. 
 
 5 Ibid. v. 325. " Ibid. v. 399-401.
 
 286 Sketch of the Histoty of tht 
 
 On the occasion of the marriage of the Prince of Wales with the Princess 
 Alexandra of Denmark, on loth March 1863, the office-bearers of the society, 
 attended the council at divine service in the High Church, and afterwards 
 at the banquet in the Parliament House. It was also arranged that, should 
 the services of the society be required during the course of the evening, an 
 electric light would be exhibited on the top of the City Chambers, and the 
 Tron Church bell would be rung. 1 No disturbance, however, took place to 
 mar the feelings of pride and satisfaction with which the citizens contem- 
 plated the splendour of the illuminations, which were superior to anything 
 ever before exhibited, not only in Edinburgh, but in Great Britain. On ist 
 April 1863, the society attended the presentation of the freedom of the city to 
 Lord Palmerston in Queen Street Hall, and the members of committee acted 
 as stewards on that occasion. 8 
 
 On 1 2th July 1830, the society voted an address of congratulation to King 
 William IV. on his accession, 3 and the moderator was requested to wait on 
 the Earl of Errol, and ask his Lordship to present it to His Majesty. 4 The 
 Lord High Constable received the moderator most courteously at St James's 
 Palace, and readily agreed to attend the first levee and present the address, 
 which he accordingly did on the following Wednesday. 5 On i8th March 
 1831, the society voted an address to the Throne, expressive of their confidence 
 in Earl Grey's ministry, and requested the Earl of Errol to present the same 
 to His Majesty. 6 This his Lordship undertook to do. 7 On ist July 1837, 
 the society voted an address of congratulation to her present Majesty on 
 her accession, and the address was transmitted to the Earl of Errol, " that 
 Her Majesty might receive the loyal congratulations of the Edinburgh High 
 Constables, from the Lord High Constable of Scotland." 8 His Lord- 
 ship, however, not being in London, transmitted the address to Lord John 
 Russell, from whom the moderator received an intimation that it had been 
 graciously received. 9 On 25th February 1840, the society voted an address 
 of congratulation to Her Majesty on the occasion of her marriage with 
 Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg on the loth of that month ; 10 and at a special 
 meeting called for the purpose, on the i6th of June, they voted an address 
 
 1 Minute of Committee, 5th March 1863. G Ibid. iv. 219, 220. 
 
 2 Ibid. 30th March 1863. 7 Ibid. iv. 228. 
 
 3 Ibid. iv. 200-202 * Ibid. iv. 459-463. 
 
 4 Ibid. iv. 202. 9 Ibid. iv. 463. 
 
 5 Ibid. iv. 206, 207. 10 Ibid. v. 19.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 287 
 
 to the Queen on the occasion of the attempt on the life of Her Majesty 
 and her royal Consort. The latter address was transmitted to Sir John 
 Campbell, M.P. for the city, for presentation. 1 On the 3Oth of November, 
 in the same year, they adopted an address of congratulation to Her 
 Majesty on the birth of the Princess Royal, and transmitted it to Mr 
 Macaulay, M.P. for the city, for presentation. 2 On 22d November 1841, 
 the society voted addresses of congratulation to the Queen and Prince 
 Albert on the birth of the Prince of Wales, and directed the addresses to be 
 forwarded to the Earl of Errol, as Lord High Constable, for presentation. 3 
 On 26th December 1861, they voted an address of condolence to Her Majesty 
 on the death of the Prince Consort. 4 This address was forwarded to Secre- 
 tary Sir George Grey for presentation, and was acknowledged by him on 7th 
 January 1862.' On loth March 1863, addresses of congratulation were voted 
 to Her Majesty and the Prince of Wales on the occasion of His Royal High- 
 ness's marriage with the Princess Alexandra of Denmark. 6 These addresses 
 were transmitted to Sir George Grey for presentation, and were severally 
 acknowledged by him and by General Knollys. 7 On 27th January 1864, ad- 
 dresses of congratulation to the Queen and the Prince and Princess of Wales, 
 on the birth of Prince Albert Victor, were voted by the Society, 8 and were 
 transmitted to Sir George Grey and General Knollys, by whom they were 
 duly acknowledged. 9 
 
 Of late, as in former years, the society have evinced a most laudable 
 desire to promote objects of public philanthropy. Towards the end of 
 1830, the steady approach of cholera to this country induced the autho- 
 rities to adopt a variety of sanitary precautions, and on I4th January 1832 
 a royal commission was issued, constituting a board of health for Edin- 
 burgh. On the 27th of that month, the first case of cholera occurred in 
 the city. Two days afterwards, a meeting of the society was held to con- 
 sider what they could do to assist the authorities, and to alleviate the an- 
 ticipated public calamity. It was suggested that, as on former occasions, the 
 high constables might institute a general subscription in aid of the funds at 
 the disposal of the board of health. But it was stated that the several kirk- 
 
 1 Minute Book, v. 25. 6 Ibid. v. 448-451. 
 
 8 Ibid. v. 28, 30. 7 Ibid. v. 452-454. 
 
 8 Ibid. v. 63. 8 Ibid. v. 467. 
 
 4 Ibid. v. 399-401. 9 Minute of Committee, gth March 1864. 
 
 6 Ibid. v. 414.
 
 288 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 sessions contemplated some such measure. A subscription, confined to the 
 society, was thereupon opened, when ^73, 95. 6d. was collected. A number of 
 the members, however, preferred to subscribe otherwise. 1 In 1857, the 
 moderator, secretary, and one of the ordinary members, acted as members 
 of the committee appointed by the citizens to raise subscriptions for the re- 
 lief of the sufferers by the great fire in James's Court on 5th August 1857.* 
 On 1 3th November 1862, the society having had brought under their notice 
 the efforts which were about to be made throughout the country to raise funds 
 on behalf of the distressed operatives in Lancashire, resolved to co-operate 
 with the central committee in any way that might be considered desirable to 
 further that object ; and a committee was appointed to tender the services 
 of the high constables in collecting subscriptions. 3 The offer of the society 
 was warmly received by the Lord Provost, 4 and by the Lancashire Relief 
 Committee, 5 who, at a meeting held on 24th November, adopted the following 
 resolution, moved by Mr Duncan M'Laren and seconded by Mr Adam 
 Black, M.P. : 
 
 "That the society of high constables having offered their services to make a personal 
 visitation from house to house of the whole of the city, to solicit subscriptions in aid of 
 the Lancashire Relief Fund, this meeting do hereby accept of the offer so kindly 
 made, tender their best thanks to the society, and authorise the collection to commence 
 on Thursday the 27th inst. And this meeting trust that the inhabitants will give every 
 possible facility and assistance to the High Constables in their laudable efforts to 
 promote the cause in this city. " 
 
 The thirteen municipal wards were thereupon divided into one hundred and 
 thirty-seven sections, and the collection of subscriptions, which was com- 
 menced on the 23d of November, was finished on the 1st of December. 
 By this effort ,2050, 73. lid. were collected over and above the sum of about 
 .1200 previously subscribed by the citizens spontaneously. The result of 
 this canvass having been reported to the Relief committee, it was moved by 
 Sir William Johnston, seconded by Mr David Smith, W.S., 
 
 " That the thanks of the meeting be given to the moderator, the society of high con- 
 stables, and the gentlemen associated with them, for their valuable services in the recent 
 laborious and successful collection, from house to house, on behalf of the funds for the 
 
 1 Minute Book, iv. 263, 264. * Ibid. v. 431, 432. 
 
 2 Ibid. v. 321. 4 Ibid. v. 432-435. 
 8 Minute of Committee, 2Oth November 1862.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 289 
 
 relief of the distressed operatives in Lancashire, which has already produced upwards 
 
 of;2000." l 
 
 On I4th June 1859, ex-moderator Carter brought under the notice of the 
 committee the propriety of affording the high constables an opportunity of 
 taking a part in the volunteer movement, by joining the artillery corps then 
 being formed under the command of the Duke of Buccleuch, as Lord- 
 Lieutenant of the county of Edinburgh. The proposal, however, was not 
 adopted by the society ; but in April 1860, a meeting of high constables 
 favourable to the formation of a rifle volunteer company was called by the 
 secretary, Mr John Greig Jun., when it was resolved to form a " High 
 Constables' Rifle Company," under the command of the Lord Provost, as 
 Lord-Lieutenant of the county of the city. Eighty members were thereafter 
 enrolled, and the officers were gazetted on 8th June i86o. 3 On 22d May 
 1 86 1, the committee voted ^3 out of the society's funds for a prize to be 
 shot for by the rifle company at their annual competition. 3 
 
 The practice of the office-bearers and other members of committee waiting 
 on the Lord Provost immediately after his election, appears to have been 
 commenced on 8th November 1859, when a deputation waited on Lord Pro- 
 vost Brown Douglas to offer their congratulations, and to assure him of their 
 readiness to act under him. 4 On the election of Lord Provost Lawson in 
 November 1862, the committee waited on his Lordship fora similar purpose. 5 
 
 The records of the society during the present century contain frequent re- 
 ference to the festive meetings. The more important of these were the annual 
 election dinner, the supper, afterwards changed to the dinner, on the anni- 
 versary of the birthday of the reigning sovereign, and the moderator's farewell 
 dinner. Towards the expense of these entertainments, the sums received 
 from the government for taking up the militia and jury lists, the fines levied 
 from defaulters, and such portion of the allowance from the city as was not 
 required for actual and necessary outlays were applicable, but the excess 
 of cost was still large, and had to be borne by the constables individually. 
 Notwithstanding this fact, the society has always shewn the most generous 
 
 1 Minute Book, v. 441-446 ; Minute of Committee, 1st December 1862- 
 
 1 The officers recommended by the company, and appointed by the Lord Provost 
 (Brown Douglas), as Lord-Lieutenant, were, Thomas Macfarlane, Captain; Thomas 
 S. Lindsay, Lieutenant; and John Greig Jun., Ensign. 
 
 3 Minute Book, 22d May 1861. * Ibid. 7th and 8th November 1859. 
 
 8 Ibid. 3d November 1862 ; Minute Book, v. 432-435. 
 
 N n
 
 290 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 hospitality, not only to the magistrates, sheriffs, and other official per- 
 sonages, but to a large circle of distinguished citizens. In the notices of 
 these convivial meetings, are recorded many familiar names, whose frequent 
 presence on such occasions attests at once the hospitality and high respecta- 
 bility of the society. Among their lists of guests on such occasions, are to be 
 seen the names of the Earl of Errol, Lord High Constable of Scotland, Lord 
 Melville, Baron Clerk Rattray, Baron Sir Patrick Murray, Lord Advocate Maco- 
 nochie (afterwards Lord Meadowbank), Principal Baird, Sir Henry Jardine, the 
 Right Hon. W. Dundas, M.P., Professor Wilson, Dean of Faculty (afterwards 
 Lord) Moncreiff, Lord Advocate (afterwards Lord) Jeffrey, Solicitor-General 
 (afterwards Lord) Cockburn, Sir John (afterwards Lord Chancellor) Campbell, 
 Sir James Gibson-Craig, Sir Thomas Dick Lander, Leonard Horner, Lord 
 Advocate (afterwards Lord) Murray, Lord Advocate (afterwards Lord) Ruther- 
 ford, Sir William Allan, Principal Lee, Drs Inglis, Brunton, Dickson, Peddie, 
 Grant, Alexander, Lee, and Hanna^Dr Abercromby, George Combe, Charles 
 Cowan, M.P., Major-General Walker, Commander of the Forces, N.B., 
 George Harvey, and others. These occasions were also not inappropriately 
 selected for cultivating friendly relations with other societies of constabulary, 
 and it is not uninteresting to note, that after the Leith constables had spon- 
 taneously relieved the high constables of Edinburgh at the great fire on i/th 
 November 1824, and had rendered good service on that occasion, they were 
 hospitably received by the high constables at their next dinner on the gth of 
 December. 1 The practice thus apparently commenced, has been frequently 
 observed and reciprocated since. More recently also, after all disturbing 
 questions were amicably settled, the society encouraged the intercourse of 
 friendly courtesies with the constables of Canongate. The feelings with 
 which these meetings were regarded, may best be gathered from the terms of 
 the minutes themselves, but one, bearing intrinsic evidence of being the pro- 
 duction of the secretary, Dr, afterwards Professor, Miller, may be accepted 
 as a highly ornate specimen of the class. It refers to the annual election 
 dinner on 27th February 1838, 
 
 "which, by the talented and judicious management of the chairman, ably seconded by 
 the croupier, and each man doing his best to promote the general hilarity, proved, 
 though extended to an almost unusual length, one of unalloyed enjoyment and gratifi- 
 cation. A series of happy hours, that glide swiftly by in mirth and harmony, leaving 
 behind no painful regret for time misspent, or efforts misapplied, but which recur to 
 
 Minute Book, iii. 396.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 291 
 
 the memory with feelings, though less tumultuous, still as pleasurable as at first, and 
 leave the bosom calm in the satisfaction that it is good that the social virtues of a leal 
 and enlightened band of citizens have once more been happily exercised, and that man 
 has met with man in peace and friendship." 1 
 
 It cannot, however, be said that such meetings were invariably unmarked 
 by any unpleasant incidents. One little episode at a convivial meeting on 
 the 25th of March Ij62, 2 was considered of sufficient importance to justify 
 the passing by the society of a general order against the admission into the 
 body of vintners or publicans. 3 At the dinner on 1st March 1814, a foolish 
 dispute with the vintner, the details of which occupy upwards of twenty pages 
 of the records, was made the subject of a reference, and cost the constables 
 ^29, 6s. id. 4 Still more recently, an occurrence in connection with a festive 
 meeting brought the society into collision with the council. In the exercise 
 of what they claimed to be their right, the society excluded one of the magis- 
 trates from an invitation to sup with them. This was resented by the Lord 
 Provost (Sir James Forrest), as disrespectful to the magistracy, and as an 
 act of insubordination, and he moved in council and carried by a majority of 
 one a vote of censure on the society, which vote, however, it was afterwards 
 resolved, should not be communicated to them. 5 Two days later, a meeting of 
 the society was held to take into consideration the censure which had been 
 passed upon them, and a series of resolutions was adopted by a majority of 
 thirty to twelve, and ordered to be advertised in the public newspapers. 
 These resolutions set forth the facts of the case, disavowed all disrespect to 
 the magistracy, but asserted the right of the society, 
 
 "to exercise the privilege allowed to the humblest individual in the empire, of choosing 
 the guests who shall be admitted to their private company, irrespective of any official 
 character with which such individual may be invested at the time ;" and declared that 
 "having on the occasion referred to disobeyed no order, and, in the exercise of their 
 private rights as citizens, neither intended nor offered any disrespect to the magistracy 
 as such, they, with all due respect for the majority of the council, cannot recognise the 
 justice of the censure which has been passed on them." 6 
 
 On the 3 ist of December 1841, the society invited the whole of the magis- 
 
 1 Minute Book, iv. 466. 4 Minute Book, iii. 191-221. 
 
 2 Ibid. i. 274. 5 Council Records, ccxxxiv. 153, 208, 215, 248. 
 8 See Appendix VII. Art. 27. 
 
 6 Minute Book, v. 32-35. A full report of the discussion which took place at this 
 meeting, reported for the society, is inserted in the Minute Book, v. 37-56.
 
 292 Sketch of tJie History of the 
 
 trates to sup with them, " upon the understanding .... that the censure 
 would be expunged from the books of the council." Whether the magistrates 
 were parties to this understanding does not appear, but they accepted the 
 invitation, 1 and on ist February 1842, the council, on the motion of the 
 Lord Provost, seconded by the magistrate to whom the slight had been 
 shewn, rescinded their act of I2th January 1841. 2 An extract of the council's 
 resolution was thereafter transmitted to the society, and submitted to them 
 on 4th April 1842, and this unfortunate question was thus happily settled. 
 
 Besides these more public entertainments, the committee had occasional 
 dinners and suppers, when they met for the transaction of the business of 
 the society. The expense of these entertainments appears to have been fre- 
 quently charged against the society, but on 3ist December 1845, it was 
 agreed that 
 
 "the office-bearers and committee be allowed the sum of 10 sterling for their various 
 committee meetings, which sum is distinctly to be understood as comprehending all 
 and every charge (for whatever purpose such committee meeting be called) against the 
 society. " 8 
 
 The first reference in the minute books to the annual excursion, which 
 since that time has formed one of the most attractive gatherings of the society, 
 occurs under date 24th May 1849,* an d the place then resolved on was 
 Melrose. A minute of the committee, dated 25th July 1856, refers to the 
 annual excursion as previously confined to the committee. On that occasion, 
 however, it was resolved to convert the excursion into one for the whole 
 members, " with a view to bring out the society, and keep up the friendly 
 feeling." 5 The excursion accordingly took place on 8th August, the place 
 selected being Roslin. 6 On 26th June 1858, the society had an excursion to 
 Peebles. 7 On 24th June 1859, they proceeded in concert with the Leith high 
 constables to Melrose. 8 On loth July 1860, they went to North Berwick, 
 where they were entertained by Councillor Girle. 9 On i8th July 1861, the 
 society, with the constables of Leith, had their excursion to the Falls of 
 Clyde. JO On 26th June 1862, the constables proceeded, on the invitation of 
 the then vice-moderator, Mr Charles Lawson, to his father's mansion house 
 
 1 Minute Book, v. 64. 4 Ibid. v. 146. 
 
 a Council Records, ccxxxvi. 228. 5 Minute of Committee, 25th July 1856; 
 
 3 Minute Book, v. 103. 
 
 6 Minute Book of Committee, 25th July 1856. 
 
 7 Ibid. v. 329. 8 Ibid. v. 356. ' 9 Ibid. v. 374. lu Ibid. v. 388.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 293 
 
 of Borthwickhall, where they were hospitably entertained to luncheon and 
 dinner, in a marquee on the lawn, and returned to Edinburgh by a special 
 train in the evening. 1 On 9th July 1863, the society and the Leith constables 
 had their annual excursion to the Rumbling Bridge. 2 On I3th July 1864, 
 they had their excursion to the Trossachs and Balquhidder. 3 " 
 
 Instead of the annual supper, it was resolved, in November 1863, to have 
 a conversazione on the 25th of that month. Professor Archer, director of the 
 Industrial Museum of Scotland, kindly agreed to give the society the use of 
 the Museum for this purpose, and Dr Murray Thomson, surgeon of the 
 society, 4 delivered an address on " Some points on Chemical Manufacture 
 bearing on British Industry." 5 
 
 Rich as the society now is in insignia and other properties, it is somewhat 
 remarkable that, with the single exception of the treasurer's box, to which 
 allusion has been made, 6 they have all been collected within the last forty-one 
 years. 
 
 The box is older than any of the society's records, and an inscription upon 
 it bears that it was ordered and paid for by the constables for the year 1698. 
 It passed through the hands of successive treasurers from that time till 1757, 
 when, the treasurer having omitted to hand it to his successor, it went amiss- 
 ing, and was only restored to the society in September 1762. It was then 
 handed to the treasurer of that year, and a minute, dated 24th September 
 1762, while narrating the fact, embodies the recommendation of the society, 
 that " it be properly taken care of, and duly transmitted from one treasurer 
 to another." 7 When the several high constables who composed the society 
 in 1838, resigned their office under the circumstances previously detailed, 3 
 they caused an inscription to be put on the box recording the names of the 
 office-bearers and committee, and the resignation of the society. This fact 
 
 1 Minute Book, v. 415. A full printed report of the proceedings on this occasion, 
 with photographic groups of the office-bearers, members, and others, are inserted in 
 the Minute Book. This was done under a resolution of the society on 2ist October 
 1862, expressive of "the very high sense entertained by the members of the munificent 
 hospitality of the vice-moderator" on the occasion referred to [Ibid. v. 423]. 
 
 2 Ibid. v. 463. 3 Ibid. v. ; I3th July 1864. 
 
 4 Now Professor of Experimental Science in the Government college of Hookee, 
 Upper India. 
 
 5 Minutes of Committee, 2d and 9th November 1863. 
 
 G Antea, p. 161. ' Minute Book, i. 276. 8 Antea, p. 260.
 
 294 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 was brought under the notice of the society on 2$d May I839, 1 when they 
 minuted their 
 
 " very strong sense of this unwarrantable conduct on the part of the late members, in 
 thus defacing an ancient and curious relic of the body, after the legitimate control and 
 custody of it no longer remained with them, and they unanimously directed that the 
 inscription should be immediately polished off, and the box restored to its pristine 
 condition." 
 
 It is much to be regretted that, notwithstanding this laudable expression of 
 the wish of the society to preserve the box intact, their successors, in 1842, 
 should have defaced it with an inscription to record facts, the remembrance 
 of which it might have been very well left to the minutes to perpetuate. It 
 is to be hoped that in future the society will jealously protect this interesting 
 relic from farther injury. 
 
 Mr Alexander Giles, moderator in 1819-20, having presented the society 
 with a handsome ebony baton, " for the use of the moderator as a state baton 
 at public meetings," a contribution of five shillings was, on 28th September 
 1820, appointed to be levied from each member to defray the expense of 
 mounting it handsomely with silver. 2 On loth October of the same year, 
 the moderator, Mr Henderson, presented the society with an elegant silver- 
 mounted snuff-horn, upon which a suitable inscription was ordered to be en- 
 graved. 3 On Qth May 1825, the committee resolved "that a seal, with a 
 suitable inscription, should be procured for the use of the society. 4 In 1828, 
 Mr George Brown, the treasurer, Mr James Patterson, the secretary, and Mr 
 Eagle Henderson, the chaplain, for that year, presented the society each with 
 a baton for the use of the treasurer, secretary, and chaplain respectively. 5 
 To facilitate the operations of the society when engaged in the preservation 
 of the peace, and the suppression of riots, during the stirring times of the 
 Reform Bill agitations, 6 the moderator, treasurer, and secretary were severally 
 provided with silver calls, in the form of a " boatswain's whistle," preconcerted 
 signals on which 7 regulated the movements of the high constables when in 
 action. When, at the same time, the office of surgeon was revived, 8 a large 
 
 1 Minute Book, v. 12. 3 Ibid. iii. 299. 
 
 a Ibid. iii. 299. 4 Ibid. iii. 417. 
 
 5 No reference is made to these presentations in the minute books of the society, 
 and the minute books of the committee previous to 7th April 1856 cannot now be 
 found. 6 Antea, p. 
 
 7 Appendixes XVIII. and XIX. s Minute Book, iv. 246; loth May 1831.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 295 
 
 silver-mounted baton was provided for the holder of that office. In the 
 following year, a small silver-mounted pocket baton appears to have been pro- 
 cured for the surgeon. 1 On leaving office on 5th April 1852, moderator 
 Beattie presented the society with a small silver-mounted baton for the use 
 of the moderator, the old pocket baton being covered with rings. 2 The baton 
 presented by Mr Beattie, is still used by the moderator, and the old one is 
 attached to the large baton presented by Mr Giles in 1820, now held by the 
 ex-moderator. On iQth March 1855, the "custodier of batons" was first 
 appointed an office-bearer of the society, 3 and was ordered to have a silver- 
 mounted baton marked " custodier of batons. 4 A small silver-mounted baton, 
 of apparently much older date than any of the other existing batons, appears 
 to have been thereupon assigned to the custodier. It does not appear that 
 a large baton was provided for that office-bearer previous to the re-organisa- 
 tion of the society in 1857, when the office of chaplain was abolished, and the 
 baton presented by Mr Eagle Henderson was assigned to the custodier. 
 On igth March 1855, the moderator for the former year was appointed to 
 hold the office of vice-moderator, 5 and the society subscribed the requisite 
 funds to provide a gold medal and chain to be held by him. Mr Gill, the 
 first vice-moderator under this resolution, was invested with this medal and 
 chain on 24th May 1855, and immediately thereafter presented the society 
 with a handsome silver-mounted pocket baton for the use of his successors 
 in that office. 6 A large and handsome silver-mounted baton for the use of 
 the vice-moderator was presented to the society on 2gth August 1859, by 
 Mr Alexander Edmonston, who held the office during that and the succeeding 
 year. 7 On 2ist October 1862, the society approved of a recommendation by 
 the committee that a gold chain and medal should be provided for the 
 moderator, and remitted to them to obtain the requisite subscriptions. 8 ^50 
 were accordingly raised for this purpose, 9 and on 22d January 1863, the 
 
 1 No reference to these calls, or to the batons for the surgeon, is made in the minute 
 books of the society. * Minute Book, v. 208. 
 
 3 On 24th May 1849, the office of custodier appears to have been first instituted 
 [Minute Book, v. 146], but he did not hold rank as one of the regular office-bearers. 
 On 1st April 1850, number one of the committee was appointed to act as custodier 
 [Ibid. v. 1 68]. 
 
 * Minute Book, v. 252. 5 Ibid. v. 252. 6 Ibid. v. 270. 7 Ibid. v. 357. 
 
 8 Ibid. v. 422. See also Minutes of Committee, 5th April and 22d May 1861, 5th 
 May, 26th August, 2ist October, and 3d November 1862. 
 
 9 See Minute of Committee, I2th January 1863.
 
 296 Sketch of tlie History of tJie 
 
 society presented their moderator with the handsome chain and medal, 
 which is now used by his successor. 1 At the close of his office as mode- 
 rator, Mr Lawson, on 27th March 1865, presented the society with a large 
 and handsome silver-mounted baton, to be carried by his successor in office. 
 The baton was fitted up in a fine mahogany case, lined with blue velvet, 
 and had an appropriate stand to be placed before the moderator on all 
 public occasions. The moderator's old large baton, completely covered with 
 silver rings, bearing the names of the moderators by whom it has been held 
 since 1820, was thereupon assigned to the "ex-moderator," 2 for whose use 
 the present moderator, Mr Greig, on 2d May 1865, presented the society 
 with a handsome silver-mounted pocket baton. 3 
 
 The society appear to have been first provided with short batons for the 
 pocket in 1700, and the cost of them was ordered to be defrayed out of their 
 fines. 4 In 1736, however, the council directed the treasurer to provide a new 
 set of batons for the society ; 5 and these were afterwards from time to time 
 repaired and replaced when injured or lost. 6 When the number of constables 
 was subsequently increased in 1789,* in I794, 8 and in i8o2, 9 the council doubt- 
 less provided the society with batons, as they did when the society was raised 
 to one hundred members in i826. 10 On 28th April 1828, the moderator me- 
 morialised the council, setting forth that the batons were old, and many of 
 them broken, and more particularly that they were too large to be conveniently 
 carried in the pocket, and asking the council to provide sixty new pocket 
 batons of much less size. 11 This memorial was submitted to the council on 
 3Oth April, but they considered it unnecessary to incur the expense, "as there 
 were several small batons in the hands of the depute clerk, from which any 
 defective ones might be replaced." 12 On 24th April 1832, the society again 
 requested the moderator to apply to the council to remodel the small batons, 
 or to allow the society to do so. 13 Whether any application was made to the 
 council in consequence of this resolution, does not appear ; but on 27th April 
 1835, the moderator called attention, as a matter which had been "long com- 
 
 1 Minute Book, v. 441. 2 Ibid. v. 
 
 3 Ibid. v. For a description of the several insignia belonging to the society, see 
 Appendix No. XXII. 
 
 4 Antea, p. 148. 8 Antea, pp. 191, 192. 12 Council Records, cciii. 204. 
 6 Antea, p. 168. 9 Antea, p. 215. 13 Minute Book, iv. 281. 
 
 6 Antea, pp. 177, 178. 10 Antea, p. 236, footnote 8. 
 
 7 Antea, p. 188. u Minute Book, iv. 99.
 
 HigJi Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 297 
 
 plained of," to the size of the small batons, and it was resolved to have them 
 reduced to a uniform size. 1 At this time the batons seem to have been of 
 various sizes and ages, some of the time of George III., some of George IV., 
 and some of William IV. On 2oth September 1842, ;i6, 153. were paid for 
 sorting the batons. 3 On the re-organisation of the society in 1857, one hun- 
 dred silver mounted pocket batons were ordered for the use of the society. 3 
 Subsequently, on a representation by the moderator, dated 2yth December 
 1858, the council, on 8th March 1859, authorised twenty-four additional 
 pocket batons to be ordered. 4 On 6th March 1861, the committe i ordered 
 the old large batons to be repainted, 5 and on 6th April in the same year, 
 they ordered the large batons for the captains to be made more distinctive, 
 and a few of the small silver batons to be made uniform with the others. 
 
 The propriety of the high constables wearing a distinctive badge when on 
 duty, has been frequently under consideration. In some of the chartist riots 
 of 1848, the constables, on the suggestion of the Lord Provost, wore a piece 
 of white satin ribbon in the button hole of their coats. 7 On the I5th of that 
 month, the moderator submitted the design of an elegant silver badge, and 
 it was remitted to the committee to consider the subject, 8 but nothing further 
 seems to have been done at that time. The idea, however, appears to have 
 been often revived, and, on 22d May 1861, it was brought formally before 
 the committee, who appointed a sub-committee to consult the Lord Provost 
 on the subject. His Lordship approved highly of a distinctive badge being 
 worn, and the committee directed a sash and rosette to be submitted to the 
 society for their approval, the sash to be worn by the office-bearers, and the 
 rosette to be worn by the other members. 9 The recommendation of the com- 
 
 1 Minute Book, iv. 413. For doing this, il, 93. were paid to Mr Edwin Millidge 
 on 25th July 1835 [Ibid. 431, 434]. On an application by the moderator, the council, 
 on 23d August 1842, authorised the society's large batons to be made of a uniform 
 size, and repainted [Ibid. v. 62, 67 ; Council Records, ccxxxvii. 290]. 
 
 2 Council Records, ccxxxvii. 340. 
 
 1 Council Records, cclxxi. 94, and cclxxii. 54. At this time, one hundred large 
 batons were ordered, and 22, xos. 6d. were directed to be paid therefor. On 2gth 
 July in the same year, ^38, 6s. 8d. were directed to be paid therefor. 
 
 4 Council Records, cclxxvii. 325. At the same time thirty-three additional large 
 batons were ordered. 
 
 5 See Minute of Committee. 8 Ibid. 
 
 7 Minute Book, v. 119 ; 7th March 1848. 8 Ibid. v. 123. 
 
 9 See Minutes of Committee, 22d May, loth and 26th June, and 2d July 1861. 
 
 O o
 
 298 Sketch of the History of the 
 
 mittee was fully discussed in the society on 2d July I86I, 1 and carried by a 
 majority of one, but considering the diversity of opinion which then existed, 
 the subject was wisely dropped. 
 
 How closely the constables of the city of Edinburgh have been associated 
 with the municipal government of the city, and how many and varied have 
 been the services rendered by them during the two hundred and fifty-four 
 years of their existence, these pages may serve to indicate. But the times are 
 changed since they had to discharge the most important of their duties. 
 Many of those matters to which they had to devote their time and attention, 
 down till the beginning of the present century, are now entrusted to a regu- 
 larly organised staff of public officials, acting in the execution of an established 
 system of police ; and in recent years the services of the society have been 
 mainly restricted to attendance on the magistrates at public ceremonials. 
 But their organisation was never more complete than at present ; and, apart 
 from the interest which attaches to a body so ancient, and possessing so many 
 historical claims to consideration, no one will undervalue it as affording to 
 the authorities a reliable support, at once moral and material, in times of 
 public excitement and commotion. Surely, however, such an organisation, 
 and so much public spirit and intelligence as are to be found in the ranks of 
 the High Constables, might with advantage to the city and to the society 
 itself have more important and continuous exercise. Of the success with 
 which they might be engaged in the promotion of works of public philanthropy, 
 there is an illustration in the manner in which they arranged and carried 
 out, by a system of house to house visitation, the collection of subscriptions 
 for the Lancashire Relief Fund ; and not only on occasions of apprehended 
 epidemics, but at other times, when the magistrates might be desirous to 
 establish a system of simultaneous and intelligent inspection, or to procure 
 important returns expeditiously and systematically, the organisation of the 
 society, admirably adapted for such objects, would doubtless be readily avail- 
 able. Such services as these, however, must necessarily be exceptional and 
 occasional, and it is worthy of inquiry whether they could not be made per- 
 manently available. In early times in Edinburgh, previous to the institution 
 of the constables, a certain number of citizens were deputed as " quarter- 
 masters and visitors," to look to the sanitary condition of the town during 
 times of pestilence, and to exercise a supervision in a variety of matters over 
 
 1 Minute Book, v. 387, 388.
 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 299 
 
 their respective quarters. More recently, as has been seen, the constables 
 were entrusted with multifarious duties, connected not only with the watch- 
 ing of the city, but with matters of general police, the suppressing of beg- 
 ging and profane swearing, the inspection of armour, the enforcement of 
 the acts against carrying firearms, attendance at fires, reporting on waste 
 lands and ruinous houses, making up returns, supervising the cleaning 
 arrangements of the city, and seeing to the enforcement of the various regula- 
 tions passed by the council for that and other objects. In all these matters, 
 even when the city was circumscribed within the narrow limits of the walls, 
 the council found the advantage of the co-operation of the constable, who, 
 living in his little district, and knowing every hole and corner in it, could 
 exercise a constant and microscopic surveillance which no irregularity could 
 escape. For the same reason too, doubtless, the police act of 1812 required 
 each of the twenty-six wards into which it appointed the city to be divided to 
 elect three commissioners, residing within the ward, to " take all measures 
 necessary for promoting the general peace, order, and comfort of the inhabi- 
 tants therein." 1 This arrangement was maintained in the subsequent local 
 police acts down to and including the existing act of 1848, by section 9 of 
 which it was enacted, that besides a general commissioner for each of the 
 thirty-two wards into which it divided the city, there should be "two commis- 
 sioners for, and resident within, each ward, qualified and elected," in manner 
 therein directed, who should be termed resident commissioners of their re- 
 spective wards, 
 
 "and the general commissioners, and, in their absence, the resident commissioners, 
 shall be head constables in, and have a general superintendence of, their respective 
 wards, for enforcing the provisions of this act, and the regulations made in virtue 
 thereof, and for promoting and enforcing all measures necessary for the peace, order, 
 and security of the inhabitants therein ; and the resident commissioners shall report 
 from time to time to the general commissioners, or to their clerk, or to the superinten- 
 dent of police, inspector of lighting and cleansing, or superintendent of streets, .... 
 according to the nature of the case, any neglect or Infringement of such provisions and 
 regulations." 
 
 This provision was repealed by "The Municipality Extension Act of 1856," 
 section 52 of which, however, enacted that the councillors of the thirteen wards 
 into which it appointed the city to be divided should be head constables in, 
 and have a general superintendence of, their respective wards, as was pro- 
 
 52 Geo. III., cap. 172, sec. 6.
 
 3OO Sketch of the History of the High Constables. 
 
 vided by the act of 1848 with reference to the general commissioners of police ; 
 and it was added, 
 
 "The magistrates and council shall have power, from time to time, as may appear to 
 them necessary, to appoint, remove, and reappoint, two electors, residing or carrying 
 on business in each ward respectively, who shall in their several wards perform the 
 duties heretofore discharged by the resident commissioners of police, under the 
 authority of the said recited Edinburgh police acts, and shall likewise have, exercise, 
 and possess within the limits of this act all the powers which, by the law of Scotland, 
 belong to the office of constable, and, in the absence of all the councillors, shall ..be 
 head constables in their respective wards. " 
 
 The power thus conferred has not been hitherto exercised, though the magis- 
 trates and councillors of the present day have to perform a greater variety 
 of duties than had either their predecessors of a former age, or the commis- 
 sioners of police. With the demands upon their time and attention in the 
 execution of their higher and more important functions, it is impossible for 
 the members of council -to discharge as might be wished the duties of the 
 former resident commissioners. Here the organisation of the High Constables 
 could be made available. If each member of that body had the special 
 charge of a sub-division of his ward, and were bound to see to the efficient 
 carrying out of the provisions of the acts of parliament, and the regulations 
 of the magistrates and council therein, and to report periodically, through 
 his captain, such irregularities or defects as might come under his observa- 
 tion, the whole city would be subjected to a constant and minute supervision 
 in everything affecting the administration of its police, which could scarcely 
 fail to be attended with advantage to the community. Supervision of this 
 kind is what is most needed, and not only would it strengthen the hands of 
 the council and of the heads of departments, but it would give to the High 
 Constables an amount of practical experience of the working of the police 
 system that would render the society still more valuable even than hitherto 
 in introducing its members to public life. Such an apportionment of duty, it 
 is scarcely necessary to observe, would be no innovation. It would be a 
 simple recurrence to the early arrangements of the society, adopted certainly 
 under widely different circumstances, but probably equally applicable to the 
 requirements of the present age.
 
 APPENDIX.
 
 Appendix. 
 
 No. L OFFICE-BEARERS OF THE SOCIETY OF 
 
 FROM THE UNION IN 1707 
 
 DATE OF ELECTION. 
 
 MODERATOR. 
 
 TREASURER. 
 
 1707. 
 
 David Grant, merchant. 
 
 
 1708. Sep. 30. 
 
 George Brown, merchant. 
 
 Alexander Steven, barber. 
 
 1709. June 15. 
 
 John Turnbull, merchant. 
 
 William Snodgrass, wright. 
 
 1710. Nov. 
 
 George Wight, glazier. 
 
 Francis Newton, merchant. 
 
 1711. Dec. 7. 
 
 Alexander Steven, barber. 
 
 James Burn, wright. 
 
 1713- Jan. 2. 
 
 Robert Manderson, merchant. 
 
 Robert Marishall, merchant. 
 
 1714. Jan. i. 
 
 Thomas Renton, merchant. 
 
 Andrew Gardner, merchant. 
 
 1715- Jan. 7. 
 
 Robert Grierson, merchant. 
 
 William Ayton, merchant. 
 
 1716. Jan. 7. 
 
 Alexander Lairmond, merchant. 
 
 Hugh Mosman, bookbinder. 
 
 1717- Jan. 7. 
 
 William Tod, merchant. 
 
 David Nicoll, merchant. 
 
 May 27. 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 
 
 1718. Jan. 10. 
 
 James Bonnar, glover. 
 
 William Rankine, wright. 
 
 1719. Jan. 19. 
 
 David Mastertoun, barber. - 
 
 James Mack, mason. 
 
 1720. Jan. 23 
 
 Robert M'Kinlay, merchant. 
 
 Hugh Mossman, bookbinder. 
 
 1721. Jan. 6. 
 
 William Aytone, merchant. 
 
 James Braidwood, candlemaker. 
 
 1722. Mar. 7. 
 
 James Bennet, stabler. 
 
 William Bruce, brewer. 
 
 1723. Mar. 13. 
 
 James Watson, merchant. 
 
 Charles Blair, goldsmith. 
 
 1724. Mar. 19. 
 
 John Walker, skinner. 
 
 James Walker, barber. 
 
 1725. Mar. 
 
 William Bruce, brewer. 
 
 Thomas Trotter, merchant. 
 
 1 726. Mar. 23. 
 
 William Wight, baxter. 
 
 David Lindsay, brewer. 
 
 1727. Mar. 20. 
 
 Hugh Campbell, merchant. 
 
 Thomas Newton, merchant. 
 
 1 728. Mar. 24. 
 
 William Braidwood, candlemaker. 
 
 John Inglis, baxter. 
 
 1729. Mar. 24. 
 
 James M'Ewan, barber. 
 
 Andrew Good, wright. 
 
 1730. Mar. 1 6. 
 
 Hugh Wilson, merchant. 
 
 John Brown, watchmaker. 
 
 1731. Mar. 19. 
 
 Samuel Welch, merchant. 
 
 William M'Vey, wright. 
 
 1732. Mar. 17. 
 
 James Walker, merchant. 
 
 James Craig, merchant. 
 
 1733. Mar. 16. 
 
 Robert Fleming, printer. 
 
 James Milroy, merchant. 
 
 1 734. Mar. 29. 
 
 George Gray, wigmaker. 
 
 Archibald Sheills, merchant. 
 
 1735. Mar - l8 - 
 
 James Allan, merchant. 
 
 Archibald Wallace, 1 merchant. 
 
 1736. Mar. ii. 
 
 William Ormston, coppersmith. 
 
 Edward Lothian, jeweller. 
 
 1737. Mar. ii. 
 
 Archibald Sheills, merchant. 
 
 James Bald, merchant. 
 
 1738. Mar. 3. 
 
 Hugh Hamilton, merchant. 
 
 Alexander Brymer, bookseller. 
 
 1739. Mar. 8. 
 
 Alexander Boswell, painter. 
 
 John Walker, merchant. 
 
 1740. Mar. 21. 
 
 Andrew Bonner, merchant. 
 
 John Walker, merchant. 
 
 1741. Mar. 27. 
 
 Alexander Crawfoord, baxter. 
 
 William Sutherland, brewer. 
 
 l Elected a Captain of the Trained Bands in December 1735.
 
 List of Office-Bearers. 
 
 m 
 
 HIGH CONSTABLES OF THE CITY OF EDINBURGH. 
 
 TILL APRIL 1864. 
 
 
 CLERK. 
 
 CHAPLAIN. 
 
 DATE OF ELECTION. 
 
 
 
 
 1707. 
 
 
 Richard Jackson, merchant. 
 
 ... 
 
 Sept. 30. 1708. 
 
 
 Thomas Scott, brewer. 
 
 ... 
 
 June 15. 1709. 
 
 
 James Forrest, brewer. 
 
 
 
 Nov. 1710. 
 
 
 John Henderson, merchant. 
 
 ... 
 
 Dec. 7. 1711. 
 
 
 Robert Russell, merchant. 
 
 ... 
 
 Jan. 2. 1713. 
 
 
 John Paton, bookseller. 
 
 ... 
 
 Jan. I. 1714. 
 
 
 John Greenlees, merchant. 
 
 ... 
 
 Jan. 7. 1715. 
 
 
 Robert Clark, merchant. 
 
 ... 
 
 Jan. 7. 1716 
 
 
 Robert Selkirk, 1 merchant. 
 
 ... 
 
 Jan. 7. 1717. 
 
 
 James Waterston, merchant. 
 
 ... 
 
 May 27. ... 
 
 
 William Brown, bookseller. 
 
 ... 
 
 Jan. 10. 1718. 
 
 
 James Seton, merchant. 
 
 ... 
 
 Jan. 19. 1719. 
 
 
 James Gray, merchant. 
 
 ... 
 
 Jan. 23. 1720. 
 
 
 George Henderson, merchant. 
 
 James Blackie, merchant. 
 
 Jan. 6. 1721. 
 
 
 John Ferguson, merchant 
 
 ... 
 
 Mar. 7. 1722. 
 
 
 William Hamiltoun, brewer. 
 
 ... 
 
 Mar. 13. 1723. 
 
 
 George Hill, merchant. 
 
 ... 
 
 Mar. 19. 1724. 
 
 
 James Gow, merchant. 
 
 ... 
 
 Mar. 1725. 
 
 
 William Hamilton, brewer. 
 
 ... 
 
 Mar. 23. 1726. 
 
 
 George Hill, merchant. 
 
 ... 
 
 Mar. 20. 1727. 
 
 
 James Gray, -merchant. 
 
 ... 
 
 Mar. 24 1728. 
 
 
 John Angus, merchant. 
 
 ... 
 
 Mar. 24 1729. 
 
 
 Patrick Manderston, merchant. 
 
 ... 
 
 Mar. 1 6. 1730. 
 
 
 James Allan, merchant. 
 
 ... 
 
 Mar. 19. 1731. 
 
 
 James Gow, merchant. 
 
 ... 
 
 Mar. 17. 1732. 
 
 
 William Hamilton, merchant. 
 
 ... 
 
 Mar. 1 6. 1733. 
 
 
 Donald M'Larine, merchant. 
 
 ... 
 
 Mar. 29. 1734. 
 
 
 James Bald, merchant. 
 
 ... 
 
 Mar. 18. 1735. 
 
 
 James Grant, merchant. 
 
 ... 
 
 Mar. ii. 1736. 
 
 
 Alexander Hepburn, merchant. 
 
 ... 
 
 Mar. u. 1737. 
 
 
 Patrick Ross, merchant. 
 
 ... 
 
 Mar. 3. 1738. 
 
 
 William Sutherland, brewer. 
 
 ... 
 
 Mar. 8. 1739. 
 
 
 John Seton, merchant. 
 
 Charles Logan, preacher. 
 
 Mar. 21. 1740. 
 
 
 John Craigie, shoemaker. 
 
 Charles Logan. 
 
 Mar. 27. 1741. 
 
 
 i Removed by the Magistrates and Council, and succeeded by James Waterston on 27th May 1717.
 
 IV 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 DATE OF ELECTION. 
 
 MODERATOR. 
 
 TREASURER. 
 
 1742. Mar. 20. 
 
 Gideon Crawford, bookbinder. 
 
 Alexander Stirling, merchant. 
 
 1743. Mar. 17. 
 
 James Bald, merchant. 
 
 Wm. (or Alexander) Myles, brewer. 
 
 1744. Mar. 8. 
 
 Archibald Richardson, bookbinder. 
 
 Edward Caithness, merchant. 
 
 1745. Mar. 14. 
 
 Archibald Stewart, mercht.^/'^YJW. 
 
 John Dunsmure, merchant. 
 
 ... Dec. 31. 
 
 John Dunsmure, merchant, Pteses. 
 
 ... 
 
 1746. Mar. 20.* 
 
 ... 
 
 ... ... 
 
 1747. Apr. 10. 
 
 John Heriot, candlemaker, Preses. 
 
 James Lorimer, merchant. 
 
 1748. Apr. 8. 
 
 Alexander Duncan, druggist, Preses. 
 
 Archibald Bowie, merchant. 
 
 1749. Mar. 24. 
 
 Patrick Bowie, merchant, Preses. 
 
 Alexander Noble, candlemaker. 
 
 1750. Mar. 1 6. 
 
 John Welsh, goldsmith, 2 Preses. 
 
 Robert Walker, tanner. 
 
 ... Oct. 15. 
 
 Adam Anderson, wigmaker. 
 
 ... ... 
 
 1751. Mar. 22. 
 
 Robert Walker, tanner, Preses. 
 
 Archibald M'Coull, merchant. 
 
 1752. May I. 
 
 William Smith, merchant, Preses. 
 
 Robert Williamson, merchant. 
 
 1753. Apr. 5. 
 
 Robert Russell, merchant, Preses. 
 
 Robert Dewar, 3 glazier. 
 
 1754. Mar. 22. 
 
 John Sprot, candlemaker, Preses. 
 
 Alexander Smiton, bookbinder. 
 
 1755. Mar. 21. 
 
 George Pitcairn, merchant, Preses. 
 
 John Grieve, merchant. 
 
 ... Dec. i. 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 
 
 1756. Mar. 26. 
 
 George Syme, slater, Preses. 
 
 William Clapperton, merchant. 
 
 1757. Apr. 8. 
 
 Robert Norrie, painter, Preses. 
 
 James Craig, baker. 
 
 1758. Apr. 
 
 George Winter, wigmaker, Preses. 
 
 Nicol Somerville, painter. 
 
 1759. Apr. . 
 
 Nicol Somerville, painter, Preses. 
 
 John Veitch, merchant. 
 
 1760. Apr. 
 
 John Veitch, merchant, Preses. 
 
 William Hume, merchant. 
 
 1761. Apr. 2. 
 
 Ebenezer Robertson, printer, Preses. 
 
 James Smith, glazier. 
 
 1762. Mar. 26. 
 
 William Burn, merchant, Preses. 
 
 James Young, barber. 
 
 1763. Mar. 12. 
 
 James Young, barber, Preses. 
 
 John M'Lean, merchant. 
 
 1764. Mar. i. 
 
 James M'Kay, coppersmith, Preses. 
 
 John Duncan, merchant. 
 
 1765. Mar. i. 
 
 Andrew Beatson, merchant, Preses. 
 
 William Galloway, merchant. 
 
 ... Oct. 28. 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 
 
 1766. Mar. 28. 
 
 William Galloway, merchant, Preses. 
 
 William Dick, merchant. 
 
 1767. Mar. 6. 
 
 David Sheppard, merchant, Preses. 
 
 James Innes, wigmaker. 
 
 1768. Mar. 11. 
 
 John Monro, merchant, Preses. 
 
 William Balantine, pewterer. 
 
 1769. Apr. 7. 
 
 Robert Johnston, merchant. 
 
 Charles Spalding, merchant. 
 
 1770. Apr. 5. 
 
 James Tony, merchant. 
 
 Charles Spalding, merchant. 
 
 Oct. 23. 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 
 
 1771. Mar. 9. 
 
 Wm. Downie, watchmaker, Preses 
 
 Henry Hardie, baxter. 
 
 1772. Mar. 23. 
 
 Archibald Campbell, mercht, Preses. 
 
 Samuel Paterson, merchant. 
 
 * There was no election in 1746, in consequence of there being no Magistrates and Council ; but by an order 
 
 of the Lord Justice-Clerk and others, as Justices of the Peace, the Constables elected in 1745 were continued 
 
 in office. 
 
 i Archibald Stewart resigned on 31st Dec. 1745, and was succeeded by John Dunsmure. 
 
 a Elected a Captain of the Trained Bands, and succeeded, on 15th October 1750, by Adam Anderson. 
 
 8 Chosen Deacon, and resigned.
 
 L ist of Office-Bearers . 
 
 
 CLERK. 
 
 CHAPLAIN. 
 
 DATE OF ELECTION. 
 
 
 Robert Samuel, merchant. 
 
 ... ... 
 
 Mar. 2O. 1742. 
 
 
 Edward Caithness, merchant. 
 
 ... 
 
 Mar. 17. 1743. 
 
 
 John Dunsmure, merchant. 
 
 ... 
 
 Mar. 8. 1744. 
 
 
 Claud Inglis, merchant. 
 
 ... 
 
 Mar. 14. 1745. 
 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 
 
 Dec. 31. 1745. 
 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 
 
 Mar. 20. 1746. 
 
 
 Patrick Bowie, merchant. 
 
 Charles Logan. 
 
 Apr. 10. 1747. 
 
 
 Patrick Bowie, merchant. 
 
 Charles Logan. 
 
 Apr. 8. 1748. 
 
 
 John Stenhouse, merchant. 
 
 Charles Logan. 
 
 Mar. 24. 1749. 
 
 
 Archibald M'Coull, merchant. 
 
 Charles Logan. 
 
 Mar. 1 6. 1750. 
 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 
 
 Oct. 15. ... 
 
 
 Robert Williamson, merchant. 
 
 Charles Logan. 
 
 Mar. 22. 1751. 
 
 
 David Somerville, merchant. 
 
 Charles Logan. 
 
 May I. 1752. 
 
 
 John Brown, merchant. 
 
 Charles Logan. 
 
 A P r - 5- 1753- 
 
 
 John Craigie, merchant. 
 
 Charles Logan. 
 
 Mar. 22. 1754. 
 
 
 John Brown, 1 ironmonger. 
 
 Charles Logan. 
 
 Mar. 21. 1755. 
 
 
 Alexander Manners, merchant. 
 
 ... ... 
 
 Dec. I. ... 
 
 
 Stephen Govan, merchant. 
 
 Charles Logan. 
 
 Mar. 26. 1756. 
 
 
 Walter Hog jun., merchant 
 
 Charles Logan. 
 
 Apr. 8. 1757. 
 
 
 John Hay, merchant. 
 
 Charles Logan. 
 
 Apr. . 1758. 
 
 
 John Hay, merchant. 
 
 Charles Logan. 
 
 Apr. . 1759. 
 
 
 John Stockle, hosier. 
 
 Charles Logan. 
 
 Apr. . 1760. 
 
 
 William Burn, merchant. 
 
 Charles Logan. 
 
 Apr. 2. 1761. 
 
 
 John M'Lean, merchant. 
 
 Charles Logan. 
 
 Mar. 26. 1762. 
 
 
 John Duncan, merchant. 
 
 Charles Logan. 
 
 Mar. 12. 1763. 
 
 
 Andrew Beatson, merchant. 
 
 Charles Logan. 
 
 Mar. I. 1764. 
 
 
 John Borthwick, 2 merchant. 
 
 Charles Logan. 
 
 Mar. r. 1765. 
 
 
 Peter White, merchant. 
 
 ... 
 
 Oct. 28. ... 
 
 
 Peter White, merchant. 
 
 Charles Logan. 
 
 Mar. 28. 1766. 
 
 
 John Monro, merchant. 
 
 Charles Logan. 
 
 Mar. 6. 1767. 
 
 
 David Skae, merchant. 
 
 ... 
 
 Mar. II. 1768. 
 
 
 James Torry, merchant. 
 
 ... 
 
 Apr. 7. 1769. 
 
 
 Richard Richardson,* merchant. 
 
 ... 
 
 Apr. 5. 1770. 
 
 
 James Gordon, brewer. 
 
 ... 
 
 Oct. 23. ... 
 
 
 Alexander Maclardie, stationer. 
 
 ... 
 
 Mar. 9. 1771. 
 
 
 James Bowie, merchant. 
 
 ... 
 
 Mar. 23. 1772. 
 
 
 1 Elected a Lieutenant in the Trained Bands, and succeeded, on 1st Dec. 1755, by Alexander Manners. 
 
 
 2 Demitted his office of Clerk, and succeeded, on 28th October 1765, by Peter White. 
 
 
 3 Elected a Captain of the Trained Bands, and succeeded, on 23d October 1770, by James Gordon.
 
 Appendix. 
 
 DATE OF ELECTION. 
 
 MODERATOR. TREASURER. 
 
 
 1773. Mar. 27. 
 
 Samuel Paterson, merchant, Preses. Alexander Reid, grocer. 
 
 
 1774. Apr. 2. 
 
 Alexander Reid, merchant, Preses. 
 
 John Richmond, seedsman. 
 
 
 1775. Mar. 31. 
 
 John Hutcheson, merchant, Preses. 
 
 William Orrock, sadler. 
 
 
 1776. Apr. 6. 
 
 Alexander Allan, merchant, Preses. 
 
 William M'Lean, merchant. 
 
 
 1777. Mar. 29. 
 
 James Spadin, grocer, Preses. 
 
 Malcolm Wright, merchant. 
 
 
 1778. Apr. 1 8. 
 
 Robert Allan, merchant, Preses. 
 
 Malcolm Wright, merchant. 
 
 
 1779. May 18 
 
 John Aitchison, merchant, Preses. 
 
 James Carfrae, merchant. 
 
 
 1780. May 5. 
 
 James Carfrae, merchant, Preses. 
 
 William Hall, merchant. 
 
 
 1781. Apr. 9. 
 
 Eben. Gairdner, damask weaver, Pr. 
 
 William Hall, merchant. 
 
 
 1782. May 27. 
 
 William Dalrymple, mercht., Preses. 
 
 David Deuchar, lapidary. 
 
 
 1783. Apr. 21. 
 
 Robert Ford, merchant, Preses. 
 
 David Deuchar, lapidary.. . 
 
 
 1784. Feb. 28. 
 
 Robert Burn, mason, Preses.. 
 
 William Turnbull, merchant. 
 
 
 1785. Apr. 30. 
 
 William Phin, merchant, Preses. 
 
 William Turnbull, merchant. 
 
 
 1786. May 6. 
 
 William Turnbull, merchant, Preses. 
 
 George Spankie, merchant. 
 
 
 1787. Apr. 7. 
 
 Patrick Taylor, painter, Preses. 
 
 George Montgomery, merchant. 
 
 
 1788. Apr. 3. 
 
 James Fowler, stationer, Preses. 
 
 George Montgomery, merchant. 
 
 
 1789. Apr. 3. 
 
 Geo. Montgomery, mercht., Preses. 
 
 James Charles, hosier. 
 
 
 1790. Apr. 8. 
 
 William Couper, upholsterer, Preses 
 
 Charles Phin, merchant. 
 
 
 1791. Apr. 22. 
 
 William Raeburn, perfumer, Preses. 
 
 James Ramsay, painter. 
 
 
 1792. Apr, 6. 
 
 John Carlier, merchant, Preses. 
 
 John Howden, merchant. 
 
 
 1793. Mar. 29. 
 
 James Burnet, grocer, Preses. 
 
 Daniel Forrest, merchant 
 
 
 1794, Apr. 24.* 
 
 
 
 
 1795. Apr. 21. 
 
 James Goldie, merchant, Preses. 
 
 Thomas Smith, tinplate worker. 
 
 
 1796. Apr. 7. 
 
 Thomas Hamilton, wright, Preses. 
 
 William Lothian, merchant. 
 
 
 1797. Apr. 7. 
 
 William Lothian, merchant. 
 
 John M'Crobie, merchant. 
 
 
 1798. Apr. 1 8. 
 
 John M'Crobie, merchant. 
 
 Thomas King, apothecary. 
 
 
 1799. Apr. ii. 
 
 David Robertson, merchant. 
 
 Myles Paterson, merchant. 
 
 
 i8op. Mar. 21. 
 
 Myles Paterson, merchant. 
 
 John Turnbull, woollen draper. 
 
 
 1801. Mar. 10. 
 
 John Turnbull, woollen draper. 
 
 Henry Grieve, grocer. 
 
 
 1802. Mar. 20. 
 
 William Henderson, grocer. 
 
 William Fraser jun., tailor. 
 
 
 1803. Mar. 4. 
 
 William Galloway, insuranpe broker. 
 
 James Baird, merchant. 
 
 
 1804. Mar. 13. 
 
 James Baird, merchant. 
 
 William Waddel, printer. 
 
 
 
 ( Alexander Gibson Hunter of Bal- 
 
 
 
 1805. May 6. 
 
 ( skelly, bookseller. 
 
 \ Robert Cockburn, wine merchant. 
 
 
 1806. Apr. 7. 
 
 William Trotter, upholsterer. 
 
 Kincaid M 'Kenzie, merchant. 
 
 
 1807. Apr. 6. 
 
 Kincaid M'Kenzie, merchant 
 
 Archibald Constable, bookseller. 
 
 
 1808. Apr. 4, 
 
 Archibald Constable, bookseller. 
 
 James Ballantyne, printer. 
 
 
 1809. Apr. 3. 
 
 David Bridges, merchant. 
 
 Robert Miller, bookseller. 
 
 
 * Ten persons were admitted Constables on this date, but no election of Office-Bearers seems to have taken 
 
 
 place in 1794, in consequence, probably, of the political disturbances of the times. 

 
 L ist of Office-Bearers. 
 
 vn 
 
 
 CLERK. 
 
 CHAPLAIN. 
 
 DATE OF ELECTION. 
 
 
 William Gillespie, merchant. 
 
 Gavin Wilson, shoemaker. 
 
 Mar. 27. 1773. 
 
 
 John Hogg, merchant. 
 
 John Peat, upholsterer. 
 
 Apr. 2. 1774. 
 
 
 William M'Lean, merchant. 
 
 John Wild, tobacconist. 
 
 Mar. 31. 1775. 
 
 
 Malcolm Wright, merchant. 
 
 John Wild, tobacconist. 
 
 Apr. 6. 1776. 
 
 
 John Aitchison, merchant. 
 
 John Rae, merchant. 
 
 Mar. 29. 1777. 
 
 
 William Hunter, merchant. 
 
 William Muirhead, brushmaker. 
 
 Apr. 18. 1778. 
 
 
 William Hall, merchant. 
 
 Alexander Aitchison, goldsmith. 
 
 May 1 8. 1779. 
 
 
 William Dalrymple, merchant. 
 
 Alexander Aitchison, goldsmith. 
 
 May 5. 1780. 
 
 
 William Dalrymple, merchant. 
 
 Alexander Aitchison, goldsmith. 
 
 Apr. 9. 1781. 
 
 
 Robert Ford, merchant. 
 
 William Watson, wright. 
 
 May 27. 1782. 
 
 
 Robert Burn, mason. 
 
 John Mitchell, merchant. 
 
 Apr. 21. 1783. 
 
 
 William Phin, merchant. 
 
 David Paterson, banker. 
 
 Feb. 28. 1784. 
 
 
 John Little, merchant. 
 
 James Howden, watchmaker. 
 
 Apr. 30. 1785. 
 
 
 John Little, merchant. 
 
 James Howden, watchmaker. 
 
 May 6. 1786. 
 
 
 James Fowler, stationer 
 
 James Howden, watchmaker. 
 
 Apr. 7. 1787. 
 
 
 James Charles, hosier. 
 
 John Fairbairn, merchant. 
 
 Apr. 3. 1788. 
 
 
 Forrest London, merchant. 
 
 William Couper, upholsterer. 
 
 Apr. 3. 1789. 
 
 
 John Dick, merchant. 
 
 William Fraser, tailor. 
 
 Apr. 8. 1790. 
 
 
 Thomas Brown, bookseller. 
 
 James Tate, brushmaker. 
 
 Apr. 22. 1791. 
 
 
 Peter Lawson, seedsman. 
 
 James Burnet, grocer. 
 
 Apr. 6. 1792. 
 
 
 Peter Lawson, seedsman. 
 
 John Swanston, grocer. 
 
 Mar. 29. 1793. 
 
 
 
 
 Apr. 24. 1794. 
 
 
 John Grieve, merchant. 
 
 David Finlay, perfumer. 
 
 Apr. 21. 1795. 
 
 
 James Henderson, haberdasher. 
 
 David Finlay, perfumer. 
 
 Apr. 7- 1796. 
 
 
 Walter Dickson, seed merchant. 
 
 John Keltic, perfumer. 
 
 Apr. 7. 1797.! 
 
 
 Thomas Sutherland, haberdasher. 
 
 James Cuningham, merchant. 
 
 Apr. 1 8. I798. 1 
 
 
 John Milne jun., ironmonger. 
 
 James Rennie, slater. 
 
 Apr, ii. 1799. 
 
 
 Charles Dalrymple, woollen draper. 
 
 William Braidwoodjr., ironmonger. 
 
 Mar. 21. 1800. 
 
 
 James Spittal, haberdasher. 
 
 Robert Armstrong, clothier. 
 
 Mar. 10. 1801. 
 
 
 Thomas Patterson, merchant. 
 
 John Brown, printer. 
 
 Mar. 20. i8o2. 2 
 
 
 Paul Baxter, insurance broker. 
 
 James Graham, spirit dealer. 
 
 Mar. 4. 1803. 
 
 
 Alexander Smellie, printer. 
 
 John Thomson, insurance broker. 
 
 Mar. 13. 1804. 
 
 
 David Bridges jun., woollen draper. 
 
 John Thomson, insurance broker. 
 
 May 6. 1805. 
 
 
 John W. Brougham, merchant. 
 
 Robert Miller, bookseller. 
 
 Apr. 7. 1806. 
 
 
 George Moncreiff, merchant. 
 
 James Ballantyne, printer. 
 
 Apr. 6. 1807. 
 
 
 Robert Hall, merchant. 
 
 Francis Bridges, merchant. 
 
 Apr. 4. 1808. 
 
 
 John Lindsay, merchant. 
 
 Robert Green, watchmaker. 
 
 Apr. 3. 1809. 
 
 
 1 James Clark, Surgeon. 
 
 
 2 Andrew Inglis, Surgeon, vice Dr Clark, deceased.
 
 via 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 DATE OF ELECTION. 
 
 MODERATOR. 
 
 TREASURER. 
 
 
 1809. Apr. 22. 
 
 John Lindsay, merchant 
 
 Sutherland M 'Kenzie, merchant. 
 
 
 *i8io. Apr. 2. 
 
 John Scott, plumber. 
 
 Neil Ryrie, brewer. 
 
 
 1811. Apr. I. 
 
 James Anderson, bookseller. 
 
 Alexander Henderson, banker. 
 
 
 1812. Apr. 3. 
 
 William Dunlop, spirit merchant 
 
 John Clapperton, merchant. 
 
 
 1813. Apr. 5. 
 
 Alexander Ross, linen draper. 
 
 John Charles, candlemaker. 
 
 
 1814. Apr. 4. 
 
 John Charles, candlemaker. 
 
 John Gall, coachmaker. 
 
 
 1815. Apr. 3. 
 
 John Gall, coachmaker. 
 
 Peter Forbes, spirit dealer. 
 
 
 1816. Apr. i. 
 
 Robert Morton, jeweller. 
 
 Andrew Grierson, clothier. 
 
 
 1817. Apr. 7. 
 
 John Stenhouse, baker. 
 
 William Miller, typefounder. 
 
 
 1818. Apr. 6. 
 
 John Stenhouse, baker. 
 
 Alexander Giles, upholsterer. 
 
 
 1819. Apr. 5. 
 
 Alexander Giles, upholsterer. 
 
 John Norrie, painter. 
 
 
 1820. Apr. 3. 
 
 James Dallas, wine merchant. 
 
 William Burton, grocer. 
 
 
 1821. Apr. 2. 
 
 George Spankie, merchant. 
 
 Thomas Kinnear, banker. 
 
 
 1822. Apr. I. 
 
 Thomas Sawers, baker. 
 
 Peter Forbes, wine merchant 
 
 
 1823. Apr. 7. 
 
 Peter Forbes, wine merchant. 
 
 Robert Wright, architect. 
 
 
 ... Apr. 23. 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 
 
 
 1824. Apr. 5. 
 
 Adam Luke, clothier. 
 
 William Marshall, hardware merch. 
 
 
 1825. Apr. 4. 
 
 Robert Ritchie, ironmonger. 
 
 Thomas Crighton, spirit merchant. 
 
 
 1826. Apr. 3. 
 
 William Hunter, bookseller. 
 
 Hugh Pillans, printer. 
 
 
 1827. Apr. 2. 
 
 Hugh Pillans, printer. 
 
 William Glen, wine merchant 
 
 
 1828. Apr. 7. 
 
 John Anderson jun., bookseller. 
 
 George Brown, merchant. 
 
 
 1829. Apr. 6. 
 
 James P. Mitchell, brewer. 
 
 George Kinnear, banker. 
 
 
 t ... June 19. 
 
 John Anderson jun. , bookseller. 
 
 George Brown, merchant 
 
 
 ... Oct. 21. 
 
 ... 
 
 ... ... 
 
 
 1830. Apr. 5. 
 
 Andrew Sievwright, merchant 
 
 Charles Lawson, seedsman. 
 
 
 ... May 14. 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 
 
 
 1831. Mar. 2. 
 
 ( Charles Lawson, seedsman, vice 
 
 f William Johnston, vice Charles 
 
 
 
 \ Andrew Sievwright, resigned. 
 
 ( Lawson, elected Moderator. 
 
 
 ... Mar. 21. 
 
 ( William Johnston, vice Charles 
 
 f Andrew Millar, merchant, vice 
 
 
 
 ( Lawson, resigned. 
 
 ( Wm. Johnston, elected Moderator. 
 
 
 ... Apr. 4. 
 
 William Johnston, engraver. 
 
 Andrew Millar, merchant. 
 
 
 ... May to. 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 
 
 
 1832. Apr. 2. 
 
 Andrew Millar, merchant. 
 
 Joseph Taylor, wine merchant. 
 
 
 * In 1806, the Society assumed the title of " High Constables," to distinguish them from the officers acting 
 
 
 under the Sheriff and Judge of Police, in virtue of the Police Act (45 Geo. III., cap. 21, 10th April 1805), 
 
 
 which came into operation on 15th May 1805. It was not, however, till 4th April 1810 that the Magistrates 
 and Council, on the application of the Society, formally authorised it to assume the distinguishing appellation 
 
 
 of " The Society of High Constables of the City of Edinburgh." 
 t Forty-seven High Constables, including the whole Office-Bearers elected on 6th April 1829, resigned office on 
 16th June, in consequence of a misunderstanding with the Magistrates and Council. New Constables were, 
 however, immediately appointed, by whom Office-Bearers were elected on 19th June. 

 
 List of Office-Bearers. 
 
 IX 
 
 
 CLERK. 
 
 CHAPLAIN. 
 
 DATE OF ELECTION. 
 
 
 John Ballantyne, bookseller. 
 
 John Thomson jun., bookseller. 
 
 Apr. 22. 1809. 
 
 
 James Anderson, bookseller. 
 
 Richard Paterson, merchant. 
 
 Apr. 2. 1810. 
 
 
 Robert W r right, builder. 
 
 John Ballantyne, bookseller. 
 
 Apr. i. 1811. 
 
 
 Alexander Ross, linen draper. 
 
 William Marshall, jeweller. 
 
 Apr. 3. 1812. 
 
 
 John Gall, coachmaker. 
 
 John Pearson, ropemaker. 
 
 Apr. 5. 1813. 
 
 
 Peter Forbes, spirit dealer. 
 
 Thomas Crighton, manufacturer. 
 
 Apr. 4. 1814. 
 
 
 William Child, china merchant. 
 
 Andrew Grierson, clothier. . 
 
 Apr. 3. 1815. 
 
 
 Claud Muirhead, printer. 
 
 John Lauder, merchant. 
 
 Apr. i. 1816. 
 
 
 Adam Black, stationer. 
 
 Anthony Hammond, merchant. 
 
 Apr. 7. 1817. 
 
 
 John Macdowall, bookseller. 
 
 Anthony Hammond, merchant. 
 
 Apr. 6. 1818. 
 
 
 James Dallas, wine merchant. 
 
 John Dempster, apothecary. 
 
 Apr. 5. 1819. 
 
 
 David Henderson, merchant. 
 
 John Boog, saddler. 
 
 Apr. 3. 1820. 
 
 
 John Brash, spirit merchant. 
 
 Edward Gilchrist, haberdasher. 
 
 Apr. 2. 1821. 
 
 
 James Nasmyth, jeweller. 
 
 James Aikman, baker. 
 
 Apr. I. 1822. 
 
 
 Adam Luke, clothier. 
 
 Thomas Duncan, bootmaker. 
 
 Apr. 7. 1823. 
 
 
 
 ( George Bookless, glazier, vice ~\ 
 
 
 
 ... ... 
 
 \ Thomas Duncan, deceased. / 
 
 Apr. 23. ... 
 
 
 Robert Ritchie, ironmonger. 
 
 George Bookless, glazier. 
 
 Apr. 5. 1824. 
 
 
 William Hunter, bookseller. 
 
 Hugh Pillans, printer. 
 
 Apr. 4. 1825. 
 
 
 William Hall, merchant. 
 
 Andrew Tait, baker. 
 
 Apr. 3. 1826. 
 
 
 John Anderson jun. , bookseller. 
 
 George Brown, merchant. 
 
 Apr. 2. 1827. 
 
 
 James Patison, merchant. 
 
 Eagle Henderson, seedsman. 
 
 Apr. 7. 1828. 
 
 
 George Crosbie, Sec. National Bank. 
 
 William Fleming, banker. 
 
 Apr. 6. 1829. 
 
 
 James Patison, merchant. 
 
 Eagle Henderson, seedsman. 
 
 June 19. ... 
 
 
 {Charles Lawson, seedsman, vice 
 
 x 
 
 
 
 James Patison, resigned. 
 
 / - 
 
 Oct. 21. ... 
 
 
 George Wright, agent. 
 
 Alexander Wright, seedsman. 
 
 Apr. 5. 1830. 
 
 
 f William Johnston, engraver, vice 
 
 }. 
 
 
 
 \ George Wright, resigned. 
 
 ... 
 
 May 14. 
 
 
 f James S. Pringle, silk mercer, vice 
 
 
 
 
 \ W. Johnston, elected Treasurer. 
 
 ... 
 
 Mar. 2. 1831. 
 
 
 f John Aitchison, stationer, vice 
 \ J. S. Pringle, resigned. 
 
 ( John Lees, tobacconist, vice Alex. 1 
 X Wright,- resigned. / 
 
 Mar. 21. ... 
 
 
 John Aitchison, stationer. 
 
 John Lees, tobacconist. 
 
 Apr. 4. ... 
 
 
 
 ( Joseph Taylor, wine merchant, vice ~\ 
 
 
 
 ... ... t 
 
 \ John Lees, resigned. / 
 
 May 10. ... * 
 
 
 John Carfrae jun. , bookseller. 
 
 Charles Kennedy, surgeon. 
 
 Apr. 2. 1 832." 
 
 
 1 Charles Kennedy, Surgeon ; W. B. Hamilton, M.D., Assistant-Surgeon. 
 
 
 s W. B. Hamilton, M.D., Surgeon.
 
 Appendix. 
 
 ATE OF ELECTION. 
 
 MODERATOR. 
 
 TREASURER. 
 
 CLERK or SECRETARY. 
 
 1832. Nov. 20. 
 
 [833. Apr. I. 
 ... June 12. 
 [834. Apr. 7. 
 [835. Apr. 6. 
 1836. Apr. 4. 
 [837. Apr. 10. 
 [838. Apr. 2. 
 [839. Jan. II. 
 
 ... Apr. 
 [840. Apr. 
 1841. Apr. 
 [842. Apr. 
 
 ... Aug. 30. 
 1843. Apr. 3. 
 [844. Apr. I. 
 [845. Apr. 
 (846. Apr. 
 [847. Apr. 
 [848. Apr. 
 [849. Apr. 2. 
 
 [850. Feb. 12. 
 
 ... Apr. I. 
 
 [851. Apr. 7. 
 
 [852. Apr. 5. 
 
 [853. Apr. 4. 
 
 [854. Apr. 3. 
 
 1855. Apr. 2. 
 
 1856. Apr. 7. 
 
 Charles Kennedy, surgeon. 1 
 
 William Girdwood, mercht. 
 George Duncan, bootmaker. 
 John G. M. Burt, surgeon. 
 Peter S. Fraser, bookseller. 
 James Miller, surgeon. 
 William Johnston, engraver. 
 William Johnston, engraver. 
 Andrew Wilkie, silversmith. 
 John Robertson, musicseller. 
 William Dick, veterinary surg. 
 
 William Philip, watchmaker. 
 Alex. Murray, Observer Office. 
 Robert Sclater, die cutter. 
 Alex. Bryson, watchmaker. 
 George Vallance, clothier. 
 James Brydone, printer. 
 James Tod, engraver. 
 
 John W. Mackie, baker. 
 
 George Beattie, builder. 
 
 And. Isles, leather merchant. 
 
 John Hutton, draper. 
 
 Thomas Gill, merchant. 
 r William Lyon, auctioneer, 
 \ "Thomas Gill, Vice-Mod. 
 ( Robert Smith, builder, 
 \ William Lyon, Vice-Mod. 
 
 f John Carfrae jun. , w/h?Joseph ) 
 ( Taylor, resigned. ) 
 
 Wm. Girdwood, merchant. 
 George Duncan, bootmaker. 
 Alex. S danders, upholsterer. 
 Peter S. Fraser, bookseller. 
 John Lindsay, bookseller. 
 Francis Richardson, merchant, 
 Andrew Wilkie, silversmith. 
 Andrew Wilkie, silversmith. 
 George Logan, W.S. 
 Robert Sclater, die cutter. 
 Robert Anderson, printer. 
 
 William Finnic, brushmaker. 
 James Newlands, architect. 
 Alex. Bryson, watchmaker. 
 Donald Sinclair, japanner. 
 James Brydone, printer. 
 James Tod, engraver. 
 John Taylor, cabinetmaker. 
 
 George Beattie, builder. 
 Andrew Isles, leather mercht, 
 John Smart, bootmaker. 
 Thomas Gill, merchant. 
 William Lyon, auctioneer. 
 
 \ Robert Smith, builder. 
 > Thomas Paton, bookseller. 
 
 r C. Kennedy, vice John Carfrae 
 I. jun., elected Treasurer. 
 
 George Duncan, bootmaker. 
 Donald Macdonald, merchant. 
 Robert Brown, merchant. 
 John Lindsay, bookseller. 
 James Miller, surgeon. 
 William Lindores, grocer. 
 George Logan, W.S. 
 George Logan, W. S. 
 James Durham, stationer. 
 W. Hutchison, S.S.C. 
 Charles Blair, silk mercer. 
 
 James Newlands, architect. 
 Alex. Bryson, watchmaker. 
 Alexander Black, architect. 
 Alex. Aitken, ironmonger. 
 James Tod, engraver. 
 John Taylor, cabinetmaker. 
 George Beattie, builder. 
 
 Andrew Isles, leather mercht, 
 Thomas Drummond, builder. 
 John Hutton, draper. 
 William Lyon, auctioneer. 
 Robert Smith, builder. 
 
 Adam Mossman, jeweller. 
 Alexander Dowell, auctioneer 
 
 1 1833, April 1. The Moderatorship was competed for by Messrs Carfrae and Kennedy. The former had the majority of votes, 
 but on an appeal to the Magistrates and Council, was declared to be ineligible, and Mr Kennedy's* election was sustained. The 
 other offices were filled up on 12th June, after the election of the Moderator was settled. 
 
 2 1838, Dec. 19. The Office-Bearers and Members of the Society resigned, in consequence of a misunderstanding with the Magis- 
 trates and Council. Sixty Burgesses offered their services to the Magistrates, were accepted and sworn into office, and the Society 
 was reconstituted on llth January 1839. 
 
 3 By resolution of 19th March 1855, the Moderator of the former year was appointed Vice-Moderator.
 
 L ist of Office-Bearers. 
 
 CHAPLAIN. 
 
 SURGEON. 
 
 ASSISTANT-SURGEON. 
 
 f R.S.Oliver,hatter,zvVvChas. 
 \ Kennedy, elected Clerk. 
 
 William Cowan, silk mercer. 
 John Boog, saddler. 
 R. S. Oliver, hatter. 
 Thomas A. Forrest, jeweller. 
 William Lindores, grocer. 
 Alexander Hill, printseller. 
 Archibald Thomson, mercht. 
 Archibald Thomson, mercht. 
 John Boog, saddler. 
 Benjamin Greig, silkmercer. 
 Andrew Dodds, slater. 
 
 David Young, grocer. 
 
 Lockhart Frame, bookbinder. 
 
 Donald Sinclair, japanner. 
 
 Joseph Robertson, merchant. 
 
 John Taylor, cabinetmaker. 
 
 John Shennan, builder. 
 
 George Knight, smith. 
 ( Robert Chisholm, jeweller, vice 
 ' George Knight, resigned. 
 
 James Gray jun., bootmaker. 
 
 John Smart, bootmaker. 
 
 J. H. Sanderson. 
 
 Robert Smith, builder. 
 
 John Melville, plumber. 
 
 Thomas Paton, bookseller. 
 John M'Kenzie, 9 George St. 
 
 W. M. Bathgate, surgeon. 
 Thomas Wood, surgeon. 
 John G. M. Burt, M. D. 
 James Miller, surgeon. 
 Robert B. Malcolm, M. D. 
 William Dumbreck, surgeon. 
 James Cowan, M. D. 
 James Cowan, M.D. 
 James T. Alexander, surgeon, 
 James T. Alexander, surgeon, 
 James T. Alexander, surgeon, 
 
 James Mercer, M.D. 
 
 James Mercer, M.D. 
 i 
 
 Alexander Millar, surgeon. 
 William M. Mackenzie. 
 W. A. Roberts, surgeon. 
 W. A. Roberts, surgeon. 
 
 William Crawford, M.D. 
 William Crawford, M.D. 
 W. A. Roberts, M.D. 
 W. A. Roberts, M.D. 
 W. A. Roberts, M.D. 
 
 James D. Gillespie, M.D. 
 James D. Gillespie, M.D. 
 
 Robert B. Malcolm, surgeon. 
 
 Robert Omond, M D. 
 Alexander M'GJashan. 
 Alexander M 'Glashan. 
 
 James Mercer, surgeon. 
 
 Apr. 
 June 
 Apr. 
 Apr. 
 Apr. 
 Apr. 
 Apr. 
 Jan. 
 Apr. 
 Apr. 
 Apr. 
 Apr. 
 Aug. 
 Apr. 
 Apr. 
 Apr. 
 Apr. 
 Apr. 
 Apr. 
 Apr.* 
 
 Apr. I. 
 
 Apr. 7. 
 
 Apr. S- 
 
 Apr. 4. 
 
 1 No election of Surgeon jn 1845, there being none in the Society. 
 
 2 Thomas Drummond, builder, elected Custodier of Batons on 24th May 1849. 
 
 3 On 1st April 1850, No. 1 of the Committee was appointed to be henceforward Custodier of Batons, and Mr James Ritchie, stationi 
 held that office. 
 
 4 Robert Newton, Middleby Street, Custodier of Batons, 1852-53. 
 
 5 Mr Alexander Reid, printer, Custodier of Batons, 1855-56. 
 
 6 Mr William Hill, merchant, Custodier of Batons, 1856-57.
 
 i Appendix. 
 
 TE OF ELECTION. 
 
 MODERATOR. 
 
 VICE-MODERATOR. 
 
 , TREASURER. 
 
 857. Apr. 13. 
 
 Fred. Hayne Carter, C.A. 
 
 Alex. Banks jun., bookbinder. 
 
 Jas. C. Anderson, ironmonger. 
 
 858. Apr. 5. 
 
 Fred. Hayne Carter, C.A. 
 
 Alex. Banks jun., bookbinder. 
 
 Alex. Edmonstone, bookseller. 
 
 859. Apr. 4. 
 
 Alex. Banks jun., bookbinder. 
 
 Alex. Edmonstone, bookseller. 
 
 William Elgin jun., stationer. 
 
 860. Apr. 2. 
 
 Alex. Banks jun., bookbinder. 
 
 Alex. Edmonstone, bookseller. 
 
 John Baxter, merchant. 
 
 861. Apr. I. 
 
 William Skinner, W. S. 
 
 John Greig jun. , printer. 
 
 James Lawson, tobacconist. 
 
 862. Apr. 7. 
 
 William Skinner, W.S. S 
 
 Chas. Lawsonjun., seedsman. 
 
 James Lawson, tobacconist. 
 
 ... Nov. 13. 
 
 f Charles Lawsonjun., seedsman. 
 \ -vice William Skinner. 
 
 John Greig jun., printer. 
 
 James Lawson, tobacconist. 
 
 
 
 
 ( A. K. Morison, S.S.C., vice 
 
 ... Nov. 25. 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 
 
 \ James Lawson, resigned. 
 
 863. Apr. 6. 
 
 Chas. Lawson jun., seedsman. 
 
 John Greig jun., printer. 
 
 A. K. Morison, S. S.C. 
 
 ... Dec. 17. 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 
 
 864. Apr. 4. 
 
 Chas. Lawson, jun., seedsman. 
 
 John Greig jun., printer. 
 
 A. K. Morison, S.S.C. 
 
 1 " The Edinburgh Municipality Extension Act, 1856," inter alia, enlarged the Municipal Boundaries of the City, so as to make them 
 coextensive with the Police Boundaries, and transferred to the Magistrates and Council the powers of the Police Commissioners. It 
 became necessary, in consequence, to reorganise the Society, so as to adapt its Constitution to the altered circumstances of the City. 
 This was accordingly done by Act of Council, dated 24th February 1857. At this time the office of Vice-Moderator was established, 
 the practice of electing a Chaplain was discontinued, and the Custodier of Batons was made one of the regular officers of the Society. 
 
 2 Elected a Councillor in November 1862, and succeeded, on 13th November, by Mr Charles Lawson jun.
 
 L ist of Office-Bearers. 
 
 
 SECRETARY. 
 
 SURGEON. 
 
 CUSTODIBR OP BATONS. 
 
 DATE OF ELEC 
 
 
 Alex. Edmonstone, bookseller. 
 
 James D. Pridie, surgeon 
 
 Wm. Elgin jun., bookseller. 
 
 Apr. 13. i < 
 
 
 William Elgin jun., stationer. 
 
 James D. Pridie, surgeon. 
 
 James Thin, bookseller. 
 
 Apr. 5 i< 
 
 
 John Greig jun. , printer. 
 
 James D. Pridie, surgeon. 
 
 Thomas Duncanson, distiller. 
 
 Apr. 4. i< 
 
 
 John Greig jun., printer. 
 
 James D. Pridie, surgeon. 
 
 James Lawson, tobacconist. 
 
 Apr. 2. i 
 
 
 Alex. Kelly Morison, S.S.C. 
 
 James D. Pridie, surgeon. 
 
 John Biggar, upholsterer. 
 
 Apr. i. i 
 
 
 Alex. Kelly Morison, S.S.C. 
 
 Murray Thomson, M.D. 
 
 John Biggar, upholsterer. 
 
 Apr. 7. i 
 
 
 Alex. Kelly Morison, S.S.C. 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 
 
 Nov. 13. 
 
 
 ( G. T. Bathgate, writer, vice A.. 
 
 
 
 Nov. 25. 
 
 
 ( K. Morison, elected Treasurer. 
 
 
 
 
 
 George T. Bathgate, writer. 
 
 Murray Thomson, M.D. 
 
 George Neilson, smith. 
 
 Apr. 6. i 
 
 
 ijohn Wilson jun., merchant, 
 
 ( Joseph Bell, M.D., vice Mur- 
 
 
 
 
 vice George T. Bathgate, 
 i 
 
 \ 
 I ray Thomson, resigned. 
 
 ... 
 
 Dec. 17. 
 
 
 resigned. 
 
 
 
 
 
 John Wilson jun., merchant. 
 
 Joseph Bell, M.D. 
 
 George Neilson, smith. 
 
 Apr. 4. i
 
 xiv Appendix. 
 
 II. 
 
 THE COMPT of the Mony Resauit infra sick persones as hes ttansgrest 
 aganesl the Statutis and Ordenances of the Guid Toun, the nameis of 
 the personis that payit, and the soum that everie man payit, and the 
 occatione ivhairfoir they pay it ; Resauit be Thomas Fischer, William 
 Nisbet, James Aikinhead, and David Johnestoun ; begining at 
 Mychelmes i6o&yeirs till Mychelmes the yeir of God 1609 yeirs, the 
 time of thair offices of baillyerie, as follows : 
 
 The Unlaws of Bluid and Injureis in the Toun. 
 
 Item in the first Robert Scot copp seler for breking of ane puir manis copis and 
 
 stryking himself, ....... .5 o o 
 
 Robert Moffet for drawing a dager to Thomas Niccoll, . . 500 
 
 Thrie meill men for breking of order in the merkat, . . . 2140 
 
 Johne M 'Culloche for drawing a dager, . . . . 10 o o 
 
 Robert Aitkin for drawing a dager to Johne Gyffert, . . 500 
 
 Johne Pudgeunis for drawing a dager to Patryk Cumings wyfe, . 500 
 
 Hamiltoun, servand to Johne Inglis, for hurting ane boy, . . 200 
 
 Ramsay Blexter for drawing a dager to Thomas Wilsone, . . 300 
 
 Johne Young for drawing a dager to Robert Moffet, . . 4134 
 
 Johne Dobbie for drawing a dager, and strykeing his broyer James, . 10 o o 
 
 Ane dryver of nolt for regraiting at the House of the Muir, . . 3 13 4 
 
 George Young for drawing a dager to William Samunt, . . 300 
 
 William M'Caitney for ryueing George Litilljohne his compt buik, . 10 o o 
 
 For the Tounis part of the unlaws of cutit skynis in the Land Market off the 
 
 flechers, . . . . . . . .1000 
 
 Duglass meilmaker for drawing a dager to ane uther, . . . 500 
 
 From the maltmen, for thair unlafull convocations, . . . 100 o o 
 
 Niccoll Ewein his wyfe for stryking Thomas Cochrens wyfe, . . 500 
 
 Summervell pultrieman for stryking Johnstoun pultrieman, . . 300 
 
 Robert Wairdlaw for abuissing his uncle Maister Johne. . . 10 2 o 
 
 Josephe Reid's wyf for calling Braiddie hen theiff, . . . 500 
 
 Robert Noitman for drawing a dager to ane maltman, . . 4 14 o 
 
 Fra Braiding for miscalling of Joseph Reids wyfe, . . . 300
 
 Orders ancnt Oversight of the City. xv 
 
 James Workman for hurting Johne Hird, . . . 9 13 4 
 James Miller for being found be the gaird at 12 hours at evin with ane sword 
 
 drawin at James Harvie, , . . . . . 400 
 
 Suma of this syde is 228 Ib. IDS. 
 
 Johne Cudbert for hurtling and wounding Robert Gourlay, . . 20 o o 
 
 Robert Gourlay for hurting Johne Cudberts sone, . . . 10 o o 
 
 Johne Andersone for ane cuff to Thomas Cochren, . . . 500 
 
 Fra Henresone tailzer and Dykesone cordiner abuising uthers, . 500 
 
 John Montgumrie for being taikin drukin with Johne Schaw upon the nyt, 300 
 
 John Schaw for that nychts work, . . . . . 2 10 o 
 
 Thomas Clarksone for stryking Thomas Cochren, . . . 500 
 
 Thomas Knowis meillman for ane cuff to Robert Wilkie, . . 500 
 
 David Martche for a cuff to Johne Traill, . . . . 500 
 
 Johne Traill for a cuff to David Martche, . . . 500 
 
 Andro Filp for hurtling and wounding Thomas Edger, . . 20 o o 
 
 Johne Gilmor for ane cuff to Johne Gray, . . . . 300 
 
 Alexander Bowie for miscalling Lawrence Paycoke, . . . 500 
 
 The guidman of Lambden for drawing a sword to Alexander Haitlie, . 10 o o 
 
 Mychell Adamsone for slaying scheip upon the Saboth, . . 500 
 
 Johne Kerssell for abuissing be words Johne Dunmur, . . 400 
 
 Johne M'Kilrew for selling aill at 1 2 hours at evin in his tavern upon the 
 
 foir gait, . . . . . . . . 500 
 
 James Miller for the bluid wyte of Patryk Chalmers, . . . 9 18 o 
 
 The Boweris wyfe for selling wyne in hir tavern efter 12 hours at evin, 500 
 
 Suma of this syde is 132 Ib. 8s. 
 The soum of thir haill unlawis of the Injureis whilk was committit within this burgh 
 
 the tyme of our being in office, fra Mychelmes 1608 yeirs till Mychelmes 1609 yeirs, 
 
 extends according to thir particullars to iij'iij" - lib. xviijs. 
 
 III. 
 
 ORDOUR and MANERofthe VISITOURIS in ilk quarter, electet 
 and chosin thairto, contening thair office, thair naimes, and bounds 
 assignet to thame. 
 
 First Thay sail trye and owersie the howshalderis and fameleis within thair bounds, 
 thair estaitt lyfe and conversatioun, to witt, gif thaire be any fornicatouris, nicht walkeris, 
 vagabonnds, idill persouns, singill wemen that ar vnfrie haldand howsses be thame
 
 xvi Appendix. 
 
 selffis, drye tapsteris, vnfrie taskmen and jurnaymen of crafts that hes nocht ane maister 
 to ansuer for thame, ony vnfrie persouns vsand merchandice and trafficque, or occupeand 
 any craft or handy lawbour, and quha hes sett thair howssis to ony of thir sort of pepill 
 contrar to the touns lawis. 
 
 Item that thai se the nichtbouris in thair bounds be sufficiently prouydet of guid and 
 sufficient airmour, and quha wantis the samyn that thai declair it to the baillie of the 
 quarter, and that thai, with the saidis nichtbouris, be in reddynes weill airmitt quhen 
 the prouest and baillies hes ado in the kings grace or tounis seruice. 
 
 Item that thai tak vp the names of the beggares hantand or dwelland within thair 
 bounds with thair estaitt, gif thai be decrepit and failzeit, or gif thai be stark and haill, 
 and the tyme thai haif bene in the toun, and gif thair names in writt to the baillie of the 
 quarter. 
 
 Item quhen ony of thir visitoures passis to the saill, that thai cum in to the Counsall 
 and schaw the sam, that ane vther may be depute in thair place. 
 
 \Follcwis the names of the saidis Qwentares of the quarteris with the 
 bounds assignet to thame, <Srv.] 
 
 IV. 
 ORDERS AND INJUNCTIONS FOR CONSTABLES. 
 
 " Ordoris sett doun be the Lord Proveist Bailleis and Counsall of Edinburch, to be 
 observed be the Constables thairof in the dischairge of thair offices within this 
 Burgh and liberties of the samine. [4 September 161 1.] 
 
 "IMPRIMIS, The constables being elected by the provest bailies and counsell sail 
 be obleist to accept of the charge and office of constabularie vnder the paine of 
 imprisonment of their persones and payment of ane unlaw of ten pund Scottis, and to 
 remaine in waird ay and quhill the same be payit, and under the paine of horning, and 
 for discharge of ane honest dewtie in their offices, being solemnly suorne in presence of 
 the provost baillies and counsell of this burgh, sail give the oath following : 
 
 OATH. 
 
 That they and ilk ane of thame sail faithfullie and trewlie dischairge their offices of 
 constabularie within the boundis committed to their charge for the space of sex monthis 
 nixt after their admissioun, and sail not, for favour respect or fear of any persones, fdrbear 
 to doe that quhilk becommeth them in their office, and abone all thingis they sail 
 regard the keiping and preserving of the Kinges Maiesties peace, and at everie neccessar 
 occassioun come to the proveist and baillies of this burgh or any ane of thame and giv
 
 Orders and Injunctions for Constables. xvii 
 
 ane dew and trew informatioun of any break or other insolencie against his Maiesties 
 peace within the boundis of thair commandiment, and sail nowyse hyde cover nor con- 
 ceale the samin, nor anie probation or light that they can give for clearing and prooving 
 thereof. So help me God, and be God himselfe. 
 
 'I. ITEM, Ane constable sail have libertie to take and apprehend any suspect 
 persons, ydle vagabounds or night walkeris, and imprisone them till they find soverty 
 for their behaviour. 
 
 " 2. ITEM, Ane constable sail have power to challenge any persone within this burgh, 
 or liberties thereof, that sail be fund wearing pistolets or dagges, and sail present thame 
 before the provost, baillies, or any ane of thame, to be punisched by them for their 
 fault conform to the Act of Parliament. 
 
 " 3. ITEM, Vpone ane appearance of any fray or stur within this burgh either by day 
 or night betwix any pairties, or any other sudden accident that may fall furth, the 
 constable sail tak vnto him the assistance of his neighbouris for sundering of the 
 pairties, and for ordour taking with any inconvenient that sail happin to ensew, and 
 sail take the partie or parties and commit thame in waird, or present thame to the 
 provost or baillies. Attour, if anie harme sail happen to be done to the constable or 
 any of his assistants, the constable sail take them and put thame in waird, or present 
 them to the provost or baillies, or. any ane of thame, to be condinglie punished for 
 their fault. 
 
 "4. ITEM, If any person or persons mak any pley or tumult within this burgh, and 
 flee to any house, the constable sail have power to break up the doores thereof, and 
 albeit the partie or parties fle without the boundis of the constables chairge, yet may 
 the constable follow and apprehend him or them in ane fresch persute, and commit 
 thame to waird to be punished for their fault. 
 
 " 5. ITEM, Ilk constable sail searche and seek within the boundis committed to his 
 chairge that na jesuitis, seminarie preistis, nor traffiking papistis, haunt vse ludge 
 or be reset therein, and if they can find or try any, to tak and apprehend them and 
 present thame to the proveist and baillies to be tryed. 
 
 . "6. ITEM, The constables sail tak and apprehend all vagaboundis and sturdie 
 beggeris or Egypianes, and put thame in waird to be punished for their fault accord- 
 ing to the Act of Parliament. 
 
 ' ' 7. ITEM, The constables sail take and apprehend all ydle persones quha hes no 
 calling to live by, and quha will not tak thame selffis to some labor trade or occupa- 
 tioun, and sail present them before the provost and bailleis, quha, after examinatioun 
 and tryall, sail punish them according to their demerite. 
 
 "8. ITEM, The constable being informed of any persone guiltie and culpable of 
 slaughter, murther, thyft, or any other capitall cryme quhatsomever, sail then requyre 
 his neighbouris to assist him for the saif comvoying of sik persones before the provest 
 and baillies to be punischt for their fault. 
 
 "9. ITEM, The constable sail searche and seek the boundis committed to his chairge, 
 and suffer na vagaboundis, beggeris, nor infamous persones, to remaine dwell or be 
 
 3
 
 x v i i i Appendix. 
 
 reset in his boundis, and if any be within his saidis boundis, to schaw the samine to 
 the magistrate that they may be punished and removed forth of this burgh. 
 
 " 10. ITEM, Ilk constable sail concur ane with ane other at all occasiounes neidfull. 
 
 " II. ITEM, The haill constables sail, vpon everie last Setterday of every moneth, 
 compear and present themselues befoir the provost and baillies in the Counselhous, 
 to give ane account of their diligence in their offices, as they will ansuer vpon thair 
 obedience. 
 
 " 12. ITEM, Ilk constable sail cause the boundis committed to his charge be keeped 
 cleane of all kynd of filth, middings, and suyne, and to that effect for keeping the streets 
 and passages cleane, ilk constable sail have power in his awin boundis, after tryell of any 
 person or persons casting out filth at their doores, windoes, or shotes, either in the 
 foregate or baksydes, or laying of anie filth or middings vpon the hie streets, closses, 
 or passages within this burgh, to cause the persone guiltie to pay ane vnlaw of five 
 pounds toties guoties, and to commit them in waird, there to remain vntill the same be 
 payed. 
 
 "13. ITEM, Ilk constable sail visie the haill inhibitants within his bounds, and see 
 that they be sufficientlie provyded in armour according to their estate and degre for 
 his Maiesties service, and if any be within his bounds vnprovyded sufficientlie, he to 
 report the samine to the magistral for ordour taking therewith. 
 
 " 14. ITEM, Ilk constable in his boundis sail tak and apprehend all banneris, 
 sueareris, and blasphemeris of Godis name, either in the streitis, markettis, or at the 
 welles, and to punisch them, either by wairding or putting them in joggs or stokes, 
 according to the qualitie of their fault. 
 
 " 15. ITEM, If any persons his Maisties subjects sail refuse or delay to concur with 
 the constable in executing of his office, they sail be imprisoned and sevearlie punished 
 by command of the proveist [or] baillies according to the qualitie of their offence. 
 
 " 1 6. ITEM, The constables sail be obleist to receave any iniunctions or statutis that 
 the proveist and bailies sail inioyne to thame at anie tyme heirefter, the samine being 
 approvan by his Maiestie's Privie Counsell." 
 
 V. 
 
 ACT OF PARLIAMENT AS TO CONSTABLES. 
 (See page 101.) 
 
 Act of Parliament, James VI., 1617, c. 8. 1 
 
 (I.) OURE SOUERANE LORD with the aduyse of his Estaittis findis and declaris that 
 the constables ar to be maid choyse of by the commissioneris and justices of peace in 
 
 1 The more important variations in the Act of Parliament, Charles II. 1661, c. 38, 
 are shewn by the fgotnotes.
 
 Act of Parliament as to Constables. xix 
 
 thair quarter sessiounes throughout the haill cuntrie, tuo at least in everie parochin, or 
 moe according to thair discretiounes, haveing consideratioun of the qualitye thereoff. 
 In gryit tounes, likewyais, (not being cities nor free burghis) they ar to appoynt a 
 number of constables proportionallie to the gryitness thairoff : Bot in all burghis regall, 
 and frie cities, the constables ar to be chosin by the magistratis off the same, and they 
 are to indue and to be chainged from sex to sex monethis. 
 
 (II.) And who sail refuis to accept the chairge, and not to giff his oathe for dewtie- 
 full execution thereoff, salbe imprisoned and fynit at the discretioun of the justice off 
 peace at thair nixt sitting. 
 
 (II J.) The constables sail tak the oathe following 
 
 1 You sail sweare that you sail faithfullie and trewlie discharge your office of con- 
 stabularie within the parochin of, &c. , indureing the tyme appoynted to yow, and sail 
 not for fauoure, respect, or feare of anye man, forbeare to doe quhat becomethe yow 
 of your office, and abone all thingis yow sail regairde the keeping and preserveing of the 
 kingis Majesties peace, and sail at everie quarter sessiounes and meitingis of justices 
 give trew and due informatioun of onye breache whiche hes bene maid of his Majesties 
 peace within the boundis of your commandiment, and sail noway hyid, cover, nor con- 
 ceall the same nor ony of the pmfes and evidences whiche yow can geve for the 
 cleiring and proving thairoff. So help y<ni God. 
 
 (IV.) A constable may apprehend anye suspect man, who for the maist pairt sleipeth 
 all the day and walkethe in the night, 2 and carrye him to the next justice of peace, to 
 find suretye for his goode behaveoure or otherwayis to be committed to prisoun ; 8 and 
 giff he be a man of qualitye the justice of peace sail go with the constable and doe it. 
 
 (V.) Constables sail staye and arrist all vagabondis, sturdye beggeris, and egip- 
 tianis, and carrye thame before the next commissioneris of peace,* who sail tak ordour 
 for thair committing or punishment, according to the statute of parliament. 
 
 (VI.) Constables sail arreist all ydle persounes, whom they knaw to have no meanis 
 to leiff vpoun, and will not talk thame selffis to any laboure, tred, or occupation, and 
 sail carie thame before the commissioner off peace, who, efter examinatioun, sail ether 
 commit thame, or tak suretye of thame for their apperance at the nixt sessiounes. 
 
 (VII.) Anye constable haveing apprehendit a persoun guyiltie and culpable of 
 slauchter, murthor, theft, or onye vther capitall cryme whatsoeuir, sail then requyre 
 his neighboures to assist for safe convoying of suche persounes to the nixt commis- 
 sioner, who sail then examine the pairtie and sett doun his depositioun in writting, to 
 
 1 In the Act 1661, the form is given in the first person. 
 
 4 In the Act 1661, the description given is, "suspicious persons who are night 
 walkers and cannot give a good account of themselffs." 
 
 3 The remainder of this clause is omitted in the Act 1661. 
 
 * Throughout the Act 1661, the words " some justice of peace" are substituted for 
 the words "the next commissioner of peace."
 
 xx Appendix. 
 
 be schawin at tha nixt sessiounes, and thairefter sail send him back to prisone. 1 And 
 giff a noble man, prelate or small baroun, or anye in thair names, haveing power, sail 
 acclame the right of jurisdictoun to proceid agains the delinquent, the said justice sail 
 ressave suretye of the said pairtie who requyred the defender to be deliuered to him, 
 that justice salbe dewlie ministrat, and cans deliuerie off the said persone be made to 
 him. Alwayis the said commissouner of peace, at the nixt sessiounes, sail certefie the 
 whole mater to the benche, to the effect they may inquyre whether justice hath accord- 
 inglie bene ministred ; And giff anye fault be found, to aduertels his Majesties counsell, 
 that ordoure maye be taken therewith. 
 
 (VIII.) Any of his Majestie's subiectis of the degree of yeamen, 2 who sail refuis or 
 delaye to concure with the constable in the executing of his office, salbe imprissoned 
 and punisched by the commissioneris and justices : And giff he be of ane hier degrie 
 and qualitye, the constable sail informe the justice thairoff, that they mak the Lordis 
 of Previe Counsell acquaint, quhome the Estaittis ordains to censure the offender 
 according to the qualitie of the fault. 
 
 (IX.) A constable sail arreist anye persoun of the degrie of a yeamen, who salbe 
 found weiring hagbuttis, pistolettis, and daggis, and sail carye thame before a commis- 
 sioner of peace, who is either to tak suretye for there apperance the next sessioun, or 
 commit thame prisoneris tiil they do the same ; bot gif the persoun be of higher 
 qualitie, the constable sail informe the justice thairoff, who sail deelate the same to his 
 Majestie's Counsell, that ordor may be takin thairwith. 
 
 (X. ) If anye partie of degree of yeaman doe complayne to a constable that he is 
 thretned by ane vther, then sail the constable apprehend the thretner, and carie him 
 with the partie complaynant before the nixt commissioner of peace : And giff he refuis 
 to goe, then sail they carie him to prisone. And if he be af a heeghar degrie, the 
 justice, being informed thereoff, sail informe the Counsell, and in the meantyme charge 
 the pairtye to [keep the] peace. 
 
 (XL) All the constables, at the least one of everie paroche, instructed with 
 commissione to answer for the rest within the said paroche, sail attend at everie 
 quarter sessioun, thair to giff informatione of all suche misdemaneris as haue hapned 
 in those boundis since the last sessione : and otherwayes to geve to the benche further 
 satisfactioun in anye thing quhairin they sail be requyred ; and to resave frome the 
 saidis commissioneris, at the end of the sessioun, such ordoures and directiounes as 
 they sail then injoyne and appoynt thame to doe. 
 
 1 The remainder of this clause, which is left out in the Adi 1661, has reference to the 
 right of lords of regality and others possessing heritable jurisdictions, who could 
 reclaim offenders from other judges, and try them within the courts of the regality, 
 c. See Notes on Lord High Constable, p. [41]. 
 
 2 The words, "of the degree of yeamen," are omitted in the corresponding section* 
 of the Aft 1661.
 
 Notes on Sunday Observance, &c., in Scotland. xxi 
 
 (XII.) Upone the apperance of anye fraye or stirre betuix pairties, the constable may 
 tak the assistance of his nightboures for sundering off the pairties. And giff thair be 
 anye harm done to the constable or anye of his assistance, by thame who maid the 
 frey, they salbe punischit by the justices at the nixt sessioun, they being of the qualitie 
 of yeomen, and being of ane heighar qualitie, the counsell salbe informit thairoff, as 
 said is. 
 
 (XIII.) When any hath maid ane effraye, and then flies to ane hous, the constable 
 may follow to the hous, and if the dores be schute, he sail tak notice of the maister off 
 the hous, and requyre witnes thairon. And albeit the delinquent sail flie farder without 
 the boundis off the constables chairge, yit may the constable follow and apprehend 
 him in a fresche persute, and crave concurrence of the cuntrey to that effect. 
 
 (XIV.) The constables within everie parochin salbe executaris off the preceptis and 
 warrandis off the justice of peace. 
 
 (XV.) Concerning the feyis and satisfactioun to be gevin to the constables and clerks 
 for thair paynes ; Oure Souerane Lord with aduyis foirsaid, ordanis the saidis justices 
 to giff vp particular notes in wreat to the auditores of His Majesties chekquer of the 
 fynes imbrocht to thame, that out thairoff suche measure and satisfactioun may be ap- 
 poynted and gevin to the saidis clerkis and constables as may recompense thair travellis, 
 wherin giff it salbe found that the saidis fyines will not be sufficient, the said Lordis of 
 his Heighness chekquer sail appoynt suche farder satisfactioune to thame as in thair 
 discretioun they sail think thair laboures and diligence doethe deserve, and caus thame 
 be payit of the same, &c. 
 
 VI. 
 
 NOTES ON SUNDA Y OBSERVANCE, 6r., 
 
 IN SCOTLAND. 
 
 (Seepage 147.) 
 
 Previous to the Reformation in Scotland, the Sunday was not, as it is now happily, 
 observed as a day of rest from worldly labour. On that day fairs and markets were 
 commonly held, sometimes in the kirkyards, and even in the kirks themselves ; J shops, 
 
 hostelries, and places of amusement were kept open ; weaponshawings took place ; 2 
 
 \ 
 
 1 1469, c. 10, Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, ii. 95 ; 1503, c. 28, Ibid. ii. 252. 
 
 2 Antea, p. 90.
 
 xx ii Appendix. 
 
 and it appears that the law courts occasionally sat for the transaction of business. 1 
 It was indeed usually appropriated to mirth and revelry ; the people practised archery 
 at the bow marks placed near parish churches for the purpose,* engaged in the games 
 of Robin Hood and Littlejohn, 3 gambled, drank, danced, and indulged in all kinds 
 of amusement. To some extent, no doubt, an effort was made to limit this desecration. 4 
 The act 1469, c. io, 5 prohibited the holding of fairs on holidays, and the prohibition 
 was renewed and extended by the act 1503, c. 28, tt which enacted that markets and 
 fairs should not be held on holidays, or within kirks or kirkyards. 7 The practice, 
 with many of the other forms of desecration alluded to, nevertheless continued long 
 after the reformation, 8 and it is abundantly obvious from the habits and legislation 
 of the reformers, that they did not entertain the stricter notions of the sanctity 
 
 1 Cunningham's Church History of Scotland, p. 9. 
 
 2 1424, c. 9, Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, ii. 6. 
 8 Antea, p. 19, footnote 4. 
 
 * The Anglo-Saxon laws, it is interesting to notice, were most strict in their require- 
 ments as to the proper observance of the Lord's day, See the laws of Wihtraed 
 (A.D. 690-725) [Ancient Laws and Institutions of England, 8vo edition, i. p. 39] ; of 
 Ine (A.D. 688-725) [Ibid. i. 105]; of Edward and Guthrum (circa A.D. 880-891) 
 [Ibid. i. 171, 173]; of Cnut (A.D. 1017-1035) [Ibid. i. 369-403]; of ^Ethelstan 
 (A.D. 924) [Ibid. i. 213-241]; of Ethelred (A.D. 978-1016) [Ibid. i. 309, 321, 327, 
 345]; and of Edgar (A.D. 959-975) [Ibid. i. 265]. The ancient ecclesiastical monu- 
 ments of the English Church, some of them of still earlier date than these laws, were 
 equally stringent. See the penitential of Theodore archbishop of Canterbury (A.D. 
 668-690) [Ibid. ii. 4*5, 46, 51], which also describes the practice of the early Greek 
 and Roman Christians in this matter ; the confessional and penitential of Ecgberht 
 archbishop of York (A.D. 735-766) [Ibid. ii. 161-237.] ; the canons enacted under 
 king Edgar (A. D. 959-975) [Ibid. ii. 249] ; the law of the Northumbrian priests 
 [Ibid. ii. 299] ; the canons of ^Elfric [Ibid. ii. 363] ; ecclesiastical institutes [Ibid. ii. 
 421-422]. 
 
 6 Note i, p. xxi. 6 Ibid. 
 
 7 In Edinburgh, however, the holding of markets for the sale of flesh on Sunday 
 was expressly authorised by the act 1540, c. 43 [Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, 
 ii. 378]. 
 
 8 The practice of holding markets on Sundays was discontinued in burghs sooner 
 than in landward parishes. In the convention of burghs held at Stirling on 25th 
 October 1574, the neighbours of Edinburgh were requested to apply to the next 
 General Assembly to discharge Sunday markets at landward parish kirks, "failzeand 
 that, the general kirk be nocht offendit that sic vther burrowis as are greatlie hurt 
 thairby kep thair mercattis vpoun Sondayis as thai had wont " [Printed Records of 
 Convention, i. 35].
 
 Notes on Sunday Observance, &c., in Scotland. xxiii 
 
 of the day which subsequently prevailed in Scotland. 1 "It was on a Sunday," says 
 Dr Joseph Robertson, 2 "that the reformed commendators of Hob/rood and Colding- 
 ham, both of them lords of the congregation, rode at the ring in women's clothes. 
 It was on a Sunday that the reformed municipality of Edinburgh gave its grand 
 banquet to the Queen's French kinsfolks. 8 Knox travelled on a Sunday, wrote let- 
 ters on Sunday, and had the Duke of Chatelherault and the English ambassador to 
 sup with him on a Sunday. The Gaelic translator of Knox's 'Forms of Prayer,' the 
 Reformed Superintendent of Argyle and Bishop of the Isles, feasted the queen and 
 the ambassador of Savoy on a Sunday. For more than twenty years after Knox 
 was in his grave, Robin Hood plays were acted on Sundays, and the King of May 
 held his gambols on Sundays in Scotland, as in England masques and interludes 
 continued to be performed before the court on Sundays, throughout the reigns of 
 Elizabeth and James." It was on a Sunday also that the queen of James VI. was 
 crowned, the reformed ministers assisting at the ceremony ; 4 and on a Sunday the city 
 of Edinburgh gave a sumptuous and costly banquet to Charles I. , the afternoon ser- 
 vice in all the town churches being dispensed with in consequence. 5 Dr Gairdner, 
 has shewn that for nearly a century after the reformation, the incorporation of surgeons 
 in Edinburgh held various meetings on Sundays for the transaction of business, the 
 admission of members, the election of office-bearers, the exercise of discipline, &c. 6 
 
 1 Principal Lee's Lectures on the History of the Church of Scotland, i. 3, foot- 
 note a. 
 
 2 Preface to the Inventories of Queen Mary's Jewels, &c. [Bannatyne Club, p. 
 Ixxix, and authorities therein referred to]. 
 
 3 And also to the Danish friends of King James VI. and his queen on 24th May 
 1590 [Council Records, ix. 43, 53, 54; Chambers's Traditions of Edinburgh, 249]. 
 
 4 Calderwood's History of the Kirk of Scotland, v. 95 ; Papers relating to the mar- 
 riage of James VI. , Bannatyne Club, pp. 39. On this occasion also fifteen knights 
 were created. 
 
 5 Memorials of the Troubles in Scotland (Spalding Club), i. 39. 
 
 8 Sketch of the Early History of the Medical Profession in Edinburgh (1864), p. 8. 
 During the continuance of this practice, however, the surgeons are curiously enough 
 found legislating against "barbarising on Sabbath," on the ground of its being "ab- 
 surd and unlawful, contrary to God's word, and deboishing of servands," and not 
 only signing the national covenant themselves (in August 1638), but making sub- 
 scription imperative on their apprentices and servants, and a condition of admission 
 into their body in all time coming [Ibid. 9, 10]. This legislation against Sunday 
 " barbarising " in Edinburgh, had its prototype in an enactment of the time of Henry 
 IV. (1399-1413) against barbers in London following their calling, or keeping their 
 shops open on Sundays [Munimenta Gildhallae Liber Albus I. Pref. p. liii]. The 
 markets for flesh and bread on that day do not seem to have been interfered with, 
 however. In 1598, the kirk-session of Perth also declared "polling and razing" to
 
 xxiv Appendix. 
 
 The accounts of the treasurer of the city also prove that it was not uncommon to pay 
 accounts on that day. 1 So late as 1574, the practice of performing comedies of a 
 somewhat religious character on Sunday had not been altogether discontinued, and 
 even occasionally received the countenance and approbation of some of the church 
 courts. 2 About the same time also ministers were to be found who accompanied their 
 people to the bow butts on Sunday evenings, and shot with bows and arrows. 3 
 Shortly afterwards, however, the Act of Parliament 1579, c. 8, prohibited the holding 
 of markets and fairs on " Sunday," and enacted " that na handy lauboring or work- 
 ing be vsed on the sonday, nor na gamyng and playing, passing to tavernis and ail- 
 housses, and selling of meitt or drink, and wilfull remanyng fra their paroche kirk in 
 tyme of sermone or prayers on the sonday be vsed undir the panes " therein pre- 
 scribed. 4 This act proceeds on the narrative that the "sabboth days" were then 
 " commonJie violat and brokin, alsweill within burgh as to landwart, to the great 
 dishonor of God," by the practices against which it was directed. 5 
 
 Subsequently a series of acts was passed against Sabbath-breaking, &c. The act 
 1594, c. 8, subjected all who should profane the "Sabboth day" by selling, or present- 
 ing and offering for sale, any goods or merchandise on that day, to forfeiture of their 
 whole goods for the king's use. 8 The act 1661, c. 281, prohibited, under severe penal- 
 ties, which it appointed to be uplifted and disposed of according to the act and instruc- 
 tions anent the justices of the peace, " all salmond fishing, going of salt pans, milnes 
 or kills, all hireing of shearers, carieing of loads, keeping of mercats, or vseing any 
 sorts of merchandice on the " Sabboth-day, " and all other prophanation thairof." 7 The 
 act 1672, c. 58, provided for the execution of the laws against all kinds of profaneness, 
 including profanation of the Lord's day, and ' ' appointed magistrates of burghs and 
 others to execute the laws against such delinquents as might be dilated to them by the 
 
 be a breach of the Sabbath [Extracts from Kirk-Session Records of Perth, Spottis- 
 wood Miscellany, ii. 276]. 
 
 1 See, for example, under date 1590, a payment on Sunday 26th April of .3 on 
 account of a sword dance, and payments in relation to causeways on Sundays I2th 
 June, 1 6th August, 4th, nth, and 1 8th October, 1st, I5th, and 22d October. 
 
 2 Principal Lee's evidence before Sir Andrew Agnew's Committee in 1832. Report 
 of Committee, pp. 267-269 ; Appendix, 299-306. Lee's History of the Church of 
 Scotland, i. 3, footnote a, 313. Book of the Universal Kirk of Scotland, March 1574, 
 part i. 322 ; Ibid. October 1576, part i. p. 375. 
 
 3 Dr Cook's History of the Church of Scotland (1815), ii. 43. 
 
 4 Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, iii. 138. 
 
 8 See also 1592, c. 17 ; Ibid. iii. 548. 1593, c. 6 ; Ibid. iv. 16. Calderwood's 
 History of the Kirk of Scotland, v. 135. 
 
 6 Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, iv. 63. 
 
 7 Ibid. vii. 262 ; see also the act 1663, c. 43 ; Ibid. vii. 481.
 
 Notes on Sunday Observance, &c., in Scotland. xxv 
 
 kirk-sessions or other church judicatories." * The act 1690, c. 55, 2 ratified and con- 
 firmed all previous acts against every form of profanity, and peremptorily required 
 magistrates and others to put these acts to execution, with all care and diligence, as 
 they would be answerable. The act 1693, c. 64, referring to the Sabbath-break- 
 ing, profane and idle swearing, drunkenness, and other immorality "that so much 
 at present abound," empowered and ordained every presbytery to elect one or more 
 persons " to take notice of the foresaid vices and immoralities, and to delate and 
 prosecute the persons guilty thereof, before the magistrates of the bounds." 3 The act 
 1695, c. 16, on the recital that the previous acts had "not taken the wished effect, 
 through the negligence of the magistrats officers and others concerned to put the same 
 in execution," subjected magistrates and others who refused, neglected, or delayed to 
 enforce the laws, to a penalty of jloo Scots, and prescribed the mode in which the 
 same should be recovered and applied ; 4 and the act 1696, c. 3i, 5 revived all previous 
 acts, and declared that, if magistrates and others failed to enforce them, the Privy 
 Council would appoint bailies to do so in their place. 
 
 This legislation was earnestly seconded by that of the General Assembly of the 
 Church, who indeed, there is reason to believe, urged upon the legislature the propriety 
 of enacting the early statutes against Sabbath-breaking and other modifications of pro- 
 faneness. 6 The acts and proceedings of the Assembly exhibit a startling picture of 
 the laxity of morals which existed, and fully justify the statements in the various statutes 
 as to the prevalance of the practices against which they were directed. One of these 
 acts, dated 3Oth January 1 699, 7 contains a special allusion to the habit in burghs, ' ' espe- 
 cially those of greatest resort, as Edinburgh," of many sitting "too late in taverns, 
 especially on the Saturday night, and men of business pretend[ing] they do it for re- 
 laxation of their minds, through which some neglect the public worship on the Lord's 
 day in the forenoon, and others attend the worship drowsily. This habit, it is to be 
 feared, existed in Edinburgh till the commencement of the present century. 8 
 
 Nor were the inferior judicatories of the church, as a rule, less zealous in their en- 
 
 1 Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, viii. 99. 2 Ibid. ix. 198. 
 
 8 Ibid ix. 327. 4 Ibid. ix. 387. 5 Ibid. x. 65. 
 
 6 Principal Lee's History of the Church of Scotland, ii. 406. His evidence before 
 Sir Andrew Agnew's Committee, q. 4086 ; Report, p. 267. Booke of the Univer- 
 sal Kirk of Scotland (Bannatyne Club), part i. 19-30, 1562 ; 312-322, 1574 ; 339, 
 S75 J 375-377, 1576. Part ii. 746, 748, 749, 1589 ; 772-776, 159. Part iii. 
 874, 1596 ; 996, 1602. See also Part i. 253, 1572 Part ii. 284, 1573 ; 536-538, 
 1581 ; 769, 1590 ; 784, 1591. Acts of the General Assembly of the Church of Scot- 
 land, 1638-1842 (Edinburgh 1843), pp. 25-29, 1638 ; 38, 1639 ; 53-72, 1642 ; 79, 
 1643 ; 141, 1646 ; 193, 1648 ; 226, 1690 ; 241, 1694 ; and 259-261, 1697. 
 
 7 Acts of the General Assembly, pp. 280, 281. 
 
 8 See Chambers's Traditions of Edinburgh, pp. 132-152 ; and Domestic Annals of 
 Scotland, iii. 575.
 
 xxvi Appendix. 
 
 deavours to secure the sanctification of the Lord's day. " Scarcely any subject," says 
 Principal Lee, " is more frequently noticed in the proceedings of synods, presbyteries, 
 and kirk-sessions, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries ;" 1 "though, "he adds, 
 " for a considerable time the transition from the laxity of popish manners to the stricter 
 solemnity of presbyterian discipline was much more gradual than is generally ima- 
 gined." 2 
 
 The kirk-sessions of Edinburgh, in particular, were, as might be expected, not be- 
 hind the other courts of the Church in their efforts to prevent the profanation of the Sun- 
 day within their bounds. A reference to two of their minutes 3 sufficiently indicates the 
 nature of their action. On 8th May 1644, the six sessions ordained proclamation to be 
 made against vaging and gossiping on the streets after the afternoon's sermon, and 
 against playing, jesting, sporting, and profanely spending the Lord's day ; it ordained 
 ' ' ilk elder and his deacon to visit by course the haill particular quarter 4 whereof he is 
 elder, and carefullie to observe that na taverns, ale cellars, or baxters booths be keeped 
 open, but only to sell necessaries for present necessitie, and close up all again." 3 On ist 
 
 1 History of the Church of Scotland, ii. 406. 
 
 2 Ibid. ii. 407. See also Extracts by him from Proceedings of Church Courts, shew- 
 ing how the laws against Sabbath-breaking were administered in Scotland. Ibid. ii. 
 406-415 ; Appendix No. 3 to Report from Sir Andrew Agnew's Committee. Selec- 
 tions from the Ecclesiastical Records of Aberdeen (Spalding Club), Pref. xxix xxxi, 
 pp. 16, 18, 19, 21, 23, 24, &c. Extracts from the Records of the kirk-sessions of Perth 
 (Spottiswood Miscellany), ii. 232, 240, 243, 244, 251,3 10. Chronicle of Perth (Maitland 
 Club), pp. 58, 63, 65, 67, &c. Chambers's Domestic Annals of Scotland, i. 328-332. 
 
 8 Extracts from which by Principal Lee are printed in the Appendix No. 3 to the 
 Report of Sir Andrew Agnew's Committee. 
 
 4 As early as 1574, "captors," afterwards named " searchers," were appointed by the 
 kirk-session of St Andrew's to visit the whole town, according to the division of " quar- 
 ters," and enforce the observance of the Sunday. "To that effect," the minute bears, 
 ' ' every Sunday there shall pass a bailie and elder, two deacons, and two officers armed 
 with their halberts, and the rest of the bailies and officers to be in attendance, to assist to 
 apprehend transgressors, to be punished according to the acts of the Kirk. " ' ' This prac- 
 tice," says Principal Lee, " was soon afterwards universally observed throughout all the 
 towns of Scotland, and continued to be observed with scarcely any interruption for 1 50 
 years" [Principal Lee's evidence before Sir Andrew Agnew's Committee, q. 4087, 
 Report, p. 268J. For illustrations of the practice in Aberdeen, see Selections from the 
 Records of the Kirk- Session of Aberdeen (Spalding Club), pp. 26, 27, 94 (1603-1609, 
 1621) ; in Glasgow, See Extracts from Burgh Records, 1573-1581 (Maitland Club), 
 21; Wodrow's Biographical Collections (Maitland Club), ii. II, 36; in Perth, 
 where the practice continued till at least 1775, See Spottiswoode Miscellany, ii. 244. 
 
 8 Extracts by Principal Lee. Appendix to Report of Sir Andrew Agnew's Com- 
 mittee, p. 303.
 
 Notes on Sunday Observance, &c., in Scotland. xxvii 
 
 May of the following year the six sessions appointed the magistrates, 1 attended by the 
 ministers by course, to "go up and doun the streets upon the Lord's day after the after- 
 noon sermon, and cause take particular notice of such as sail be found foorth of their 
 houses vaging abroad upon the streets, and cause cite them befor the session to be 
 rebuked and censured." 2 
 
 The Royal burghs also co-operated with the parliament and church courts in the en- 
 forcement of Sunday observance. At their convention in Dundee on 4th and 5th No- 
 vember I578, 3 they enacted that no market be held on Sunday in any free burgh, under 
 penalty of .10, so oft as they failed ; and at their convention in Aberdeen on nth, 
 I2th, I3th, I4th, I5th, and 1 6th July 1580, it was unanimously resolved that the acts of 
 parliament "anent the discharge of mercatts on Sondayis, and labouring thairon, or 
 playing and drinking in time of sermon," should be executed within the bounds and 
 jurisdictions of the burghs, as they should be answerable therefor in every convention. 
 
 But no body shewed more activity in the promotion of the observance of the Sunday 
 within their bounds than the town council of Edinburgh, whose enactments were of 
 the most stringent character. It must not be supposed, however, that that stringency 
 was characteristic of the municipal legislation of Edinburgh alone. It equally marked 
 the contemporary legislation of the town councils of Glasgow, Perth, and Aberdeen ; 
 and strict though it was, and inconsistent in many respects with our notions of civil and 
 religious liberty, it undoubtedly reflected the religious spirit of the time in its earnest- 
 ness as in its sternness. Of these acts, dating from the time of the Reformation, 
 the following is a brief abstract : 
 
 An act dated 3Oth October 1560,* appointed " the halie day callit the Sabaothe day 
 or day of rest, commonlie callit the Sounday," to "be kepit holie" in all time coming; 
 prohibited the making of merchandise, the opening of booths, or the carrying on of 
 any kind of worldly business ; required regular attendance at both the forenoon and 
 afternoon sermons ; prohibited the sale of meat or drink in taverns or hostelries during 
 the time of service ; and changed the flesh market from " Sunday" to Saturday, and 
 the cattle market at the " House of Muir " from Sunday till Thursday. An act 
 (forming one of the town's statutes) dated 23d April 1561,* on the preamble that 
 ' ' it was an old custom of prentices to make ane play of Robin Hood on an Sabbath 
 day in April," and that the council considered " the same to be ane profane and 
 wicked act," discharged " the samyn play on the Sabbath," under pain of the masters 
 losing their freedom, and the prentices losing their armour and what is upon them, -be- 
 sides punishment of their persons. An act dated 4th July 1 563,6 ordained, under pain 
 of confiscation to the town's use of the food sold, "that no market nor bargain be 
 made openly or privately of wool, hydes, skins, butter, or cheese, on Sunday." An 
 
 1 The kirk-sessions of burghs in these times appear to have included a number, if 
 not all, of the magistrates, who were thus themselves parties to such orders. 
 
 2 Extracts by Principal Lee, ut supra, p. 304 3 Printed Records of Convention, i. 69. 
 4 Council Records, iii. 55. 5 Ibid, iv. 4. 6 Ibid, iv; 73.
 
 xxviii Appendix. 
 
 act dated 24th January 1564, ordained that, in time of preaching, both on Sabbath 
 and week days, two officers should stand at the kirk doors to stop the clamour of 
 the people on the causeway, and the bellman be within the kirk to keep it quiet. J 
 An act dated 7th January 1568, ordered proclamation to be made against keeping 
 taverns open during time of preaching on the Sabbath day, under penalty of 5. 2 
 An act dated 2$d August 1570,* imposed a fine on Patrick Porteous, and imprison- 
 ment on the carter, for carting wool on Sunday. An act dated 2oth September 1570,"* 
 fined Thomas Lowrye " for handling of skynis vpoune the Sabothe." Following 
 upon the act of parliament 1579, c. 8, an act of council, dated 4th August I58i, s 
 ordered proclamation to be made " dischargeing all kynd of gemmis and playis 
 now commonly vsit the said day, sic as bowling in yairdis, dansing, playing, rynning 
 throw the hie streittis of husseis bairnis and boys, with all maner of dissolutioun of 
 behaviour;" and commanded all "maisteris of houseis to see that their servants, 
 bairns, and families attended the preachings," and refrained from the wantonness re- 
 ferred to, under pain of imprisonment and fine. For the better execution of this act, 
 the bailies were appointed " to owersey the strettis and houssis thair ov/lk (week) 
 about, and Johne Syme baillie to begyn the next Sounday, and swa furth als weill Son- 
 day as tyme of seruice." An act dated I7th April I583, 6 prohibited the neighbours 
 from haunting or repairing " to ony Sonday mercats at Tranent, Mussilbruch, Dal- 
 kyth, or vtheris, under the panes prescribed in the Acts of Parliament, and an unlaw of 
 ;io." An act dated igth April 1583, 7 ordained proclamation to be made discharging 
 all Sunday markets within the burgh, "all catchpulling, rolling, playing, drinking, and 
 taverning, and sicklyk in time of sermon on Sonday, or doing anything that may tend 
 to the breking of the Sabboth." An act dated I2th March 1584,* ordained all freemen 
 and freemen's wives to attend their own parish kirks every Sunday, as also at the time 
 of the communions, under prescribed penalties ; only those who were " tryet, seik and 
 deforset, or ellis sex myle of the toun," to be exempted. An act dated nth February 
 1585," contained strict prohibitions against workmen's booths being open, or work 
 being done ; against marketing or haunting or repairing to market between 9 A. M. and 
 4 P.M. ; against taverns being open, and cooks selling meat in time of preaching and 
 prayers ; against persons being found in the caitchpulles or at the ailey bowlis, "or 
 exerceand any playes or pastyme the said tyme" on Sundays ; and against merchants' 
 booths being open, and the butter market being held, during preaching and prayers on 
 Wednesdays and Fridays, all under prescribed penalties of fine and imprisonment. 
 An act dated i8th March I585, 10 discharged all markets, worldly labour, gaming, 
 playing, taverning, selling meat and drink, and wilfully remaining from sermon and 
 prayers. An act dated loth June 1586," required all persons to attend sermon upon 
 
 1 Council Records, iv. 124. * Ibid. vi. 149. 9 Ibid. vii. 226. 
 
 1 Ibid. iv. 229. 8 Ibid. vi. 232. 10 Ibid. viii. 3. 
 
 3 Ibid. iv. 262. 7 Ibid. vi. 232. n Ibid. viii. 20. 
 
 A Ibid. iv. 263. 8 Ibid. vii. 166.
 
 Notes on Sunday Observance, &c., in Scotland. xxix 
 
 the Sunday, and prohibited the frequenting or holding open of taverns, hostelries, 
 caitchpules, and "aylaye bowlis" the said time. And another act of same date, 
 appointed "ane bailzie ilk Sonday hes owlk about [to] visie the streitt, tavernis, and 
 utheris commoun places in tyme of sermoun, and pones all offenderris according to 
 the towns statutes." An act dated 24th March I586, 1 enjoined attendance at the 
 preachings on Sunday, and prohibited "vaging on the streets or fields, and the keep- 
 ing open of taverns, catchpulles, and yards, during the time thereof." An act dated 
 I2th April 1587,* charged parents, masters of houses, masters of crafts, and school- 
 masters, to prevent their children, servants, apprentices, and scholars, from "vagand" 
 on the streets on Sundays during time of forenoon and afternoon sermon, or from 
 " bickering" at any time on that day. An act dated I2th May 1597,* required all per- 
 sons to resort to the preachings, " and that nane pas to the feytes or playis the time of 
 the sermones afore or after none on the Sundays." An act dated 22d September 1587,* 
 referring to the prevalance of immorality on the part of " sundrie craftis childer, pren- 
 teissis, feyed seruandis, and taskmen," not only during week days, but on Sundays, 
 prohibited all such from leaving their master's service without leave, and from night- 
 walking after ten o'clock ; and required them to attend preachings and prayers on 
 Sundays, so that they " be not found in time of God's seruice in caichpulles, tavernis, 
 aylay bowles, or in the feytes, or vagand in the streitts, or yitt in vnhonest or suspect 
 plaices." An act dated 4th October I587, 5 discharged bickering, especially on the Sun- 
 days. An act dated 2gth May 1588, appointed Dickson, the town swescher, to be 
 warded and put in the irons for passing on Sundays to ' ' the May playis at Kirkliston." 
 Acts and Statutes of the Burgh, dated nth October is88, 7 22d October 1589," and 
 2d October 1590, prohibited the neighbours from keeping booths open during sermons, 
 or from absenting themselves from divine service, and from passing to landward mar- 
 kets, and to pastimes and unnecessary aflairs on Sundays, especially during the time of 
 sermon. An act dated igth May 1591, 10 was directed against persons "vagand up 
 and cloun the streitts, makand all kynd of missorderer, " &c., on the Sabbath day. 
 Another act dated 1st November 1591," was directed against holding markets on 
 the "hie gait" at any hour on the Sabbath day; against taverns and aile houses 
 being open during preaching or prayers on that day ; against eating and drinking 
 within the same from sunrise till sunset on that day ; and against the using or opening 
 of taverns at night, after the ringing of the ten o'clock bell. An act dated 5th April 
 1592, 12 appointed an unlaw of ,^10, paid by James Gechan and his partners for making 
 merchandise on the Sabbath day, to be applied for the use of the poor. An act 
 
 1 Council Records, viii. 79. 4 Ibid. viii. 108. 7 Ibid. viii. 178. 
 
 2 Ibid. viii. 81. 5 Ibid. viii. III. 8 Ibid. ix. 3. 
 
 3 Ibid. viii. 88. 6 Ibid. viii. 154. 
 
 9 Ibid. ix. 62. See statement by the bailies of Edinburgh in the General Assembly 
 in 1590. Caldenvood's History of the Kirk of Scotland, v. 109. 
 
 10 Council Records, ix. 90, n Ibid. ix. 112. 12 Ibid. ix. 144.
 
 xxx Appendix. 
 
 dated igth April 1592,* set forth the duty of all in relation to the Sabbath day, being 
 the Lord's day, and prohibited all the inhabitants by themselves, their children, ser- 
 vants, or families, from being on that day at pastimes or games, " sic as golf, aircherie, 
 row bowlis, penny stane, kaitchpulles, or sic other pastymes ;" from engaging in any 
 kind of handy labour ; and all daughters and women servants from playing at the ball, 
 or singing profane songs upon the same day. Following upon .the act of Parliament 
 1592, c. 17, passed on 5th June in the same year, the council on 1st September ordered 
 proclamation to be made prohibiting " baxters baik ony meitt upon the Sabboth day fra 
 this tyme furth." 2 On 3d November 1592, the council, in consequence of divers com- 
 plaints by the Commissioners of the General Assembly that the holding of markets on 
 Monday led to the profanation of the Sabbath day, by inducing persons dwelling to 
 landward to travel on that day in order to attend the Monday market, prohibited 
 such persons from bringing their goods into the burgh on Sunday, or from presenting 
 them at the market on Monday ; changed the market of dry skins and wool from 
 Monday till Wednesday, and allowed those living to landward to hold and have Wed- 
 nesday weekly for a market day to their accustomed wares. 8 On 2Oth April 1593,"* the 
 council passed an act, prohibiting under pain of fine and imprisonment the practice of 
 people repairing to Leith on the Sabbath day, and vaging about the streets, drinking 
 in taverns, playing at golf, archery, or other pastimes, upon the Links during the time 
 of sermon. The acts 1593, c. 6, and 1594, c. 8, were passed on 2 1st July 1593, and 
 8th June 1 594 respectively. On 8th April i6oi,s the council discharged the keepers 
 of the various ports from permitting packs or loads to enter the town on Sabbath, ex- 
 cept viuers (provisions). An act of council, dated nth October 1609, prohibited the 
 holding of any markets on Sunday, at any time of day, and specially the selling on that 
 day "of any kind of pultrie, kaill, bere, or fruitt ;" the crying of milk through the 
 town after eight o'clock at evin, and upon Sunday at any time of day. By an act, 
 dated 3Oth August l6u, 7 the council, "understanding that the Sabboth day is pro- 
 phanet be the sherars convenand on the Sabboth day to be hyret, " ordained them to 
 hold their convention in future outwith the West Port. An act dated 2Oth October 
 l6l3, 8 ordained proclamation to be made discharging all persons " to keip merkats, 
 selling kaill and beir outwith houssis vpoun the Sundayes." On 22d November 1648, 
 
 1 Council Records, ix. 146. s Ibid. ix. 162. 
 
 3 The change of the market from Monday to Wednesday excited great discontent and 
 riot among the craftsmen, and provoked what Calderwood designates " some infamous 
 rymes and libells against the ministrie" [Calderwood's History of the Kirk of Scotland, 
 v. 1 77]. A specimen of these rhymes, taken from the Cotton MSS. , is given in a note 
 by the editor of Calderwood [Ibid. v. 177]. It rather appears that, after all, the change 
 was disallowed as unnecessary, and ultra vires of the town council [The Historic of 
 King James the Sext (Bannatyne Club), pp. 254-256]. 
 
 4 Council Records, ix. 195. 6 Ibid. xii. 18. * Ibid. xii. 134. 
 * Ibid. xi. 37. 7 Ibid. xii. 71.
 
 Notes on Sunday Observance, &c., in Scotland. xxxi 
 
 the council, in consideration of certain articles given in to them by the great session of 
 the kirks of the burgh, dated 4th October 1648, anent " the restraining of excessive 
 banquettis at the baptezeing of children on the Lordis day ; anent the closing of wyin 
 and aill sellaris that day ; anent the restraining of ' vaiging persons,' who have past the 
 danger of the pest abroad, cheiflie on the Lord's day towardis the foul lodges ; anent 
 the restraineing of strangeris and sturdie beggaris ; anent the keeping of the portis 
 clos on the Sabboth day," with the council's answer thereto, dated I3th October, or- 
 dained proclamation to pass through the burgh ' ' for inhibeteing all such disorder, and 
 restraineing all such vyse according to the penall statutes of this bruch." On igth 
 June 1650,* the council, to the effect people may be restrained " fra vaging abroad 
 vpon the Sabboth," ordained the ports to be closed from ten o'clock on Saturday 
 night till four o'clock on Monday morning ; and that no one be suffered to come in or 
 pass out during that time, or be found ' ' vaging " in the streets, or repairing to the 
 castlehill, under pain of imprisonment and punishment of their persons, at the will of 
 the magistrate. As a special exception to this rule, the Society, Netherbow, and 
 Leith Wynd ports were allowed to be opened for an hour in the morning and at night 
 for the watering of horses. 2 On Qth September l657> 3 two of the bailies were ap- 
 pointed to meet with the ministers as to the breach of the Sabbath, especially by the 
 bickering betwixt Leith and Edinburgh ;* and again on 2 1st October i657, 5 a com- 
 mittee of the council were appointed to meet with the ministers and kirk -sessions 
 anent the better keeping of the Sabbath day. 6 On 8th September 1658,7 in conse- 
 quence of overtures by the presbytery " for the better keeping of the Sabbath day," 
 the council ordered a pair of stocks to be placed at the Weighhouse, the Cross, the 
 Netherbow, and the Grassmarket, "quhairin are to be put the transgressors in caise of 
 
 1 Council Records, xvii. 260. 
 
 2 This act was doubtless passed on the representation of the kirk-sessions, whose 
 minute of 5th August 1646 embodies a similar resolution [Extracts by Principal Lee, 
 Appendix to Report of Sir Andrew Agnew's Committee, p. 304]. At Glasgow, like- 
 wise, the ports were ordered to be closed, but only during certain hours [Wodrow's 
 Biographical Collections (Maitland Club), ii. II, 38], 
 
 3 Council Records, xix. 242. 
 
 4 This conference followed on a representation by the " Five Sessions" of Edinburgh 
 "anent the great abuse of the bickerings on the Sabbath day, even in the time of ser- 
 mon" (see Excerpt from their minute, 7th September 1657. Lee's Extracts, ut supra, 
 p. 305). 5 Council Records, xix. 254. 
 
 6 In a minute of the kirk-sessions, dated 5th April 1658, it is stated that " the ma- 
 gistrates is to cause some Inglish souldiers goe along the streets, and those outparts 
 above written, both before sermon and after sermon, and lay hold upon both young 
 and old whom they find out of their houses, or out of church " [Principal Lee's Ex- 
 tracts, ut supra, p. 305]. 
 
 7 Council Records, xix. 330.
 
 xxxii Appendix. 
 
 their not paying the penal tie mentioned in the overtures." An act passed on I4th 
 January I659, 1 refers to a representation from the ministers and kirk-sessions as to the 
 number of persons in the habit of walking or sitting, and playing on the Castlehill, 
 streets, and other places on the Sabbath day after sermons, "so that it is manifest that 
 familie worship is neglected by such, and diverse inconveniencies follow," for remeid 
 whereof stocks were ordered to be provided for the punishment of those who failed to 
 pay the fines thereby prescribed. Following on the acts of parliament 1661, c. 1 8, and 
 1663, c. 19, the latter of which materially strengthened the hands of the church judica- 
 tories, an act of council, dated 1 3th January 1664,* and relative proclamation, pro- 
 hibited walking through the streets in time of divine service. This act bears to have 
 been passed upon the representation of the kirk-sessions. A similar act was passed, 
 and proclamation ordered, two days later.* By the act of parliament 1672, c. 58, the 
 magistrates of burghs were required to execute the previous acts against those who 
 might be delated to them by sessions and church courts ; and as these acts and the 
 town's statutes already referred to seem to have been found sufficiently effective, the 
 council do not appear to have been called on for several years to legislate further on 
 the subject 4 On ist May i689, 5 however, an act of council appointed all the public 
 wells to be closed on Sundays from eight A. M. till twelve o'clock noon, and from one 
 o'clock till five o'clock P.M.; discharged all persons from bringing vessels larger than a 
 pint bottle to the wells for the carrying off of water on the Lord's day ; and discharged 
 milk to be sold on that day after seven A. M. during summer, and eight A. M. during 
 winter. Another act dated I3th November 1689, prohibited all coffee-houses in the 
 city from being opened upon the Lord's day in any time coming, under a penalty of 
 12 Scots ; and a third act, dated 25th December in the same year, 7 re-enacted the 
 provisions of the former act as to the public wells ; prohibited the bringing of milk 
 into the city after half -past seven o'clock A.M., " that the inbringers of the milk may 
 be in reddiness to remove out at the ports at eight of the clock in the morning ; " and 
 recommended the bailies to see the act " put to due execution, and to put Gentries to 
 every cestern during the tyme they rin." An act dated 2gth October logo, 8 ordained 
 intimation to be made from the pulpits that " the scandalous practice " of profaning 
 the Lord's day by standing and vaging upon the streets be foreborne, with certification 
 that those found standing or walking upon the street or castlehill in time of divine 
 worship, without a reasonable cause, should be fined, in terms of the acts of parlia- 
 ment. On I4th October 1692, 9 the council appointed a committee to consider the 
 several acts of parliament made anent keeping of the Sabbath day, and proclamations 
 of council relative thereto ; " and to deliberat upon the most effectual methods for the 
 
 1 Council Records, xx. n. 2 Ibid. xxii. 90. 3 Ibid. xxii. 90. 
 
 4 On 6th October 1682 [Ibid. xxx. 148], forty merks Scots were ordered to be paid to 
 the town's officers for their pains in clearing the streets of beggars upon the Sabbath 
 days. 5 Ibid, xxxiii. 5. 6 Ibid, xxxiii. 52. 
 
 7 Ibid, xxxiii. 68. 8 Ibid, xxxiii. 183. 9 Ibid, xxxiv. 104.
 
 Notes on Sunday Observance, &c., in Scotland, xxxiii 
 
 punctual observance of the Sabbath day in this place, and to report the next council 
 day." 1 No trace of the report appears, but on gth August 1693,2 an act f council 
 was passed, which, after reciting the various acts of parliament against Sabbath-break- 
 ing and other immoralities, and the prevalence of the offences against which they 
 were directed, prohibited brewing or other labour, or standing or walking idly on the 
 streets, or going in company or vaging to the Castlehill, public yards, or fields, on 
 the Lord's day, at any time thereof; discharged all persons from going to alehouses or 
 taverns for eating or drinking during time of sermon, or unseasonably or unnecessarily 
 at any time on the Lord's day ; prohibited all keepers of taverns or alehouses from 
 selling meat or drink to be eaten or drunken otherwise than as above stated ; and dis- 
 charged all persons from bringing in water from the wells to houses on that day in greater 
 quantities than single pints, under penalty of ^10 Scots for every contravention. 
 
 In the interval between this and the subsequent act of council of I2th May 1699, re- 
 ferred to in the text, 3 the acts of parliament 1695, c. 16, and 1696, c. 31, were passed. 
 These were followed by a royal proclamation, dated 25th January 1698, containing an 
 abbreviate of the laws against profaneness, and for suppressing of vice and immorality. 
 This proclamation was ordered to be duly published, and also to be read twice a year 
 in all the parish churches of the kingdom ; and all judges, magistrates, and officers of 
 the law, were required, on their highest peril, to see to the due execution of the laws 
 therein referred to. Among these laws it is somewhat curious to find conspicuous acts 
 of Charles II. against blasphemy, of James VI. and Charles II. against swearing and 
 profanation of the Sabbath ; of Charles II. against the custom of excessive drinking ; 
 of Queen Mary against adultery ; and of Charles II. against " the filthy vice of forni- 
 cation." 4 
 
 1 This committee was appointed in consequence of a representation to the council by 
 the " Six Sessions " of Edinburgh, urging the passing of an act for better observing the 
 Lord's day. See Minute of Sessions, 3d October and I4th November 1692. Princi- 
 pal Lee's Extracts, t supra, p. 305. 
 
 2 Council Records, xxxiv. 225. Queen's Pious Proclamation, &c., p. 40. 
 
 3 Antea, p. 146. 
 
 4 See Acts of Town Council of Edinburgh for suppressing of Vice and Immorality, 
 with Proclamation of Privy Council, &c. Printed by George Mossman. Edinburgh. 
 1706.
 
 xxxiv Appendix. 
 
 VII. 
 
 ORDERS TO BE OBSER VED BY THE CONSTABLES 
 OF EDINBURGH. 1 
 
 (Seepage l$o.) 
 
 For attending of Meetings. 
 
 ist. Each constable that comes not at the hour to which they are cited by the officer, 
 or at furthest at calling of the roll, shall pay two shillings scotts to the box. 
 
 2cL Each absent being in town, or within four miles thereof, shall pay four shillings 
 scotts, unless an excuse for his absence be made, quhilk excuse is to be considered by 
 the society, in absence of the partie, if relevant or not, to whose determination the 
 partie absent must submitt. 2 
 
 3dly. If any stay away in slighting the meetings more than one dyet, befor he can 
 be admitted again, either to sitt or vott, he must be lyable to the censure of the 
 society, to be punished as they shall find just 
 
 4thly. For Concurrence. 
 
 Each constable shall concurr with one another in what belongs to their office, and 
 he or they who shall refuse so to doe shall be liable to the censure of the society, 
 according to the demerit of the fault. 
 
 5thly. Of Negligence. 
 
 Each constable that shall be found negligent in the dischairge of his office conform 
 to the printed orders, and especially within his owen bounds, shall be admonished by 
 the Moderator, or any sent from him for that effect, and if, after admonition, he con- 
 tinow negligent, he shall be liable to the censure of the society, and shall submit to 
 thair determination. 8 
 
 1 The footnotes to these orders shew the alterations made thereon by the Society at 
 various times. 
 
 " Ordered by minute of 27th June 1739, that no excuse for absence be sustained save 
 sickness, or being "at least four miles" from the town at the time of the meeting 
 [Minute Book, i. in]. By minute dated 3Oth March 1740, absentees were appointed 
 to be fined 6d. ; seros, 2d. [Ibid. i. 115]. By minute dated 1 5th April 1748, ab- 
 sentees were ordered to be fined 6d. [Ibid. i. 168]. 
 
 3 This article altered by minute of I5th April 1748, so as to read as follows : "Each 
 constable that shall be found negligent in the discharge of his office, and particularly
 
 Orders to be observed by the Constables of Edinburgh, xxxv 
 
 6thly. Anent going from the table without leave, 
 
 No constable [shall] rise from the table or offer to go away till all business be over, 
 and prayers said, without leave asked and obtained of the Moderator. And if any go 
 away in a disorderly manner, after he meets or votes with the society, he shall submitt 
 to thair determination, that all such irregularities may be remedied. 
 
 ythly. Anent speaking when mett. 
 
 None shall speak but one at once, and his speech shall be directed to the Mode- 
 rator, and whosoever shall prove guilty shall pay two shillings scotts for each fault. 1 
 
 Sthly. Anent the time of meeting. 
 
 It is agreed unto by the whole constables that their general meeting shall be on the 
 last Munday of every month, at such an hour as the Moderator shall appoint. 2 
 
 gthly. Anent refusing to pay fines imposed. 
 
 If any shall refuse to pay the penalties imposd on absents or seros, as particularly 
 befor sett down, or such other fines or penalties as shall be imposed upon them (for 
 their transgressions) by the society, the constables refuseing, as said is, shall be liable 
 to be poynded for thrice the value of what he was otherwise charged with ; which 
 fines and poynds shall be disposed of as the society shall think fitt. 
 
 rothly. Anent going and attending ordinary and extraordinary meetings. 
 
 It is agreed unto by the whole constables, that each of them, whether at an ordinary 
 or extraordinary meeting, that shall be sero or absent at the calling of the roll, or 
 altogether absent, shall be punished according to the former rules, and this to evite all 
 debate for the futture. 
 
 i ithly. Anent punishing of swearers. 
 
 Whosoever shall swear by soul, faith, or conscience, &c., or take the name of God 
 in vain, sitting at the table, or at any of the constables' meetings, shall be fined in 
 twenty merks scotts, Mies quoties, to be paid into the box. 8 
 
 in going his rounds, particularly within his own bounds, shall be admonished by the 
 preses, or any member sent by him for the purpose ; after which, if he continues negli- 
 gent, he shall be liable to the censure of the society, and submit himself to their deter- 
 mination" [Minute Book, i. 168]. 
 
 1 By minute of I5th April 1748, this order was appointed to be read at each meeting 
 immediately after calling the roll, and each transgressor to be fined one penny [Ibid, 
 i. 1 68]. 
 
 2 Fixed at nine o'clock A.M. by minute dated 5th November 1739 [Ibid. i. no]. 
 
 * Confirmed by minute of I5th April 1748, with this addition, " That each person
 
 xxxvi Appendix. 
 
 lathly. Anent going to burials. 
 
 Each constable, being warned by the officer, shall come to a brother constable's 
 burial, or the burial of his wife or children, and shall appear at the Grayfriar church 
 yard, or any other burial place in town or suburbs, under the penalty of six shillings 
 and eight pence sterling, toties quoties, and for the future the officer is ordained to give 
 in ane execution of all that shall be warned on such occasions, with an exact account 
 of the absents, that they may be fined as above mentioned. And further the whole 
 constables are ordained and obliged to conveen befor the burial with the moderator, 
 at his lodging, or where he shall appoint, under the penalty foresaid, they being 
 always told by the officer so to do, in case they have no reasonable excuse to satisfy 
 the society. 
 
 1 3th. Constables exempted from guaird. 
 
 No constable during his office shall mount or dismount the guaird, or go out at any 
 rendevouze, under the penaltie of five pounds scotts toties quoties. 
 
 No constable shall be liable to watching or warding in case of a constable guard, 
 and that two years after demission, and new constables chosen. 
 
 1 4th. Of Poynding. 
 
 Each constable that shall poynd without his batton in his hand, shall pay four 
 pounds scotts, toties quoties, and this for avoiding all inconveniences that may happen. 
 
 1 5th. Of meeting each Lord's day. 
 
 It is agreed unto by the moderator and constables, that each Lord's day, betwixt 
 four and five hours at night (or any other hour they shall appoint at their general meet- 
 ing) they shall meet at the Laigh Council House, and go from thence, four and four in 
 company, with their battons, and search shops, cellars, and taverns, for idle persons 
 drinking, and when they are found, the constables are to order them to the guard if 
 they see cause, or otherwise as they please, and shall make a delation to the magis- 
 trates of the master or mistris of the house, taverin, or cellar, where such persons shall 
 be found, to the effect they may be punished according to law, and it is hereby de- 
 clared, that the constables are to meet days and place foresaid without any warning ; 
 with certification to such as shall be absent they shall be liable in six pence sterling, 
 toties quoties ? 
 
 guilty of the crime mentioned, out of the society as well as in it, shall be fined at the 
 discretion of his brethren, met in society" [Minute Book, i. 168]. 
 
 By an act of the Society of Captains, dated 1st October 1683, a fine of 6s. scots was 
 imposed on all who should swear at their meetings [Minute Book of Captains, i. 14]. 
 This fine was increased to 6s. sterling by an act dated ist November 1703 [Ibid. i. 72]. 
 
 1 On 3d May 1708, it was resolved that the whole society should meet each Lord's
 
 Orders to be observed by the Constables of Edinburgh, xxxvii 
 
 1 6th. It is agreed that when any vote is stated and voted, that the plurality of 
 votes shall always determine, and be submitted to, and in case of equality the mode- 
 rator shall have the casting vote. 
 
 1 7th. Anent Minutes. 
 
 It is agreed unto by the moderator and whole constables that each sederunt be 
 minuted, and the most material part recorded in all time coming. 
 
 1 8th. Anent going through mercats. 
 
 Edinburgh, February the 24th, 1701. This day the constables being convened in 
 the Laigh Council house, it was agreed unto unanimously by them, that for the more 
 effectual suppressing of cursing, swearing, and other vices too much abounding every- 
 where, but more especially in public mercats, they in all time coming, during their 
 continuance in this station, shall be obliged, and do hereby oblige themselves, to go 
 through the whole mercats, four and four as they are classed, each day of the week 
 (except Munday) in order to punish transgressors as they shall see cause according to 
 law. 
 
 1 9th. Anent walking at nig /it. 
 
 Edinburgh, August 1701. The constables being convened in the Laigh Council 
 house, and having caused read the act lately issued out by the Magistrates against the 
 keeping of cellars, taverns, and chops, &c. open after the ten hour bell, and ordaining 
 the constables to be diligent in their duty, and take their turn through the streets, and 
 visit suspected houses in the night time, and having seriously considered the same, they, 
 in testimony of their compliance with the said act, hereby unanimously oblige them- 
 selves to go by fours in company as they are classed, through their bounds, two or 
 three nights every week, in order to suppress unseasonable drinking and caballing, and 
 shall delate to the Magistrates such as shall be obstinate transgressors ; and if any shall 
 neglect to observe this act, they shall be liable to such penalties as the society shall 
 inflict. 1 
 
 2Oth. Anent convening in time of Fire. 
 
 Edinburgh, November 3d. 1701. The which day the constables being convened in 
 the Laigh Council house, it was represented by the moderator that the Magistrates did 
 desire the constables should give their assistance in case of the dreadful accident of fire 
 in time coming, in an orderly way, it being too burdensome for themselves alone to 
 oversee and give needful orders at such occasions : which being considered by the 
 
 day, at half-past four o'clock, to go in company to search taverns, cellars, and other 
 houses [Minute Book, i. 20]. See foot-notes 2 and 3, p. xxxviii. 
 
 1 By minute dated 3d May 1708, one squad was appointed to go to taverns and 
 cellars every Saturday and Sabbath night [Minute Book, i. 2oJ. See foot-notes 2 and 3, 
 p. xxxviii.
 
 xxxviii Appendix. 
 
 society ; and being convinced it was their duty to assist and disburden the Magistrates, 
 and serve the neighbourhood, as much as possibly they can, therefore they hereby 
 oblige themselves to conveen at the Laigh Council house with their long battons in 
 their hands, upon the first tolling of the fire bells all time thereafter during their being 
 in that office, and thereafter shall send such of their number as the moderator shall 
 nominat, to the Lord Provost or Magistrates to receive their orders in such cases, which 
 orders are dilligently to be observed ; and if any shall fail to meet timously in manner 
 foresaid, or shall withdraw from meeting at such occasions without leave asked and 
 given, or such reasonable and just excuses as the society shall sustain, they shall be 
 liable to such penalties as the society shall think fitt to inflict, not exceeding ten pounds 
 scotts. 1 
 
 2 1 st. Going through the street Lords day morning and attending the courts. 
 
 Edinburgh, February 22d. 1703, This day the constables being con veened in the 
 Laigh Council house, it was unanimously agreed unto by them that, for the more 
 effectual suppressing of vice and imorality, the four constables who go through the 
 mercats weekly by turns shall be obliged and do hereby oblige themselves to go through 
 the streets on the Lords day in the morning, as the first dyet of their week, as also to 
 wait on the imorality court that week they go through, and to take care that the fines 
 be exacted of these who are guilty, when fined. And if any be deficient or negligent 
 herein, they shall be liable to the censure of the society, 2 as also if any constable shall 
 give in any delations, and shall not punctually attend the immorality court and see the 
 same prosecute, shall likeways be censured. 3 
 
 22d. Anent keeping shops open on Sacramental Fast days, Q^c* 
 
 Whereas one of the members of our society did, upon the Fast day and Saturday 
 preceding, and upon the Monday after, the Sacrament last celebrate in this city, keep 
 open his shop in the time of sermons, which practice is disaproved of by us, even in 
 those that discent from the Established Church, because hitherto it has been usual for 
 such to shut their shops, and desist trom all public business, on these days, Therefore 
 the society to preserve good order among themselves in time coming, Enact, that any 
 
 1 Confirmed on I5th April 1748, with the variation "That the constables shall meet 
 at the place where fire happens, and so soon as the danger is over repair to the Laigh 
 Council house" [Minute Book, i. 168]. 
 
 2 By minute dated 3Oth March I74> constables failing to go "through the streets on 
 Saturday night, Sunday morning, and Sunday night, in their turn," were appointed to 
 pay 8d. sterling for each neglect, or 2s. sterling for the whole. 
 
 8 Confirmed on 1 5th April 1748, "so far as the constables' method of executing their 
 office at the time corresponds with it " [Minute Book, i. 168]. 
 4 Minute Book, i. 173 ; i6th March, 1749.
 
 Orders to be absented by the Constables of Edinburgh, xxxix 
 
 member of theirs guilty of the above or any other practice that by the majority of 
 the society may be deemed a transgression (whether specified in the Rules 'or not) 
 shall be punishable at the pleasure of the society, any constable refusing to pay fines 
 imposed upon them for the above mentioned or any other offences, they shall be liable 
 to be poinded for three times the value of the fines imposed, which fines and poinds 
 shall be disposed off as the society thinks meet. 
 
 23d. Anent Batons. 1 
 
 That at every future election of constables the short batons be inspected, and if suffi- 
 cient, each member [shall] be obliged to deliver them in the same condition ; at least 
 if any of the silver be lost, he that loses it shall make it up. 
 
 24th. Anent keeping alphabetical list of women of bad fame, &c? 
 
 That in all time coming each constable when present at the enactment of an woman 
 of bad fame in the Magistrates book of enactments, shall take a note of the name of 
 such person or persons, and the date of their enactment ; and that the clerk of the 
 society shall keep an alphabetical list of such persons, and also of all persons banished 
 in consequence of prosecutions at the Fiscal's instance, together with the pains and 
 penalties contained in their sentence. 
 
 25th. Anent making up lists ofjttrors? 
 
 The society of constables . . . having considered that throu inadvertance or want 
 of due information the lists of burgesses fitt to serve on Juries have frequently been 
 neglected to be taken up in due time, their being no rule or order in the society's book 
 for that purpose, do therefore agree that in time coming an order be given on the last 
 Munday of May yearly to take up the lists as above, to be given in at or befor the 
 meeting of the Committee immediately thereafter, or at any time appointed by the 
 Preses, under such penalty as the society shall appoint. 
 
 N.B. Two lists are to be given, one for the Excheqiier, and one for the Lords of 
 Justiciary. 
 
 26th. Anent making up Lists of Houses of Bad Fame* 
 
 That as by the flitting and removing at the term of Whitsunday several persons 
 that keep houses of bad fame escape the notice and observation of the constables . . . 
 a list of these [shall be taken up] with as much care and exactness as possible, which 
 list [shall] be given in at or before the next General Meeting after the order, as it re- 
 
 1 8th February 1750. Minute Book, i. 181. 3 27th August 1750. Ibid. i. 185. 
 * 26th March 1750. Ibid. i. 182-185. 4 2 7 th August 1750, Ibid. i. 185.
 
 xl Appendix. 
 
 quires more time to discover such persons and houses then the taking up the lists for 
 Juries above mentioned. 1 
 
 27th. Anent the admission of Vintners or Publicans? 
 
 Considering the inconveniences that have arisen from Vintners or Publicans being 
 admitted as members of the society ? and farther, considering that vintners are fre- 
 quently exposed to receive loose and irregular companies into their houses, and that it 
 belongs to the constables' office to visit and inspect public houses where such companies 
 resort, the society are of opinion that it is altogether incompatible with the good order 
 of the society, as well as the necessary and impartial suppression of vice and immorality, 
 to receive vintners or publicans amongst them, and hereby unanimously resolve for 
 themselves, and earnestly recommend it to their successors in office, not to nominate 
 persons of that employment to suceed them. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 LIST OF OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETY OF HIGH 
 
 CONSTABLES. 
 
 (See page 161.) 
 
 George Mowbray, from December 1711 till January 
 
 Gideon M'Govan, from January 1714 till January 1715* 
 
 Robert Taylor, from January 1715 till January 1717. 
 
 James Kinloch, from January 1717 till his decease between January and March 1733. 
 
 William Scott, from April 1747 till March 1751. 
 
 The name of the person who acted as officer between the death of Kinloch and 
 
 the appointment of Scott is not mentioned. 
 
 John Rintoul, from 22d March till his dismissal on 29th July 1751. 
 Thomas Crighton, from 2Qth July 1751 till his decease in 1768. 
 William White, from nth March 1768 till his dismissal on 1st May 1775. 
 William Cruickshanks, from 1st May 1775 till his decease in 1796. 
 
 1 Rules 25 and 26 were ordered to be read along with the other rules of the society 
 immediately after the admission of the constables into office [Minute Book, i. 185]. 
 
 a 4th June 1763. Ibid. i. 280. 
 
 3 Here follows a reference to a case of rudeness on the part of one of the constables, 
 a vintner, at a festive meeting in his house on 25th March 1762 [Ibid. i. 274].
 
 Donations by the Society. xli 
 
 Donald Sinclair, from 1st July 1798 till 1812, when he received a pension, which 
 was paid down to his decease in November I827. 1 
 
 The name of the person who acted as officer between the death of Cruickshanks 
 and the appointment of Sinclair is not mentioned. 
 
 Archibald Campbell, from 1812 till his decease about October 1833.* 
 
 Alexander Macfarlane, from I2th December 1833 till 3ist December 1844, when 
 he received a pension, which appears to have been paid till his decease on I2th Feb- 
 ruary 1848. 
 
 Hector M'Fadyen, from 3ist December 1844 till 3ist October 1860. 
 
 Alexander Macpherson, since 3ist October i86o. 3 
 
 IX. 
 
 DONATIONS BY THE SOCIETY OUT OF THEIR 
 BOX TO CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS IN 
 
 THE CITY, &c. 
 
 (See page 162.) 
 1717. December 3. To the Crafts of Edinburgh and Mary Erskine, their Maiden 
 
 
 
 Hospital, 
 
 100 merks. 
 
 1719. January 
 
 14. 
 
 To the Charity Schools, 
 
 2os. sterling. 
 
 1724. March 
 
 1 8. 
 
 To the Trinity Hospital, 
 
 . 6 sterling. 
 
 1725. March 
 
 19. 
 
 To the Crafts of Edinburgh and Mary 
 
 
 * 
 
 
 Erskine, their Maiden Hospital, 
 
 . 300 merks. 
 
 1726. March 
 
 23- 
 
 To the Charity School, 
 
 . 6 sterling. 
 
 1727. March 
 
 20. 
 
 To the Maiden Hospital, 
 
 10 sterling. 
 
 1728. March 
 
 1 8. 
 
 To the Trinity Hospital, 
 
 . 6 sterling. 
 
 1729. March 
 
 3- 
 
 To the Trinity Hospital, 
 
 . ;lOO SCOtS. 
 
 1730. March 
 
 ir. 
 
 To the Infirmary, 
 
 . ;lOO SCOtS. 
 
 1 On ipth February 1807, the society presented Donald Sinclair with a handsome 
 silver watch and chain [Minute Book, iii. 26]. 
 
 * On 4th April 1814, the society presented Archibald Campbell with a handsome 
 silver watch and gold seal [Ibid. iii. 169-173] ; and on 4th April 1825, they presented 
 him with an elegant silver snuff-box [Ibid. iii. 411]. 
 
 8 On the retirement of Mr Charles Lawson as Moderator in April 1 864, he presented 
 Alexander Macpherson with a handsome marble timepiece.
 
 xlii 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 1731. March 17. To the Infirmary, .... .100 scots. 
 
 1732. March 16. To the Infirmary, .... .42 scots. 
 
 1733. March 14. To the Orphan Hospital, . . 7 sterling. 
 
 1741. March 12. Towards building the Hospital or Work- 
 house, for maintaining and employ- 
 ing the poor of the city of Edinburgh, $ sterling. 
 
 1747. March 30. For the use of the Charity Workhouse, io> ios. sterling. 
 
 1749. March 16. Value of a small keg of French brandy 
 seized by one of the constables on 
 a Sabbath day, and given to the 
 Charity Workhouse, . . . o, 93. od. 
 
 1752. June 27. To the Charity Workhouse, . . i, is. 
 
 1753. April 5. To the Charity Workhouse, . . 5. 
 
 April 5. To the Orphan Hospital, . . 4. 
 
 1755. March 20. To the clerk employed by the society 
 
 " for extirpating bad houses," . o, "js. 6d. 
 
 1809. April 22. To the Charity Workhouse, . . 5, 2s. 6d. 
 
 X. 
 
 INSTRUCTIONS by the Lord Provost, Magistrates, and 
 Council of Edinburgh, to be observed by the Constables in the 
 discharge of their offices within this City and liberties thereof. 
 Approved of by the Magistrates and Council on 2$d May 1750. 
 
 (See page 176.) 
 
 1st. Every constable is authorised and required to seize and apprehend all beggars, 
 vagabounds, sturdy beggars, or Egyptians, suspicious persons, or other idle persons 
 who have no calling to live by, nor take themselves to some labour, trade, or occupa- 
 tion, and all persons (not being officers or souldiers in His Majesty's army) wearing a 
 gun, pistol, or other fire arm ; and all persons guilty of slaughter, murther, theft, or 
 other culpable crime, or who shall be exciteing or encouraging any fray, stirr, mob, or 
 tumultuous assembly, or otherways disturbing the peace, and all persons who shall 
 molest or obstruct any constable in the execution of his office. 
 
 2d. Upon appearance of any fray or stir by day or night, or other sudden accident 
 that may fall out, the constables shall take all proper care and measures for separating
 
 . Instructions to be observed by the Constables. xliii 
 
 the parties, and preventing any inconveniency that may happen, and shall seize and 
 apprehend the pairty or pairties guilty. 
 
 3d. If any person ordained to be apprehended as above, shall flee to any house, the 
 constables shall follow in ordor to seize him, and if the door shall be shutt against the 
 constables, and access refused, he shall take proper measures to prevent the guilty 
 persons escaping in the meantime, and shall notice to the master or keeper of the said 
 house and other persons refusing him access as aforsaid, and inform any of the magis- 
 trates thereof in order to their being proceeded against and punished, And to obtain a 
 warrant for breaking open the doors of such house, and apprehending the criminals. 
 And if a criminal shall flee beyond the bounds of the constables charge, or beyond the 
 limits of the good touns jurisdiction, yet the constables may follow and apprehend him 
 in a fresh pursuit. 
 
 4th. Every constable shall carefully inform himself of all beggars or infamous per- 
 sons, and all priests or Jesuits, or other persons keeping private masses that shall 
 happen to dwell or reside within his bounds, and inform the magistrates or one or other 
 of them thereof, that such course may be taken with them as the law directs. 
 
 5th. Every constable shall use all diligence to discover and duely inform the magis- 
 trates of all baudy houses, and persons keeping and frequenting the same, and all 
 banners, cursers, swearers of profane oaths, blasphemers of God's holy name, and 
 profaners of the Sabbath day ; persons guilty of drinking and furnishing of drink at 
 unseasonable and forbidden times, and other lewd and profane persons, that such 
 course may be therewith taken as the law directs. 
 
 6th. Every constable is hereby directed when he shall seize and apprehend any person 
 as above ordained, forthwith to present the person so seized to a magistrate, unless the 
 same shall happen at unseasonable hours, in which case he is to secure or detain him 
 in the guard, till he can conveniently be taken before a magistrate, And every con- 
 stable who shall seize any person or persons, or give information to the magistrates as 
 above, is hereby required to give a particular account of the crime, and as far as he 
 can of the names of the witnesses, and other means for proving it. 
 
 7th. That the constables may be the more effectually enabled to execute their office, 
 they are hereby impowered to call for the assistance not only of the other constables 
 town guard and town officers, but whole neighbours and inhabitants, who are hereby 
 charged to assist and concurr with him. And the constable is hereby directed with all 
 convenient speed to inform the magistrates, or one or other of them, of such of the 
 aforsaid persons as shall refuse their concurrence. 
 
 8th. That the whole constables shall, upon the last Munday of every moneth, att 
 eight o'clock in the morning, compear and present themselves before the lord provost 
 and magistrates in the councill house, to give ane account of their diligence in their 
 offices, as they will answer upon their obedience. 1 
 
 In approving of these " instructions," the council recommended the Lord Provost
 
 xliv Appendix. 
 
 9th. That every constable shall be obliged to take notice of the sufficiency of the 
 muck men, and their seasonable cleansing the streets and others, And that the tacks- 
 men take away the same in due time conform to the act of council, and of all persons 
 that shall be guilty of throwing over any kind of filth att shot windows or doors in the 
 high streets, or in closses, wynds, or passages of the city, or of laying doun the same att 
 other times than those directed by acts of councill, and shall give the magistrates 
 notice of such delinquents, that they may be summoned before them, and proceeded 
 against in the regular forme of law. 
 
 loth. That every constable after he is out of his office of constabulary shall continue 
 in the office of a censor and assistant to his succeeding constable for suppressing im- 
 morality dureing the time of their immediat successors office, and to attend the quar- 
 terly meetings of the said constables anent immoralities. 
 
 nth. That every constable shall be obliged to receive any injunctions or statute that 
 the lord provost or magistrates and councill shall enjoin to them at any time hereafter 
 relating to their office. 
 
 There are some differences between the copy of the Instructions here given and 
 those engrossed in the Constables* Minute Book, vol. i. pp. 150159. But as 
 they are merely verbal, it has not been considered necessary to refer to them. 
 
 XL 
 
 INSTRUCTIONS for the Constables of the City of Edinburgh, 
 in the discharge of their public duties, approved of by the 
 Magistrates and Council on 2gth March 1786. 
 (See page 184.,) 
 
 1st. Every constable is authorised and required to seize and apprehend all persons 
 suspected guilty of slaughter, murder, theft, or other crime, or who shall be found 
 exciting or encouraging any fray, stir, mob, or tumultuous assembly, or otherways 
 disturbing the peace ; and all persons who shall mollest or obstruct any constable in 
 the execution of his office. 
 
 2d. Any citizen presenting a regular written complaint against disorderly or riotous 
 persons, either in the street or in a house, the constables may grant warrant for their 
 
 and magistrates " to attend punctually the first Munday of every moneth, to receive the 
 constables' reports" [Council Records, Ixix. 3].
 
 Instructions for the Constables. xlv 
 
 committment to the city guard untill examined by the magistrates ; and upon any fray 
 or stir by day or night, or any other sudden accident that may fall out either in the 
 street or in any disorderly houses, the constables shall take all proper care and measures 
 for separating the parties, and preventing any inconveniency that may happen, and 
 shall seize and apprehend the party or parties guilty. 
 
 3d. If any persons lyable to be apprehended as above shall fly to any house, the 
 constable shall follow in order to seize him, and if the door shall be shut against the 
 constable, and access refused, he shall take proper measures to prevent the guilty per- 
 sons escaping ; and if resisted, he may, after displaying his batton, force his way into 
 the house, even to the breaking open of the door, in order to apprehend the criminal ; 
 and if a criminal shall fly beyond the bounds of a constable's charge, or beyond the 
 limits of the good touns jurisdiction, yet the constable may follow and apprehend him 
 in a fresh pursuit. 
 
 4th. Every constable is hereby directed when he shall seize and apprehend any per- 
 son as above described, to carry him before the sitting magistrate, and failling of him 
 before any other magistrate as quickly as it can be done, and in the meantime to secure 
 or detain him in the city guard till he can be conveniently taken before a magistrate ; 
 and every constable who shall seize any person or persons is hereby required to give a 
 particular account of the crime, and, as far as he can, of names of the witnesses, and 
 the other means for proving it. 
 
 5th. That the constables may be the more effectually enabled to execute their office, 
 they are hereby empowered to call for the assistance not only of the other constables, 
 town guard, and town officers, but whole neighbours and inhabitants, who are hereby 
 charged as they shall be answerable after the batton is displayed, to assist and concur 
 with them, and the constables are hereby directed with all convenient speed to inform 
 the magistrates, or one or other of them, of such of the aforesaid persons as shall refuse 
 or neglect to give their concurrence. 
 
 6th. That the constables be obliged to receive any instructions that the lord provost 
 or magistrates and council shall enjoin them at any time hereafter relating to their office, 
 in the discharge of which and the other regulations they will support and defend them, 
 and if any unavoidable expense shall arise from the execution of the immediate orders 
 of the magistrates, such expense shall be paid.
 
 xlvi Appendix. 
 
 XII. 
 
 R ULES proposed by the Society of Constables for their internal 
 government, and approved of by the Magistrates and Council 
 on 2tyh March i/Sd 1 
 
 (Seepage 185.^ 
 
 1st. That when a meeting is called by the preses, those members who are not at 
 the place appointed within fifteen minutes after the hour specified in their summons, 
 shall pay the treasurer threepence [sterling]. Those who do not attend or send an 
 apology, sustained by a majority [of the members present], shall pay one shilling [ster- 
 ling] ; and every member present without his batton shall pay sixpence [sterling]. 
 
 2d. After the new constables are appointed by the councill, the preses shall sum- 
 mon the old and new ones to meet, in order for those who go out of office to deliver 
 up their battons, and their successors to be sworn in by the magistrates, and to sign 
 the rules. The society then to proceed to the election of their preses and other office- 
 bearers. 
 
 3d. That when the elections are over, the new preses shall intimate the day and 
 house where he is to dine, with such of the members as chuse to attend, who shall 
 immediately put down their names, and if not present at dinner shall pay two shillings 
 and sixpence.* 
 
 4th. The bill to be called at seven o'clock, and any member chusing to go away 
 sooner, shall appoint one present to pay for him. 
 
 5th. Any member who does not give notice two days before that he is not to sup 
 with the preses on the king's birthnight, and if absent shall pay two shillings and 
 sixpence.* 
 
 6th. Any member not returning to the preses or clerk a list of proper and respectable 
 citizens to serve as jurymen within his bounds, on or before the time specified in the 
 card sent him, shall pay five shillings [sterling]. 
 
 1 The footnotes and words within brackets shew the additions to and alterations on 
 these rules in the copy engrossed in the Minute Book of the Society [Minute Book, 
 ii. 309-312], dated 1st December 1786, and subscribed by the constables. 
 
 1 Five shillings. 
 
 3 Originally "two shillings and sixpence," altered first to "five" shillings, and after- 
 wards to " los. 6d. sterling."
 
 Alterations on the foregoing Rules. xlvii 
 
 7th. Any difference arising at a meeting between any of the members, respecting their 
 duty and behaviour as constables* the same shall be determined by a majority of the 
 society present. 
 
 At a general meeting of the society held on yth April 1 787, it was unanimously 
 agreed that no member of the society who uses any influence with the town council, 
 directly or indirectly, with regard to the lists of persons nominated for constables 
 by the committee, shall be eligible to be elected preses. 8 
 
 Alterations on the foregoing Rules, and Additions thereto. 
 
 (i.) By a minute of the society dated 4th June 1789, articles 3, 4, and 5 of the above 
 Rules were altered, and the following Rules were made. 3 
 
 3. After the election of preses and other officers, the preses shall inform the society 
 when and where he means to have the election dinner, and every member absent shall 
 forfeit ten shillings sterling ; 4 the members going out of office to be invited as usual, 
 but not to be liable in any forfeiture for non-attendance. 
 
 4. The calling of the bill to be left to the judgment and discretion of the preses. 
 
 5. Any member absent on His Majesty's birthday in attending the magistrates to 
 drink the healths, shall forfeit two shillings and sixpence sterling ; and if absent from 
 the entertainment in the evening, shall forfeit five shillings sterling. 
 
 Any member not obeying a summons made by the preses for a meeting of the society 
 or committee shall forfeit one shilling, independent of all other forfeitures. 
 
 The election of the preses shall be made previous to the annual election of members ; 
 a special meeting being called for that purpose, at which the leets for new constables 
 shall be adjusted. 
 
 (2.) By a minute dated igth March i8o3, 5 the society agreed, 
 
 1. That each member of the committee absent from a committee meeting, when 
 summoned by order of the moderator, shall pay a fine of five shillings ; and if a quarter 
 of an hour after the appointed time, one shilling, unless prevented from sickness only. 
 
 2. That all fines be strictly levied by the treasurer, who shall deposit them in the 
 
 1 The words in italics are not in the copy engrossed in the minute book. 
 
 2 Minute Book, ii. 311. * Ibid. ii. 102, 103. 
 
 4 Increased by minute dated 5th June 1797 to fifteen shillings sterling [Minute Book, 
 ii. 117]; and by minute dated igth March 1803 to twenty shillings sterling, "which 
 shall go to defray the bill" [Ibid. ii. 251], 6 Minute Book, ii. 251, 252.
 
 xlviii Appendix. 
 
 society's box, the contents of which shall customary be sold once a year to the highest 
 bidder, and the price it brings shall go to the fund aforesaid [z. e. a charitable fund for 
 the society which it was proposed at that time to establish]. 
 
 This regulation it was declared should not apply to the fines for absence from the 
 annual dinner, which were appointed to be applied towards payment of the dinner bill. 
 
 (3.) By a minute dated 27th April I8O7, 1 the society agreed, 
 
 1. That in future every member of the society shall, except in case of sickness or 
 being twenty miles absent from town, when the original fine of one pound shall only 
 be levied, pay the full share of the annual election dinner bill, instead of any particular 
 fine. 
 
 2. That in future the day for celebrating the annual election dinner shall be the first 
 Friday of May. 
 
 (4. ) By a minute dated 1 8th May iSoo., 2 the society adopted the following scale of fines, 
 on the footing that absence from town at a distance of twenty miles, or sickness, 
 should always be a ground of exemption. 
 
 1st. For the election dinner, to every absent member the full share of the bill of the 
 entertainment. 
 
 2d. For not attending on the King's birthnight, one guinea ; and it is expressly un- 
 derstood no member shall absent himself from duty after coming from the Parliament 
 House until the time of supper at ten o'clock. 
 
 3d. For all meetings called by the Lord Provost and Magistrates for the society to 
 act on extraordinary occasions, every absent member to pay ten shillings and sixpence. 
 
 4th. For neglecting to make out the returns of jurymen at the day specified by the 
 moderator, ten shillings and sixpence. 
 
 5th. For neglecting to make out the returns of militia lists at the day specified by 
 the moderator, ten shillings and sixpence. 
 
 6th. For general meetings of the society every absent member to pay one shilling. 
 
 7th. For gentlemen coming to any meeting a quarter of an hour later than the in- 
 timation, sixpence. 
 
 8th. For every member coming to any meeting without his short baton, sixpence. 
 
 1 Minute Book, iii. 29. 2 Ibid. iii. 89.
 
 Rules and Regulations. xlix 
 
 XIII. 
 
 RULES for the internal government of the HigJi Constables, 
 adopted by the Society on 2$d June 1812, to supersede the Rules 
 then in force. 1 
 
 1. For the election dinner, to every absent member, the full share of the bill of 
 entertainment. 2 
 
 2. For not attending on the King's birthday, one guinea. 
 
 3. For all meetings called by the Lord Provost and Magistrates, for the society to 
 act on extraordinary occasions, every absent member to pay one guinea. 
 
 4. For neglecting to make out the returns of Jurymen at the day appointed by the 
 moderator, half-a-guinea. 
 
 5. For neglecting to make out the returns of militia lists on the day specified by the 
 moderator, one guinea. 
 
 6. For every member losing his large or small baton unless on necessary duty, half- 
 a-guinea. 
 
 7. For general meetings of the society, every absent member to pay half-a-crown. 
 
 8. For gentlemen coming to any meeting a quarter of an hour later than the intima- 
 tion, one shilling ; and for half an hour, one half of the fine for not attending the 
 meeting of the day. 
 
 9. For every member coming to any meeting without his short baton, half-a-crown. 
 
 10. The treasurer, before leaving office, shall regularly exhibit a state of the funds 
 of the society. 
 
 11. All intimations of the meetings of the society are to be by printed or written 
 notices, otherwise the fines cannot be demanded, except in cases of urgent necessity, 
 when there is not sufficient time to do so. Then a personal intimation is equally binding 
 if made by a brother constable or city officer. 
 
 12. An account of all fines incurred by members of the society to be handed by the 
 treasurer as early as possible to their officer, in order that he may collect them ; and 
 those objecting to pay such fines must state their reasons in writing to the treasurer, 
 who will lay them before the first general meeting that is held after he receives them. 
 
 1 Minute Book, iii. 125. 
 
 2 On 4th June 1814, the society resolved that no case of sickness or absence from 
 town could be considered a sufficient excuse for the non-payment by any member 
 of his share of the election dinner, but that every member should- be liable to his equal 
 proportion of the expense [Minute Book, iii. 1 76].
 
 1 Appendix. 
 
 And should that meeting not consider the reason stated as a sufficient excuse for non- 
 payment of the fine or fines, and those found liable still object to pay the amount, the 
 moderator, in name of the society, will then apply to the Magistrates to oblige such 
 member or members to resign. 
 
 It is expressly understood that being twenty miles from town, or cases of sickness, 
 exempt members from incurring any of the above fines when certified upon their word 
 of honour ; and it is also expressly understood that the same fines are exigible upon any 
 member leaving a meeting without consent of the moderator as upon those who have 
 not attended such meeting. 
 
 XIV. 
 
 R ULES for the internal government of the High Constables, 
 adopted by the Society on 8t/i August I8I4, 1 in lieu of those of 
 June 1802.' 
 
 1. For general meetings of the society, every absent member to pay half-a-crown. 
 
 2. For all meetings called by the Lord Provost and Magistrates for the society to act 
 on extraordinary occasions, every absent member, one guinea. 
 
 3. For not attending on the King's birthday, one guinea. 
 
 4. For gentlemen coming to general meetings of the society a quarter of an hour 
 later than intimation, one shilling ; half-an-hour, one shilling and sixpence ; and at ex- 
 traordinary meetings (where the fine of absence amounts to one guinea), five shillings 
 for being a quarter of an hour later than the time intimated ; and ten shillings and six- 
 pence if half-an-hour. 
 
 5. For any member coming to any meeting without his short baton, half-a-crown. 
 
 6. For every member losing his large or small baton unless on necessary duty, half- 
 a-guinea. 
 
 7. For neglecting to make out the return of Jurymen at the day appointed by the 
 moderator, one guinea. 
 
 8. For neglecting to make out return of Militia lists on the day specified by the 
 moderator, one guinea. 
 
 9. All intimations of meetings of the society to be by printed or written notices, 
 otherwise the fines cannot be demanded, except in cases of urgent necessity, when 
 
 Minute Book, iii. 179.
 
 Rules for Internal Government. 
 
 there is not sufficient time to do so. Then a personal intimation is equally binding if 
 made by a brother constable, city officer, or any other authorised person. 
 
 ro. It is expressly understood that being twenty miles from town, or cases of sickness, 
 exempt members from incurring any of the above fines, -when certified by their -word of 
 honour. And it is also expressly understood that the same fines are exigible upon any 
 member leaving a meeting without consent of the moderator, as upon those who have 
 not attended such meeting. 
 
 11. Any member who may be in arrears to the society shall not be entitled to vote 
 or express his opinion on any subject whatever that may be brought before them until 
 such fines are paid up, as expressed by the rules. 
 
 12. An account of all fines incurred by members of the society to be handed by the 
 treasurer as early as possible to their officer, in order that they may be collected ; and 
 those objecting to pay such fines must state their reasons in writing to the treasurer, 
 who will lay them before the first general meeting that is held after they are received. 
 And should that meeting not consider the reasons stated as a sufficient excuse for non- 
 payment of the fine or fines, and those found liable still object to pay the amount, the 
 moderator, in name of the society, will then apply to the Magistrates, to oblige such 
 member or members to resign. 
 
 13. For the election dinner, every member of the society to pay the full share of the 
 bill of entertainment, no excuse whatever being admitted. 
 
 14. The treasurer, before leaving office, shall regularly exhibit a state of the funds of 
 the society. 
 
 Alterations on the foregoing Rules, and Additions thereto. 
 
 (l.) By a minute dated 2ist February 1815,* the society resolved, 
 
 That every motion to be brought before the society must lie over till the next 
 
 general meeting thereafter. 
 (2.) By a minute dated 6th April l8l8, 2 the society resolved, 
 
 1. That the fine for attending any meeting without the short baton should be re- 
 
 duced from 2s. 6d. to is. 
 
 2. That no canvass for the office of moderator should take place before the modera- 
 
 tor's farewell dinner ; and 
 
 3. That no member should be eligible for election to the office of moderator till 
 
 he had served eighteen months as a constable. 3 
 
 1 Minute Book, iii. 187. * Ibid. iii. 228. 
 
 8 On 1st April 1822, it was objected to the eligibility of Mr Thomas Sawers as 
 moderator, that he had not served eighteen months in the society, but the objection 
 was disallowed by a majority. Mr Sawers had, however, previously served three years 
 as a constable [Ibid. iii. 331].
 
 Hi Appendix. 
 
 (3 ) By a minute dated 3d April I82O, 1 the society resolved, notwithstanding their 
 act of 2ist February 1815, 
 
 1. That the moderator shall in future be restricted in his invitations to the election 
 
 dinner to four private friends. 
 
 2. That each of the office-bearers be restricted to one private friend. 
 
 3. That the gentlemen of the committee be allowed no invitation whatever. 
 
 Which motion (on the understanding, however, that the committee was to 
 have it in their power to say what gentlemen holding official situations shall 
 be invited) was carried, there being no objection to it by any one present. 
 
 XV. 
 
 R ULES and Regulations of the Society of High Constables of the 
 City of Edinburgh, approved of by the Society on \2th August 
 1825.2 
 
 I. All intimations of the meeting of the society to be by printed or written notices, 
 issued by the secretary, otherwise the fines cannot be demanded, except in cases of 
 urgent necessity, when there is not sufficient time to do so. Then a personal intima- 
 tion is equally binding, if made by a brother constable, city officer, or any other 
 authorised person. 
 
 II. It is expressly understood, that being twenty miles from town, or cases of sick- 
 ness, exempt members from incurring any of the fines, when certified by their word of 
 honour. And it is also understood, that the same fines are exigible upon any member 
 leaving a meeting without consent of the moderator, as upon those who have not 
 attended such meeting. 
 
 III. Any member who may be in arrears to the society, shall not be entitled to vote 
 or express his opinion on any subject whatever that may be brought before them, until 
 such fines are paid up, as expressed by the Rules. 
 
 IV. An account of the fines incurred by the members of the society shall be handed 
 by the secretary, as early as possible, to the treasurer, and, when certified by him, 
 shall be given to their officer, in order that they may be collected ; and those objecting 
 to pay such fines must state their reasons in writing to the treasurer, who will lay 
 them before the first general meeting that is held after they are received. And should 
 that meeting not consider the reason stated as a sufficient excuse for non-payment of 
 
 Minute Book, iii. 289, 290. 2 Ibid. iv. 8-13.
 
 Rides and Regulations. liii 
 
 the fine or fines, and those found liable still object to pay the amount, the moderator, 
 in the name of the society, will then apply to the Magistrates to oblige such member 
 or members to resign. 
 
 V. The office-bearers and committee shall decide on such gentlemen holding official 
 situations in the city, as shall be invited to the entertainments of the society. The 
 moderator shall have the privilege of inviting four personal friends, and the treasurer, 
 secretary, and chaplain, one friend each. 
 
 VI. For the election dinner, every member of the society to pay the full share of the 
 bill of entertainment, no excuse whatever being admitted, and also his share of any 
 other necessary expenses incurred during the year. 
 
 VII. The treasurer, before leaving office, shall regularly exhibit a state of the funds 
 of the society. 
 
 VIII. No member serving as a High Constable shall hold a baton or continue a 
 member of any other body of constables during his term of service in the society. 
 
 IX. Every motion brought before the society affecting the laws, shall, after being 
 seconded, be given in to the secretary in writing, and lie over till next general meeting ; 
 and if then approved of by a majority, the same shall pass into a law. 
 
 X. No gentlemen shall be eligible to fill the office of moderator till he has served 
 as constable for eighteen months from the date of his last admission to the society ; and 
 the names of gentlemen proposed as candidates for the moderator's chair shall be inti- 
 mated by letter to the moderator previous to the farewell dinner, but no canvass shall 
 take place before that day, which shall be at least fourteen days previous to the first 
 Monday of April (which is hereby declared to be the day of election in time coming), 
 at which meeting the names of the candidates shall be announced before ten o'clock in 
 the evening from the chair. 
 
 XI. No member shall be re-elected to the office of moderator, treasurer, secretary, 
 or chaplain, for two successive years. 
 
 XII. Gentlemen retiring from the society, after receiving or giving due notice to that 
 effect, may exercise the privilege of handing a list to the moderator of three gentlemen 
 qualified to succeed them in office, which, if approved by the office-bearers and com- 
 mittee, must be submitted to the Magistrates and Council to make their election ; and 
 in case of members failing to do so within eight days from such notice, or returning 
 gentlemen not burgesses, or otherwise disqualified, they shall forfeit their privilege ; and 
 the names of others shall be sent in by the office-bearers and committee to the Magis- 
 trates and Council. 
 
 FINES. 
 
 XIII. General meetings of the society, every absent member to pay half-a-crown. 
 
 XIV. All meetings called by the Lord Provost and Magistrates for the society to 
 act on extraordinary occasions, every absent member one guinea.
 
 liv Appendix. 
 
 XV. For gentlemen coming to general meetings of the society a quarter of an hour 
 later than the intimation, one shilling ; half-an-hour, one shilling and sixpence ; and 
 at extraordinary meetings (where the fine for absence amounts to one guinea), five 
 shillings for being a quarter of an hour later than the time intimated, and ten shillings 
 and sixpence if half-an-hour. 
 
 XVI. The small baton ought to be carried at all times, and every member coming 
 to any meeting without it, one shilling ; and without his large baton, when specially 
 instructed to do so, two shillings and sixpence. 
 
 XVII. Losing large or small baton, unless on necessary duty, half-a-guinea. . 
 
 XVIII. Sending either large or small baton to any person not a member of the 
 society, on any occasion whatever, one guinea. 
 
 XIX. Neglecting to make out the returns of Jurymen at the day appointed by the 
 moderator, half-a-guinea. 
 
 XX. Neglecting to make out the returns of Militia Lists on the days specified by the 
 moderator, one guinea. 
 
 Alterations on the foregoing Rules, and Additions thereto. 
 
 (i ) By a minute, dated 1st May 1826, the second paragraph of Rule X. was altered 
 so as to read thus : 
 
 "And the names of gentlemen proposed as candidates for the moderator's chair 
 maybe intimated by letter to the moderator previous to, or be proposed by any 
 member at, the farewell dinner, &c." 1 
 
 (2.) By minute, dated 23d April l827, 2 the society substituted the following rules for 
 article XX. : 
 
 "Neglecting to affix the Militia lists on the church door on the proper day before 
 
 nine o'clock A.M., one guinea. " 
 "Neglecting to attend the meeting of Lieutenancy on the day of appeal, one 
 
 guinea." 
 "Omitting the exemption clause on the copy affixed to the church door, five 
 
 shillings." 
 "Omitting to state the day of appeal in the copy affixed to the church door, five 
 
 shillings in time of peace, and one guinea each in time of war." 
 
 (3.) On 25th October i827, s the society ordered, 
 
 "That on all occasions of vacancies in the society, the names of the persons pro- 
 posed to [supply such vacancies shall] be laid before the committee, previous 
 to being handed in to the Lord Provost and Magistrates." 
 
 1 Minute Book, iv. 38. * Ibid. iv. 57, 66. 8 Ibid. iv. 74
 
 Rules and Regulations. Iv 
 
 (4.) By a minute, dated 7th April 1828, Rule X. was altered as follows 1 : 
 
 "No gentleman shall be eligible to fill the office of moderator till he has served 
 as a High Constable for eighteen months from the date of his last admission 
 to the society ; and the names of gentlemen proposed as candidates for the 
 moderator's chair may be intimated by letter to the moderator on the first 
 lawful day of March annually, or be proposed by any of the members at the 
 farewell dinner ; but no canvas shall take place before the said first lawful day 
 of March ; and every candidate for the chair shall, at the annual farewell dinner 
 (which shall be at least fourteen days previous to the first Monday of April, the 
 annual day of election), lay before the society a list containing the names of 
 those gentlemen whom he intends to propose as office-bearers and committee- 
 members for the year ensuing. And it shall also be competent for any mem- 
 ber of the society, at the farewell dinner, to propose a list of gentlemen to fill 
 the situations of office-bearers and committee-members, in opposition to that 
 proposed by the candidate or candidates for the chair." 
 
 (5.) By a minute, dated 28th February 1829, the 3d, 4th, 5th, roth, and I2th articles 
 of the above laws were rescinded, and the following articles substituted a : 
 
 " Art. 3d. Any member who may be in arrears to the society, shall not be entitled 
 to vote, or express his opinion on any subject whatever that may be brought 
 before them, until such arrears are paid up, the moderator, in all cases of 
 equality, having the casting vote. 
 
 " Art, 4th. An account of the fines incurred by members of the society shall be 
 handed by the secretary to the treasurer as early as possible, and, when certi- 
 fied by him, shall be given to their officer, in order that they may be collected ; 
 and those objecting to pay such fines and share of necessary expenses must 
 state their reasons in writing to the treasurer, who will lay them before the 
 first general meeting that is held after they are received ; and should that 
 meeting not consider the reasons stated as a sufficient excuse for non-payment 
 of the fine or fines, and share of necessary expense, and those found liable 
 still object to pay the amount, the moderator, in the name of the society, will 
 then apply to the magistrates to expel such member or members. 
 
 " Art. 5th. The office-bearers and committee shall decide on such gentlemen as 
 shall be invited to the entertainments of the society. The moderator shall 
 have the privilege of inviting four personal friends, and the treasurer, chap- 
 lain, and secretary, one friend each. 
 
 " Art. ro. No gentleman shall be eligible to fill the office of moderator till he has 
 served as High Constable for eighteen months from the date of his last admis- 
 sion to the society ; and the names of gentlemen proposed as candidates for 
 the moderator's chair must be intimated by letter to the moderator on the first 
 
 1 Minute Book, iv. 85, 92 2 Ibid. iv. 126.
 
 Ivi Appendix. 
 
 lawful day of March annually; and no canvas shall take place until the second 
 lawful day of March. Every candidate for the chair shall, at a meeting to be 
 held annually for the purpose, at ten o'clock in the forenoon, on the Monday im- 
 mediately following the farewell dinner, submit to the society the names of 
 those gentlemen whom he intends to propose as office-bearers and committee 
 members. And it shall be competent for any member or members to bring 
 forward at this meeting, but not afterwards, a list or lists in opposition to 
 those named by the candidates for the chair ; and, previous to this meeting, no 
 canvas shall take place either for office-bearers or committee members. The 
 farewell dinner shall always take place in March at least fifteen days previous 
 to the first Monday in April, and no business whatever shall be then brought 
 forward. 
 
 "Art. 1 2th. Gentlemen whose period of service in the society has expired, may, 
 within eight days from the date of the general election of office-bearers, 
 exercise the privilege of handing a list to the moderator of three gentlemen 
 qualified to succeed them in office, which, if approved of by the committee 
 and office-bearers, must be submitted to the magistrates and council to make 
 their election." 
 
 XVI. 
 
 INSTR UCTIONS and Regulations by the Lord Provost, Magis- 
 trates, and Council, for the Society of High Constables of the 
 City of Edinburgh, confirmed by act of Council, iqth March 
 I828. 1 
 
 1st, In cases of breach of the peace, or violent threats of immediate mischief, or 
 obstruction of a constable in the execution of his office, as also in cases of felony which 
 he has seen committed, or has information of from others who are sure of the fact, 
 every high constable is authorised and required to seize and apprehend the person or 
 persons so seen or suspected, and immediately thereafter to carry them before a magis- 
 trate of the city or county, to be dealt with according to law. 
 
 adly, Any citizen presenting a regular written complaint, against disorderly or 
 riotous persons, either in the street or in a house, the high constables may take them 
 
 1 Council Records, cciii. 62.
 
 Instructions and Regulations. Ivii 
 
 into custody, and commit them to any of the police offices, until examined by the 
 magistrates, the sheriff-depute, or his substitute, or the officiating judge in the police 
 court, as the case may require ; and, upon any fray or disorder, by day or night, 
 or any other sudden accident that may fall out, either in the street or in any disorderly 
 house, the high constables shall take all proper care and measures for separating the 
 parties, and preventing any inconvenience that may happen, and shall seize and appre- 
 hend the party or parties guilty. 
 
 3dly, If any person or persons liable to be apprehended as suspected of having 
 committed an atrocious crime 1 shall take refuge in any house, the high constable shall 
 follow, in order to seize them ; and if the door shall be shut against the high constable, 
 and access refused, he shall take proper measures to prevent their escape ; and he 
 may, after displaying his baton, and notifying who he is, and the purpose of his 
 coming, and on being refused admission, force his way into the house, even to the 
 breaking open the door, in order to apprehend the accused ; and if they shall fly beyond 
 the bounds of a high constable's charge, or beyond the jurisdiction of the magistrates, 
 the high constable may follow and apprehend them. But no high constable shall 
 break open doors in pursuit of one who flies after committing a breach of the peace, or 
 minor delinquency. 
 
 4thly, Every high constable is hereby directed, when he shall seize and apprehend 
 any person or persons as aforesaid, to secure or detain them in any of the police 
 offices, till they can be conveniently taken before a magistrate, or before the sheriff- 
 depute or his substitute, or the officiating judge in the police court, as the case may 
 require ; and to state verbally or in writing to the magistrate the nature of the crime 
 or offence with which they are charged, and any other information he may possess, 
 including the names of the witnesses, or other means of proof. 
 
 5thly, That the high constables of the city may be the more effectually enabled to 
 execute their office, they are hereby empowered to call for the assistance, not only of 
 the other constables, in the jurisdiction of the magistrates of Edinburgh, and the police 
 officers and town officers, but the whole neighbours and inhabitants who are hereby 
 charged, as they shall be answerable, after the baton is displayed, to assist them ; 
 and the high constables are hereby directed, with all convenient speed, to inform the 
 magistrates, sheriff-depute, or his substitute, or officiating judge in the police court, 
 or one or other of them, of such of the aforesaid persons as shall refuse or neglect to 
 give their assistance. 
 
 6thly, That, on occasions of all public processions, or otherwise, the high constables 
 
 1 "Under the description of atrocious crimes seems to be comprehended murder ; 
 the inflicting of a dangerous wound ; rape ; assault with intent to commit a rape ; rob- 
 bery ; assault to commit robbery ; theft committed by housebreaking, picking locks, or 
 the like, or other aggravated theft ; breaking into a house in order to commit murder, 
 theft, or other felony," &c 7aifs Duties of a Constable, p. 12, Note.
 
 Iviii Appendix. 
 
 of the city of Edinburgh, when attending the magistrates, shall have precedency of the 
 extraordinary constables, as well as of the constables of Canongate, North and South 
 Leith, Calton, Easter and Wester Portsburgh, and shall retain their place in the pro- 
 cession even when it moves through these or other of the liberties of the city. 
 
 7thly, On the first alarm or suspicion of a riot, the high constables shall assemble as 
 speedily as possible (without waiting for a regular notice being sent them) in the Royal 
 Exchange, which shall be understood to be the rendezvous on all such occasions, there 
 to receive the necessary instructions from the magistrates ; and the high constables 
 shall at all times receive and attend to such instructions, in the discharge of their 
 duty, as the Lord Provost or magistrates may enjoin them. 
 
 Regulations regarding Fires. 
 
 I. 'Upon occasions of fire, the moderator of the high constables shall call out the 
 high constables, when it shall be their duty to preserve order, and to protect property ; 
 to keep the crowd away from the engines and those employed about them ; and, when 
 ordered by a magistrate, or authorised by the head master of the engines, or, in ab- 
 sence of a magistrate, by a member of the committee on fire-engines, to provide men 
 for working the engines. 
 
 2. The high constables shall not assume any management, or give any directions 
 whatsoever, except in preserving order, protecting property, and keeping off the crowd. 
 
 3. In cases of protracted fire, when extra men may be required to relieve the regu- 
 lar establishment, it shall be the duty of the high constables to collect those wanted 
 from among the persons on the street who may be willing to lend their assistance 
 mustering them in such parties as may be required taking a note of their names and 
 furnishing each individual with a certificate or ticket, with which the moderator of the 
 high constables at the time will be supplied ; and no person shall receive any remu- 
 neration for alleged assistance given at a fire who does not produce such certificate or 
 ticket. 
 
 4. The party or parties so mustered shall be placed and continue under the care of 
 two high constables until required for service, when they shall be moved forward to 
 the engines. 
 
 5. The men relieved by the party so moved forward shall be taken charge of by two 
 high constables, who shall see them properly refreshed and brought back within a rea- 
 sonable time ; so that the men employed may thus occasionally relieve each other 
 without confusion, and without being too much exhausted. 
 
 On report from the committee, to whom a memorial of the high constables was 
 remitted, the council approved of the foregoing instructions and rules, and appointed 
 them to be observed by the society of high constables, in the public discharge of 
 their office, and that during the pleasure of the council ; and appointed these instruc-
 
 Rules of the Society. lix 
 
 tions, with this minute, to be printed, and copies delivered to the different high 
 constables. 
 
 Note. It is recommended to each high constable to provide himself with a copy of 
 "Tait's Duties of a Constable," for his regulation, in cases of emergency, as containing 
 more full and minute directions. 
 
 XVII. 
 
 RULES of the Society of High Constables of the City of Edin- 
 burgh, approved of by the Society on i^th May 1830.' 
 
 I. All intimations of the meetings of the society to be by printed or written notices, 
 issued by the secretary ; otherwise the fines cannot be demanded, except in cases of 
 urgent necessity, when there is not sufficient time to do so. Then a personal intima- 
 tion is equally binding, if made by a brother constable, city officer, or any other 
 authorised person. 
 
 II. It is expressly understood, that being twenty miles from town, or cases of sick- 
 ness, exempt members from incurring any of the fines, when certified by their word of 
 honour. And it is also understood, that the same fines are exigible upon any member 
 leaving a meeting without consent of the moderator, as upon those who have not 
 attended such meeting. 
 
 III. Any member who may be in arrears to the society, shall not be entitled to vote 
 or express his opinion on any subject whatever that may be brought before them, until 
 such arrears are paid up. The moderator, in all cases of equality, to have the casting 
 vote. 
 
 IV. An account of the fines incurred by the members of the society shall be handed 
 by the secretary to the treasurer as early as possible ; and, when certified by him, shall 
 be given to their officer, in order that they may be collected ; and those objecting to 
 pay such fines and share of necessary expenses, must state their reasons in writing to 
 the treasurer, who will lay them before the first general meeting that is held after they 
 are received. And should that meeting not consider the reason stated as a sufficient 
 excuse for non-payment of the fine or fines, and share of necessary expenses ; and 
 those found liable still object to pay the amount, the moderator, in the name of the 
 society, will then apply to the magistrates to expel such member or members. 
 
 1 Minute Eook, iv. 173-176.
 
 Ix Appendix. 
 
 V. The office-bearers and committee shall decide on such gentlemen as shall be in- 
 vited to the entertainments of the society. The moderator shall have the privilege of 
 inviting four personal friends, and the treasurer, chaplain, and secretary, one friend 
 each. 
 
 VI. For the election dinner, every member of the society to pay the full share of the 
 bill of entertainment, no excuse whatever being admitted, and also his share of any 
 other necessary expenses incurred during the year. 
 
 VII. The treasurer, before leaving office, shall regularly exhibit a state of the funds 
 of the society. 
 
 VIII. No member serving as a high constable shall hold a baton, or continue a 
 member of any other body of constables during his term of service in the society. 
 
 IX. Every motion brought before the society affecting the laws, shall, after being 
 seconded, be given in to the secretary in writing, and lie over till next general meeting ; 
 and if then approved of by a majority, the same shall pass into a law. 
 
 X. No gentleman shall be eligible to fill the office of moderator unless he has at 
 any time served as a high constable for eighteen months ; the names of gentlemen 
 proposed as candidates for the moderator's chair must be intimated by letter to the 
 moderator within the first eight lawful days of March annually j 1 and no canvas shall 
 take place until the second lawful day of March. Every candidate for the chair shall, 
 at a meeting to be held annually for the purpose, at 10 A.M. on the Monday following 
 the farewell dinner, submit to the society the names of those gentlemen whom he in- 
 tends to propose as office-bearers and committee members ; and it shall be competent 
 for any member or members to bring forward at this meeting, but not afterwards, a 
 list or lists in opposition to those named by the candidates for the chair ; and previous 
 to this meeting, no canvas shall take place either for office-bearers or committee mem- 
 bers. The farewell dinner shall always take place in March, at least fifteen days pre- 
 vious to the first Monday in April, and no business whatever shall then be brought 
 forward. 
 
 XI. That on a vacancy taking place in the office of moderator, or in the offices of 
 treasurer, chaplain, or secretary, or in the committee, by resignation or otherwise, at 
 any period of the year previous to the annual election in April, intimation thereof shall 
 be given to the society by order of the moderator, or failing him, by the next highest 
 office-bearer, within one week of such vacancy taking place, when a general meeting 
 of the society shall be convened, within ten days after date of such intimation, for the 
 election (by the majority present) of a member or members of the society to supply the 
 vacancy or vacancies caused as aforesaid ; and that until such election the office-bearer 
 or committee member next in order on the list shall act as interim moderator, trea- 
 surer, &c. 
 
 1 Minute Book, iv. 185. By the rules approved of on 6th July 1829, this intima- 
 tion was ordered to be made " on the first lawful day of March annually" [Ibid. iv.
 
 Rules of the Society. bd 
 
 XII. No member shall be re-elected to the office of moderator, treasurer, chaplain, 
 or secretary, for two successive years, unless to supply any vacancy occurring after the 
 period of the general election of office-bearers. 
 
 XIII. Gentlemen whose period of service in the society has expired, may, within 
 eight days from the date of the general election of office-bearers, exercise the privilege 
 of handing a list to the moderator, of three gentlemen qualified to succeed them in 
 office, which, if approved by the office-bearers and committee, must be submitted to 
 the Magistrates and Council to make their election. 
 
 Fines. 
 
 XIV. General meetings of the society, every absent member to pay half-a-crown. 
 
 XV. All meetings called by the Lord Provost and Magistrates, for the society to act 
 on extraordinary occasions, every absent member one guinea. 
 
 XVI. For gentlemen coming to general meetings of the society a quarter of an hour 
 later than the intimation, one shilling ; half-an-hour, one shilling and sixpence ; and 
 at extraordinary meetings (where the fine for absence amounts to one guinea), five 
 shillings for being a quarter of an hour later than the time intimated, and ten shillings 
 and sixpence if half-an-hour. 
 
 XVII. The small baton ought to be carried at all times, and every member coming 
 to any meeting without it, one shilling ; and without his large baton, when specially 
 instructed to do so, two shillings and sixpence. 
 
 XVIII. Losing large or small baton, unless on necessary duty, half-a-guinea. 
 
 XIX. Lending either large or small baton to any person not a member of the society, 
 on any occasion whatever, one guinea. 
 
 XX. Neglecting to make out the returns of Jurymen at the day appointed by the 
 moderator, half-a-guinea. 
 
 XXI. Neglecting to affix the Militia Lists on the church door on the proper day (as 
 specified in the precept), before nine o'clock A.M., one guinea. 
 
 XXII. Omitting the exemption clause in the copy affixed to the church door, five 
 shillings in time of peace, and one guinea in time of war. 
 
 XXIII. Omitting to state the day of appeal on the copy affixed to the church door, 
 five shillings in time of peace, and one guinea in time of war. 
 
 XXIV. Neglecting to attend the meeting of Lieutenancy, with certified lists on the 
 day of appeal, specified in the precept, one guinea. 
 
 Note. These Rules are again engrossed in the Minute Hook for the regulation of 
 the Society in 1832, but in that copy the secretary has precedence of the 
 chaplain [Minute Hook, iv. 274-279]. 
 
 (i) By a minute, dated 22d September I832, 1 the society ordered, 
 1 Minute Book, iv. 288.
 
 Ixii Appendix. 
 
 "That no member of the society shall in future be allowed to resign, unless he pay 
 his proportion of the current expenses of the year, up to the time he tenders his resig- 
 nation." 
 
 (2) On 7th April 1834, the society, considering that much inconvenience had occurred 
 
 on former occasions in consequence of the moderator leaving the chair immediately 
 after the appointment of his successor, ordered, 1 
 
 "That at all future elections, the moderator shall continue chairman of the meeting 
 until the whole election of office-bearers and committee is concluded." 
 
 (3) By minute, dated 6th November 1835,* the society reduced the fines prescribed by 
 
 Law XVI. for being late at extraordinary meetings, to two shillings and sixpence, 
 and five shillings. 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 R ULES of the Society of High Constables of the City of Edin- 
 burgh, as printed ^1835. 
 
 General Rules. 
 
 Note. These rules are precisely the same as those approved of by the society on 
 I4th May 1830,* except Nos. I., V., VIII., and X., which are amended 
 as follow. A new rule is also added immediately before the "Tines," 
 and forms No. XIV. of the print of 1835. 
 
 I. All intimations of the meetings of the society to be called by printed or written 
 notices, issued by the secretary, except in cases of urgent necessity, when a personal 
 intimation, made by a brother constable, city officer, or any other authorised person, 
 shall be held as equally binding. 
 
 V. The office-bearers and committee shall decide on such gentlemen as shall be 
 invited to the entertainments of the society. The moderator shall have the privilege of 
 inviting four personal friends ; and the treasurer, secretary, chaplain, and surgeon, one 
 friend each. 
 
 VIII. No member serving as a high constable shall continue a member of any other 
 body of constables during his term of service in the society. 
 
 X. After the words ' ' no canvas shall take place either for office-bearers or commit- 
 tee members," the following sentence is added, "At the annual election meeting, the 
 moderator of the preceding year shall continue chairman until the election of all the 
 office-bearers and committee is concluded." 
 
 1 Minute Book, ir. 389, 390. 2 Ibid. iv. 424. 426. * Antea, lix-lxi.
 
 Rules and Regulations. Ixiii 
 
 XIV. That no member of the society be allowed to resign until he pay his propor- 
 tion of the current expenses of the year, and all fines due by him up to the time he 
 may tender his resignation. 
 
 The fines for being late in attendance at meetings are stated in the print of 1835 as 
 follows : "Any member coming to general meetings of the society a quarter of an 
 hour later than the intimation, one shilling ; if half an hour, one shilling and sixpence ; 
 and at extraordinary meetings (when the fine for absence amounts to one guinea), two 
 shillings and sixpence if a quarter of an hour later than the time intimated, and five 
 shillings if half an hour. 
 
 REGULA TIONS issued by the Moderator for the guidance of 
 the Society at Fires and Riots. 
 
 Duty at Fires. 
 
 The society will make a point of attending on all occasions when the first alarm of 
 fire is given, whether they receive a notice from the moderator to that effect or not, 
 and shall give instructions to the police officers in their respective districts to call them 
 up. 
 
 When assembled, they will endeavour to act strictly according to the fire regulations 
 annexed. 
 
 When the moderator is present, they will look to him for particular instructions ; 
 and, in his absence, they will obey the orders of the office-bearers, according to their 
 seniority. 
 
 They must avoid forming inactive groups on the street ; but, on the contrary, dis- 
 perse themselves where they can be most useful ; and while co-operating with the 
 police, they will act as a check upon them, forwarding as much as in their power the 
 removal of furniture, and attending strictly to the protection of property. 
 
 Note. Here follow extracts from Fire Regulations, issued by the Lord Provost 
 and Magistrates on i6th April 1828.* 
 
 Duty at Riots. 
 
 The Society shall as often as possible act in a body, without any division whatever. 
 The members, unless otherwise instructed, to form eight abreast, and at all times 
 keep close together, to prevent separation in a crowd. 
 
 The Moderator shall give all the directions and signals necessary for the society 
 while acting in one body, but when the society is required to act in two divisions, 
 
 The Treasurer shall head the second division, assisted by the secretary, while the 
 
 1 Antea, p. Iviii.
 
 Ixiv Appendix. 
 
 chaplain assists the moderator with the first division. In order to facilitate the division 
 of the society, each member, from No. r to 30, shall place himself under the moderator, 
 and those from 30 to 60, under the treasurer, who shall, along with the secretary, 
 occupy the centre of the body, and be prepared at a moment's notice, by separation or 
 otherwise, to take command of his division, when he shall take upon himself all neces- 
 sary directions and signals. 
 
 The Secretary and Chaplain shall, in the event of any further division of the 
 society, each head a party, under the direction of the moderator or treasurer, as the 
 case may happen. 
 
 The heads of divisions will look to the moderator for instructions ; but in the event 
 of wishing for information from him, instead of leaving their command, they shall 
 send a member of committee for that purpose. 
 
 Committee Members shall assist the heads of divisions in keeping their parties 
 together ; and in the event of the separation of their division into small parties, 
 they shall immediately assume the command of the party, and make a point of rejoin- 
 ing the divisions they respectively belong to, or take the party to the place of ren- 
 dezvous, or act otherwise, as circumstances permit. 
 
 Members of the Society will attend strictly to the orders they may receive from 
 the moderator, or the leader of the division to which they are attached. No member 
 shall leave his division without the consent of his leader ; and as it will often happen 
 in a crowd that the members of the society will be separated from each other, gentle- 
 men in such circumstances, for the purpose of acting in concert, and that their services 
 may be more efficient, will place themselves, for the time being, under the orders of 
 the nearest party assuming the command, and afterwards endeavour to rejoin, as 
 speedily as possible, their respective divisions. 
 
 Signals 
 
 To be made by the Heads of Divisions with the Society's Silver Calls, one of which to be 
 worn by the Moderator, and the other by the Treasurer. 
 
 is/, One long call shall always be given as a signal to charge or disperse the mob 
 to which the body is opposed. 
 
 zd, A repetition of short calls will be given as a signal to continue the charge or 
 pursuit. 
 
 3</, Two long calls, with a short interval between, shall be given as a signal to rally 
 round the heads of divisions, and to form into the order in which the divisions were 
 before making the charge. 
 
 Duty of Surgeon. 
 
 The Surgeon, when the society is called upon to act in one body in the old town, 
 shall remain in the Council Chambers ; and in the Assembly Rooms, when the society is 
 acting in the new town. He shall on no account leave the place appointed, unless
 
 Rules of the Society. Ixv 
 
 upon a direct order from the moderator, carried to him by an office-bearer or member 
 of committee ; and shall, on all occasions when the society is called out by order of the 
 magistrates, and with both batons, provide himself with the necessary instruments and 
 dressings likely to be required for wounded members. 
 
 XIX. 
 
 R ULES oftlie Society of High Constables of the City of Edinburgh. 
 
 (See page 2.72.) 
 
 General Rules. 
 
 I. All intimations of the meetings of the society to be called by printed or written 
 notices, issued by the secretary, except in cases of urgent necessity, when a personal 
 intimation, made by a brother constable, city-officer, or any other authorised person, 
 shall be held as equally binding. 
 
 II. It is expressly understood, that being twenty miles from town, or cases of 
 sickness, exempt members from incurring any of the fines, when certified by their word 
 of honour. And it is also understood, that the same fines are exigible upon any 
 member leaving a meeting without consent of the moderator, as upon those who have 
 not attended such meeting. 
 
 III. Any member who may be in arrears to the society, shall not be entitled to 
 vote or express his opinion on any subject whatever that may be brought before them, 
 until such arrears are paid up. The moderator, in all cases of equality, to have the 
 casting vote. 
 
 IV. An account of the fines incurred by members of the society shall be handed by 
 the secretary to the treasurer, as early as possible, and when certified by him, shall be 
 given to their officer, in order that they may be collected ; and those objecting to pay 
 such fine, and share of necessary expenses, must state their reasons in writing to the 
 treasurer, who will lay them before the first general meeting after they are received ; 
 and should that meeting not consider the reason stated as a sufficient excuse for non- 
 payment of the fine or fines, and share of necessary expenses, and those found liable 
 still object to pay the amount, the moderator, in name of the society, will then apply 
 to the magistrates to expel such member or members. 
 
 V. The office-bearers and committee shall decide on such gentlemen as shall be 
 invited to the entertainments of the society, not exceeding twelve individuals. 
 
 VI. For the election dinner, every member of the society to pay the full share of the
 
 Ixvi Appendix. 
 
 bill of entertainment, no excuse whatever being admitted, and also his share of any 
 other necessary expenses incurred during the year. 
 
 VII. The treasurer, before leaving office, shall regularly exhibit a state of the 
 funds of the society, and the whole debt due by the society shall be cleared off annu- 
 ally, and the books brought to an equal balance before the day of the annual election. 
 
 VIII. No member serving as a high constable shall continue a member of any 
 other body of constables during his term of service in the society. 
 
 IX. Every motion brought before the society, affecting the laws, shall, after being 
 seconded, be given to the secretary in writing, and lie over to next general meeting, 
 and if then approved of by a majority, the same shall pass into a law. 
 
 X. At the annual election meeting, which shall take place on the first Monday of 
 April, the moderator of the preceding year shall continue chairman until the election 
 of all the office-bearers and committee is concluded, at which meeting it shall be com- 
 petent for any member to propose a list of moderator, office-bearers, and committee, 
 who shall be elected by the votes of the meeting present in common form ; and of this 
 meeting, at least eight days' notice shall be given by the secretary to each member, 
 stating the purport of the meeting. 
 
 XL That on a vacancy occurring among the office-bearers or committee, by resig- 
 nation or otherwise, at any period of the year previous to the annual election in April, 
 intimation thereof sh*all be given to the society, by order of the moderator, or failing 
 him, by the next highest office-bearer, or committee member, as speedily as con- 
 venient, when a general meeting of the society shall be convened, within ten days after 
 date of such intimation, for the election of a member or members of the society, to 
 supply the vacancy or vacancies caused as aforesaid ; and that, until such election, the 
 office-bearer, committee member, or ordinary member (as the case may be), next in 
 order, shall supply the vacancy. 
 
 XII. No member shall be re-elected to the office of moderator, treasurer, secre- 
 tary, or chaplain, for two successive years, unless to supply any vacancy occurring after 
 the period of the general election of office-bearers. 
 
 XIII. Gentlemen whose period of service iu the society has expired, may, within 
 eight days from the date of the general election of office-bearers, exercise the privilege of 
 handing a list to the moderator, of three gentlemen qualified to succeed them in office, 
 which, if approved of by the office-bearers and committee, must be submitted to the 
 Magistrates and council to make their election. 
 
 XIV. Every member shall be held to be upon the strength of the society until his 
 resignation shall have been accepted, and no member shall be allowed to resign until 
 he pay his proportion of the current expenses of the year, and all fines due by him. 
 
 Fines. 
 
 XV. Ordinary general meetings of the society, every member absent during 
 whole time, to pay one shilling and sixpence.
 
 Rules of the Society. Ixvii 
 
 XVI. All meetings of the society called by order of the Lord Provost and magis- 
 trates, every absent member during whole time, five shillings. 
 
 XVII. Any member coming to general or committee meetings of the society, if a 
 quarter of an hour later than the intimation, one shilling. Meetings called by order of 
 the Lord Provost and magistrates (where the fine of absence amounts to five shillings}, 
 two shillings if a quarter of an hour later than the time intimated. 
 
 XVIII. The small baton must be carried at all times ; and every member coming 
 to any meeting without it, one shilling ; and without his large baton, when specially 
 instructed to do so, two shillings and sixpence. 
 
 XIX. Losing large or small baton, unless on duty, half -a- guinea. 
 
 XX. Lending either large or small baton to any person not a member of the 
 society, on any occasion whatever, one guinea. 
 
 XXI. Neglecting to affix the militia lists on the church-door, on the proper days 
 (as specified in the precept), before nine o'clock A.M., one guinea. 
 
 XXII. Omitting the exemption clause in the lists affixed to the church-door, five 
 shillings in time of peace, and one guinea in time of war. 
 
 XXIII. Omitting to state day of appeal on the copy affixed to the church-door, 
 five shillings in time of peace, and one guinea in time of war. 
 
 XXIV. Neglecting to attend the meeting of Lieutenancy, with certified lists, on 
 the day of appeal specified in the precept, one guinea. 
 
 Duty at Fires. 
 
 The society will make a point of attending on all occasions when the first alarm of 
 fire is given, whether they receive a notice from the moderator to that effect or not, and 
 shall give instructions to the police officers in their respective districts to call them up. 
 
 When assembled, they will endeavour to act strictly according to the fire regula- 
 tions annexed- 
 
 When the moderator is present, they will look to him for particular instructions ; 
 and in his absence, they will obey the orders of the office-bearers, according to their 
 seniority. 
 
 They must avoid forming inactive groups on the street ; but, on the contrary, dis- 
 perse themselves where they can be most useful ; and while co-operating with the 
 police, they will act as a check upon them forwarding as much as in their power the 
 removal of furniture, and attending strictly to the protection of property. 
 
 Note. Here follow extracts from Fire Regulations issued by the Lord Provost 
 and Magistrates on i6th April 1828.* 
 
 Duty at Riots. 
 The society, on being called out, shall, without delay, proceed to form into line 
 
 1 Antea, p. Iviii.
 
 Ixviii Appendix. 
 
 two deep, according to seniority, and shall on no account proceed to the street 
 until they are so formed, and instructions are given them as to their procedure. 
 
 The society shall act in a body, or in two or three divisions, as may be thought 
 advisable ; if in a body, they shall move under the immediate direction of the mode- 
 rator ; if in two divisions, the first shall move under the direction of the moderator 
 and secretary, the second division under that of the treasurer and chaplain ; if in three 
 divisions, the first shall consist of the secretary, the members of committee, and ten 
 senior ordinary members of the society, under command of the moderator ; the second 
 shall consist of the next eighteen ordinary members, under command of the treasurer ; 
 and the third shall consist of the remaining members under the command of the 
 chaplain. 
 
 Heads of divisions shall look to, and take instructions only from, the moderator, 
 who shall generally attach himself to the first division, which, in his absence, shall be 
 commanded by the secretary ; and in the event of any information being required of 
 the moderator, heads of divisions must send for such information, but on no account 
 leave their divisions. 
 
 On orders being given to clear the streets in three divisions, the first division shall 
 proceed along the middle, the second and third along the sides of the street respec- 
 tively. The three divisions shall move at once, and proceed actively, but simultane- 
 ously, and in the same direction, till otherwise ordered ; and members are entreated not 
 to break line until ordered by the officer in command, inattention to which has hitherto 
 invariably proved dangerous, not only to the individuals so doing, but to the members 
 of the division to which they belong. 
 
 Members are urged to great coolness and forbearance, the first object being that 
 of securing prisoners ; on its being considered necessary, however, to proceed to ex- 
 tremes, it will be equally desirable that they act with vigour and effect. 
 
 Members must endeavour to recognise the signals given by the moderator, with 
 the silver calls, which signals shall be repeated by the other commanders of divisions ; 
 but members are cautioned against being betrayed by attempts at imitating them by 
 the mob, which have sometimes proved successful, the consideration of which must 
 suggest to the mind of every member the urgent necessity for individual silence and 
 attention, a disregard to which, besides being subversive of all discipline, cannot fail to 
 paralyze the best intentioned efforts of the high constables. 
 
 Signals. 
 
 1st, One long call shall always be given as a signal to charge or disperse the mcb 
 to which the body is opposed. 
 
 2dly, A repetition of short calls will be given as a signal to continue the charge or 
 pursuit. 
 
 T,dly, Two long calls, with a short interval between, shall be given as a signal to
 
 Rules of the Society. Ixix 
 
 rally round the heads of divisions, and to form into the order in which the divisions 
 were before making the charge. 
 
 Duty of Surgeon. 
 
 The surgeon, when the society is called upon to act in one body in the Old Town, 
 shall remain in the Council Chambers ; and in the Assembly Rooms when the society 
 is acting in the New Town. He shall on no account leave the place appointed, unless 
 upon a direct order from the moderator, carried to him by an office-bearer or member 
 of committee ; and shall, on all occasions when the society is called out by order of 
 the magistrates, and with both batons, provide himself with the necessary instru- 
 ments and dressings likely to be required for wounded members. 
 
 (i.) On 24th May 1849, the Society enacted the following law, 1 
 
 " It shall be imperative that a meeting of the society be called at least a fortnight 
 before the general election, for the purpose of bringing up all business, and at this 
 meeting the committee shall lay before the body the leet of the office-bearers they have 
 to propose for the ensuing year. 
 
 (2.) On 1st April 1850, the society enacted, 2 
 
 1. That the election of office-bearers, &c., in future be conducted by open vote. 
 
 2. That if there are three candidates for one office, two votes shall be taken, and 
 after the first vote, the candidate who has the fewest votes shall be struck off, and if 
 there are more than three the same rule shall apply, taking a vote for every additional 
 candidate, and shortening the leet until the office is filled up. 
 
 3. That in future, member No. I of the committee shall act as custodier of the batons. 
 
 (3.) On igth March 1855, the society resolved, 3 
 
 1. That instead of the moderator leaving the society at the completion of his office, 
 he shall remain for another year as "vice-moderator," and occupy the chair during 
 the absence of the moderator from committee ; and have the same voice in the affairs of 
 the society as members of committee. 
 
 2. That a member of committee shall be appointed "custodier of batons," who 
 shall be charged with the preservation of the property of the society, and shall have a 
 silver baton marked, "custodier of batons." 
 
 1 Minute Book, v. 145. 2 Ibid. v. 166-168. 3 Ibid. v. 251.
 
 Ixx Appendix. 
 
 XX. 
 
 ACT OF COUNCIL regulating the Constitution of the Society of 
 High Constables of the City of Edinburgh, 2^th February 
 1857.1 
 
 The Lord Provost, Magistrates, and Council, considering that, in consequence of 
 the recent extension of the boundaries of the city, it has become necessary to re- 
 organise the Society of High Constables, and to adapt the arrangements of the 
 society to those of the extended municipality, did, and hereby do, enact as follows: 
 
 1. The society shall henceforward consist of one hundred and fifty-six members, 
 whereof twelve shall be chosen from each of the thirteen municipal wards. 
 
 2. Previously to the first Monday of April next, the magistrates and council shall 
 nominate and appoint the whole one hundred and fifty-six constables ; and their 
 appointment having been intimated to them by the town-clerks, such of them as may 
 be willing to accept shall assemble in the council chamber, at IO o'clock A.M. of the 
 foresaid day, and be sworn into office. The previously existing members of the 
 society shall thereupon retire from office, with the exception of such of them as may 
 have been re-appointed. 
 
 3. One-third of the constables for each ward, being the four at the top of the list, 
 shall go out of office annually, on the first Monday of April previously to the election 
 of office-bearers ; and the vacancies to be thus occasioned shall be supplied by the 
 appointment, by the magistrates and council, of a corresponding number of constables ; 
 which appointment shall be made previously to the foresaid date, and the persons so 
 appointed shall be sworn into office immediately before the meeting of the society for 
 the election of office-bearers. Constables retiring may be immediately re-elected. 
 
 4. In the event of any vacancies arising in the society by death, resignation, or non- 
 acceptance, the moderator shall intimate the same to the Lord Provost, in order that 
 the said vacancies may be supplied ; and to preserve the proper rotation, gentlemen 
 appointed to supply vacancies shall take the places on the roll of each ward of the 
 gentlemen by whose death, resignation, or non-acceptance, the vacancies are caused. 
 
 5. Gentlemen appointed constables must be registered electors of the city, and must 
 either be bona fide householders, or must carry on business on their own account, 
 within the ward for which they are appointed. No members of the town council 
 shall be appointed high constables ; and in the event of any members of the society 
 accepting the office of councillors, they shall be held to have resigned their office as 
 constables. 
 
 1 Council Records, cclxx. 295-299.
 
 Act of Council. Ixxi 
 
 6. On the first Monday of April annually, at 10 o'clock A.M., the members of the 
 society shall meet, and, by a majority of votes, shall elect from among their number a 
 moderator, 1 a vice-moderator, a treasurer, a secretary, a surgeon, and a custodier of ba- 
 tons ; and at the same time, they shall also elect from among the constables for each ward 
 one gentleman, not holding any other office in the society, who shall be captain of the 
 constables in such ward. These several office-bearers, who shall hold office until next 
 annual election, shall form a committee, to whom shall be entrusted the immediate 
 management of the society's affairs. 
 
 7- The moderator, or, in his absence, the vice-moderator, or, in the absence of both, 
 a chairman to be appointed for the time, shall preside at all meetings of the society, 
 and, in case of an equality of vote, shall have a casting vote, in addition to his deli- 
 berative vote. 
 
 8. The powers of the members of the society of high constables shall be exercised in 
 subordination to those conferred on the councillors of the several wards and others, by 
 the 52d section of "The Edinburgh Municipality Extension Act, 1856." 
 
 9. The society may, from time to time, make such bye-laws for the regulations of 
 their own affairs as they may see fit ; such bye-laws not being inconsistent with the 
 provisions of this act. 
 
 10. All previous acts of council containing rules affecting the constitution of the 
 society of high constables are repealed ; but it is hereby provided that the "instruc- 
 tions" contained in the act of council iQth March 1828,* shall nevertheless subsist in 
 full force, excepting in so far as these refer to the fonner suburban bodies of constables 
 which have ceased to exist. 
 
 11. The magistrates and council shall make such annual allowance to the society for 
 defraying their necessary expenses, as to them, from time to time, shall seem fit. 
 
 XXI. 
 
 B YE -LA WS of the Society of High Constables of the City of 
 Edinburgh, approved of by the Society on \\th May i857, 3 
 and amended by subsequent Resolutions on \^th October i858, 4 
 yh January i86o, 5 Wi February i86i, 6 and 2d July i86i. 7 
 
 I. All meetings of the society shall, under orders from the moderator, or Lord 
 
 1 By act, dated loth April 1865, the council, on the application of the society, 
 ordered that the moderator of the former year should, as "ex- moderator, "be an office- 
 bearer of the society [Council Records, ccxc. 139]. 
 
 2 Seeantea, pp. Ivi, lix. * Ibid. v. 331. 6 Ibid. v. 376. 
 
 3 Minute Book, v. 319. 5 Ibid. v. 363. 7 Ibid. v. 387.
 
 Ixxii Appendix. 
 
 Provost and magistrates, be called by printed or written notices, issued by the secre- 
 tary, except in cases of urgent necessity, when a personal intimation made by a brother 
 constable, city officer, or other authorised person, shall be sufficient. 
 
 2. Twenty miles distance from town, necessary absence, or indisposition, exempts 
 members from fines, when certified by their word of honour, 
 
 t(i.) Every member, on changing his residence, shall be bound within eight 
 
 days to give notice thereof in writing to the secretary. 
 (2.) Every member shall, on getting notice of any general or committee meeting 
 
 which he may be unable to attend, intimate to the secretary in writing the 
 
 reason for his absence. 
 (3.) The moderator shall judge of all excuses ; but any member dissatisfied with 
 
 his decision may appeal to the next general meeting. 1 ] 
 
 3. Members in arrear shall not be entitled to vote or express an opinion on any 
 subject that may be brought before the society. 
 
 4. Accounts of the fines incurred by members shall from time to time be handed by 
 the secretary to the treasurer, and after being certified by him, shall be delivered to 
 the officer of the society for collection. Those objecting to pay such fines, and their 
 share of necessary expenses, must state their reasons in writing to the treasurer, by 
 whom they shall be submitted to the first meeting of committee. Unless the meeting 
 consider the excuse offered satisfactory, those liable must pay otherwise the mode- 
 rator, in the name of the society, will strike the name of such member or members 
 from the roll. 
 
 5. The treasurer, before leaving office, shall exhibit a state of the funds of the society, 
 audited by three members of committee duly authorised. The books shall be balanced, 
 and the whole debt due by the society cleared off, before the day of each annual 
 election. 
 
 6. Every motion affecting the laws, brought before the society, shall, after being 
 seconded, be given to the secretary in writing, and lie over till next general meeting ; 
 and if then approved of by a majority, the same shall pass into a law. 
 
 7. A general meeting shall be held in the month of March, previous to the annual 
 election, for the purpose of nominating office-bearers. [The various wards shall have 
 the power to nominate the gentlemen who are to hold the office of captain in the par- 
 ticular wards to which they belong, leaving the election to the society ; the nomina- 
 tion to be in the hands of the chairman, if not more than two members of the ward 
 attend. 2 ] 
 
 8. At the annual election meeting, on the first Monday of April, the moderator of 
 
 1 Articles (i) (2) (3), with the exception of the words in italics, were added to the 
 bye-laws by the society on 5th January 1860 [Minute Book, v. 363]. The words in 
 italics were added on 2d July 1861 [Ibid. v. 387], 
 
 8 Enacted by the society on I3th October 1858 [Ibid. v. 331].
 
 Bye- Laws. Ixxiii 
 
 the preceding year shall continue chairman until the election, as provided for in the 
 6th section of the act of council (24th Feb. 1857), of the office-bearers is concluded. 
 
 9. On vacancies occurring among the office-bearers, by resignation or otherwise, at 
 any period previous to the annual elections in April, a special general meeting, for the 
 election of members to supply such vacancies, shall be convened without delay. 
 
 10. No member shall be re-elected to the office of moderator, treasurer, secretary, 
 or custodier of batons, for more than two successive years, unless to supply any vacancy 
 occurring after the period of the general election of office-bearers. 
 
 11. Excepting in cases of retirement, as provided in the said act of council, and in 
 cases of members being struck off the roll, every member shall be subject to the said 
 act of council and bye-laws of the society, until his resignation shall have been accepted ; 
 no resignation shall be accepted until such member pay his proportion of the current 
 expenses of the year, and all fines due by him. 
 
 Fines. 
 
 12. Ordinary general meetings of the society, [and meetings of committee 1 ] : 
 Every member absent during whole time, or leaving without permission from the 
 moderator, one shilling; if fifteen minutes later than time fixed for meeting, sixpence. 
 
 13. All meetings of the society called by order of the Lord Provost and Magistrates 
 [to preserve the peace of the city' 2 ] : Every member absent during the whole time, or 
 leaving without permission from the moderator, five shillings ; if fifteen minutes later 
 than time fixed for meeting, two shillings. 
 
 14. The small baton to be carried at all times ; every member coming to any meet- 
 ing without it, one shilling ; and without his large baton, when specially instructed to 
 do so, two shillings and sixpence. 
 
 15. Losing large or small baton, except when on duty, half-a-guinea. 
 
 1 6. Lending either large or small baton to any person not a member of the society, 
 on any occasion whatever, one guinea. 
 
 Duty at Riots. 
 
 17. The members, on being called out, shall, without delay, form into line, and shall 
 on no account proceed to the street until they are so formed, and instructions are given 
 them as to their procedure. 
 
 1 8. The society shall act in a body, in divisions, as may be thought advisable ; and 
 if in a body, they shall move under the immediate command of the moderator ; if in 
 divisions, the first shall act under the direction of the moderator ; the other divisions 
 under that of the office-bearers present in the order of their rank ; and, in the event of 
 it being necessary to communicate with the officer in command, heads of divisions 
 must depute members for the purpose, but must on no pretext whatever leave their 
 divisions. 
 
 1 Added by the society on 2d July 1861 [Minute Book, v. 387]. 
 
 2 The words "to preserve the peace of the city" were added by the society on 8th 
 February 1861 [Ibid. v. 376].
 
 INSIGNIA OF VICE-MODERATOR AND OTHER OFFICE-BEARERS.
 
 Insignia. Ixxv 
 
 XXII. 
 
 LIST and DESCRIPTION of the INSIGNIA and other 
 Properties belonging to the High Constables of Edinburgh, 
 classified with reference to the Office-bearers to which they are 
 respectively assigned. 1 
 
 I. THE MODERATOR. 
 
 1. A Large SILVER-MOUNTED BATON, "presented to the Society by Moderator 
 Lawson. The Baton is made of the finest black ebony, mounted richly in silver. The 
 centre plate is broad and massive, with two richly chased wreaths of Scotch Thistles, 
 and each end is covered with a broad band of silver. Each band is divided into two 
 segments by richly floreated thistle wreaths, and each segment contains a richly chased 
 design. On the one band is a design in alto relievo of the Edinburgh City Arms, 
 with supporters and motto ; the ancient Order of the Thistle, with the motto, "Nemo 
 me impune lacessit ;" and the letters, " E. H. C. 1865." On the other band are 
 richly chased the Royal Arms and the Imperial Crown, with the letters, " V. R* 
 1865." On one end of the Baton the following inscription is engraved : 
 
 Presented to the High Constables of Edinburgh 
 
 by 
 
 Charles Lawson Jun., Esq., 
 Moderator, 1862-1865. 
 
 On the opposite end are the arms, supporters, crest, and motto of Moderator Lawson. 
 
 2. A GOLD MEDAL, 3 with a massive gold link Chain, purchased by the Society 
 in 1863. The Medal is oval, with two richly chased wreaths of Scotch Thistles. On 
 the one side are the Edinburgh City Arms, with supporters, crest, and motto finely 
 chased ; and on the reverse side is the following inscription : 
 
 Moderator. 
 The High Constables of Edinburgh. 
 
 Instituted 1611. 
 Presented by the Society, January 1863. 
 
 1 This description has been prepared from information kindly furnished by Mr Adam 
 Mossman and Mr Alexander Cockburn, jewellers, 30 Prince's Street, Edinburgh. 
 * Antea, p. 296. See woodcut, p. iv. s Antea, p 296. See frontispiece, p. ii.
 
 Ixxvi Appendix. 
 
 3. A Small SILVER-MOUNTED BATON, 1 richly chased, with the following 
 inscription on the centre silver ring : 
 
 Prtsented to the Society of High Constables of Edinburgh 
 by George Beattie, Esq. , 
 Moderator, 1851. 
 
 4. A SILVER BOATSWAIN WHISTLE, and massive silver Chain. 2 On one 
 side of the Whistle are engraved the names of the office-bearers in 1831, as under : 
 
 " William Johnston, Moderator, 1831 ; Andreiv Millar, Treasurer; Joseph Taylor, 
 Chaplain; John Aitchison, Secretary; Charles Kennedy, Surgeon" 
 
 The other side contains the following inscription : 
 
 " Adopted by the Society of High Constables during their arduous duties, 1831." 
 
 5. A SILVER-MOUNTED SNUFF-HORN or MULL, 3 chased in silver, with a 
 pebble on top, and a shield bearing the following inscription : 
 
 Presented to the Society of High Constables of Edinburgh, 
 
 by James Dallas, Esq. , 
 
 Moderator, 1820. 
 
 II. THE EX-MODERATOR. 
 
 i. A Large SILVER-MOUNTED EBONY BATON, 4 with a Small Baton 
 attached by a chain and swivel. Both the Large and Small Batons were formerly held 
 by the Moderator, but are now held by the Ex-Moderator. These Batons are very 
 richly chased in the centre, and at both ends. On one end of the Large Baton are 
 chased the Royal Arms, the Royal Crown, and the letters, " G. IV. R. 1820." On the 
 opposite end are the date, " Anno 1820," with an anchor and the letters, " E. H. C.," 
 the City Arms, and the motto. The Baton is now quite covered with silver rings, 
 on which are inscribed the names of forty gentlemen, who have filled the office of 
 Moderator. Engraved on both ends is the following inscription : 
 
 Presented by the Society of High Constables for the City of Edinbiirgh 
 to their Moderator, 2%tk September 1820. 
 
 1 Antea, p. 295. See woodcut, p. Ixxiv. 3 Antea, p. 294. See woodcut, p. Ixxiv. 
 " Antea, p. 295. See woodcut, p. Ixxiv. 4 Antea, pp. 294, 296. See woodcut, p. vi.
 
 Insignia. Ixxvii 
 
 2. A Small SILVER-MOUNTED BATON, 1 in design somewhat similar to the 
 Moderator's large baton. It is richly chased with wreaths of Scotch Thistles. On the 
 one end are the City's Arms, and on the other the Royal Arms. The centre plate 
 bears the following inscription : 
 
 Ex-Moderator's Baton. 
 
 Presented to the High Constables of Edinburgh 
 
 by John Greig Jun., Esq., Moderator. 
 
 1865. 
 
 III. THE VICE-MODERATOR. 
 
 1. A Large SILVER-MOUNTED BATON, 2 with richly chased silver centre, and 
 laurel and scrolls. On the centre plate the following inscription is engraved : 
 
 Presented to the Society of High Constables of Edinburgh 
 
 by Alexander Edmondston, Vice- Moderator, 
 
 1859. 
 
 On the one end are the letters, " E. H. C.," and on the opposite end the City's Arms 
 
 2. A Small SILVER-MOUNTED BATON, 3 with a richly chased wreath of scrolls 
 from top to bottom. The City's Arms are chased on the one end, and the Royal 
 Arms on the other. On the centre is the following inscription : 
 
 Presented to the Society of High Constables of Edinbttrgh 
 
 by Thomas Gill, Esq., Vice- Moderator, 
 
 1855- 
 
 3. A GOLD MEDAL, 4 in the form of a Shield, with chased scrolls as a border. 
 On one side are engraved the City's Arms, crest, and motto ; and on the reverse side 
 the inscription : 
 
 " Vice- Moderator of the High Constables of the City of Edinburgh" 
 Instituted 1855. 
 
 Attached to the Medal is a fine gold Chain, of a square cable link. The medal and 
 chain were purchased by the society in 1855. 
 
 1 Antea, p. 296. See woodcut, p. Ixxiv. 3 Antea, p. 296. See woodcut, p. Ixxiv. 
 " Antea, p. 296. See woodcut, p Ixxiv. 4 Antca, p. 295. See woodcut, p. Ixxiv.
 
 Ixxviii Appendix. 
 
 IV. THE TREASURER. 
 
 1. A Large SILVER-MOUNTED BATON, 1 with chased silver centre, and 
 mounted with plain silver rings. On the centre plate is engraved the following 
 inscription : 
 
 Presented to the Treasurer 
 
 of the Society of High Constables of the City of Edinburgh, 
 by George Brown, Treasurer, 1828. 
 
 On each end of the Baton are the City's Arms, with the initials, "J5. H. C." 
 
 2. A Small SILVER-MOUNTED BATON, 8 chased and floreated with scrolls ; 
 initials, " E. H. C., Treasurer;" and engraved on each side are the Royal Arms, 
 V. R., and the City's Arms. 
 
 3. A SILVER BOATSWAIN WHISTLE, 3 with silver chain attached. The 
 Whistle bears the following inscription : 
 
 Adopted by the Society of High Constables 
 during their arduous duties, 1 83 1. 
 
 4. The Treasurer's MONEY BOX 4 for collecting Fines, &c. The Box is made of 
 brass, with a handle at the top, and is used for collecting the fines of members of the 
 Society. It has a hole in the top for that purpose. In front of the Box is engraved 
 the following : 
 
 "List of the Constables chosen by the Councill of Edinburgh, 21 May 1698, who 
 caused make this Box, and payed for the same : William Lindsay, Moderator ; 
 "John Anderson, coppersmith, Treasurer ; Alexr. Hay, -vintner, Clerk." 
 
 and twenty-five other names. On the back of the Box is marked the date 1782, with 
 the names of the Office-bearers of that year, as under : 
 
 " William Dalrymple, Preses, mercht. ; David Deuchar, seal engi aver, Treasurer ; 
 Robert Ford, Clerk, merchant ; William Watson, wright, Chaplain. " 
 
 and twenty-six ordinary members. On the bottom of the Box there is the following 
 inscription : 
 
 On the 1st September 1842, Queen Victoria visited Edinburgh, 
 
 In the procession when Her Majesty visited the Castle, the Society of High Constables 
 took a prominent part. 
 
 1 Antea, p. 294. See woodcut, p. Ixxiv. 3 Antea, p. 295. See woodcut, p. Ixxiv. 
 * See woodcut, p. Ixxiv. 4 Antea, pp. 293, 294. See woodcut, p. Ixxxiv.
 
 Insignia. Ixxix 
 
 followed by the names of fifty-four ordinary members of the Society. The Box is 
 167 years old, and is a great curiosity. 
 
 V. THE SECRETARY. 
 
 1. A Large SILVER-MOUNTED BATON, 1 with chased silver centre, and 
 mounted with plain silver rings. On the centre plate is engraved the following 
 inscription : 
 
 Presented to the Secretary of the Society of High Constables 
 
 of the City of Edinburgh, 
 by James Patison, Secretary. 1828. 
 On either end are the initials, " E. H. C.," with the City's Arms. 
 
 2. A Small SILVER-MOUNTED BATON, 2 chased and floreated with scrolls, en- 
 graved initials, " E. H. C., Secretary;" and on each end the Royal Crown, with 
 " V. R." and the City's Arms. 
 
 3. A SILVER BOATSWAIN WHISTLE, 3 with silver chain attached, engraved 
 
 Secretary to the Society of High Constables. 
 
 VI. THE SURGEON. 
 
 1. A Large SILVER-MOUNTED BATON, 4 with chased silver centre, and plain 
 silver ring mountings. On the centre-piece the following inscription is engraved : 
 
 The Office of Surgeon 
 
 to the Society of High Constables of the City of Edinburgh, 
 Instituted 1831. 
 
 On the rings are inscribed the names of the Surgeon in 1831, and of the gentlemen 
 who have since held that office, with the respective years of their office. On each end 
 of the Baton are the City's Arms and the initials, " E. H. C." 
 
 2. A Small SILVER-MOUNTED BATON, 6 chased, and with scrolls 
 
 High Constables, Surgeon. 1832. 
 
 On either end the Royal Crown and V.R., with the British Arms, are tastefully 
 engraved. 
 
 1 Antea, p, 294. See woodcut, p. Ixxiv. 3 Antca, p. 295. See woodcut, p. Ixxiv. 
 3 See woodcut, p. Ixxiv. 4 Antea, p. 295. See woodcut, p. Ixxiv. 
 
 5 It has been seen \antea, p. 193] that the office of Surgeon to the Society was insti- 
 tuted in 1797. It was in abeyance from 1802 till 1831, when it was re-established. 
 
 6 Antea, p. 295. See woodcut, p. Ixxiv.
 
 Ixxx Appendix. 
 
 VII. CU8TODIER OF BATONS. 
 
 The ancient office of chaplain to the Society having been abolished in 1857, and the 
 new office of Custodier of Batons having been then created, the baton formerly held 
 by the chaplain was transferred to the holder of the new office. 
 
 1. A Large SILVER-MOUNTED BATON, 1 mounted in the same style as that of 
 the Surgeon, has engraved on it the following inscription : 
 
 Presented to the Chaplain of the Society of High Constables 
 
 of the City of Edinburgh, 
 by Eagle Henderson, Chaplain. 1828. 
 
 The City's Arms and motto, with the initials " E.H. C.," are engraved on the ends. 
 
 2. A Small SILVER-MOUNTED BATON." This is probably the oldest baton 
 belonging to the Society. The two silver ends are fine specimens of antique silver 
 chasing. The City's Arms and supporters are very boldly executed ; and the Royal 
 Arms, although more defaced by time and use, are still in fine preservation. The quar- 
 terings of the arms give due prominence to Scotland, and the three flair de Us in 
 the second quarter fix the age of the baton to be before the union of this country with 
 the crown of Hanover. The centre plate and rings are modern. The centre ring bears 
 the following inscription : 
 
 " Custodier of Batons, 1855. E. H. C." 
 
 In addition to the above, there is a GOLD SEAL, with the arms of the Society en- 
 graved thereon. This seal was purchased by the Society in 1825. 
 
 Each member has also a Large WOODEN BATON, painted and gilded, for use in 
 active service ; and also a Small SILVER-MOUNTED BATON for the pocket, engraved 
 on the ends with the Royal Arms and City's Arms. A number of these batons bear 
 the inscription : 
 
 "E. H. C. Instituted \b\\. 
 
 1 Antea, p. 294. See woodcut, p. Ixxiv. 2 Antea, p. 295. See woodcut, p. Ixxiv.
 
 Roll of Members. 
 
 Ixxxi 
 
 XXIII. 
 
 OFFICE-BEARERS and ROLL OF MEMBERS, 
 \st November 1865. 
 
 $$fob,ersior. JOHN GREIGJun., J.P., 3 Tantallan Place, Grange. 
 
 . CHARLES LAWSON, Yr. of Borthwick Hall, 34 George Square. 
 
 r. A. KELLY MORISON, S.S.C., \6PittStreet. 
 
 OHN WILSON Jun., 13 Mtuse Lane. 
 
 . WILLIAM DICK, 40 Prince's street. 
 . JOSEPH BELL, M.D., F.R.C.S.E., 5 Castu Terrace. 
 (IDnstoMtr of Batons. JOHN WHITE, ios. st David street. 
 
 John White, Custodier, Plumber. 
 John Aitchison, Clothier. 
 
 David Cald-well, 
 
 Trimming Mercht 
 
 James Robertson jun., Jeweller. 
 Robert Dixon, Baker. 
 
 David Mackav, Bootmaker. 
 
 I. CALTON WARD. 
 
 Thomas Hall jun. , Painter. 
 
 Peter Cribbes, Lapidary. 
 
 John Gibb, Captain, Builder. 
 
 Jama Knox, Glazier. 
 
 W. L. Rausch, Clothier. 
 
 Alexander Walker, Japanner. 
 
 Alexander Wylie, 
 William Porteous, 
 Thomas Wilson, 
 J. G. Simmins, 
 
 W.S. 
 
 Baker. 
 
 Brassfounder. 
 
 Teacher. 
 
 William M. Laurie, Confectioner. 
 Peter M'Farlane, Com. Traveller. 
 
 II. BROUQHTON WARD. 
 
 Alexander Banks, 
 John Mackay, 
 Thomas Blaikie, 
 John D. Bowie, 
 
 Engraver. 
 
 Accountant. 
 
 Clerk. 
 
 Muslin Printer. 
 
 Ins. Manager.
 
 Ixxxii 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 
 III. ST BERNARD'S WARD. 
 
 
 David Miller, 
 
 Builder. 
 
 Robert Hay, 
 
 Grocer. 
 
 John Nicol, Captain, 
 
 Chemist. 
 
 Archibald Walker, 
 
 Draper. 
 
 Wm. Goodlet, 
 
 Silk Mercer. 
 
 William Traquair, 
 
 Writer. 
 
 Robert JSimpson, 
 
 Bootmaker, 
 
 George Campbell, 
 
 Stationer. 
 
 
 IV. 8T GEORGE'S WARD. 
 
 
 Edward Ayton, 
 
 Dentist. 
 
 Robert Lamb, 
 
 Clothier. 
 
 John Graham, 
 
 Painter. 
 
 Hugh Kerr, 
 
 Coach Proprietor. 
 
 Henry R. Kay, Capt., 
 
 Plumber. 
 
 William Brown, 
 
 Joiner. 
 
 John Stevenson, 
 
 Grocer. 
 
 James G. Hay, 
 
 Dyer. 
 
 Thomas Hobday, 
 
 Accountant. 
 
 James Macgill, 
 
 Ironmonger. 
 
 John Armstrong, 
 
 Draper. 
 
 
 
 
 V. ST STEPHEN'S WARD. 
 
 
 Alexander Elder, 
 J. B. W. Lee, 
 
 Sauce Merchant. 
 S.S.C. 
 
 A. K. Morison, \ 
 Vice-Moderator, J 
 
 S.S.C. 
 
 Wm, Cropper Jun., ) 
 Captain, ) 
 
 Painter. 
 
 W. J. Matheson, 
 David Stevens, 
 
 Builder. 
 Plumber. 
 
 Henry Mackenzie, 
 
 Chemist. 
 
 William Hislop, 
 
 Furniture Dealer. 
 
 
 VI. ST LUKE'S WARD. 
 
 
 William Reid, 
 
 Fishmonger. 
 
 William Grant, 
 
 Printer. 
 
 William M l Ewen, 
 
 Spirit Merchant. 
 
 Alexander Carrick, 
 
 Smith. 
 
 Alexander Edmonston, Bookseller. 
 
 George Glen, 
 
 Upholsterer. 
 
 John Wicks, 
 A. C. Pateison, 
 
 Dentist. 
 Surveyor. 
 
 Alex. Cockburn, ) 
 Captain, ) 
 
 Jeweller. 
 
 Robert Jamieson, 
 
 Fruiterer. 
 
 R. B. Moore, 
 
 Hotel-keeper. 
 
 
 VII. ST ANDREW'S WARD. 
 
 
 James Douglas, 
 
 Dentist. 
 
 Thomas Tail, 
 
 Smith. 
 
 J. K, Crawford, 
 
 S.S.C. 
 
 W. R. Clapperton, 
 
 Merchant. 
 
 John Miller, 
 
 Hotel-keeper. 
 
 Alexander Cockburn, 
 
 Jeweller. 
 
 Daniel Finlayson, 
 David Todd Lees, 
 
 Clothier. 
 S.S.C. 
 
 John Wilsun Jun., ) 
 Treasurer, ) 
 
 Merchant. 
 
 Peter Stewart, Capt , Photographer. 
 Thomas O. Murdoch, Engraver. 
 
 Wm. Dick, Secretary, Sun Fire Office.
 
 Roll of Members. 
 
 Ixxxiii 
 
 VIM. CANON6ATE WARD. 
 
 Robert Thornton, 
 Andrew L:nton, 
 John GreigJun., 
 
 Moderator, 
 John Thomson, 
 
 Moses Palmer, 
 
 Engineer. 
 
 Cork Manufacturer. 
 
 \ Printer. 
 
 Grocer. 
 ( Coach Lace 
 \ Manufacturer. 
 
 Robert Mitc/iett,Ca.pL, Cooper. 
 Wm. Robertson, Ironfounder. 
 
 William Richardson, Ironmonger. 
 David Martin, Baker. 
 
 Tlwmas Ramsay, Baker. 
 Joseph Bell, Surgeon, M.D. 
 
 IX. 8T GILES'S WARD. 
 
 Thomas Cowan, Spirit Merchant. 
 
 Jn. Thomson, Capt, Merchant. 
 
 John Wishart, Baker. 
 
 John Forgie, Grazier. 
 
 William M'Beath, House Agent. 
 
 John Forsyth, Printer. 
 
 Daniel M'Farlane, 
 Wm. Picken, 
 Atfthibald Smith, 
 James Kirk, 
 Thomas Wilson, 
 William Couttie, 
 
 Stationer. 
 
 Watchmaker. 
 
 Shawl Merchant. 
 
 Grocer. 
 
 Prov. Merchant. 
 
 Bootmaker. 
 
 X. 8T CUTHBERT'S WARD 
 
 William Allan, 
 Alexander Turner, 
 James Millar, 
 Thomas Gibson, 
 Robert Graham, 
 Thomas Stewart, 
 
 Prov. Merchant. 
 
 Lathsplitter. 
 
 Engineer. 
 
 Manager. 
 
 Grocer. 
 
 China Merchant. 
 
 John Swan, Captain, China Merchant. 
 John M. White, Grocer. 
 
 Alexander Trotter, Grocer. 
 George M'Culloch, Draper. 
 David Marshall, Draper. 
 John Williamson, Grocer. 
 
 XI. GEORGE SQUARE WARD. 
 
 Peter Johnston, Builder. 
 
 William Lind, Prov. Dealer. 
 Francis Farquharson, Confectioner. 
 
 Wm. R. Wilson, Printer. 
 
 James Gibson, Clothier. 
 
 John Robertson, Merchant. 
 
 John Campbtll, Painter. 
 
 James Philpot, 
 Alexander Dobie, 
 Murray Thomson, 
 
 Captain, 
 Chas. Lawson Jun., 
 
 Ex-Moderator, 
 Thomas Smith, 
 
 Auctioneer. 
 Baker. 
 
 Baker. 
 
 Joiner.
 
 Ixxxiv 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 XJI. 8T LEONARD'S WARD. 
 
 George Neilson, Smith. 
 
 John Brown, Grocer. 
 
 James Doull, Carpenter. 
 
 Andrew McDonald, ) -,, ., . 
 
 f~> , > doinier. 
 
 Captain, ) 
 
 John Pritty, Pawnbroker. 
 
 George Waugh, Merchant. 
 
 George Mackay, 
 Donald Bremner, 
 William Hamilton, 
 James Bertram, 
 Wm. Angles, 
 Philip Hunter, 
 
 Grocer. 
 Writer. 
 Bootmaker. 
 Bootmaker. 
 Grocer. 
 Cooper. 
 
 XIII. NEWINGTON WARD. 
 
 Jas. Thomson, Corn Merchant. 
 
 Alexander Forbes, Builder. 
 
 Peter M' Nab, Capt., Merchant. 
 
 A. B. Wallace, Teacher of Music. 
 
 Robert Robertson, Corn Merchant. 
 
 John Middleman, Spirit Dealer. 
 
 John Thomson, 
 Matthew Shiels, 
 James Pillans, 
 Wm. Anderson, 
 Dun. M'Lachlan. 
 
 Grocer. 
 
 Confectioner. 
 
 Printer. 
 
 Clothier. 
 
 Bookstller. 
 
 t A. MACPHERSON, Citv Chambers. 
 
 $rill $nstrattor.-^ SERGEANT HAY, 134 
 
 TREASURER'S MONEY BOX,
 
 NOTES 
 
 POWERS, PRIVILEGES, 
 
 OF 
 
 THE LORD HIGH CONSTABLE OF SCOTLAND, 
 
 WITH ESPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE 
 
 QUESTIONS BETWEEN" HIM AND THE MAGISTRATES OF 
 EDINBURGH 
 
 IN REGARD TO THEIR 
 
 CRIMINAL JURISDICTION WITHIN THE CITY.
 
 POWERS AND PRIVILEGES 
 
 LORD HIGH CONSTABLE OF SCOTLAND. 
 
 shal, is 
 within 
 
 N France, the Constable was an officer of the highest dignity, 
 holding the chief command of the army, and entrusted with 
 the regulation of all matters of chivalry and feats of arms. 1 
 In England, a similar office was instituted immediately 
 after the Norman Conquest, with duties very like those of 
 the Constable of France ; 2 and if we could accept as genuine 
 the laws of Malcolm Makkeneth, the office of Lord High Con- 
 stable must have existed in Scotland in the early part of the 
 eleventh century. By them the fee of the King's Constable is 
 fixed at .10, and his jurisdiction, jointly with that of the Mar- 
 stated to extend to the trial and punishment of all offences committed 
 twelve leagues of the King's court. 3 But these laws contain internal 
 
 1 The office was suppressed by an edicT; of Louis XIII. 
 
 2 But since the attainder and execution of Stafford Duke of Buckingham, in the 
 thirteenth year of Henry VIII., the office has been in disuse, except at coronations and 
 state ceremonials, when an appointment pro hac vice is made. 
 
 3 Leges Malcolm! Makkenneth. Thomson's Scots Acts, i. 346. " Skene," says 
 Sir George Mackenzie, in his Treatise on Criminal Law, "remarks that the best 
 manuscripts bear only two leagues, or four Scotch miles" (Criminal Law, p. 184). 
 This is incorrect. What Skene says is, " In omnibus fer6 codicibus qui ad manus 
 meas pervenerunt 12 leucas legitur. In paucis non ade6 fide dignis (duas leucn 1 -).
 
 [4] Powers and Privileges of 
 
 evidence that they are the products of a later age, and are valuable only as a 
 collection of the fourteenth century, " embodying some rules which bear traces 
 of a yet earlier origin." 1 It is certain, however, that the office did exist in this 
 country early in the twelfth century. 3 Edward was Constable during the reign 
 of Alexander I. and until 1 140, when the office became hereditary in the family 
 of Hugh de Morville, from whom, in 1 196, it passed to Rolland, Lord of Gallo- 
 way, by his marriage with Elena the granddaughter of Hugh de Morville. In 
 1234, Roger de Ouincey, Earl of Winchester, acquired the office through his 
 marriage with Elena the granddaughter of Rolland ; and on the death of the 
 Earl it devolved on his eldest daughter Margaret, Countess of Derby, by whom 
 it was resigned, along with "the right which she had in diverse lands," in favour 
 of her brother-in-law Alexander Cumyn Earl of Buchan, husband of Elizabeth, 
 the second daughter of Roger de Quincey. 3 On his death, in 1289, he was 
 succeeded by his son John, who in the contest for the crown of Scotland was 
 defeated by Bruce in 1308, and fled to England, when both his estates and office 
 were forfeited. The office was then conferred upon David Earl of Athole, who 
 held it till 1314, when, failing in his allegiance to Bruce, he also forfeited it, and 
 in the same year it was granted by Robert I. to Gilbert de Hay, knight, for his 
 homage and service, to be held by him and his heirs in fee and heritage, " with 
 the hostilages " belonging to the said office. 4 In that family the office still 
 remains in the person of the Earl of Erroll, having been reserved both in the 
 Treaty of Union and in the Statute 20 George II. cap. 43, by which heritable 
 jurisdictions were abolished. 
 
 In Scotland, as in France and in England, the Constable was an officer 
 of the highest dignity, and his duties were very onerous and responsible. 
 Those of the Lord High Constable of Scotland are fully detailed in a Report 
 by Commissioners appointed by Charles I. to inquire into the honours and 
 privileges of the office. 5 According to that Report, he was lieutenant-general 
 
 Quam postereiorem lectionem usus comjnunis recepit Nemo enim apud nos minimo 
 rerum uso, aut prudentia praeditus, unquam dixerit jurisdictionem, quam solus con- 
 stabularius nunc exercit (que tamen et Marescallo et illi, hie tribuitur) extendi ad 
 duodecim leucas ; sed ad duas tantum, hoc est, ad quatuor miliaria Scotica, eaque 
 numeranda, circulariter ab eo loco, ubi sacro sancta persona Domini Regis, domicilium 
 sen habitationem habet. Prior lectis 12 leucarum, confirmatur per Statutam Richaud 2. 
 Anno 13 c. 3." Skene's Annotations on these Laws. 
 
 1 Scots Acts, Pref. i. 45. 3 Scots Adls, App. to Pref. vol. i. p. 9. 
 
 2 Chalmers's Caledonia, i. 709. ' Spalding Club Mis. ii. 211. 
 
 ' Report of Commissioners 27th July 1631, Spalding Club Mis. ii. 225.
 
 The Lord High Constable of Scotland. [5] 
 
 and supreme officer, next to the King, in all royal armies and expeditions. 
 He had the command, direction, and government of the army, and was 
 proper and sole judge in all military affairs, and in all actions concerning 
 the captains, lieutenants, their officers and companies, during their em- 
 ployment or pay in the King's service. He was the supreme 1 judge in all 
 matters of riot, disorder, blood, and slaughter committed within four miles 
 of the King's person, or of the Parliament or Council representing the royal 
 authority in his Majesty's absence, and that as well within as without the 
 Court. The trial and punishment of such crimes and offences was proper 
 and due to the Constable and his deputes, and the Provost and Bailies of the 
 city or burgh, and all other judges within the bounds where such crimes and 
 offences were committed, were bound to rise, concur, fortify, and assist the 
 Constable and his deputes in taking the culprits, and to make their tolbooth 
 patent for receiving them. He had the charge and guarding of the King's 
 person in time of Parliament or Convention, and the keeping of the Parlia- 
 ment House was committed to him, the keys being delivered to him for that 
 effect. He had likewise the chief command of all guards and men at arms 
 attending upon the King's person at such times. It would also appear that 
 his jurisdiction extended to the punishment of officers of arms, messengers, &c. 2 
 Various privileges and perquisites were attached to the office. When 
 Margaret, Countess of Derby, resigned the Constabularie of Scotland, she did 
 so " unacum jure quod habuit in diversis terris nominatis in eadem litera," 
 possibly lands attached to the office of Constable. And when Robert the 
 Bruce bestowed the office on his faithful follower Sir Gilbert Hay, the ancestor 
 of the noble family by whom it is still retained, he did so to be held " dicto 
 gilberto et heredibus suis in feodo et hereditate cum hostilagiis ad dictum offi- 
 cium pertenentibus." 3 What the meaning of the word " hostilagiis" is has not 
 been fully determined. The Commissioners appointed by Charles I. report that 
 it was even then " absolete and out of use, and we not knawing perfytlie the 
 genuine sense and meaning therof, and whether the same doeth import the 
 libertie and right of a ludgeing deulie furnished and appointed within the King's 
 house (as manye doe suppose), or of ane house in everye toun where the King 
 
 1 Mr Riddell has shewn that his criminal jurisdiction was at least at one time subject 
 to review in the Court of Session. Riddell's Remarks upon Scotch Peerage Law, p. 
 1 17, and authorities there cited. See also the case of John Reid, 25th June 1685, after 
 referred to. 
 
 - See Spalding Club Miscellany IT. 215, and preface, p. xcix. 
 
 3 Erroll Papers, Spalding Mis. ii, 211.
 
 [6] Powers and Privileges of 
 
 did remayne, or if there be ony other previledge or casualitye thairby implyed 
 we haif in that regaird forborne to delyver our opinionis concerning the same." 
 Du Cange, writing nearly a century after this report was issued, defines " hos- 
 tilagium " to be " pretium seu salarium, quod exsolvunt mercatores extranei 
 pro locario domorum, seu apothecarum, in quibus reponunt merces suas ven- 
 dendas et distrahendas in nundinis publicis ;" and a high modern authority, 
 adopting this definition, has suggested that the word " hostilagiis" referred to a 
 " right of levying a tax upon hostellaries, or houses within burgh where foreign 
 merchandise was exposed." 1 But Mr Stuart, the editor of the Erroll Papers 
 in the Spalding Club Miscellany, refers to various facts which seem to war- 
 rant the belief that the term " hostilagiis" also comprehended some such privi- 
 lege as that hinted at by the Commissioners of Charles I., of " ane house in 
 everye toun where the King did remayne." 2 The Steward of Scotland would 
 appear to have had a toft or piece of land for a lodging to himself in each of 
 the King's burghs, and evidence is still extant that the Constable enjoyed a 
 similar privilege, at least in the two towns of Colly or Cowie, in the Mearns, 
 and of Inverness. 
 
 The Constable was also in use to exact fees in the King's Fairs " of all 
 manner of gudes gret and small that cumes to the Mercat to sell, baith mer- 
 chandice and vittail," during the time of the Session and General Council and 
 Parliament. But it was enacted by the Act of Parliament of James II., igth 
 October 1456, " At that use be laide done and forborn in tym to come, bot gif 
 the Constabillis feftment beir him till it, and at that be schawin to the King 
 and the three e'statis at the nixt parliament or generale consale. And at in the 
 meyne tyme the Constabill cess, for ther can na lawe be fundyne accordande to 
 that use." 3 This enactment was renewed, in the same terms, on the 6th of 
 March in the following year, by the A<51 1457, cap. 22. Nevertheless, an attempt 
 to levy such fees seems to have been made in Edinburgh upwards of a century- 
 later, and to have formed the subject of a public complaint to the Town 
 Council, which procured immediate attention and redress. The following 
 entry in the Council Record, 4 of date i6th August 1560, explains what then 
 took place : 
 
 " xvi Augusti 1560. 
 
 " The quhilk day ye provest bailies and counsall forsaid efter consideratioun rypc 
 
 1 Riddell's Remarks upon Scotch Peerage Law, p. 1 14. 
 
 2 Spalding Mis. ii. Pref. 87-92. 
 
 3 A61 Parl. James II., 1456, cap. 10, and 1457, cap. 22. Scots Acts, ii. 47, 51. 
 
 4 Council Record, iii. 43.
 
 The Lord HigJi Constable of Scotland. [7] 
 
 awysand with ye complaynt gevin in be ye haill comunitie of ye nythbours of yis burgh 
 and uthers our souerains leidges resortand with vituallis and uthers gudds yairto vpoun 
 Warn, hendersoun constable deputt makand mentioim that quhair ye said Warn, had 
 be ye haill space of xv dayis last bipast had be himself & uthers in his name vsit extor- 
 tioun of custoumes at ye portis of yis burgh alledgeand ye samyn to pertein to him as 
 his parliament fies quharthrow all personis resortand with yair guiddis & speciallie with 
 vituallis to yis burgh now in yis tyme of parliament wer compellit to pay dowbill cus- 
 tome viz baith to ye toun & to ye said constabile deputt without ony richt or titill 
 gevin to him yairupone bot onlie be usurpation & extortion forsaid as at mair lenthe is 
 contenit in ye said complaint The said Warn, being personallie present wes lawfullie 
 requirit to answer to ye said complaynt The Provest baillies & counsall forsaid findis 
 ye said Wa. to have done wrang in asking and craving of ony dewtie fra our souerains 
 leidgis inwith or besyde ye portis of yis burgh & yairfor ordainis him to desist and 
 ceiss fra all farther usurpation of ye said extorsion or asking of ony dewtie at ye said 
 portis or about ye samyn in all tyme cuming Becauss ye said Wa. Hendersoun being 
 personallie present and inquireit gif he had ony richt or titill quhairthrow he myt lefullie 
 use ye said exactioun upone our saidis souerains leidges shew no titill yairupone as wes 
 clerlie understand to ye Provest baillies and counsell forsaid and ye said Wa. pro- 
 testit for remeid of law & yt ye said decreit wes not prejudiciall to ye priviledges of 
 his office." 
 
 This order, however, did not put an end to such exactions, though they 
 seem to have been resisted by the Magistrates, and in October 1581 the 
 whole subject was under the consideration of the Privy Council. The leaf 
 of the Register on which the proceedings before that tribunal are recorded 
 is very much mutilated, but it appears that the matter was brought up on the 
 complaint of William Henrysoun, who stated that he had then held the office 
 of Constable Depute for twenty-seven years, 
 
 ' ' haifand the same with all feis casualties and deweties usit and wont belangand 
 thairto disponit to him for all the dayes of his lyftyme, As his rycht at length beirs, 
 Be the quhilk he his seruitors and collecloures in his name have continewallie be the 
 space foresaid bene in peciable possessioun but impediment of all feis casualties and 
 deweties appertaining to the said office and speciallie to collecl: and uplift certane 
 small custoumes callit of auld the parliament fee, or archearis wyne, for all victuallis 
 and merchandice enterand within ony his hienes burgh quhair the Court of Parliament 
 lies bene haldin for the tyme Lykeas the Constables of this realme and thair deputes 
 lies bene in use and possessioun thereof past memory all the tyme fra the parliament 
 fensing to the publication of the actes thairof." 
 
 Appearance for the city bears to have been made by the Provost and some of 
 the Bailies, who pled the Act of James II. above quoted ; upon seeing which, 
 and considering the whole matter, His Majesty [James VI.], with the advice of
 
 [8] P Givers and Privileges of 
 
 his Council, by decreet dated 28th October 1581,* ordained the Constable, his 
 Deputes, and ministers, to desist and cease in all time coming from taking Con- 
 stable's fees of any manner of goods, great or small, brought to market for sale 
 in time of the Session or General Council, " ay and until the said Constables 
 infeftment gevand him and his deputes libertie to uptak the saidis Constable 
 feis be schawin and producit before his Maiestie his thrie Estaites in Parlia- 
 ment or Generall Counsale, and that charge and declaratioun be gevin thair- 
 upoun as apperteins." 1 This decreet was subsequently confirmed by the King 
 in the charter known as the Golden Charter, dated I5th March 1603. 
 
 The Constable would farther appear, in consideration of his right to preside 
 in all tournaments and passages of arms, to have enjoyed the privilege on these 
 occasions of using the King's palace or residence ; and David II., having in 
 1333 granted to Sir John Somerville his palatium at Aberdeen during a tour- 
 nament, is careful to declare that that grant " should not be held to prejudice 
 the right of the Constable or his successors." 2 The Constable also claimed 
 the materials of the lists or barriers within which tournaments were fought, 
 as well as the arms, weapons, and jewels of those who were vanquished in 
 the lists. There still exist two interesting documents which illustrate this 
 claim in connection with Edinburgh. The first is a Notarial Instrument, 
 under the hand of Henry Strathauchin, notary public, dated 3oth July 
 1501, in which are duly set forth the facts that the Provost, Bailies, Trea- 
 surer, and certain burgesses and neighbours of Edinburgh, being summoned 
 by the Constable before the King [James IV.] and his Council, for their 
 unjust intromission and detention from him of certain trees, timber, and other 
 materials of the enclosure called Le Barras, 3 in which John Coupante, French- 
 man, and Sir Patrick Hamilton, knight, had fought and contended, they were 
 unwilling to stand or appear in place against his Lordship, but had delivered 
 to him a certain sum of money, with which he held himself fully contented 
 for the said Barras. And in consideration of the favours and gratuities to be 
 due and rendered by the said Lord Earl to the Provost, Bailies, and Bur- 
 gesses, in name of the burgh, they promised to support and maintain him in 
 his full right of his office of Constabulary, and not to molest him in like cases 
 when they should happen, nor in others concerning his office to do or attempt 
 
 1 Privy Council Register, 28th October 1581. 
 
 2 Riddell's Remarks upon Scotch Peerage Law, 114, 115. 
 
 3 The City pays cess still for the " Orchardfield and Barras," as a part of the King's 
 Stables property.
 
 The Lord High Constable of Scotland. [9] 
 
 
 
 anything against him in all time coming. 1 The passage at arms to which this 
 instrument relates took place near the King's Stables, just under the Castle wall, 
 and was presided over by the King in person. It has been graphically de- 
 scribed by Lindsay of Pitscottie. 2 The second document to which allusion has 
 been made is an Obligation by the Provost, Bailies, and Council of Edinburgh, 
 dated iyth February 1507, to William, fourth Earl of Erroll, in which, after 
 narrating that he had constituted them and their successors " his deputs in 
 the office of Constabularie for the term of three years next after the date 
 hereof, and therafter for his will to endure, as his wreiting made thairupon 
 proportis," they declare, inter alia, that 
 
 " notwithstanding that our said lord Constable has given to us the unlawis and escheits 
 of courts and barras with all other things pertaining thairto to our awn use, yet when his 
 lordship happens to be present he to remitt and forgiffe them of what pleases him 
 endurand all the tyme that we are deputs to him. " 3 
 
 This obligation, it will be observed, makes reference to another perquisite of 
 the office, which must have been of considerable value, viz., the fines and for- 
 
 1 Erroll Papers, Spalding Mis. ii. 212. Mr Thomas Thomson, W. S., who has 
 devoted much time to an examination of various Protocol Books in the City Clerk's 
 Office, has kindly furnished the following extradl from the Protocol Book of John 
 Fouler, notaiy public. The extract obviously has reference to the same incident. 
 "Pro domino comite de Erole, Penultimo die Julij [1501] hora decima ante meridiem 
 Alexander Lauder provest John Williamsoun Stevin borthwik baillies William Car- 
 mychel thesaurare Andro bertram and vtheiis diuers of the nychtburis of the toun 
 past to the presens of a nobil and mychti lord William erle of Erole declarand 
 forsamekle as he had thame vnder summondis before the lordis for the intrometting 
 and withhalding fra him of the barras in the quhilk Johne Coupance and Schir Patrik 
 Hammyltoun facht in Edinburgh thai wald stand in pley with him tharinto bot in 
 contentacioun thairfor thai gaf him certane mone of the quhilk he held him content 
 for the said barras, and als thai promittit to supple the said lord in his office of con- 
 stabulari in tym tocum and nocht to be in his contrare in sic cais quhen it hapinis nor 
 nain vtheris concerning his office for his fauor and kindnes in tyme tocum testibus 
 Andrea Strathauchin Willelmo Strathauchin Edmond Hay of Meginche Johne 
 Ramsay of Mury and Patrik Hay of Leyis." 
 
 a History of Scotland, pp. 188, 189. In some copies of Pitscottie, Mr Riddell 
 remarks, the space where the combatants fought is said to be "in the barrace ;" in 
 others, within the lists. 
 
 8 Erroll Papers, Spalding Mis. ii. 213. Mr Riddell states that this deed is recorded 
 at full length in the Acl and Decreet Book of the Commissary Court of Edinburgh, 
 9th July 1.582.
 
 [IQ] Powers and Privileges of 
 
 failures of persons convicted in the Constable courts, and which, in this case, 
 had been made over to the Magistrates of Edinburgh as his deputes. 
 
 The criminal jurisdiction of the Constable, it has been seen, was reported 
 by the Commissioners of Charles I. to extend to all matters of riot, disorder, 
 blood, and slaughter committed within four miles of the King's person, or of 
 the Parliament or Council representing the royal authority. This jurisdic- 
 tion, conflicting directly with the criminal jurisdiction of the Magistrates of 
 several of the more important burghs, could scarcely fail to be productive of 
 much inconvenience. Even in those burghs which did not possess grants of 
 Sheriffship within their bounds, the Magistrates anciently exercised an exten- 
 sive criminal jurisdiction. And, independently of their higher criminal 
 jurisdiction, the Magistrates of every royal burgh were vested with the power, 
 and charged with the responsibility, of preserving the King's peace. But 
 Edinburgh possessed a right of Sheriffship under a charter granted by James 
 III. By that charter, which is dated at Edinburgh on i6th November I482, 1 His 
 Majesty, " considering with a deep sense the faith, loyalty, love, good will, and 
 hearty service which his well beloved and faithful the then officers and whole 
 community of the Burgh" had performed to himself and to his brother the 
 Duke of Albany, granted to the Provost, Bailies, Common Clerk, Council, 
 and community of the burgh, and their successors, the office of Sheriff within 
 themselves in the said burgh for ever, and he ordained the Provost to be 
 always Sheriff within the burgh, and the Bailies to be his Sheriff-Deputes, 
 conjunctly and severally, with power to hold Sheriff Courts, to judge all 
 offenders apprehended within the burgh, and to punish them, according to the 
 nature of their crimes, with death, banishment, or any other punishment. 
 He also granted to them, for the proper use and benefit of the community, the 
 whole escheats, fines, exactions, profits, and fees arising out of or appertain- 
 ing to the office. With such a jurisdiction, the Magistrates of Edinburgh 
 then the capital of the kingdom, and principal residence of the Sovereign, as 
 well as the main seat of Government could not but be brought into frequent 
 collision with the Constable in the exercise of his privileges, and an attempt 
 would seem to have been made to obviate the serious inconvenience of such 
 a state of matters by their obtaining a commission from him to act as his 
 deputes for three years. 3 This doubtless was the main object of the arrange- 
 
 1 Inventory of City Charters, i. 33. 
 
 a These three years had just expired when, on 9th March 1510, James IV., by his 
 charter under the Great Seal, of that date confirmed the grant of Sheriflship made by
 
 L ord High Constable of Scotland. [ 1 1 ] 
 
 ment embodied in the Obligation of I7th February 1507, above referred to, 
 under which they undertook that they 
 
 " sail in na tym to come do any prejudice hurt or skait to the said lord in his office of 
 Constabulary but sail advance the privilege honour and profit thairof at all our guidlie 
 and possible power And sail not be halding of our courts pertaining to us, our burrow 
 court sherif court or water court, derogat nor mynis the faculty nor privilege of the said 
 Constable courts by any manner of way but [without] fraud or gyle And also that we sail 
 not sit nor knaw noyther upon the action of blude nor strublance committed be ony 
 partie or ony persons the Kings Majestic beand in the said toun of Edinburgh or within 
 four miles about but be authoritie of the said Constable courtis. and gif we do, that 
 beand notourlie known done of wilfulness and not of ignorance, the said depute granted 
 be him till us to be reportit." 
 
 The deputation here referred to was probably extended, for a memorandum 
 appears in the Council Record, of date apparently 3d May 1511, to the follow- 
 ing effect : " The Constablis Court haldin before ye Prouest and baillies of 
 Edinburgh." 1 Again, on I5th February 1520, the following entry appears : 
 
 " The quhilk day the provost baillies counsall communitie and dekyns of craftis grantis 
 and consentis yat ye hundreth pundis promittit be ye toun to my Lord Erie of Enroll 
 for ye office of Constabularie deputts be tane of ye comoun gudis, becauss it concerns 
 ye comoun weill, and ordains ane precept to be made and direct to ye thesaurar for 
 payment to be maid yairof as effeirs." 3 
 
 This last entry explains the nature of the consideration in respect of which 
 the Magistrates obtained their delegation from the Lord High Constable. It 
 besides indicates one source of the emoluments of his office. 3 
 
 his father. Inventory of City Charters, i. 38. These two charters were ratified by 
 Act of Parliament 1621, cap. 77. Scots Acts, iv. p. 667. 
 
 1 Council Record, i. 3. * Council Record, i. 14. 
 
 1 So early as 1525, the Magistrates of the Burgh and the Sheriff of Edinburgh entered 
 into an arrangement, under which all collision between them in regard to their criminal 
 jurisdiction was avoided. This arrangement, made in presence of the Lord Justice 
 General and the Lords of Council on the 4th of May in that year, declared, " Quhat 
 time ony theif or trespassour beis apprehendit within ye fredome and jurisdictioune of 
 ye burghe of Edinburghe, and beis convict of ony cryme, yat ye said President 
 [Provost] and Baillies sail use ye office of Scherefschip perteinying to yair office in yat 
 caise ; and convoy yame souerly to ye place quhare yai suld be justify t, and remain 
 yairat quhill yai be dede. And inlikwise ye said Schereff of Edinburghe and his deputis, 
 quhare ony theif or trespassour beis apprehendit outwithe ye fredome of ye said burghe 
 and presentit before ye Justice or his deputis in jugement, gif yai be convict, be our 
 Assise, of quhatsumeuer cryme, yat ye said schereffis sail use his office of Scherefschip
 
 [i2J Powers and Privileges of 
 
 The endurance of the deputation, obtained in consideration of the sum thus 
 paid, does not appear ; but there is a case reported by Pitcairn, under date 
 1 7th June I55O, 1 in which Gilbert M'Tyer, being convicted before George Earl 
 of Errol, Lord High Constable, "of art and part in Umbesetting the way to 
 John Nycholsoun on Monday June 16 inst. at Sanct Androis Port near the 
 College of the Holy Trinity, when he was quietly returning from the Burgh of 
 Edinburgh and cruelly invading him for his slaughter ; and for mutilatioun of 
 the said John of three fingers and the thumb of his right hand ; and for stout- 
 reif and plundering (reiving) from him of his horse, sword, two cloaks and 
 sundry other goods, was beheaded." This would seem to indicate that, in 
 1550, the Lord High Constable was performing in person, in Edinburgh, the 
 duties of his office. No further reference to the Lord High Constable or his 
 deputes appears in the Records of the Burgh of Edinburgh till i6th August 
 1560, when the following entry occurs : * 
 
 ' ' The quhilk day ye provest Baillies and counsall forsaid finds yt Wa. Hendersone 
 constabill deputt aucht hald na Courte within ye libertie of yis burgh but ane baillie 
 and clerk of ye toun & yairfor ordanis ye said Wa. personallie present to desist and 
 ceiss fra balding of eny Courts within yis burgh bot in maner forsaid with certifi- 
 cation & he falzie yai will provide sic remeid yairto as yai may of law against ye said 
 Wa. hendersons princepil for remeid." 
 
 Again, on the 2ist of the same month, the following entry occurs : 8 
 
 " The same day William hendersoun Constable of his free will oblezt him yat fra this 
 furt he sail in na time cuming hald any court within ye fredome and libertie of Edr. 
 without ye concurance of ane baillie and clerk of the samyn, nor attech poynde or 
 arreist within ye saids bounds without ane officer of ye toun adionit [adjoined] to his 
 officer And to yis effect ye provest baillies and counsale commands and ordains yair 
 officers present and to cum to concur with ye said Williames officer in all lawful 
 poyinding summonying or arresting upoun ye reasonable expenses of ye partye And 
 siclike commands ane of yair clerks to be rady at all his courts within ye bounds fore- 
 said for seruing of him and nane uther clerk bot ane of yairs as said is. " 
 
 It would thus appear that, in 1560, the Constable-depute was exercising 
 criminal jurisdiction in Edinburgh, that this was considered an invasion of 
 the privileges of the Magistrates and Council, by whom he was accordingly 
 
 pertenying to yair office upone ye said trespassouris, and convoy them souerly to ye 
 place quhare yai salbe ordanit to be justifyt, and remane yairat quhill yai be dede." 
 Pitcairn's Criminal Trials, vol. i. parl ii. p. *i2g. 
 
 1 Pitcairn's Criminal Trials, i. 351. s Council Record, iii. 44. ' Ibid. iii. 44,
 
 The Lord High Constable of Scotland. [13] 
 
 ordered to hold no court within the burgh or its liberties without the presence 
 of a Bailie and the Town Clerk ; and that the depute Constable subsequently 
 appeared before the Town Council and voluntarily engaged to comply with this 
 requisition. What were the grounds on which the Magistrates so acted; and on 
 which the Constable-depute was induced to acquiesce in their order, does not 
 appear from the Records. But a manuscript copy of a summons before the 
 Court of Session, at the instance of William Lord Hay, Constable of Scotland, 
 against the Provost and Bailies of Edinburgh, still exists, 1 in which it is stated, 
 that when the summons was signeted in 1629, the Magistrates " pretending to 
 have right to the foresaid office of Constabularie or sum deputies grantit to them 
 or yr predecessors yairof" by the then Constable or his predecessors, "haldis 
 courtes of Constabularie upon slauchters mutilations bluides and debaittes of 
 barres comittit within oure said burgh of Edr. or within the space of four 
 mylles about the samen, albeit yai have no sufficient richt nor tytill swa to 
 doo." This would seem to indicate that, even so late as 1629, the Magistrates 
 claimed to be possessed of an extended, if not a permanent, deputation of 
 Constableship within the burgh and liberties of Edinburgh ; but how that was 
 derived, or for what consideration (if not the ^100 referred to in the minute 
 of 3d May 1511), cannot now be ascertained. 
 
 In 1565, William Henderson still appears to have been exercising criminal 
 jurisdiction in Edinburgh as Constable-depute, for the verdict of a jury ob- 
 tained against Janet Dick, in a Court of Constabulary held by him in the 
 Tolbooth of Edinburgh on the i8th of August of that year, " for caussing lett 
 doun ane daill quhairwith Grissel Henderson was hurt to the effusion of her 
 blood," was advocated to the Court of Session, and the judgment reversed. 9 
 The following case is also reported by Pitcairn, under date 5th March of the 
 same year : 
 
 "James Bog being delated of the slaughter of George Hamiltoun son of William 
 Hamiltoun of Pardovan, committed on suddantye in the month of January last produced 
 a respite dated at Edin. 22 Feby. 1565 for nineteen years : Protestis Mr David M'Gill 
 that the entar of James Bog in this Court, be nawise prejudicial to the Regalitie, in 
 respect of the committing of the slaughter libellit within the samin, and that the 
 souerties fundin to this effect, to the Constabill and his deputtis incur na danger. 
 And siclike Williame Hendersoun Constabill depute, protestit that his entre foresaid be 
 nawise prejudicial to his office. Matthew Sinclair of Lochirmalcus, William Ridpeith 
 
 1 MS. in City Clerk's Office. 
 
 * Riddell's Remarks on Scotch Peerage Law, p. 117, and Act Dom. Con. et Sess. 
 v. 35, 165 b.
 
 [14] Powers and Privileges of 
 
 of that Ilk and Andrew Ridpeith his uncle became cautioners for the satisfaction of 
 the parties." 1 
 
 How the Magistrates of Edinburgh evinced the jealousy with which they 
 regarded the exercise of the criminal jurisdiction of the Constable and his 
 Deputes within the city and its liberties during the eighteen years subsequent 
 to August 1560, does not appear. Probably they were content to offer a 
 merely passive resistance, neither giving themselves, nor permitting their 
 officers to give, to the Constable and his subordinates any assistance in 
 the exercise of the privileges claimed by them, and refusing to allow their 
 tolbooths to be used for the imprisonment of persons apprehended by the 
 officers of the Constable. This state of matters, represented to James VI., is, 
 doubtless, what he intended to correct by his letter dated " Halyrudhouse, 
 23d February I579," 2 addressed to the Provost and Bailies of the burghs of 
 Edinburgh, Linlithgow, Stirling, Glasgow, Ayr, Perth, Cupar in Fife, St 
 Andrews, Dundee, Aberdeen, and all other royal burghs in Scotland, 
 wherever his presence and palace of honour "salbe for the tyme." In that 
 letter he proceeds as follows : 
 
 " Forsamekle as for pwneischment of trespassouris invaideris and schedderis of 
 vtheris blude within four myllis to our presence It hes pertenit and pertenis to our 
 Constable and his deputtis to tak inquisitoun of all sic personis committeris of the 
 saidis crymes put thame to die knawledge of ane vnsuspect assyise, and the persones 
 quhatsumever apprehendit culpable or being convict to caus be put in waird thairintill 
 to remaine ay and quhill thai mak satisfactioun for thair trespass conforme to the lawis 
 and constitutiones maid and vsit thairanent of befoir ffor executioun of the quhilk it is 
 necessar and expedient that all our tolbuithis presonis and warding houssis within our 
 saidis burrowis and vtheris partis of our realme quhair it salhappyne ws to be for the 
 tyme be maid patent and radye to our said Constable and his deputtis and Officieris for 
 incarcering of quhatsumeuer personis committeris of slauchter mutilatioun blude draw- 
 ing and vtheris crymes pertenyng to the said Office And that your assistance and 
 fortificatioun is requisit for that effect, quhairby sic trespassouris may resaif dew pun- 
 ischment for thair offences in example to vtheris inquyet ws our richt traist counsalouris 
 and nobilitie daylie attending and awating vpoun ws for the welefair of ws our realme 
 and lieges Oure Will is heirfoir and we chairge yow straitlie and commandis 
 that ye and ilkane of yow be your selffis and your officieris in your names as ye salbe 
 requirit heirto concur fortifie and assist with our said richt traist cousing and counsalour 
 Andro Erll of Erroll ourConstabill forsaid and Williame Hendersoun his deput and thair 
 officiaris in executioun of the said office in all tymes cuming conform to the priueledge 
 
 1 Pitcairn's Criminal Trials, Vol i. p. 2, *477 
 * Erroll Papers, Spalding Mis. ii. 2 1 6.
 
 The Lord HigJt Constable of Scotland. [15] 
 
 and iurisdictioun thairof of auld vsit and vount in all pointis And for that effect that 
 ye mak oppin presoun and your tolbuith durris patent to thame at all tymes for resav- 
 ing of the saidis transgressouris thairintill, lyk as thair predicessouris and thai hes bene 
 in vse thairof for the better putting of the said office to dew executioun in all tymes 
 bygane, as is cleirlie vnderstand and schawin to ws and the lordis of our secreit coun- 
 sale be sindry letteris and ordinances maid to thame thairwpon be oure maist noble pre - 
 dicessouris ofbefoir, as ye and ilk ane of yow will schaw and declair your dew obedience 
 to ws in your offices thairanent and answer to ws thairwppn as effeiris. " 
 
 Upon this letter, the Magistrates of Edinburgh were charged to the effect 
 explained in the following extract from the Council Records : ] 
 
 " Quinto Fery. 1579. 
 
 " The quhilk day Alexr. Clark provest (&c.) being convenit in the Counsal house for 
 rescuing upon the common affaires Compeirit Ryt. [Richard] bynning messinger and 
 officer to the Constable and his deputes presented the Kings majesties charge charging 
 thame to concur and assist with the said Constabill and his deputis in executioun of 
 his office as alsua to mak oppin [prison] to thame for inputting and detening of sic as 
 sal be found culpabill & conuict be the said Constabill yrin quhilk they acceptit and 
 were willing to obey as the samyn is consauit [conceived], quhairupon the said Ryt. 
 in name of the Constabill depute askit instrumentis." 
 
 The willingness on the part of the Magistrates of Edinburgh to co-operate 
 with and assist the Constable and his depute, expressed in the above extract, 
 appears not to have been of very lengthened duration, for, on the 8th of Decem- 
 ber I59I, 2 James VI. addressed another letter from Holyrood to the Provost 
 and Bailies of Edinburgh, in which, after referring to the power, privilege, 
 and jurisdiction of the Constable, and to the royal charge to the Magistrates 
 of burghs to render him and his deputes every assistance and co-operation, 
 his Majesty proceeds as follows : 3 
 
 "Notwithstanding it hes bene diuers tymes meanit vnto ws and last now laitlie that 
 ye and the jevelouris not only are slaw and [on] reddie to mak your tolbuith and prea- 
 soun oppin and reddie to our said Constabill his deputtis and officiaris, and to concurr 
 and assist thame in executioun of the said office, bot als oftymes ye and your clerkis 
 
 1 Council Record, vi. 7. 
 
 * It is worthy of note, that at the time when the King was thus upholding the claims 
 of the Lord High Constable, the Earl of Erroll was actively and notoriously engaged 
 as one of the Catholic lords in intrigues against the Government these intrigues 
 extending with little interruption from 1589, when Slaines Castle, the family seat, was 
 taken and occupied by the King's troops, till 1597, when the Earl was reconciled to 
 the Kirk, and restored to his estates. Tytler's Hist, of Scotland, vol. vii. 146-354. 
 
 * Erroll Papers, Spalding Mis. ii. 217, 218.
 
 [i6] Poivers and Privileges of 
 
 . . . your selfis to be assysoris and tak administratioun and rewleing of our saidis 
 Constabill courttis as ye pleis, maist wrainguslie and violentlie vsurpand the said 
 honorabill office vpoun yow, quhairof ye half na maner of rycht nor tytill likeas we 
 haif sene be ane transsumpt of your predicessouris obligatioun quhairby ye war faith- 
 fullie oblist to vmquhill our rycht traist cousing William Erie of Errole Lord Hay 
 Constabill of our realme with all thair power to advance him and his deputits in the 
 executioun of the said office, and at na tyme to cum to the courttis thairof vnrequireit 
 or to hald ony courtis your self or to attempt ony vther thing that may dirogat or 
 diminische the facultie or priviledge of the said Constabill courttis, and specialie that 
 our saidis prouest and baillies for the tyme nor thair successcuris suld sit nor knaw 
 vpoun ony actioun of blude or trubulaunce committit be ony maner of persoun within 
 our said burgh of Edinburgh, our predicessouris or thair successouris being in the samyn 
 or within foure myillis thairto, as mair amplie is ccntenit in the said obligatioun and 
 autentik transsumpt thairof In contravenying quhairof we man esteem yow to do 
 wrang, and except ye abstene thairfra in tyme cumming and suffer our said Constabill 
 and his deputtis frelie to exerse and vse the said office be thame selfis and thair officiaris, 
 and on na wayis to interpone yow in ony thing concerning the samyn bot quhan your 
 assistance is craveit We will se sum gude ordour tane for oppressing of your con- 
 tempt quhairvnto we were laith ye suld mak ws forder occasioun Our will is heirfor 
 and with aduise of the lordis of our secreit counsale we charge straitlie and commandis 
 yow and your successouris, with all your clerkis present and being for the tyme, That 
 ye nor nane of yow pretend to enter in our said Constabill courttis athir as iudges 
 assyisouris or as rewlaris thairin, bot onelie to gif your assistance quhan ye are requireit 
 be thame, And that ye at na tyme hinder or mak impediment to our said constabill 
 and his deputtis frelie and fullie to. vse and exerce the said office be thame selffis on all 
 occasionis, according to his accustumat liberteis and preuiledges of the samyn grantit 
 be ws and our maist nobill predicessouris thairvpoun and as hes bene frequentit and 
 vsit be our Constabillis and thair deputtis in tymes bygane, as ye and ilkane of yow 
 will declair your obedience dew to ws and vnder all hiest pane charge and offence 
 quhilk ye may incur and inrin aganis our Maiestie in that behalf, persuading your selfis 
 we will not omit the pvnischement of your inobedience incais ye or any of yow attempt 
 to do ony thing in the contrar thir our letters and charge foirsaid, and that in respect 
 of the priveleges and honour of the said office and that we haif sene quhat your predi- 
 cessouris oblist thame and thair successouris to the same effect of befor. " 
 
 Peremptory as this royal letter was, it would seem not to have had the 
 effect of preventing the Bailies of Leith from exercising their authority to the 
 prejudice of the jurisdiction claimed by the depute of the Lord High Con- 
 stable ; for on the 2Oth of January 1595, James VI. writes them from Holy- 
 rood, 1 as to a complaint made 
 "be our daylie seruitour Williame Henrysone Constable deputt of our realme That 
 
 1 Erroll Papers, Spalding Mis. ii. 219.
 
 The Lord High Constable of Scotland. [ 17 
 
 ye have vsurpit his office and hes tane the jugement thairoff vpone yow, quhilk on na 
 wayes pertenis vnto yow, to sitt and hald court vpone the adlionnes of slawchter 
 mutillacioun drawing of blude or trubulance within the space and bounclis of foure 
 myles cyrcuate our maist royall persoun lykeas the samyn hes been cleirlie understand 
 oft and diverss tymes of befoir vnto ws and the lordis of cure secreit counsel. Quhair- 
 foir," proceeds his Majesty, "we esteme ye have done wrang in halding of court laitlie 
 vpon Johne Schankis induellar in Lethe, the quhilk we will se repairit be yow. And 
 that becaus Andro Melveill our maister of houshald and Williame Henrysoun our 
 Constable deputt send ane messinger at armes to stay your last court anent that actioun 
 quhilk on na wayis ye wald obey. Quhairfoir we command and chargis yow and everie 
 ane of yow, and thais that salbe for the tyme in your places, as ye will anssuer vnto 
 ws vpone your obedience and vnder the panes and chairge that thaireftir may follow 
 That ye nor your successouris in ony time heireftir hauld court cognosce or put vnto 
 tryall befoir yow ony of the foirsaidis cryms committit within the boundis forsaids be 
 ony persoun or persounes quhatsumevir, bot licens of our said Constable deputt and 
 his substitutts to try sic criminall actiounis in the Constable court haldin be him and 
 his forsaidis. And iff ony of yow heireftir interpone your auctoritie to stopp or mak 
 impediment to the samyn done by yow or ony of yow of wilfulness and nocht of igno- 
 rance we will see the samyn reparit and punishitt for your contempt as efferis. " 
 
 How far these letters were productive of the desired result does not appear* 
 but no farther collision seems to have taken place between the Magistrates 
 and the Lord High Constable for many years subsequent to this date. 
 
 On the 24th of March 1603, James succeeded to the Crown of England, and 
 on the 5th of April he left Scotland for his new kingdom. He had previously, 
 however, granted to the City, and to the Provost, Aldermen, Bailiffs, Dean of 
 Guild, Treasurer, Council, Burgesses, and community, and to their successors, 
 the charter known as the Golden Charter, dated at Holyrood the I5th of 
 March I603, 1 by which he confirmed the previous grants of Sheriffship by 
 James III. and IV., and conferred upon the citizens a variety of privileges of 
 the most important character. Subsequently also to his accession to the throne 
 of England, the city of Edinburgh obtained from him new and important 
 charter-rights, which, it will be seen, were afterwards founded on by the 
 Magistrates in support of their independent and exclusive criminal jurisdic- 
 tion within the city and its liberties. These were, (i.) A Charter, dated loth 
 November i6c>9, 2 whereby he authorised a sword to be borne before the Pro- 
 vost within the liberties of Edinburgh, and appointed the Provost, Bailies, 
 Treasurer, and Dean of Guild, during their magistracy, to have the full power, 
 authority, and jurisdiction of Justices of the Peace within the bounds of these 
 
 1 Inventory of City's Charters, i. 679. Maitland's History of Edinburgh, p 240. 
 * Inventory of City's Charters, i. 734. 
 
 c
 
 [i8] Powers and Privileges of 
 
 liberties. 1 (2.) A Charter of Confirmation, dated 25th September i6i2, 2 whereby 
 he confirmed the former charter, and of new constituted the Provost and 
 Bailies, and their successors in the said offices in all time coming, Justiciaries 
 and Commissioners of the Peace, with the jurisdiction of the said office, within 
 the burgh and its liberties, and within the town of Leith, on the south side of 
 the Water of Leith, as also within the bounds of all other lands whatsoever, 
 immediately holden of the Provost, Bailies, Council, and community of the 
 burgh of Edinburgh. (3.) A Charter, dated I7th April i6i3, 3 whereby he con- 
 ferred the previous grants of Sheriffship and Justiciary of the Peace, and 
 granted to the Magistrates, Council, and community all fines, amerciaments, 
 and other things belonging to these offices, within the bounds of their respec- 
 tive jurisdictions.* And (4.) a Charter dated 3d April i6i6, 5 by which he 
 confirmed his predecessors' grants of the hereditary offices of Sheriff and 
 Coroner, and extended the same to the town of Leith, on the south side of the 
 Water of Leith, of which they were superiors, to the town of Newhaven, and 
 to the harbours of Leith and Newhaven. 
 
 In 1617, Francis Earl of Errol obtained from Parliament" a Ratification of 
 
 1 Queen Mary, with the advice and consent of her tutor, James Duke of Chattelher- 
 ault, Protector and Governor of her realm, had, by signature dated in 1550, constituted 
 Francis Tenent, Provost of Edinburgh, her Justice within the bounds of Edinburgh and 
 freedom thereof, so long as he should remain Provost, and during her said tutor's will, 
 with power to apprehend, try, and punish, according to their demerits, all committers 
 of theft, slaughter, murder, mutilation, and other crimes, within the said bounds 
 (Inventory of City Charters, i. 59). James VI. had also, by his commission dated at 
 Edinburgh 6th June 1589, constituted the Provost and Bailies of Edinburgh, present 
 and to come, his Justices in that part within the bounds of the burgh of Edinburgh, town 
 of Leith, Links thereof, Newhaven, Soultrie, [Soutra] and other parts belonging to the 
 Trinity College of the burgh, then pertaining to the freedom of the burgh, and all 
 other parts, bounds, and privileges of the same, and freedom thereof, the commission 
 to endure for five years from its date, and farther, during His Majesty's will, until spe- 
 cially recalled ; with power and commission to apprehend, try, and punish to the death 
 or otherways, after the quality of these offences, conform to the laws of the realm, all 
 and sundry thieves, resetters, inbringers of thieves, and outputters of true men's goods 
 in theftuous manner, within the said bounds (Inventory of City Charters, i. 62). 
 
 2 Inventory of City's Charters, i. 46. 3 Ibid. i. 48. 
 
 4 These three Charters were ratified by Act of Parliament, James VI., 1621, c. 78 ; 
 but protestation was "made for the Earl of Errole, Great Constable," as well as for 
 the Earl Marshall Scots Acts, iv. p. 669, 672. 
 
 5 Inventory of City's Charters, i. 40. 
 
 8 Act of Parliament, James VI., 1617, c. 41. Scots Acts, iv. 560.
 
 The Lord High Constable of Scotland. [19] 
 
 the office of Constabulary, with all rights and titles granted to him or his 
 predecessors thereof, and with all dignities, honours, liberties, privileges, 
 pre-eminences, profits, casualties, and duties belonging thereto. It is by that 
 Ratification declared that, notwithstanding the king's absence from Scotland, 
 the Constable and his deputes should exercise and enjoy their respective offices 
 as hitherto in the same way as if His Majesty were within this realm ; and 
 that during His Majesty's absence furth of this realm, " The resident place 
 appoynted, or at ony tyme or tymes to be appoynted heirefter for Counsell, sail 
 represent and be equivalent to His Maiestyes royall persoun and presence in 
 that cace." No protestation appears to have been lodged by any of the 
 Burghs against this Ratification, nor does any act salvo jure cujuslibet seem to 
 have been passed at the close of this session of Parliament. 
 
 Charles I. succeeded to the throne on 2/th March 1625, and on the 2d of 
 May 1627, issued a Commission to inquire into the honours and privileges of 
 the office of Lord High Constable, 1 but no report appears to have been 
 made under it. Another Commission was, however, issued in favour of the 
 Chancellor, Treasurer, President of the Privy Council, and other persons, 
 who were commanded to report to his Majesty before the ist of December 
 1631. This second Commission was dated 23d June 1630, and sealed 
 3 ist March 1631. But previous to its issue, the dispute between the Con- 
 stable and the Magistrates seems to have been renewed, for on the i2th of 
 August 1629, the summons already referred to, 2 at the instance of the 
 Constable against them, was raised before the Court of Session, with 
 what result does not appear. On the 27th of July 1631, the Commissioners 
 appointed by the second Commission issued their report ; 3 and shortly 
 afterwards the Burghs generally had their attention directed to the subject, 
 as appears from the following entry in the Council Records : 4 
 
 Septimo Odlobris j m - vj- Trigesimo primo 
 
 " Forsuameikle as the Commissioneris of borrowis Resenting the prejudice they are 
 lieklie to sustein through the encroatching of the grit Constable upoun thair liberties 
 Thairfore they have elecled Mr Johnne Hay 5 commissioner for theme for dealing with 
 
 1 Erroll Papers, Spalding Club Mis. ii. p. 222. 
 
 " MS. in City Clerk's Office. 3 Erroll Papers, Spalding Club Mis. ii. p. 225. 
 
 * Council Record, vol. xiv. p. 214. The Records of the Convention of Royal 
 Burghs for that year are awanting. 
 
 6 Town-Clerk of Edinburgh, and Clerk to the Convention of Royal Burghs ; after- 
 wards Sir John Hay, Lord Register and Provost of Edinburgh.
 
 [20] Poiuers and Privileges of 
 
 his Maj. for preventing of ye said Constabils encrotching and obteining the declara- 
 tioun of his richtes continued to ane parliament and for withstanding of any signatoure 
 to be grantit to him and ordanit the Guid Toun to advance his chairges to be repayed 
 be theme bak againe And the Counsall considdering how far they ar interrest in the 
 said mater for themselffes, Thairfore they have nominat and chosen, and be thir pre- 
 sents nominattes and choises the said Maister Johnne Hay Commissioner for them. 
 And grauntis and gives full powar and Commissioun to the said M r - Johnne for deal- 
 ling lyikwayis uith his Majestic to the effect aboue written, and use all meanes for 
 staying the said Constabils patent conforme to the instructions to be set doun to him in 
 that mater and other maters concerning the Guid Toun which the Counsall holdis as 
 conteynit in this present Commissioun, And Ordains the Thesaurer to advance the said 
 M r - Johnne hay his chairges and the same salbe allowit to him in his comptes. And 
 for geiving the said M r - Johnne his instructiones Appointes my Lord Proveist, baillies 
 Deyne of Gild, Thesaurer Sir Williame Nisbett Nicoll Uduard Mungo Makcall, Wil- 
 liame Carnegye and James Danielstoun To which persounes the Counsall gives full 
 powar and Commissioun for setting doun the saids instructiounes in the mater of the 
 Constabularie and in all vther maters concerning the Guid Toun." 1 
 
 Mr Hay's negotiations with the King resulted in his Majesty addressing a 
 letter to the Privy Council, dated 3ist July 1632, to the following effect : 
 
 " Charles R. Right trustie and right weillbelouit cousine and counsellor right trustie 
 and right weillbelouit cousines and counsellours and right trustie and weillbelouit coun- 
 sellours we greit you weill We have been humbelie moved on behalfe of our free 
 burghes of that oure kingdome that we might be pleased to caus preserve their liberties 
 and priueledges as our lait deir father did and as we have hitherto done to which pur- 
 pose their humble sute is that they suffer no prejudice herein by a commission granted 
 by us for trying the priueledges of the office of high constabularie of that kingdome if 
 anie new patent be grantit thereupon conteaning additions derogatorie to their former 
 rights and customes As our intentioun is to cause try what justlie doeth belong to that 
 office that according as sail be found our high constable may injoy the same in suche 
 maner as anie of his predecessours formerlie have done So we do not heirby intend that 
 our saids burghes be prejudged in their rights and priueledges whiche they have ancient- 
 lie injoyed by grants of oure royall predecessors Therefore oure pleasure is that no new 
 gift be exped tuiching the said office of Constabularie if any heirafter shall be presentit 
 unto you till the Commissioners of our saids burghes be first lawfullie cited and heard 
 to object agains the same and if anie questioun sail arise anent their liberties and priue- 
 ledges that you stay the passing of the said gift in so far as concernes the differences 
 betwix oure high Constable and them conteanit in the said gift untill they be legallie 
 tryed and decyded before the Judge competent to quhome we will that the tryell thereof 
 
 1 For an account of the expenses connected with this deputation, see Appendix A to 
 Notes on Lord High Constable.
 
 The Lord HigJi Constable of Scotland. [21] 
 
 be remitted So we bid you heartilie farewell from cure Court at Oatlands the last day 
 of July 1632." 
 
 This letter was presented by one of the Bailies of the city to the Privy Council 
 on 1 3th December 1632, and was ordained to be inserted and registered in 
 their books, and an extract delivered to the Lords of His Majesty's Exchequer, 
 to remain with them as a warrant for staying the passing of any such gift as 
 is mentioned in the letter. 1 
 
 On nth May 1633, the Royal Commissioners' Report was approved of by 
 the King in a letter to the Privy Council, 3 in which he further remitted to the 
 Privy Council to inquire into certain dignities and charges claimed by the 
 Constable in connection with coronations, but which had not been considered 
 by the Commissioners, and these were subsequently duly reported on. 3 
 
 Authoritative as these reports were, the Magistrates of Edinburgh do not 
 seem to have regarded them as affecting their rights of criminal jurisdiction 
 within the bounds of the city, and the disputes between them and the Con- 
 stable still continued. In 1633, John Keith, servitor to Mr Thomas Nicolson 
 younger, advocate, having hurt and wounded James Tenent, servitor to Sir 
 James Nicolson of Colbrandspeth, was imprisoned by the Magistrates after he 
 had been imprisoned by the Lord High Constable. The Constable, deeming 
 this act of the Magistrates an interference with his privileges and jurisdiction, 
 applied to the Privy Council, who, in respect of no defence by the Magistrates, 
 and non-production of their rights, found, on the 23d of July 1633, that the 
 Magistrates had done wrong, and ordered them to desist and cease from all 
 censuring of any matters of slaughter, blood, or riot, within four miles of his 
 Majesty's person, Parliament, or Council, when the Constable was present, 
 by himself or his deputes. Notwithstanding this decreet, the Magistrates would 
 appear to have subjected Keith to annoyance, and to have threatened to put 
 him in ward, for he too applied to the Privy Council, and on the I5th of 
 February 1634, obtained a decreet, finding that the Magistrates had done 
 wrong by taking and committing him to ward, in contravention of the decreet 
 recovered against them at the instance of the Lord Constable. 4 Against these 
 two decreets the Magistrates reclaimed by a Summons of Suspension, in which 
 they expressed their willingness to produce their rights, whereby they had 
 been in immemorial possession of the whole points controverted between the 
 
 Privy Council Register (Decreta), 131)1 February 1634. 
 
 Privy Council Record, 131)1 December 1632. 
 
 Erroll Papers, Spalding Club Mis. it. 229. * Ibid. ii. 229.
 
 [22] Powers and Privileges of 
 
 Constable and them, with the declaration and protestation that, after the 
 production of these rights, the Lords of the Privy Council would be pleased 
 to remit the trial of the validity of the same to judges competent thereto, and 
 that their production should infer no acknowledgment against them that they 
 did in any case submit the decision of their rights to any other judge, except 
 the Lords of Session ; and that the production which they were to make was 
 out of the reverence and respect they carried to the Privy Council, and not to 
 prejudice their rights. The procedure which followed, and the pleas and 
 arguments of the parties, are minutely narrated in the following quotation from 
 an extract of the judgment of the Privy Council : * 
 
 " And anent the charge given to the said Earl.e of Erroll lord constable Mr Archi- 
 bald Halden his deput and to the said Mr John Keith To have compeired personallie 
 before the saids lords at a certane day bygane Bringand producand with thame the 
 saids twa decreits to have beene scene and considerit be the saids lords, and to have 
 hard and scene the same, effection and execution yairoff suspendit simpliciter upon the 
 compleaners in tyme comeing for the causs forsaids Lykeas at more lenth is conteaned 
 in the saids lettres executions and indorsations yairoff" Quhilk being callit and Sir Alex- 
 ander Clerk Provest of Edinburgh, William Rid and Robert Fleeming baillies of the 
 said burgh and Mr Alexr. Guthrie thair toune clerke compeirand personallie wth Mr 
 Thomas Nicolson elder thair prolocutor, and the said Earle of Erroll and Mr John 
 Keyth being lykeweyes personallie present with Mr Robert Learmonth and Mr Rodger 
 Mowat thair prolocutors The said Earle of Erroll and Mr John Keith producit the twa 
 decreits recovered at thair instance agains the toun of Edinburgh, for satisfaction of 
 the charge given to thame for that effect And the saids Provest and Baillies of Edin- 
 burgh for instructing and verification of their right and priviledge in judgeing and 
 censureing of all maters of slaughter blood or ryot comitted be anie person or persons 
 within the liberties of the said burgh produced before the saids lords under protestation 
 alwayes as aforsaid, ane charter and infeitment granted to thame by King James the 
 third, and which is ratified in the Parliament haldin in the yere of God 1621, by the 
 which and for the honourable causs yairin exprest they are made and constitutte heretable 
 shireffs within thameselfes As also exhibit ane other charter of the office of shirefship 
 within Leith, with ane gift of Justiciarie, quhairby they are made Justices of Peace within 
 Edr. and Leith both whiche are granted to thame by his Majesties late royal father of 
 blessed memorie After production quhairof the said Mr Thomas Nicolson as prolocutor 
 aforsaid for the said toun haveing repeated thair reason he humblie craved of the saids 
 [Lords] That since the question and difference betwix the Constable and toun of Edin- 
 burgh were groundit and dependit upon thair heretable rights and infeftments That the 
 tryell and cleiring yairof may be remitted to the Lords of Counsell and Session, Judges 
 competent yairto conforme to the Lawes and custome of the kingdome in maters of the 
 
 MS. in City Clerk's Office.
 
 The Lord High Constable of Scotland. [ 2 3] 
 
 lyke kynde, and according to ane letter directed be his majestic to the saids Lords and 
 enacted in their books, quhairof the extract wes produced, by the whiche his majestic hes 
 signified his royall will and pleasure that all actions intendit or to be intendit before 
 the saidis Lordis agains the toun of Edinburgh quhairof the tryell dependeth upon thair 
 infeftments and production of thair rights salbe remitted to the Lords of the Session to be 
 decydit be thame as judges competent yairto 1 Quhairunto it was ansred be the said Con- 
 stable and his prolocutors that the mater now in question did not concerne their here- 
 table rights and infeftments, but only the extent and exercise of the priviledges dew to 
 the offices of Constabularie, which hath been cleered by the report yairof made to his 
 Majestic by the Commissioners nominat and appoynted to that effect and quhairof the 
 said Constable is in possession be vertew of the saids tua decreits, In respect quhairof and 
 that the office of Constabularie is a pryme office of the Crowne that the Lords of Secret 
 Counsell are most proper judges to the said office and to the extent priviledges and exer- 
 cise of the same, And touching his Majesties lettre forsaid quhilk is enacted and registrat 
 in the books of Secret Counsell it wes ansrit be the said Earle and his prolocutors that 
 the same cannot be respected, being a privat letter purchest be the toune of Edinburgh 
 agains thair awne vassalls in Leith quhairof there is no mention made in thair sumonds 
 nor the reasons of suspension groundit yairupon to the which it wes duplyit be the saids 
 provest and baillies and thair prolocutor, That the report made to his Majestic of the 
 priviledges dew to the office of Constabularie audit not to be respected nor can not 
 militat in thair prejudice, they never being callit to the tryell of the said priviledges, 
 nor the Commissioners haveing anie power to conveene thame for yat effect, And as 
 touching the nature and qualitie of the office of Constabularie as being a pryme office of 
 the Crowne, it wes ansred that notwithstanding yairof the action resulting yairupon and 
 presentlie depending which is groundit upon heretable rights producit be either of the 
 saids parties is merelie civill quhairof the tryell and decision be the Lawis and practique 
 of the kingdome is onelie proper to the Lords of Session and thairfore aught to be 
 remitted to thame as sole judges competent yairto." 
 
 The questions at issue would appear to have been reported to the King ; 
 for on 1 4th May 1634, he wrote to the Lords of the Privy Council the follow- 
 ing letter : 2 
 
 " Charles R. Right trustie and right weil beloved cousin and counsellor, right 
 trustie and right weil beloved cousins and counsellors and trustie and weil beloved coun- 
 sellors, Wee greet yow weele, Haveing considerit of your lettre and of the differences 
 betwix our right trustie and right weil beloved cousin and counsellor the Earle of Erroll 
 our heich constable of that our kingdome, and the Citie of Edinburgh, and of the 
 suspension raised be thame of the tua decreits obtained by the said Earle before you, 
 And findeing that the question doth now arise which sould be the convenient judica- 
 torie before whome the cans sould be decydit, whither before yow or before our Session, 
 In regarde of the nature of thair right they pretend to have, We have thought fitt 
 
 1 See Inventory of City Charters, vol. ii. p. 550. 2 MS. in City Clerk's Office.
 
 [24] Powers and Privileges of 
 
 heirby to requyre yow that (if you sail find your selfes competent judges in this diffe- 
 rences according to the Lawis and custome of our said Auntient Kingdome) you proceed 
 yairin, bot if yow sail find that it properlie belongeth to our Session, Remit it unto thame, 
 bot withall that no dilations nor tedious formes of law be used And that before which 
 of you this sail happen to be hard, Wee comand that you deferre sentence untill you 
 acquaint us with the particulars of the processe, Wee bid you fareweile, from our manor 
 at Greenwiche the I4th of May 1634." 
 
 On the same day, he wrote a letter to the Lords of Session in the following 
 terms : 1 
 
 " Charles R. Richt trustie and weilbelowit coosine and counseller and trustie [and] 
 
 weilbelowit We greit yow weill Wheras we haue writtin tuitching the 
 
 adlione depending before thame betuixt our Constable and .... citie of Edinburgh 
 willing thame to proceid therm in sa far as they sail find thameselffis competent judges 
 and to remit to yow our Colledge of Justice quhat is proper to be judged be yow, It 
 is our plesour iff they doe remit the samen to yow, That ye administer justice thairin 
 with all diligence without admitting dilatoury or tedious formes of law, that con- 
 venientlie can be awoyded commanding that ye defer sentence vntill ye acquant ws 
 with the particularis of the proces quherin expecting your diligence we bid yow fair- 
 weill. From our mansioun at Grenewich the 16 of Maij 1634. 
 
 "/ dorso, To our right trustie and weill belowit coosine and counseller the Erie of 
 Kynnowll our chanceller of Scotland and our trustie and weil belowit Sir Robert 
 Spottiswood knicht president of our Colledge of Justice and remanent senalouris 
 thairof." " 
 
 So important did the Town Council regard the matter, that they sent a 
 deputation to London, to confer with his Majesty on this and other matters. 
 The following entry in the Council Register, on 2gth May i634, 2 has reference 
 to this fact : 
 
 " Finding that in the mater of ye Constabularie it had pleased the lordis of his Maj. 
 Counsall to consult his Maj. thereanent and haiveing lyikwayes sundrie other wechtie 
 affaires with his Maj concerning both the church and commonweill Thairfore 
 they haue elected and nominatted Lyikas they be thir presentis eledtis and nominattis 
 Williame Gray merchand and Maister Alexander Guthrie thair comoun clerk commis- 
 sioneris for theme for passing and dealing with his Maj. in the saidis particularis and 
 in all vther thinges concerning the Guid Toun conform to ye instrucliones sett doun to 
 theme theranent and ordains the proveist baillies deyne of gild thesaurer Johnne Sin- 
 clare George baillie George Craufurd Willjame Carnegye to sett doun the saids instruc- 
 tiones and maner of means for presenting what sail be sett doun be theme wheranent 
 the saids proveist baillies and counsall grantis and gives vnto theme full powar and 
 
 1 Erroll Papers, Spalding Club Mis. ii. p. 233. 
 
 2 Council Register, xiv. 295.
 
 The Lord High Constable of Scotland. [25] 
 
 commission also ordains their saidis commissioneris to deale with his Maj. anent the 
 patent craved to be exped be the Lord Spynnie and to oppose the same sua far as 
 in theme lyes in name of the whole borrowis and ordains the thesaurer to advance 
 vnto theme such soumes of money for thair chairges as yai sail neid and the samen to 
 be soght back again frome the Commissioners of borrowis in the nixt Generall Con- 
 ventioun of borrowis to be haldin within this burgh wheranent ther presentis salbe vnto 
 the said thesaurer ane sufficient warrand, and ordainis lettres to be drawin up and direct 
 to the Archebischope of Canterberrie, duik of Lennox, Marqueis of Hamiltoun, and 
 the Erles of Mortounand Stirling for thair favourabill concurrence and assistance." 1 
 
 On 8th July 1634, the Privy Council, " being well and thoroughlie advysit " 
 on the subject, pronounced the following order : 
 
 "The Lords of Secreit Counsall Remits the Sumonds of Suspension and the reasons 
 yairof in the caise it now stands with the right and libertie acclaimed be either of the 
 saids parties in the mater above-written To the Lords of Counsell and Session Judges 
 competent yairto Intreating heirby the said Lords to grant speedie Justice to the saids 
 parties and to proceed yairin according to the direction of his Majesties lettre written 
 to the Counsell yairanent." 
 
 The letter from the King to the Lords of Session was, on 24th July 1634, 
 presented by the Provost to their Lordships, " quha declarit thay wold have 
 consideratione of the lettre quhensoevir the toune of Edinburgh sail incist 
 in the ac~liones ;" 2 but nothing farther appears to have taken place in regard 
 to the matter. The following entry in the Discharge of the " Baillie's 
 accounts for Unlaws " for the year from Michaelmas 1634 to Michaelmas 
 1635, would seem to indicate, however, that Constable Courts were still 
 being held in Edinburgh " Item ye 28 July [1635] be him [David Fairholme 
 officer] for instruments at ane Constabill Court xix s." 3 
 
 Early in the reign of Charles I., dissatisfaction would appear to have been 
 expressed with some parts of the Golden Charter of James VI., more espe- 
 cially in what related to the jurisdiction of the Magistrates in various matters, 
 criminal and mercantile, as derogatory to the honour and dignity of the 
 Crown ; and in 1630 the Council offered to renounce the benefit of any alleged 
 excesses in that grant, on receiving a new and restricted Charter.* This offer 
 
 1 For an account of the expenses connected with this deputation, see Appendix B to 
 Notes on Lord High Constable. a Erroll Papers, Spalding Club Mis. ii. p. 233. 
 
 8 The Town Treasurer's accounts from Martinmas 1632 to Martinmas 1634, and the 
 Bailies' accounts of unlaws for the year to Michaelmas 1634, contain many entries 
 which relate to the disputes between the Magistrates and the Constable about this 
 time. See Appendix C to Notes on Lord High Constable. 
 
 * Local Report on Edinburgh from the Commissioners on Municipal Corporations in 
 Scotland, 1835, p. 285. 
 
 d
 
 [26] Powers and Privileges of 
 
 was accepted, and Charles I. granted a Charter, dated Newmarket, 23d Octo- 
 ber 1636, the provisions of which are substantially the same as those of the 
 Charter of 1603, excepting in regard to the powers to which objection had 
 been taken, and which are reserved to the Crown. In particular, it confirmed 
 and renewed the grants of Sheriffship and Justiciary, which have been already 
 referred to. 1 
 
 In 1636, William Earl of Errol died, while his son and successor, Gilbert, 
 was but a child of five years of age. The guardians of the child were, however, 
 evidently not negligent of his interests ; and with a view to preserve his office, 
 brought him several times from school, to attend the meetings of Parliament 
 and its Committees, to sit in " the Constable's chaire, and to look upon the 
 guarding and ordering of the hous of Parliament as properly belonging to the 
 Constable's place." Nor did they omit to assert the criminal jurisdiction of 
 their ward. About 1640, one Reid, a painter, appears to have been convicted 
 in the Constable Court for killing Allane Walwood, servant to Lord Cranston- 
 riddell, and to have been sentenced to death, but to have obtained a remission 
 of the sentence. 2 Sir George Mackenzie, in his Treatise on the Laws and 
 Customs of Scotland in matters criminal, the second edition of which was 
 published in 1699, also refers to a case as having occurred about this time. 
 " I was told," says he, " that in time of Parliament holden at Edinburgh, 
 anno 1640 and 1641, the Earl of Errol was found by the Lords of Secret 
 Council to have sole criminal jurisdiction, and did repledge 
 
 , servant to Sir Thomas Nicolson, the King's advocat, arraigned 
 before the Magistrals of Edinburgh for a slaughter, and assoilzied him upon 
 production of a remission." 3 In 1641, another case occurred which brought 
 the Constable and his guardians into collision with the Magistrates. Mr 
 Thomas Lamb, minister of Kirkurd, having slain John Tuttop near Leith, 
 on Sunday the ist of August in that year, was apprehended and lodged in 
 the Tolbooth of Leith, whence he was removed on Monday afternoon to the 
 Tolbooth of Edinburgh, with a view to his trial by the Magistrates of Edin- 
 burgh. On inquiry, however, it was ascertained that the murder had been 
 committed " within the corne riggis of the baronie of Restalrigg," without 
 the bounds of the Sheriffdom of Edinburgh and its liberties, as well as of 
 the regality of Broughton. The Magistrates, therefore, had no jurisdiction 
 
 1 Inventory of City Charters, i. 832. Maitland's History of Edinburgh, p. 257. 
 * Sir John Lauder of Fountainhall's Historical Notices of Scotish Affairs, 1661-1688 
 (Bannatyne Club), i. 85. s Mackenzie's Criminal Law, p. 185.
 
 The Lord High Constable of Scotland. [27] 
 
 in the matter, but retained Lamb in ward, according to their own statement, 
 " till he were callit befoir the Justice-General or his deputis and put to 
 his trial before them." At this stage, the Lord High Constable and his tutor 
 interfered, and charged Lamb to stand his trial, and the Magistrates to 
 produce him, before the Constable and a Court to be held in the Tolbooth 
 on the 3d of the same month. Lamb failed to appear, being detained by 
 the Magistrates, though his counsel stated his willingness and readiness 
 to " enter on pannel conform to the charge given to him for that effe<fl." 
 The Constable thereupon presented a Bill to Parliament on 3d August, 
 setting forth the facls, and craving them to 
 
 ' ' give expres ordour and warrand be thir presentis to a messenger of armes or meassir 
 to command and chairge the saidis proveist and baillies of Edinburgh To exhibit and 
 produce the said Mr Thomas Lamb delinquent befoir ws and our deputtis ane or ma 
 coniuncllie or severallie in the justice court to be haldin be ws as Constabill foirsaid or 
 be our deputtis ane or mae vpon the fyft day of August instant in the houre of caus 
 and at all vther dyettis to be appoyntit and affixit be ws in the said mater or in ony 
 vther of that kynd as the samyn sail happen to fall out. " 1 
 
 Upon the same day, the Magistrates presented a supplication to Parliament, 
 in which, after narrating the circumstances of the case, and the charge 
 received from the Constable, to which, they say, they could not give effec~l 
 without great prejudice, " seing thair is ane questioun depending betuixt the 
 Constable and us anent the rightis and liberties of the said Constabularie 
 within the boundis of our said shirefdome liberties thairof and regalitie foir- 
 said," they beseech the Parliament to 
 
 "give ordour to the justice generall and his deputis to proceid and minister justice 
 vpon the said Mr Thomas to quhom we sal be readie to exhibit him within our said 
 tolbuith, And if that sail pleass your lordschips to give warrand to any vtheris and 
 especiallie to the Constable that the samyn may be declared that it sail be without 
 derogatioune to any of our liberties, and without acknawledgeing be ws of any right 
 or privileidgis quhilk the said Constabill hes to judge within any pairt of our boundis 
 and libeyties foirsaidis, Or to chairge ws to exhibit any persoune within any of our 
 tolbuiths or wardhoussis, Protesting alwayis Lykas we be thir presentes protestes That 
 quhatsumeuir sail be done anent the premissis sail be without prejudice of our rightes 
 and liberties in maner foirsaid." 2 
 
 On the 5th of August, also, the Constable lodged in Parliament a memoran- 
 
 1 MS. in City Clerk's Office, and Erroll Papers, Spalding Club Mis. ii. 237. Acts 
 of Parliament, Charles I. 1641. Scots Adls, vol. v. p. 353. 
 
 2 Erroll Papers, Spalding Club Mis. ii. 236. Scots Acts, v. p. 353.
 
 [28] Powers and Privileges of 
 
 dum, in which, after referring to the general privileges of his office, as claimed 
 by him, and to the fact, that the Magistrates avowedly had no jurisdiction in 
 the case then under consideration, he asks warrant to proceed to the trial 
 and punishment of the 
 
 "slauchter comittit be the said Mr Thomas, as the onlie competent judge thairto, 
 Seing it is vncontravertabill that the- power of all magistratis ather of royaltie or 
 regalitie in criminall causes sleipes and seids to the Lord Constabillis jurisdictioun in 
 tym of parliament And it wer a great derogatioun to the honour of the Kings Maiestie 
 and parliament iff any inferiour judge sould have the honour of cognosceing and juris- 
 dictioun in materis criminall quhair his Maiesties persoun parliament or suprem coun- 
 sill sittis Becaus these suprem judicatories representis his Maiesties awin persoun and 
 the bodie of the kingdome over quhom no inferiour judge sould have power of juris- 
 dictioun Nather sould the toun of Edinburgh be admittit to appeir or have ather any 
 declaratioun or protestatioun in their favouris Seing in the particular now contra vertit they 
 confes they have no entres as said is, in respect the toun of Edinburgh grantis that the 
 slaughter was committit vpon boundis which is without thair jurisdiction and liberties. " 1 
 
 These several documents were read to the Estates of Parliament, who, by 
 their deliverance endorsed upon the back of the Bill presented by the Lord 
 High Constable, ordained " the Provost and baillies of Edinburgh to exhibit 
 the within writtein delinquent befoir the Constabill or his deputtis ane or 
 mae, to the effect within mentioned, But prejudice allwayis of the Errle of 
 Erroll or toune of Edinburgh their rights or privileges prout de jtire." 
 
 Afterwards, however, Lamb procured Letters of Slaines 3 from Tuttop's 
 friends, and a remission from the King, which being exhibited to the tutor of 
 the Constable, he consented to Lamb's liberation. 3 The Magistrates thereupon 
 
 1 Erroll Papers, p. 240, and MS. in City Clerk's Office. Scots Acts, v. p. 354. 
 
 2 Letters of Slaines were letters subscribed in case of slaughter by the wife or 
 executors of one who had been slain, acknowledging that satisfaction had been given, 
 or otherwise soliciting for the pardon of the offender. 
 
 3 Council Record, xv. p. 198. This letter of consent, which exhibits a curious trait 
 of the times, is in the following terms : 
 
 " I Jon Earle of Kinghorne as tutor testamentar for Gilbert Earle of Erroll Lord High 
 Constable of Scotland consent that the Provest and Baillies of Edr. and their Javeller 
 put Mr Thomas Lamb to libertie furth of the tolbuith of Edr. quhairin he is presentlie 
 deteined for the slaughter of umquhile John Tuttop in leyth, and that in respect the said 
 Mr Thomas hes purchast a Lettre of Slaynes daitted the fowrt day of August instant 
 subscribed be the said umquhile Jon Tuttops father and mother kin and friends quhairin 
 they pardoun the said Mr Thomas and descharges him of all actioun civill and criminall 
 competent or that may be competent to them against him in his pcrsone lands guids and
 
 The Lord High Constable of Scotland. [ 2 9] 
 
 ordered Lamb to be released from prison, under protestation always that his 
 liberation was without prejudice of their liberty, and should not infer any 
 acknowledgment of any power the Constable had within their bounds. 1 
 
 Lamb's case, it will have been observed, did not involve the jurisdiction of 
 the Magistrates, the crime having been avowedly committed beyond the 
 bounds of the city and its liberties f but, in 1662, the old question was raised. 
 Two persons, named Leith and Gordoun, having been guilty of rioting, were 
 apprehended and convicted by the Magistrates, as justices within the pre- 
 cincts of the burgh. The offenders were afterwards claimed by the Lord 
 High Constable, on the ground that he was the " onlie justice and judge 
 competent in the said mater ;" but the Magistrates refused to deliver them 
 up. Thereupon, the Earl of Erroll presented a supplication to the " Lord 
 Commissioner his Grace, and the Right Honourable the Lords of the Articles," 
 setting forth the complaint, and craving redress ; and a warrant was issued 
 on ist July 1662, to cite the Provost and Bailies to answer the complaint upon 
 the 4th of that month. 3 How the matter ended does not appear, but probably 
 it was compromised ; for, on the i6th of July, the Magistrates and Council 
 appointed 
 
 "John Lauder baillie &c. to meet .... anent the deputation of the Provest and 
 Baillies under the Earle of Errol Constable of Scotland within Edinburgh the tyme of 
 the Parliament continues until ffriday, and in the interim to consult what is best to be 
 done;" 4 
 
 gere and acceptis him in yair favor Quhilk Lettre of Slaynes is registrat in the Bookes of 
 Counsell the first day of September instant quhairuponn the Kings Maj. hes given to the sd 
 Mr Thomas ane remissioun quhairby he hes forgiven the said master Thomas all cryme 
 offence and danger he may incurre for the said slaughter in maner specified in the said 
 remission quhilk is daitted the sextein day of August instant And yairfoir I consent to the 
 said Mr Thomas Lamb his liberatioun furth of the said Tolbuith of Edr. quhairin he 
 is deteinid for the caus foirsaid And yir presentis sail be ane sufficient warrand to that 
 effect Be yir presentis subscrivit with my hand at Edr. the first day of Septer the yeir 
 of God j m - vi c - fourtie ane yeiris (sic sub. ) Kinghorne. " 
 
 1 See reference to this case in Baillie's Letters and Journals, i. 367, 368. 
 
 2 The entry in the Council Register, of date 3d Sept. , refers to the murder as having 
 been committed "within the bounds and jurisdiction belonging to the Toun of Edin- 
 burgh ;" but the pleadings of both the Magistrates and the Constable before Parlia- 
 ment proceeded on the distinct averment that the crime was committed beyond the 
 bounds of the Magistrates' jurisdiction. 
 
 8 MS. Service Copy Supplication in City Clerk's Office. 
 * Council Record, vol. xxi. 141.
 
 [30] Powers and Privileges of 
 
 and on the i8th of July 
 
 " Report being made be the Baillie John Lander that the Committee appoynted to 
 meett anent the controversie betwix the Earle of Arroll high Constable and the good 
 Toun the Counsell recommends to the Lord Provest and Baillies to make the best 
 accommodatioun they can in taking a deputation upon good termes and no otherwayis, 
 And to meitt with the Lord President and Lord Register to that effect and to report 
 the same with yair best conveniencie. " 
 
 The Constable would still appear, however, to have continued to exercise 
 criminal jurisdiction within the City. On the 5th of September 1672, James 
 Johnston, violer, having been arraigned before the Magistrates, " as Sheriffs 
 within themselves," for stabbing his wife the day before Easter, they took his 
 judicial confession, and summoned an assize for his trial. At this stage of 
 the proceedings, the Constable applied to the Magistrates to have Johnston 
 delivered over to him ; and Mackenzie, who reports the case, remarks that the 
 " Magistrates passed from him upon the Constable's application," without a 
 " formal repledgiation." Johnston was tried before the Constable's Deputes, 
 who, upon the 6th of September, sentenced him to be hanged, and to have 
 his right hand which gave the stroke cut off and affixed upon Leith Wynd 
 Port, and " ordained the Magistrates to cause put the sentence to execution 
 upon the Qth of the month." 1 About the same time, the coachman of a 
 nobleman having wounded a child, the Constable commanded the Town's 
 Guards to apprehend the delinquent, which, says Mackenzie, "they accordingly 
 did, till he was freed by a Remission." 3 In July 1673, again, Sir John Lauder 
 of Fountainhall records the case of one James Gibsone, a baxter in the 
 Pleasance, who was fined in the Constable Court 8 score Ib. for a pretended 
 riot during the sitting of the Parliament in August 1672. Gibson suspended 
 the sentence upon the ground (ist) that at the time of the alleged riot he 
 was acting in the discharge of his duty as Constable of the bounds ; and (2d) 
 that he had a discharge of the sentence and fine from the Constable Deputes. 
 The result of this case to which, however, the Magistrates were no parties 
 does not appear, but it is observed by the reporter, that the 'citizens had 
 much cause of complaint against the Constable Court, not only for being 
 " summar and illegal, but also for their exorbitancy and oppression in their 
 fines. And though, it is stated, the Toune hes ever controverted this privilege 
 with the Hy Constable, so that he never possessed any jurisdiction within 
 
 1 Mackenzie's Criminal Law, p. 185. But see Sir John Lauder's observations on 
 this case in his Report of the following case of Gibsone. 
 * Mackenzie, p. 185.
 
 The Lord High Constable of Scotland. [3 1 ] 
 
 Edr, peaceablie and pleasantly, yet he gained a greater step that session, 
 1672, than ever he could arrive at before, by judging Johnston the fiddler, 
 and sentencing him to death for killing of his wife ; whereas, in so long a 
 tract of tyme as the ages since he laid claime to that priviledge, he could 
 never afford an instance, save of one, whom for slaughter they had sentenced 
 to dy, about the year 1640 j 1 but he obtained a remission." 2 
 
 In 1 68 1, John Earl of Errol obtained from Parliament 3 a ratification of the 
 office of Constabulary, with the whole rights and titles thereof, and of all the 
 dignities, honours, liberties, privileges, pre-eminencies, profits, casualties, and 
 duties belonging thereto, and of the Act of Parliament 1617, c. 41, before 
 referred to. This Act farther ratified and confirmed the Commission by 
 Charles I., to inquire into the honours 'and privileges of the office, the report 
 under that Commission, and the letter from the King approving of that report, 
 all which are thereby ordained to be good, valid, sufficient, and unquestionable 
 rights to the Constable and his deputes " for bruiking and enjoying the office of 
 Constabularie, with all honours, privileges, immunities, casualties, dignities, 
 and liberties belonging thereto." No protest was taken for the City of 
 Edinburgh, or for any of the other Burghs, against this ratification, but the 
 usual act salvo jure cujuslibet (c. 192) was passed previous to the adjournment 
 of the session for five months (till ist March 1682). In these circumstances 
 the Constable and his deputes appear to have asserted a right of criminal 
 jurisdiction within the City during the adjournment. This forms the subject 
 of observation by Sir John Lauder, who expresses an opinion that " in short 
 adjournements " the jurisdiction of the Constable continues, but when " a 
 Session of Parliament is closed by ane Act salvo jure, and ane act of ad- 
 journement, his right during that recesse and intervall certainly sleeps, 
 especially when the Imperial Honours are also put in the Castle." 4 
 
 On :6th January 1682, the Provost and Bailies, "as Sheriffs within them- 
 selves," advised by Sir John Lauder, their assessor, proceeded to the trial of 
 Alexander Cowburne, their hangman or lockman, for the murder of one 
 John Adamson, a licensed blue-gown beggar. Cowburne was convicted and 
 condemned to be hung in chains between Edinburgh and Leith. 3 Here, 
 
 1 The case of Reid, before referred to. 
 
 3 Historical Notices of Scotish Affairs, 1661-1688 (Bannatyne Club), vol i. 85. 
 See also Supplement to Morrison's Decisions, iii. 19. 
 
 3 Act of Parl., Charles II. 1681, c. 125. Scots Acfls, viii. fol. 371. 
 * Historical Notices of Scotish Affairs, i. 325. 5 Ibid. i. 34^.
 
 [32] Powers and Privileges of 
 
 however, Sir John is careful to note, neither the Constable nor his deputes 
 entered any protestation, " on the pretence of its being a current Parliament." 
 But, in 1685, a case occurred in which the Magistrates and the Constable were 
 brought into collision. The facts are minutely stated by Sir John Lauder 1 
 as follows : 
 
 9th Junij 1685 
 
 " One of the Toune of Edinburgh's sqjors, of Captain Patrick Graham's company, 
 called Edward Atcheson, with his baginet stabs a violer named Watson, because he 
 was serenading in the night tyme with his fidle in the street, (contrare to ane Act 
 discharging it) and gave him ill words. He was imprisoned by the Magistrals, and 
 his libell given him, and ane assise summoned ; but my Lord Erroll compearing, and 
 claiming him by his jurisdiction in Parliament tyme, as Lord Hy-Constable, and they 
 being both heard before the Commissioner and Chancelor, the Magistrats were forced 
 to quite him. Erroll produced his gift from King Robert the Bruce to judge all 
 criminall causes happening within 4 miles wher the Parliament or King's Counsell 
 sits ; with bonds, given in 1582, by the Magistrats of Edinburgh, acknowledging his 
 jurisdiction, and accepting deputations from him. (See the Report of Erroll's 
 priviledges with the King's ratification theirof in 1633.) Wheiron the Toune of Edin- 
 burgh, for preserving their priviledges, took a protestation against Erroll's deputes ; 
 who protested in the contrare, and led probation by witnesses, because his confession 
 was qualified, that he was provocked by calling him rascall, and refusing to goe to a 
 Commission-officer. The witnesses clearly proved the fact, so the assise returned him 
 guilty, and then he was condemned to be shot to death in the colledge kirk-yeard, on 
 the 17 of June next. Captain Grame, his master, delt much and offered money for 
 ane assythment to the widow to get him of, but it would not doe. 
 
 The following extract, from the records of the Town Council, of date roth 
 June 1685, relates to the same case, and is the last instance in which refer- 
 ence is made in these records to the conflicting jurisdictions of the Magistrates 
 and the Lord High Constable : 2 
 
 " The same day Baillie Robertsone and Baillie Spence reported to the Counsell 
 that Edward Aitchesone serveant to Capt. Grahame Capitane of the good touns com- 
 panie had killed John Watsone violer yeasterday, the nynth day of Junij instant betwixt 
 two and three hours in the morneing, upon the high street at the neather bow And that 
 they had caused apprehend the persone of the said Edward Aitchesone and imprisoned 
 him in the tolbuith, And gave him his indytment, and caused ceite fourtie fyve persones 
 out of which the fyftein assaysers upon his inqueist wes to be elected, and sumond the 
 pannall and witness and inqueist of assyse to appear yeasterday at thrie hours in the 
 eftemoon, and that they did fence ther court and continewed the dyet to this day at 
 four hours in ye afternoon And that in respect they were intercepted in yair procedar 
 
 1 Historical Notices of Scotish Affairs, ii. 647. 2 Council Record, xxxi. p. 182.
 
 Tlie Lord High Constable of Scotland. [33] 
 
 by the Earle of Arroll Lord High Constable, his pretending the only right and prival- 
 ledge to judge the persones that comitts murder or the lyke crymes within this Cittie 
 and four mylnes about the same the tyme of the sitting of the parliament And that his 
 deputes had raised ane indytment against the said Edward Aitchesone and sumoned 
 the witness and asyse against two hours this eftemoon And that his Lordship 
 and his deputs wold yairby prevent ther procedar against ye said pannell The counsell 
 thinks fitt that Bailie Robertsone and the clerk repaire to the Lord High Constables 
 Court and protest that ther procedar against the said pannall may not prejudge the 
 good toun of ther right of shiriveship and power to judge comitters of the lyke crymes 
 within ther jurisdictione conforme to ther charter and Ratificatiouns thereof." 
 
 On the 25th of the same month the Privy Council, reviewing a sentence of 
 the Constable Court pronounced against John Reid, skipper in Leith, under 
 which he was fined 100 dollars for assaulting and mutilating Malcolm 
 Macalla, also skipper there, on the Links of Leith during the sitting of 
 Parliament, found Reid guilty, fined him 3000 merks, and ordered him to lie 
 in prison till the fine was paid. 1 In this case the Magistrates did not enter 
 appearance, but the principle seems to have been recognised, that even if the 
 Constable had the power " of judging privative, yea of repledging from all 
 other Courts, even the Privy Council itself, yet if he did not punish propor- 
 tionally, and with commensuration to the delict, the Privy council might 
 review it." 
 
 Four years later, a noted case occurred, which involved the questio 
 in dispute between the Magistrates and the Constable ; but here again it was 
 left unsettled, both parties contenting themselves with protesting against 
 their rights being prejudiced by what took place. Sir George Lockhart, 
 President of the Court of Session, on his way home from the High Kirk 
 on the afternoon of Sunday the 3ist of March 1689, was shot by Chiesly of 
 Dairy, at the head of the Old Bank Close. The murderer was seized by 
 some gentlemen who were accompanying Sir George, and taken to the guard, 
 and afterwards to prison. An extraordinary meeting of the Convention of 
 Estates, or Parliament, was called on the following day ; and having con- 
 sidered a supplication given in by Sir George's friends, " for granting power 
 and warrand to the Magistrates anent the torturing" of the murderer, the 
 Estates, " in regard to the nottorietie of the murder and the execrable and 
 extraordinary circumstances thereof," appointed and authorised the Provost 
 and two of the Bailies of Edinburgh, and " likewise the Earl of Erroll, Lord 
 High Constable, his deputes, if the said deputes should please to concur, 
 
 Historical Notices of Scotish Affairs, ii.
 
 [34] Powers and Privileges of 
 
 not only to cognosce and judge the murder, but to proceed to torture," &C. 1 
 The trial proceeded the same day, before the Provost, four Bailies, and six 
 Assessors, nominated by the Estates, the Provost protesting that the Act and 
 Order of the Estates should not anyway prejudge the ancient liberties of the 
 good town. Mr David Drummond, advocate, the Constable-Depute, was 
 desired to concur with the Magistrates, but refused, unless the Constable or 
 his Deputes were sole judges in the matter ; and he declared and protested 
 that the absence of the Constable should not prejudge his privilege to judge 
 in the matter, because the murder was committed during the meeting of the 
 Estates. 2 Chiesly was convicted, and executed at the Cross on the 3d of 
 April. 
 
 This case is referred to by Mr Riddel in evidence of his remark that the 
 Constable Court did not too pertinaciously adhere to their privileges on 
 remarkable occasions, when the good of the country or the interests of the 
 community were at stake. 3 
 
 It would thus appear that for nearly a century and a half before the 
 Union, there existed in Edinburgh a latent antagonism between the Con- 
 stable and the Magistrates, which broke out periodically into an open rupture, 
 and passed off after some legal skirmishing, without either party being very 
 anxious to press their claims to a final decision. Evidently enough, the grant 
 of Sheriffship in favour of the Magistrates, in 1482, was not originally 
 regarded by themselves as conferring upon them a criminal jurisdiction 
 exclusive of, or even co-ordinate with, that of the Constable. Their accept- 
 ance of a deputation from him in 1507, without any reservation of their claim 
 to a higher and independent jurisdiction, indicates the reverse of this. 
 And even in 1629, after that grant had been confirmed, renewed, and enlarged 
 by successive royal charters ratified by Parliament, and after the Magistrates 
 had moreover been constituted Justices of the Peace within the burgh and its 
 
 1 Act and Order of the Estates engrossed in Criminal Register of the Burgh. Acts 
 of Parl. William and Mary, 1 689. Scots Acts, vol. ix. p 30. 
 
 2 See Criminal Register of Burgh. Scots Acts, ix. p. 30. Riddell's Remarks on 
 Scotch Peerage Law, p. 18. 
 
 2 Mr Stuart has supplied a still more memorable illustration in connection with the 
 murder of Darnley at the Kirk of Field in 1567. On that occasion, it would appear, 
 the Constable offered no obstacle to the trial of the assassins proceeding before the 
 Justice-General, though he did not forget to assert his high privileges, and to protest 
 that such trial should " on no ways hurt or prejuge the said Constable his office juris- 
 diction and infeftment thereof in ony sort." Erroll Papers, Spalding Mis. ii. Pref. 97.
 
 The Lord High Constable of Scotland. [35] 
 
 liberties by a series of other Charters ratified by Parliament, they would still 
 seem to have asserted their right to exercise criminal jurisdiction in the 
 character of deputes of the Lord High Constable, without referring to any 
 higher or independent claim. It is only in 1634 that their claim, in a question 
 with the Constable, 1 to an independent and exclusive criminal jurisdiction is 
 rested upon their Charters of Sheriffship and Justiciary, and it is difficult to 
 understand how such a question, so often raised and so anxiously discussed, 
 could have remained so long undecided. It can scarcely be maintained that 
 the Report of the Commissioners of Charles I. in 1631, approved of by his 
 Majesty in 1633, was conclusive against the Magistrates, for, in 1634, the 
 claims of the Constable were expressly founded upon it, while the claims of 
 the Magistrates, which were rested upon their Charters of Sheriffship and 
 Justiciary, were remitted by the Privy Council to the Court of Session, as 
 involving questions of heritable right, and no decision upon them seems ever 
 to have been pronounced. It must be observed, however, that subsequent 
 practice, down to the period of the Union, seems on the whole to have 
 favoured the claims of the Constable, and to have been in conformity with 
 the terms of the Report of the Royal Commissioners. 
 
 1 In 1581, they seem to have asserted their claim to a privative jurisdiction as 
 Sheriffs within the Burgh, in a question with the Justiciary. See the case of William 
 Bikartoune of Casch, reported by Pitcairn, of date i$th December 1581. In that 
 case Bikartoune was accused before the Justice-Depute of bearing, wearing, and 
 shooting pistols within three quarters of a mile of the king's person, contrary to 
 the Acts of Parliament and Secret Council, and of feloniously shooting George 
 Auchinleck of Balmanno through the body. The Justice-Depute remitted the matter 
 to an assize, and on the following day Mr Alexander Clerk, provost of Edin- 
 burgh, with Mr Alexander King, advocate, appeared, and " declarit that Wm. 
 Bikartoune had committit the crymes aboue written, and committit to thair ward ; 
 and in respect they ar Shereffis within thaim selffis, protestit, that the Justice Court 
 and thair preceding upoune him sould be nawise preiudiciall. The (Lord High) 
 Constabill protestit in lyke maner that in respect the samin wes committit within the 
 Kingis," &c. The prisoner remitted himself in the king's will, and was tried by an 
 assize, who found him guilty of the bearing and wearing of pistols, and of shooting 
 Auchinleck, but acquitted him of doing the same upon forethought felony, and within 
 three quarters of a mile to the king's person, in respect it was notour to them that the 
 king was at the hunting, farther than three quarters of a mile from the place where the 
 deed was committed. Bikartoune was thereupon imprisoned in the Tolbooth of 
 Edinburgh." Pitcairn's Criminal Trials, I. part i. p. 99.
 
 [36] Powers and Privileges of 
 
 The High Court of Constabulary sat till the period of the Union ; and in 
 1699 there was an arrear, says Mr Riddell, of fifty processes. 1 
 
 But it was not as against the Magistrates of burghs alone that the Constable 
 was careful to preserve the privileges and assert the high claims of his 
 office. During the regency of Mary of Lorraine [1554-1560], a contention 
 existed between him and the Admiral (who was also a peer), for the priority 
 of their vote and place in Parliament, and at that time the precedency 
 of the Constable was recognised, " notwithstanding that he satt not amang 
 the rest of the erlles bot for doing of his office in parliament satt laich doun 
 in the parliament hous." The contention was, however, renewed in the 
 reign of James VI., in 1585, and the Earl of Bothwell would seem to have 
 voted before the Constable, whose protestation, engrossed in the records of 
 the Parliament held at Linlithgow on the loth of December in that year, 3 
 bears that " except the kingis Matie and estaittis restorit him to ye ancient 
 degrie and prioritie in voiting quhilk his predicessours had he Refussit to 
 voit in this present parliament." Again, in 1606, the Constable is found 
 asserting his claim before the Privy Council in a question with the Chief 
 Justice, to take " ordour with this last accident fallen out betwix the Earl of 
 Glencairn and the Maister of Winton at Perth." The Privy Council, however, 
 delegated judges by Commission to deal with the matter, whereupon the 
 Constable addressed himself to the king, in a letter, dated " Logealmond 13 
 July 1606," in which, after referring to the rights of the Constable "be law 
 and daylie practique, to judge upone bluid and bluidweit, committit within 
 six boundis neir to your Maiesties royal chalmer, and in tyme of parliament," 
 he, in all humility begs his Majesty's 
 
 "most gracious favour, be returning ordinance to. the Counsell discharging the 
 creatioun of the judges delegat ; or els that I may have the benefite of replegiatioun 
 from the Commissioneris as accordis of the law, and the authoritie and assistance 
 of the Counsell interponit, to cleide with the ancient liberties of my office, anent the 
 citatioun of the malefadlouris to compeir befoir me in my Court of Justiciarie ; in 
 the administratioun quhereof, I sail have sik due consideratione as my tender care, and 
 trew regarde to the furthsetting of your Maiesties honour and princely estate sail be 
 cleirlie publisched unto the world." 3 
 
 It would appear, however, that the king did not interfere in the matter. 
 In the same year a controversy between the Constable and the Earl 
 
 1 Remarks on Scotch Peerage Law, p. 117. 
 
 2 Scots Acls, vol. iii. p. 375- v 
 
 3 Letters and State Papers during the reign of Jr.mes VI. (Abbotsford Club), p 82.
 
 The Lord High Constable of Scotland. [37] 
 
 Marischal " anent the privilege and libertie acclaimit be either of them to 
 the keeping of the keyes of the parliament hous," seems to have arisen 
 during the sitting of the Parliament, then being held at Perth, and to have 
 required the intervention of the Privy Council, who on the 2d of July 1606 
 found and declared, " That the keiping off the keyis off the Parliament hous 
 and the gairding of the vtter bar and yettis thairof appertenes to the Consta- 
 bill." 1 Exception having been taken to this finding by the Earl Marischal, 
 parties were again heard, and on 3ist July 1607 an Adi of the Privy Council 
 was passed, 2 in which " the lordis for eschewing of heit stryffe and con- 
 tentioune betuix the Lordis Marshall and Constable and thair deputtis," 
 renewed their declaration that the keeping of the keys and guarding of the 
 outer gates of the Parliament House appertained to the Constable, and that 
 he and his Deputes had the charge and commandment of all " outwith the 
 yettis of the parliament hous." They farther declared that the guarding of 
 the " inner bar and the charge of all within the yeattis and duris of the parlia- 
 ment hous appertenes to the Lord Marshall." Even this decision, however, 
 did not suffice to prevent " stryffe and contentioun." In the Parliament held at 
 Edinburgh in 1612, and which commenced its sittings on I2th October of that 
 year, a notification is made at the close of the proceedings of a Protestation 
 made be James Stuart for the Earl Marischal, " and a Protestatioun made 
 be the Earle of Wintoun for the Earl of Erroll Constable." 3 The whole 
 subject was afterwards fully discussed before the King (Charles I.) and his 
 Privy Council, by whom an Act was issued on I7th June 1633, finding, 
 decerning, and declaring 
 
 " That the keiping of the keyes of the Parliament hous And the haveing of ane guard 
 without the hous for guarding of the samen, properly belongis to The Lord Con- 
 stable And that he shall have only sex men within the hous for guarding and oppening 
 of the vtter gaite And of thir sex men that thrie be on aither syde of the vtter gaite 
 of the Parliament hous And that thair be ane stoupe set vp vpoun the braid staires of 
 the parliament hous to be ane marche betuixt the said Constable and Marshall and 
 thair guardes And siclyke findis and declares That the guarding of the Parliament 
 Hous within from the stoupe forsaid to the barr belongis to The Marschall And 
 decernes both the saidis pairties to conforme themselwis to this present act and ordi- 
 nance so that no matter of contest fall out betuixt thame and thair serwandis vpoun 
 this occasioun heireftir. " * 
 
 1 Erroll Papers, Spalding Mis. ii. 220. 2 Ibid. ii. 221. 8 Scots Acts, iv. p. 522. 
 * Erroll Papers, Spalding Miscellany, ii. p. 233. Ratified by Act of Parliament, 
 Charles I. 1633, c. 55. Scots Acts, vol. v p. 64.
 
 [38] Powers and Privileges of 
 
 But even this decision does not appear to have obviated all further question 
 between the Constable and the Marischal in regard to their respective 
 jurisdictions. On the 26th of June 1703, Lord Belhaven and Sir Alexander 
 Ogilvie of Forgeland, two Members of Parliament, committed a riot within 
 the walls of the Parliament itself, " by using opprobrious language, and 
 beating one another within the Parliament Hall, betwixt the Amphitheatre 
 and the rails, when the Parliament was sitting." The offenders were taken 
 into custody by order of the Constable, but on the 3oth of June presented a 
 Petition acknowledging their fault, and entreating Her Majesty's High Com- 
 missioner and the Estates to pardon their offence and repone them to their 
 seats as Members of Parliament. On the same being read, the Constable 
 " was ordered to cause the officer of his guard to bring the Petitioners before 
 the Parliament, and they being accordingly brought to the Bar," were forgiven 
 and reponed. 1 It is stated that in this case the Constable offered no obstacle 
 to the Parliament taking trial of the crime, it being understood " that their 
 assuming and judging of this case shall not be made a preparative, nor 
 derogate from the rights and privileges of the High Constable." 2 On the 
 following day, however, the Marischal protested that his right should not be 
 prejudged by the exercise of the Constable's office, " since he had the 
 jurisdiction as to delinquencies committed within the doors of the House, 
 conform to his ancient rights." This was met by a prompt counter protest 
 on the part of the Constable. No further allusion is made to the subject in 
 the Records of Parliament. But the Minutes of Parliament, of 23d August 
 1 704, 3 referring to the case of William Cochran of Ferguslie, charged with 
 the fraudulent retention of public funds, states, that he was ordered by the 
 Lord High Commissioner, and the Estates of Parliament, " to be taken from 
 the Bar by the Earle Mareschall, or the Captain of his Guards, and delivered 
 at the door of the Parliament House to the Earle of Errol High Constable, or to 
 the Captain of his Guards, and brought by them to the Tolbooth of Edinburgh, 
 therein to be keeped prisoner by the Magistrates of Edinburgh, and Keepers 
 of the said prison, until he find sufficient caution to answer the several 
 complaints exhibited or to be exhibited against him." There is thus, in 
 connection with this case, a distinct recognition of the respective jurisdictions 
 of the Constable and Marischal. On the 25th of August 1706,* the Constable 
 and the Marischal are found co-operating in the assertion of their mutual 
 
 1 Acta Parl. Annae, 1703. Scots Acts, vol. xi. p. 65, and Appendix, p. 20. 
 
 a Preface to Erroll Papers, Spalding Mis. ii. p. xcix. 
 
 8 Acla Parl. Annae, 1704. Scots Acts, vol. xi. p. 65 ; see also p. 187. 
 
 4 Acta Parl. Annae, 1706. Scots Acts, vol. xi. p. 309.
 
 The Lord HigJi Constable of Scotland. [39] 
 
 privileges. The Articles of Union with England were at this time 
 being discussed in Parliament, in the midst of an undisguised popular 
 hostility, which broke out on the 23d of that month into a somewhat 
 formidable tumult. The riot became ultimately so serious that the City 
 Guard, who were the police and military protectors of the city, and 
 had, in ordinary circumstances, the exclusive privileges of military action 
 within its walls, 1 were unable to suppress it. The Privy Council therefore, 
 with, it appears, the sanction of the Lord Provost, called in a battalion of 
 Foot Guards, who, after dispersing the riot, remained on guard for the 
 security of the Members of Parliament, and the peace of the Town. The 
 proceedings were reported by the Lord Chancellor to the Parliament at their 
 meeting on the following day, when the Constable, for himself and such as 
 should adhere to him, protested " that the continuing of standing forces 
 within the Town of Edinburgh, and keeping guard with them in the Parlia- 
 ment closs and other places within the Town the time of Parliament as at 
 present is done, is contrare to the right of his office as High Constable by 
 which he has the only priviledge of guarding the Parliament without doors, 
 as the Earl Mareschall has within doors, and is an encroachment on the 
 rights and privileges of the Toun of Edinburgh. And if any vote shall pass 
 contrare to his said right, or the rights of the Earl Mareschall, or rights and 
 privileges of Parliament, or the Toun of Edinburgh, that it shall not in any 
 time hereafter prejudge the same or be anyways drawn in consequence." 
 This protest was adhered to by the Earl Marischal, and by fifty noblemen 
 and gentlemen, Members of Parliament. A motion was subsequently made 
 to approve of what the Privy Council had done, and to recommend them to 
 continue their care ; but before the vote was taken it was agreed, upon the 
 motion of the Commissioners for Edinburgh, that it should be without 
 " prejudice of the said Toun of Edinburgh's rights and privileges by their 
 charters." The original motion was then carried, and the troops remained in 
 Edinburgh as a military guard during the remainder of the discussion on this 
 most unpopular measure. Their presence, however, did not prevent the 
 excited populace from stoning the Lord High Commissioner on his way home 
 to the Palace on the i8th of November. The journals of Parliament shew, 
 that on the following day this was represented by His Grace to Parliament, 
 who recommended the Lord High Constable to prosecute forthwith the 
 persons who were imprisoned on account of the former tumult, and the 
 
 1 Burton's History of Scotland, vol. i. p. 442. Wilson's Memorials of Edinburgh, 
 vol. i p. 108.
 
 [40] Powers and Privileges of 
 
 Magistrates of Edinburgh were ordained to furnish what probation they 
 could to the Fiscal of the Constable's Court against such as were so 
 imprisoned. 1 It is worthy of notice, that throughout the whole of the 
 discussions in regard to the Union, the Constable was a persistent opponent 
 of the measure, and the records of Parliament, of date yth January 1707, 
 contain his formal protest, that his office " depending upon the Monarchic 
 Sovereignity and Antient constitution of this Kingdome may not be 
 weakened nor prejudged by the conclusion of the Treaty of Union betwixt 
 Scotland and England nor any Article clause or condition thereof." 3 
 
 But though the office of Lord High Constable was reserved by the 
 treaty of Union, the changes effected by that measure have deprived the 
 possessors of the office of the opportunities which formerly existed for the 
 exercise of its privileges and jurisdictions, and have shorn it of much of its 
 prestige. The removal of the seat of Parliament, and the abrogation of 
 the Scottish Privy Council, have necessarily restricted the Constable 
 in the exercise of his criminal jurisdiction to those occasions when the 
 Sovereign visits this part of the British dominions ; and on only one occasion 
 since the Union, has the High Constable discharged his functions on Scottish 
 soil. That was during the visit of George IV. in 1822, when the Constable 
 attended His Majesty with a feudal pomp befitting the greatest of the few 
 remaining hereditary offices of the Scottish Crown, and claimed and received, 
 as part of his " Hostilagia," apartments in Holyrood, in the immediate 
 vicinity of the private chambers occupied by the King. " Immediately on 
 His Majesty's landing," says the Editor of the Erroll Papers, " all criminal 
 jurisdiction within four miles of the presence became vested in the constable ; 
 and in order that Justice might flow in its accustomed channel, the Sheriff of 
 Midlothian, the Magistrates of Edinburgh and Leith, the Bailie of Holyrood, 
 and the Judges of Police, were constituted his Lordships deputes in the 
 Office of Constabulary." 3 The Commissions here referred to in favour of the 
 Magistrates and Judges of Police of Edinburgh, are in existence, but no 
 reference to them occurs in the Records of the City to shew that they were 
 acled upon, or the footing on which they were granted or accepted. It is 
 presumed it was without prejudice to the rights of parties, and ob majorcm 
 
 1 A6la Parl. Annae, 1706. Scots Acts, vol. xi. p. 331. 
 
 * Acla ParL Annae, 1707. Scots Acts, vol. xi. p. 387. 
 
 3 Pref. to Erroll Papers, Spalding Mis. ii. p. cv. See copy Commission to the 
 Magistrates and to the Judges of Police of Edinburgh, Appendix D to Notes on 
 Lord High Constable.
 
 The Lord High Constable of Scotland. [41] 
 
 cautelam, though it might well have been maintained, that had the Constable 
 not thought proper to assert his claim to an exclusive criminal jurisdiction in 
 matters of Riot, Blood, or Slaughter, or to repledge from the Courts of the 
 Magistrates and the other Judges, persons accused of these crimes, no 
 question could have arisen as to the administration of justice by the 
 ordinary means. No case has been discovered in which it has been main- 
 tained that the criminal jurisdiction of the Constable so absorbed that of the 
 local authorities, or of the Justiciary, as to render it incompetent for them to 
 deal with crimes falling within their ordinary jurisdiction when he failed to 
 assert his right. His privilege appears rather to have been like that of a 
 lord of regality in this respect, that while the lord might repledge or reclaim 
 to his own court from that of the Sheriff, and even from that of the Justiciar, 
 all criminals amenable to the regality, the jurisdictions of these judges con- 
 tinued to exist, and might be exercised by them if he failed to exercise his 
 jurisdiction. " The repledger," says Erskine, " might indeed, in virtue of his 
 privilege, carry the trial from their courts to his own ; but if he did not 
 exercise the privilege, it was not only lawful to these other judges, but it 
 behoved them, to proceed with the trial." 1 
 
 In virtue of his office, the Constable necessarily occupied a position of 
 close proximity to the person of the Sovereign in all State ceremonials. 
 The Report of the Commissioners of Charles I. in 1631, bears that " in tyme 
 of parliament the Constable rydis upoun the Kings right hand and carryes a 
 whyte batton in token of Command, and accordinglie sitteth apairt from the 
 rest of the nobilitye upoun the Kings right hand, having the Honnouris 
 lyand besyde him." This was confirmed by the Report of the Lords of the 
 Privy Council to the King in i633, 2 relative to the ceremonies to be observed 
 at his coronation, In this report they state that unto the Constable belongs 
 the guarding of the royal person in time of parliament or coronation, and the 
 command of all guards and men at arms attending upon the sovereign at 
 such public times. They also recommend His Majesty to preserve the 
 Constable's liberties and privileges, as well in the coronation as in parlia- 
 ment and conventions, 3 " he being your Majesty's chief officer unto whom all 
 the ceremonies of the sword and honours of the said office do duely and 
 properly belong so far as we can learn or find by matter of record or 
 
 1 Erskine's Institutes of the Law of Scotland, B. i., T. 4, S. 8. 
 
 2 Erroll Papers, Spalding Mis. ii. p. 230. 
 
 3 For an account of the Constable's duties in riding the Parliaments of Scotland. See 
 Nisbet's Heraldry, vol. ii. part iv. pp. 68, 69
 
 [42] Powers and Privileges of 
 
 otherways." Effect was accordingly given to these reports at the Coronation 
 of Charles I. in Holyrood, in I633, 1 and of Charles II. at Scone, in i65i. 3 
 After the Union, however, the position of matters was altered, and the claims 
 of the Constable, Marischal, and others, in respect of their heritable offices 
 in Scotland, to attend the coronation of the British Sovereign in England, 
 had to be adjusted with reference to the claims of the corresponding officers 
 of the sister country. This had to be done for the first time in connection 
 with the coronation of George I., in 1714, and the matter having been referred 
 to the Lords Commissioners for claims, they, on i6th October 1714, reported 
 their opinion, " That the Constable of Scotland do in the procession at His 
 Majesty's Coronation walk on the. right hand of the High Constable of 
 England, and the Earl Marshall on the left hand of the Earl Marshall of 
 England ; The High Constable and Earl Marshall of England being 
 nearest the sword of State." 3 This Report, so far as the claims of the 
 Constable and Marischal of Scotland were concerned, was approved of by the 
 King in Council, and the Deputy Earl Marshall of England was ordered 
 to give the necessary directions accordingly. The claim of the Lord Lyon 
 to walk after Garter King of Arms was allowed at the same time. None of 
 these officers, however, appear to have attended this ceremony, and no notice 
 of them is taken in the record of it, or in the official announcement in the 
 Gazette after the ceremonial. This may be accounted for by the fact, that 
 the coronation took place on 2Oth October, the day after the approval of the 
 Report, when, if the parties were in Scotland, there could not have been 
 time to make the requisite arrangements. 4 At the coronation of George II. 
 on nth October 1727, the claim of Mary Countess of Erroll to appear by 
 deputy was sustained, and John Duke of Roxburgh officiated in that 
 character ; the Marquis of Beaumont having been first proposed, but 
 
 1 Sir James Balfour's Works, vol. iv. p. 385-400 
 
 2 Erroll Papers, Spalding Mis. ii. 243. On this occasion, the youthful representative 
 of the "Constabular Family'' was brought from school by his tutors and curators, to 
 take part in the ceremony. 
 
 8 MS. Notes from Herald's College. Erroll Papers, Spalding Mis. ii. 245. It is 
 to be observed, that when four officers walk abreast, the two in the centre have the 
 precedence, so that the High Constable of Scotland would be next the Constable of 
 England, and over the Earl Marshall of England, the Sword of State having prece- 
 dence over the Constable of Scotland and the Earl Marshall of England. 
 
 4 It may be noticed, however, that the Earl Marischal of Scotland has never 
 appeared in any ceremonial since the Union.
 
 The Lord High Constable of Scotland. [43] 
 
 disallowed in respedl of nonage. 1 At the coronation of George III. on 22d 
 September 1761, the Constable of Scotland was present. At the coronation 
 of George IV. on igth July 1821, George Lord Gordon (Marquis of Huntly) 
 attended as Deputy to William George Earl of Erroll, who was in minority. 
 The two succeeding coronations, viz., that of William IV. on 8th September 
 1831, and Queen Victoria on 28th June 1838, were attended by the Constable 
 in person. 3 
 
 1 Erroll Papers, Spalding Mis. ii. Preface civ. p. 246. 
 MS. Notes from Herald's College.
 
 [44] The Lord High Constable of Scotland. 
 
 APPENDIX TO NOTES 
 
 THE LORD HIGH CONSTABLE. 
 
 A (p. 20). 
 
 Expense of Deputation to London in 1631. 
 
 The following entries in the Town Treasurer's Accounts shew the expenses 
 connected with this deputation : 
 
 Year from Martinmas 1630 to Martinmas 1631.* 
 
 Scots. Sterling. 
 
 Item ye 13 October 1631 giwin to Mr Johne Hay at his 
 going to Londoun for ye effeiris of ye guid toun and 
 borrowis conforme to.ane act ye 7 October 1631 
 
 jm. jjp. Jib. f ^ > g V ^1200 O O ;lOO O O 
 
 Item ye 2 of November 1631 payit to M. Johne Hay be 
 Johne Johnstoun in Londoune for ane part of ye said 
 M r - Johne Hayis chairges in ye effeiris of ye Borrowis 
 conforme to ye act 7 October 1631 j m - iij c - xxxiij lib. 
 vjs. viijd. ..... 1333 68 in 2 2 8 
 
 Item ye 30 Julij giwin for taking Lettres to Londoun for 
 
 staying ye patent of ye constabularie ij- xl lib. 240 o o 20 o o 
 
 Item for extracting ye articles yranent xx lib. . 20 o o 1134 
 
 Year from Martinmas 1631 to Martinmas 1632. 
 
 Item ye 13 febry payit to Johne Johnstoun be M r - Johne 
 Hays bill according to ye act of Counsall ye 7 Octo- 
 ber 1631 j m - iij c - xxxiij lib. vj s. viij d. . 1333 68 in 2 2 8 
 
 * For convenience the sums mentioned in the following extracts are stated in 
 modern figures, both in Scotch and Sterling money.
 
 Appendix. [45] 
 
 Scots. Sterling. 
 
 Item for ye annuelrent yrof to Mertimes yreftir j e lib. ;ioo o o 8 6 8 
 
 Item ye 12 Junij 1632 payit to Johne Jossie be M r - Jo n - 
 Hayis bill according to ye act of counsell ye 7 Octo- 
 ber 1631 ij m - vj c - Ixvj lib. xiij s. iiij d. . 2666 13 4 222 4 5 4 
 
 Item for ye annuelrent yrof to Mertimes yreftir j- xxxiij 
 
 lib. xiij s. iiij d. 133 13 4 II 2 9 
 
 Item ye 14 No r - 1632 payit to Wm Dick be Sir Jo n - Hay 
 his billis according to ye former actis of counsall iiij" 1 - 
 vj c - Ixvj lib. xiij s. iiij d. 4666 13 4 388 17 9* 
 
 Item for ane prent act of ye commissione of borrows 
 
 sent to Londoun to M Johne Hay xxiiij s. 140 020 
 
 B (p 25). 
 
 Expense of Deputation to London in 1634. 
 
 The following entries in the Town Treasurer's Accounts for the year to 
 Martinmas 1634, shew the expense of this deputation : 
 
 Item payit to Patrick Wood at Witsunday 1634 for the 
 
 Soumes of money borrowit be W am - Gray and M r - 
 
 Alex r - Guthrie Commissioners for the borrowis to 
 
 Londoun the Soume of iiij m - iij c - xxij lib. 8s. as also 
 
 advancit to yamebefoiryair waygoing j m - iij c . xxxiij lib. 
 
 6s 8d, whereof upon the Tounes owin proper effaires 
 
 the soume of j m - vj c - Iv lib 135 8d. and the rest to be 
 
 cravet in fra the borrowis conforme to ane Act of 
 
 Counsall daitit the 25 Junij 1634. The haill De- 
 
 bursements extending as said is to the soume of Scots. Sterling. 
 
 v m. v jc. j v lib. xiiij s. viij d. . . . S^SS 14 8 ^471 6 2 s 
 
 Item for exchange of ane pairt of the said soume in gold 
 
 to yame befoir yair waygoing xxj lib. . . 2100 1150 
 
 Item payit for the Mertimes tearmes annual rent 1634, of 
 
 the said soume of 4322 lib. 8s ij- xvj lib. ijs. 21620 1802 
 
 Item for the said Mertimes tearmes, annual rent of Tua m -
 
 [46] The Lord High Constable of Scotland. 
 
 Scots. Sterling. 
 
 merkes [2000 merks or ^1333, 6s. 8d.] of the said 
 soume Ixvj lib. xiijs. iiij d. . . . 66 13 4 ^5 n i 
 
 The proportion of the above sums due by the Convention of the Royal Burghs, with 
 interest thereon, amounting in whole to ^4600, seems to have been paid by two instal- 
 ments in the years 1634-35 and 1635-36. 
 
 C (p. 25). 
 
 Expenses incurred by the Town in connection with Disputes between the 
 Magistrates and the Lord High Constable during 1632-34. 
 
 The following entries occur in the Treasurer's Accounts : 
 
 For the year from Martinmas 1632 to Martinmas 1633. 
 Item to James Prymrois for registratting and extracting 
 
 ane Letter againes the Constable the Earle of Arrall Scots. Sterling, 
 
 the 5 of December 1632 xj lib. xij s. . ^n 12 o o 19 4 
 
 Item to M r - Gilbert Prymrois for the letter registratting 
 
 and extracting againes the Earle of Arrall Constable 
 
 vlib. xvjs. . . . . . 5 16 o 098 
 
 Item to his man in drinksilver ij lib. xviijs. . 2 18 o o 4 10 
 
 I tern to James and M r - W*- Douglass maissoris vlib. xvjs. 5 16 o 098 
 
 Item to yame at command of the proveist and Bailzies the 
 10 of December 1632 for ane meitting against the 
 Earle of Arrall Constable befoir the Secreit Counsall 
 vlib. xvjs. . . . . . 5 16 o 098 
 
 Item mair to yame quhen the Kingis letter was red ane 
 
 uther day befoir the Secreit Counsall v lib. xvj s. 5 16 o 098 
 
 Item to Sir Lwes Stewart and M r - Thomas Nicolsone 
 Assissoris for adwising the proces againes the Con- 
 stable the 1 5 of De r - 1632 xxix lib. . . 29 o o 2 "8 4 
 
 Item to yair men in drinksilver v lib. xvjs. . 5 16 o 098 
 
 Item the 5 of Junij 1633 to Sir Lwes Stewart and M r - 
 Thomas Nicolsone ane meitting with yame in the 
 Counsall hous at ane consultation againis the Earle 
 of Arrall xxix lib. . . . . 29 o o 284
 
 Appendix. [47 ] 
 
 
 Scots. 
 
 Sterling. 
 
 Item to yair men in drinksilver v lib. xvj s. 
 
 5 16 o 
 
 o 9 8 
 
 Item to Jon Stirling Messenger for charging the Earle of 
 
 
 
 Arrall befoir the Secreit Counsall at the Tounes 
 
 
 
 instance iiij lib. vij s. 
 
 470 
 
 073 
 
 Item the 13 of Junij ane meitting with the assessors anent 
 
 
 
 the Earle of Arrall given to yame for ane consulta- 
 
 
 
 oun xxix lib. ..... 
 
 29 o o 
 
 284 
 
 Item to yair men in drinksilver v lib. xvj s. 
 
 5 16 o 
 
 098 
 
 Item the 25 of Junij 1633 ane other meiting with the 
 
 
 
 assessoris quhen the King was in Dalkeith for 
 
 
 
 adwysing of certaine effairis with yame anent ye 
 
 
 
 Touns bussines xxix lib. 
 
 29 o o 
 
 284 
 
 Item to yair men in drinksilver v lib. xvj s. 
 
 5 16 o 
 
 098 
 
 Item the 25 of Julj 1633 ane meiting with the assessoris 
 
 
 
 anent the Earle of Arrall his aclioun for ane 
 
 
 
 consultatioun xxix lib. .... 
 
 29 o o 
 
 284 
 
 Item to yair men in drinksilver v lib. xvj s. 
 
 5 16 o 
 
 098 
 
 Item the samyn day (14 November 1633) to James 
 
 
 
 Prymrois for extracting ane decreit was obtenit 
 
 
 
 againes the guid Toun at the Earle of Arrall 
 
 
 
 Constable his instance xx lib. vj s. 
 
 20 6 
 
 i 13 10 
 
 Item to M r - Gilbert his sone viij lib. xiiij s. . 
 
 8 14 o 
 
 o 14 6 
 
 Item to his man in drinksilver ij lib. xviij s. 
 
 2 l8 
 
 o 4 10 
 
 Item the 14 of Sep 1633 at command of the proveist and 
 
 
 
 Bailzies given to James Prymrois for extracting of 
 
 
 
 sindrie wreattis Kingis lettres and decreittis and 
 
 
 
 registratting of yame againes ye Constable Mussil- 
 
 
 
 brut and uthyrs xliij lib. x s. 
 
 43 10 o 
 
 3 12 6 
 
 Item to M r - Gilbert his sone xxix lib. 
 
 29 o o 
 
 284 
 
 Item to his man in drinksilver viij lib. xiiij s. 
 
 8 14 o 
 
 o 14 6 
 
 For the year from Martinmas 1633 to Martinmas 1634. 
 
 Item the 21 of February [1634] to Sir Lwis Stewart and 
 
 
 
 M r - Thomas Nicolsone for ane consultatioun anent 
 
 
 
 the Constables suspensiun xxix lib . . 
 
 29 o o 
 
 2 8 4 
 
 Item to yair men in drinksilver v lib. xvj s. 
 
 5 16 o 
 
 098 
 
 Item the 7 of Mairche payit to James Prymrois for 
 
 
 
 raiseing of Sumondis againes the Earle of Arrall his 
 
 
 
 suspensioun and for Tua Lettres for our neichburis 
 
 
 
 schipping and for extract of my Lord Spynnie his 
 

 
 [48] TJie Lord High Constable of Scotland. 
 
 Lettre and copie of the Kingis Lettre anent the 
 
 Scots. 
 
 Sterling. 
 
 Ministeris Stipendis (to himselff) i6rex dollors Inde 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 xlvj lib. viij s. . 
 
 ^46 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 17 
 
 4 
 
 Item to M r - Gilbert his sone 5 rex dollors Inde xiiij lib. x s. 
 
 H 
 
 10 
 
 o 
 
 i 
 
 4 
 
 2 
 
 Item to his man in drinksilver 3 rex dollors Inde viij lib. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 xiiij s. . 
 
 8 
 
 H 
 
 
 
 o 
 
 14 
 
 6 
 
 Item the 17 Martij to Sir Lwis Stewart and M r - Thomas 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Nicolsone for ane consultatioun anent the Earle 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 of Arrall and my lord Spynnie his actioun xxix lib. 
 
 29 
 
 o 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 8 
 
 4 
 
 Item to yair men in drinksilver vlib. xvj s. 
 
 5 
 
 16 
 
 o 
 
 O 
 
 9 
 
 8 
 
 Item the 19 Mairche ane uther consultatioun with the 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 assessouris againes the Earle of Arrall and my lord 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Spynnie xxix lib. .... 
 
 29 
 
 o 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 8 
 
 4 
 
 Item to yair men in drinksilver v lib. xvj s. 
 
 5 
 
 16 
 
 o 
 
 O 
 
 9 
 
 8 
 
 Item the 20 Mairche giffin to Maister Thomas Nicolsone 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 for his compearance befoir the Secreit Counsall 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 againes the Earle of Arrall xxix lib. 
 
 29 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 2 
 
 8 
 
 4 
 
 Item to his man in drinksilver ij lib. xviij s. 
 
 2 
 
 18 
 
 o 
 
 O 
 
 4 
 
 10 
 
 Item the 24 Mairche to Sir Lwis Stewart and M r - 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Thomas Nicolsone for ane consultation againes the 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Earle of Arrall xxix lib. 
 
 29 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 2 
 
 8 
 
 4 
 
 Item to thair men in drinksilver v lib. xvj s. 
 
 5 
 
 16 
 
 o 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 8 
 
 Item the 25 Mairche giffen to M r - Thomas Nicolsone 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 for his compearance befoir the Secreit Counsall 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 againes the Earle of Arrall 16 rex dolloris Inde 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 xlvj lib. viij s. 
 
 46 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 17 
 
 4 
 
 Item to his Tua men in drinksilver v lib. xij s. 
 
 5 
 
 16 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 9 
 
 8 
 
 Item the 2 of Apryle to the meassouris of Secreit 
 
 Counsall for our Decreit of Continowatioun of the 
 
 Earle of Arrall his adlioun and ministeris stipends 
 
 vlib. xvjs. . . . . . 5 16 o 098 
 
 Item the 29 Aprilis giffin to James Prymrois for giffing 
 
 us up our Chairteris that was producit befoir the 
 
 Secreit Counsall againes the Earle of Arrall xxix lib. 29 o o 284 
 
 Item to M r - Gilbert his sone 3 rex dollors is viij lib. xiiij s. 8140 o 14 6 
 
 Item to his man in drinksilver 2 rex dollors v lib. xvj s. 5160 098 
 
 Item the 9 of Junij to Sir Lwis Stewart and M r - Thomas 
 
 Nicolsone for ane consultatioun about the Earle of 
 
 Arrall his Lettre to the Secreit Counsall xxix lib. 29 o o 284 
 
 Item to thair men in drinksilver v lib. xvj s. . 5 16 o 098
 
 Appendix. [ 49 ] 
 
 Scots. Sterling. 
 
 Item to James Prymrois for extracting the act anent the 
 
 ministeris stipendis and the copie of the Kingis Lettre 
 
 anent the ministeris stipends and extract of the 
 
 report anent the Constables priviledges and for 
 
 summondis of waikining againes the Constable and 
 
 act anent the declinator and lettres againes Doctor 
 
 Jonstoun 1 6 rex dollors Inde xlvj lib. viij s. 46 8 o ,3 17 4 
 
 Item to M r - Gilbert his sone xiiij lib. xs. . . 14 10 o 142 
 
 Item to his man in drinksilver vlib. xvj s. . . 5 16 o 098 
 
 Item the 23 of Junij To Sir Lwis Stewart and M r - Thomas . 
 
 Nicolsone for ane Consultatioun againes the Earle of 
 
 Arrall xxix lib. . . . . . 29 o o 284 
 
 Item to yair men in drinksilver v lib. xvj s. . 5 16 o 098 
 
 Item the 24 of Junij To M r - Thomas Nicolsone for 
 
 procureing befoir the Secreit Counsall againes the 
 
 Earle of Arrall 20 rex dollors Inde Iviij lib. 58 o o 4 16 8 
 
 Item to his man in drinksilver 2 rex dollors vlib. xvj s. 5 16 o 098 
 
 Item was giffin Sir Thomas Hope quhen we gatt our remitt 
 
 of our actioun fra the Lordis of Counsall back to 
 
 the Lordis of Sessioun againes the Earle of Arrall 
 
 5 dowble angellis at 14 lib the peice Inde Ixx lib. 70 o o 5168 
 
 Item to his man in drinksilver 3 rex dollars viij lib. xiiij s. 8 14 o o 14 6 
 
 Item mair was giffin to Sir Thomas Hope younger at 
 
 command of the proveist and bailzies quhen our 
 
 actioune anent the Earle of Arrall was remitted 
 
 from the Secreit Counsall to the Lordis of Sessioun 
 
 14 rex dolloris Inde xl lib. xij s. . . 40 12 o 3 7 8 
 
 Item to his man in drinksilver v lib. xvj s. . . 5 16 o 098 
 
 Item to the maissouris befoir the Secreit Counsall for 
 
 remit of our actioun to the Lordis of Sessioun 5 rex 
 
 dollars Inde xiiij lib. x s. . . 14100 142 
 
 Item the 27 of Julij to M r - Jo n Kinneir seruitor to M r - Jo n 
 
 Skene for passing of ane suspensioun againes the 
 
 Earle of Arrall Becaus his maister wald tak nae 
 
 moneyis 3 rex dolloris Inde viij lib. xiiij s. . 8 14 o 0146 
 
 Item the 26 of October payit to James Prymrois for 
 extracting our Lettres of remit from the Secreit 
 Counsall to the Lordis of Sessioun 15 rex dolloris 
 is xliii lib. x s. . . . . . 43 10 o 3 12 6 
 
 S
 
 [50] The Lord High Constable of Scotland. 
 
 Scots. Sterling. 
 
 Item mair to M r - Gilbert his son 10 rex dolloris is 
 
 xxixlib. . . . . . 29 o o 284 
 
 Item to his man in drinksilver 2 rex dollors vlib. xvj 5.5 16 o . o 9 8 
 
 Item to Jo" Stirling for chargeing the Earle of Arrall and 
 
 M r - Ar 4 - Haddin and M r - Jo n Keith seruitor to M r - 
 
 Thomas Nicolson Yo r - to compeir befoir the Lordis 
 
 viij lib. xiiij s. . . . . 8 14 o o 14 6 
 
 Item payit to Robert Flemmying that gave to ane 
 Messenger to goe to the north and chairge the Earle 
 of Arrall xvij lib. viij s. . . . . 1780 190 
 
 The following entries occur in the Bailies Account of Unlaws for the year 
 1633-34: 
 Item ye 6 day (of Feb. 1634) for Instruments agains ye 
 
 Constable xxix s. . . . . 190 025 
 
 Item ye 27 day for ye Secound Instruments of Interrup- 
 
 tioun xxix s. and 2 sheits is xxxj s. . . 1110 027 
 
 Item ye 1 6 day (of March) for ane boy going post to 
 
 M r - Alex 1 - Guthrie to Hathrondeane xiij s. . o 13 o o i i 
 
 Item for extracting my Lord Arrolls suspensioun vij s. 070 007 
 
 D (p. 21). 
 Letter from Charles I. to the Magistrates and Council. 
 
 CHARLES R 
 
 Trusty and welbeloued wee greete yow well. We have conferred at length with 
 yowr commissioner anent cure reception into that oure Towne whereof wee heare yow 
 have had a speciall care, expressing thereby your affection vnto vs, for the which wee 
 give yow harty thankes, and doe earnestly desyre yow to continue yowr endeauours as 
 how have begunne to that effect. We have gevin direction concerning yowr signature 
 for expeding thereof, and as for the High Constable, whereanent wee have beene
 
 Appendix. [51] 
 
 moued, yow may be assured yow shall suffer noe wrong therein, and for the matter of 
 oure Counsell and Session, and anent yowr Ministers, wee will take such a course at 
 oure comeing to yow as may give yow all reasonable satisfaction, and as for all other 
 matters propounded by your sayd commissioner, which wee finde to be meere Parlia- 
 mentary, being vrged by the straitnesse of tyme wee have thought goode to remitt them 
 to our Clerk of Register to be considered of at our comeing there, whereanent and 
 anent all other tilings may tend to your goode yow may expect that wee will not be 
 vnmyndefull, as in reason may be hoped for at the hands of a loueing Prince. Wee 
 bid yow farewell from oure Court at Theobaldes I3th of May 1633. 
 
 *Ye need not feare in the business anent the Constablery, for though I meane 
 to mainetaine the Constable in his ancient priueleges, yet I shall see that 
 ye shall have no wronge. 
 
 (Inld.) C. R. 
 
 In dorso 
 
 To our trustie and welbeloued 
 the Prouest Bailliffes and Counsell 
 of our brough of Edenbrugh. 
 
 E (p. 40). 
 
 Commission to the Magistrates of Edinburgh to act as Deputes of the 
 Lord High Constable during the visit of George IV. to Scotland. 
 
 HOLYROOD PALACE August i2th 
 
 1822, 3d of Geo. 4th. 
 GENTLEMEN, 
 
 His Majesty having announced his gracious intention of visiting 
 this part of his dominions, I William George Earl of Erroll, Lord Hay and Slaines 
 Great Constable of Scotland, do hereby in virtue of the powers and Jurisdiction 
 possessed by me in virtue of my office as Great Constable of Scotland, Nominate 
 Constitute and Appoint you and each of you as my Deputies and Commissioners for 
 Judging and determining in all matters of Riot, Blood and Slaughter committed 
 within four Miles of the Kings person during His Majesty's residence in Scotland, 
 and that as well within the Court as without the same ; And I hereby declare that the 
 trials sentences and punishments instituted and inflicted by you shall be as valid and 
 
 1 The postscript is apparently in the king's own handwriting.
 
 [52] The Lord High Constable of Scotland. 
 
 effectual, as if the same had been brought before and Judged of by myself personally, 
 for all which this shall be your Warrant. 
 
 I have the honour to be, 
 
 GENTLEMEN, 
 
 Your Obt. hum sert. 
 
 (Signed) ERROLL. 
 
 H.C. 
 
 To Alex. Henderson, Thomas Blackwood, \ 
 John Smith and John Lyall, Bailies of 
 Edinburgh, to try all cases of Assault, V 
 Riot, &c., in the Council Chambers or I 
 Bailie Court of Edinburgh. / 
 
 A Commission, in precisely the same terms, was granted to George Tail, Esq., 
 Sheriff-Substitute, John Lyall, Esq., one of the Bailies of Edinburgh, Alexander 
 Henderson, William Child, and Kenneth Mackenzie, Esqrs., Old Bailies of Edinburgh, 
 to try all cases of Assault, Riot, &c., in the Police Court. 
 
 CORRIGENDA. 
 
 Page [8], Delete the words "enjoyed the privilege on these" on the nth line, and also 
 
 lines 12, 13, 14, and 15, with the exception of the last word "claimed." 
 NOTE. The statement thus deleted is founded on the remarks of the late Mr 
 Riddell, who quotes as his authority a Charter by King David II., dated on the 26th 
 of February, in the third year of his reign, a copy of which is in the British Museum. 
 Dr Joseph Robertson, who had lately occasion to examine the Charter, has kindly 
 furnished the following correction of the error into which Mr Riddell had fallen. It 
 is, says he, a declaration by the King that the grant which he had made to John 
 Desmirell, knight, of the barras or palisade made at Aberdeen for the tournament 
 lately held there, should in no wise prejudice the right of the Constable. The words 
 of the original are, " Quia assignanimus palacium factum apud Aberdeine ibidem in 
 hastiludio nuper tento Johnanim Desmirell, etc., etc." Mr Riddell interpreted "pala- 
 cium" to mean "a palace," overlooking the obvious meaning which it bears in this 
 passage of "palisade" or "barras," "contextus ac series palorum," as it is defined by 
 Du Gauge voce "Palacium." The King's declaration, in short, is nothing more than 
 a reservation of the Constable's right to the materials of the lists or barriers within 
 which tournaments were fought. 
 
 Page [18], Footnote, line 2. Delete "constituted," and insert "ordained a Commis- 
 sion to be expede constituting."
 
 INDEX.
 
 Index. 
 
 [55] 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Abduction of women, frequency of, 17, 18. 
 
 Aberdeen, burgh records of, 40, 77, 85. 
 Sanitary condition of, 85. 
 
 Addresses to the Throne, 192, 194, 235, 254, 
 286, 287. 
 
 Adulterers (see Fornicators). 
 
 Alexander I., 4, [4J. 
 
 Alexander II., statuta regis, 85. 
 
 Aliens, lists of, 193. 
 
 Allegiance, oaths of, 235. 
 
 Allowance to Society, 168, 234, 273. 
 
 Anglo-Saxon state, divisions of town- 
 ships, 10 ; tithings, 10 ; hundreds or 
 wapentakes, 11 ; shires, 11. 
 
 Annual excursions, 292, 293. 
 
 Archery, Acts of Parliament, &c., relative 
 to, 86, 87. 
 
 Arms, neighbours to be provided with, 20, 
 
 21, 22, 30, 44, 46, 47, 48, 49, 56, 93. 
 All men between 16 and 60 to be pro- 
 vided with, 84. 
 Acts of Parliament as to, 12, 86-89. 
 
 Articuli inquirendi in itenere Camerarii, 
 42. 
 
 Badges, 298. 
 
 Bailies (see Magistrates). 
 
 Ballantyne, James, 216. 
 
 BaUantyne, John, 220. 
 
 Batons for Constables, 125, 148, 150, 168, 
 
 177, 178, 225, 226, 294-297. 
 Beggars, acts against, 33-39, 108, 109. 
 
 Edinburgh a nest of, 37, 107. 
 Bickerings prohibited, 21. 
 Black, Adam, 226. 
 Blackwood, William, 226. 
 Blasphemers, acts against, 93-96. 
 
 Bounds of Constables, 31, 192, 215, 228, 
 243, 244, 245. 
 
 Burgess-ship, watching and warding a con- 
 dition of, 41, 45, 63 ; bachelorhood an 
 obstacle to, 43 ; conditions of, 43, 44. 
 
 Canongate, act for lighting, cleaning, and 
 
 watching, 209. 
 Cards and Dice, acts against playing, 155, 
 
 156. 
 
 Carter, F. H., 270. 
 Censors to be appointed for suppressing 
 
 sweaiing, 961 165. 
 Constables appointed, 96. 
 Census, 243. 
 Ceremonials, processions, &c., 241, 242, 
 
 282-286. 
 Chamberlain Ayre, articles to be inquired 
 
 into at, 42. 
 
 Mode of procedure at, 42, 43, 76. 
 Chaplain of Constables, 152. 
 Charles I., 13, 32, 101, 106, 114, [4], [5], 
 
 Charles II., 13, 65, 101, 130, 166, [42]. 
 Cleaning, arrangements for, 74-83, 113- 
 
 118, 120-121, 122, 123, 133-145, 164, 
 
 198-213. 
 
 Assessment for, 139, 141. 
 Question between the Lords of Session 
 
 and the Council anent, 141. 
 Combats, Act against single, 26. 
 Commissioners of Police, resident, 299, 300. 
 Committee of Constables, 163. 
 Conservators of the peace, 13. 
 Constable, derivation of word, 1, [3] ; of 
 
 royal castles, 5, 7 ; of castles of bishops
 
 [56] 
 
 Index. 
 
 and barons, 9 (see High Constables) ; 
 (see Petty Constables). 
 Constable, Lord High ; of France, 1, [3] ; 
 of England, 2, 13, [3], [4] ; of Scotland, 
 2, 13, [4], [5] ; his privileges and per- 
 quisites, [5], [6], [40], [42J; questions 
 between the Town Council and his 
 deputes as to fees of fairs, [6]-[8] ; pri- 
 vileges in relation to tournaments, [8j- 
 !10], [52] ; criminal jurisdiction, [10], 
 26] ; deputation by him in favour of 
 magistrates of Edinburgh, [10] ; ques- 
 tions with them, [12], [17], [21], [25], 
 [26], [35] ; disputes with the royal 
 burghs, [19] ; precedency of, [36] ; (see 
 Earl of Errol). 
 Constable, High or Chief, of hundreds or 
 
 franchises, 9, 11, 12, 14. 
 Constables, Petty, of townships or tith- 
 
 ings, 12, 14. 
 
 Constables in Scotland, 14, 29, 99, 101; 
 xviii-xxi. 
 
 Articles and injunctions for, 101, v. 
 Constables in Edinburgh, institution of, 
 29 99 
 
 Elections of, 30, 98, 100, 101, 102, 106, 
 109, 110, 113, 121, 122, 124, 125, 126, 
 151, 165, 166, 173, 174, 175, 215, 216, 
 220, 223, 224, 225, 226, 227, 228, 229, ' 
 252, 253, 255, 259, 260, 261, 262, 270, 
 271. 
 
 Number of, 31, 188, 191, 215, 226, 254, 
 258. 
 
 Duties of, relative to 
 Beggars and vagabonds, 33-39, 108, 109. 
 
 Firearms, 39-41. 
 
 Preservation of the peace, watching, &c. , 
 41-66, 100, 103-105, 124, 125, 127, 236- 
 239, 281. 
 
 Papists, 66-73. 
 
 Cleaning the town, 74-83, 106, 113-118, 
 120-121, 122, 133-145, 164. 
 
 Armour, 84-93. 
 
 Suppressing profane swearing, Sunday 
 profanation, &c., 93-96, 152, 158. 
 
 Old Walls, 123. 
 
 "Waste Lands and Houses, 145. 
 
 Fires, 161, 230, 247. 
 
 To furnish lists of inhabitants and stran- 
 gers, 145. 
 
 idle persons and strangers, 146. 
 
 lodgers, 146. 
 
 Residence of, 121, 168. 
 
 Philanthropic services of, 246, 287, 289. 
 
 Rifle Volunteer Company, 289. 
 
 Assisting officers of Excise, 163. 
 
 Attending magistrates, 180, 181, 188, 
 241, 242. 
 
 Penalty for injuring, 100, 104. 
 
 Taking up fines, 106, 140. 
 
 Fines, how disposed of, 161, xiii. 
 
 Punishment for disobedience, &c., 123, 
 124, 125, 126, 151. 
 
 Penalty for non-acceptance of office of, 
 126, 183, 231. 
 
 General sketch of duties of, 144, 149, 
 299. 
 
 Neighbours bound to assist, 109 ; also 
 Town Guard and Town Officers, 163. 
 165. 
 
 "Watchmaster of, 125. 
 
 Exemptions of from assessment, 103, 133, 
 183. 
 
 How elected, 162, 189. 
 
 Qualifications of 162, 224, 228, 258, 259, 
 261, 262. 
 
 Actions against, 160, 167, 179. 
 
 Dangers of office, 167, 175, 178, 179. 
 
 Annual elections, 1, 74. 
 
 Period of service, 162, 163, 174, 189, 214, 
 222, 223, 224, 225, 226, 232, 249, 253. 
 
 Triennial rotation of, 189. 
 
 Jealous of rights, 166, 175, 231. 
 
 Questions as to their relations to Police, 
 218-220. 
 
 Disputes with Town Council, 221-223, 
 249-252, 259-260, 263-270, 291. 
 
 Questions of precedency with other local 
 bodies, 246. 
 
 Allowance to, by Town Council, 168, 234. 
 
 Authorised to use title of High Con- 
 stables, 224, 228. 
 
 Foreign objects attempted to be en- 
 grafted on the Society, 233. 
 
 Arrangements for summoning, 235. 
 
 Collisions with military authorities, 240, 
 241. 
 
 Drill of, 277. 
 
 Action of, in regard to public questions, 
 254, 278. 
 
 Roll of, for 1865, Ixxxi-lxxxiv. 
 Constables of Calton, 234, 247, 248, 249, 
 
 263. 
 
 Constables of Easter and Wester Ports- 
 burgh, 262. 
 
 Constables of Canongate, 247, 248, 263. 
 Constables, Loyal, 190. 
 Constable, Archibald, 216. 
 Contributions by Constables to public 
 
 charities 
 
 s by J< 
 , 162, xli.
 
 Index. 
 
 [57J 
 
 Convention of Boyal Burghs, 40, 43, 44, 
 
 45, 117, [19]. 
 
 Qualification of members, 45. 
 Conventions, act against unlawful, 26. 
 Conversazione, 293. 
 Correction House established in Edinburgh, 
 
 107, 108, 109. 
 Councillors constituted Head Constables 
 
 of Wards, 262, 300. 
 Craftsmen, 63. 
 Cromwell, 67, 101, 119, 120. 
 
 David II., 8. 
 
 Domesday Book, 42. 
 
 Drainage of Nineveh and of Roman towns, 
 
 82. 
 
 Dress of Magistrates of Edinburgh, 65. 
 Drunkenness, 152, 153, 154, 158, 159, 164, 
 
 165, 187. 
 Dunbar, battle of, 120. 
 
 Edinburgh, divisions of, 14 ; into quarters, 
 
 30, 31. 
 
 Disorderly condition of, 15 ; illustra- 
 tions, 16-28. 
 
 Tumults, 18-20 ; legislation for prevent- 
 ing, 20, 28, 41. 
 
 Watching arrangements in, 45-66, 103. 
 Cleaning arrangements in, 74-83, 113- 
 
 118, 120. 
 
 Size of. in 1635, 109. 
 English occupation of, in 1649-60, 120, 
 
 122, 124. 
 Lighting of, 120. 
 
 Lists of inhabitants to be taken up, 145. 
 During rebellion of 1745, 169-173. 
 State of morals in 1763, 1783, and 1791, 
 
 185-187. 
 
 Distress in, in 1795, 192 ; in 1800, 194. 
 Charters to, [17], [18]. 
 Privileges of, [39]. 
 Egyptians, acts against, 33-35. 
 Errol, Earl of, 181, 254, [26], [31]. 
 Excommunicated persons (see Papists). 
 Executions, services of Constables at, 236- 
 238. 
 
 Fast-days, 177. 
 
 Festive meetings, 168, 181, 184, 289-293. 
 
 Fines of Constables, how applied, 161. 
 
 Box for, 161, 293, 294. 
 Firearms, acts against using, 24, 39-41. 
 
 Fires in Edinburgh, 147, 154, 238, 239 ; 
 
 duties of Constables in relation to, 161. 
 Flodden, 46, 47. 
 Football, 86, 87. 
 Foreigners, lists of, 193. 
 Fornicators, acts against, 70-72, 152. 
 Four Burghs, laws of (see Leges Quatuor 
 
 Burgorum). 
 Fragmenta quccdam veterum legum, &c., 
 
 Scotice, 76, 86. 
 Fraser, P. S., 255. 
 Funerals, 150, 184. 
 
 Gates of City, 46. 
 
 Geese, 77. 
 
 Gipsies, 33-35. 
 
 Glasgow, Burgh records of, 77, 85. 
 
 Sanitary condition of, 85. 
 
 Size of, in 1700, 147. 
 Golden charter, [17], [25]. 
 Golf, 86, 87. 
 
 Guard, hired, in 1561, 22; in 1593, 24: 
 1612, 37, 103, 104. 
 
 Magistrates authorised to raise, 25. 
 
 Charged to appoint, 27, 28, 98. 
 
 How paid, 66. 
 
 Harlots (see Fornicators). 
 Henderson, Alexander, 215. 
 Heresy, laws against, 67. 
 High Street, condition of, 75. 
 Honorary members of the society, 273. 
 
 Idolaters, acts against, 70. 
 
 Idle and dissolute persons, lists of, to be 
 
 taken up, 145, 146, 164, 184. 
 Infamous persons, acts against, 33, 164. 
 Insignia of Constables, 161, 252, 260, 267- 
 
 270, 293-297 ; list and description of, 
 
 Ixxii-lxxx. 
 Immoralities, acts and proceedings against, 
 
 147, 152-160, 164, 166, 178, 179, 180, 
 
 185. 
 
 Court for trial of, 154, 156, 158. 
 Impressment for soldiers and marines, 184, 
 
 239 
 Improper houses, 164, 176, 178, 179, 180, 
 
 186. 
 Instructions (see Orders and Injunctions). 
 
 James J,, 86.
 
 [58J 
 
 Index. 
 
 James II., 46, 65, 86, [6], [7]. 
 
 James III., 7, 8, 46, 87, [10], [17]. 
 
 James IV., 34, 75, 87, [8], [17]. 
 
 James V., 34, 47, 87. 
 
 James VI., 12, 14, 17, 20, 23, 28, 32, 59, 
 63, 65, 68, 82, 98, 99, 113, 115, 166, 
 [14]-[17]; charters by, to Edinburgh, 
 [171 [18]. 
 
 James VII., 130. 
 
 Jesuits (see Papists). 
 
 Johnston, Sir William, 229. 
 
 Jury lists, 177, 243, 245, 246. 
 
 Justices of the Peace in England, 14 ; in 
 Scotland, 14, 29, 98, 99 ; in Edinburgh, 
 Magistrates constituted Justices, 29, 
 98, 99, [17], [18]. 
 
 Katherans, act against, 33. 
 
 King's birthday, 180, 181, 187, 235, 239. 
 
 Kirks, acts against slaughter in kirks and 
 
 kirkyards, 24. 
 Kirk Treasurer, 160. 
 
 Laws of the Society, digest of, to be pre- 
 pared, 229 (see Orders and Injunctions). 
 
 Lawsuits, legislation for preventing mur- 
 der of persons engaged in, 16, 17. 
 
 Law Days between influential persons, 23, 
 24, 26, 58. 
 
 Lawson, Peter, 175. 
 
 Lawson, Charles, 229. 
 
 Lawson, Charles, Jun., 270, 271. 
 
 Leges Quatuor Burgorum, 42, 43, 76, 85. 
 
 Leges Malcolmi Mackenneth, [3]. 
 
 Lighting, provision for, in 1554, 21, 49 ; 
 1649, 120, 154. 
 
 Lodgers, namespf, to be reported nightly, 26. 
 
 London, watch in, 49 ; swine in, 77 ; privies 
 in, 80 ; sanitary condition of, 83-85. 
 
 Londonienses, Munimenta Gihlhallce-Liber 
 
 Albus, 77, 80, 84. 
 Liber Custumarum, 80. 
 
 Lot {see Scot and Lot). 
 
 Mackenzie, Kincaid, 215. 
 
 M'Laren, Duncan, M.P., 255. 
 
 Magistrates, duties and responsibilities, 
 &c., of, 64,123; Justices of the Peace, 
 98, 99 ; Sumptuary laws affecting, 65 ; 
 Sheriffs, [10], [31], [351; Deputies of 
 Lord High Constables, [10], [40], [51]; 
 Arrangement with Sheriff of County as 
 
 to criminal jurisdiction, [11]; questions 
 with Lord High Constable, [12], [44>- 
 [50]. 
 
 Magna Charta, 5. 
 
 Manufactures in Edinburgh, 107. 
 
 Markets on Streets, 74, 75. 
 
 Marriage a condition of burgess-ship, 43, 44. 
 
 Mary, Queen, 31, 50, 71, 88, 90. 
 
 Mary of Guise, 82, 89. 
 
 May Games, 19. 
 
 Merchant Company, 191. 
 
 Merchants, 63. 
 
 Minstrels, 49. 
 
 Miller, Professor, 255. 
 
 Militia Lists, 193, 243-245. 
 
 Minute Books, 150, 252. 
 
 Moderator, meaning of term, 117. 
 
 Modus precedendi in itenere camerarii infra 
 regnum Scocie, 42, 43, 76. 
 
 Monks (see Papists). 
 
 Morton, Kegent, 39, 88. 
 
 Municipality Extension Act, 1856, 262, 300. 
 
 Murray, Regent, 20, 51. 
 
 New Year's Morning, rioting on, 187. 
 Night walking, Acts against, after ten 
 
 o'clock p.m., 24, 26, 33, 97, 153, 163. 
 Nuns (see Papists). 
 
 Officers of Constables, 161, xl-xli. 
 Office-bearers of Constables, list of, 152, 
 
 183, 185, 192, 193, 232, 255, 258, 271, 
 ii-xiii, Ixxxi. 
 
 Old Walls, Inspection of, 123. 
 Orange Colours, 117. 
 
 Orders and Injunctions for Constables, 30, 
 100, 124, 148 7 151, 163, 175, 176, 182, 
 
 184, 228, xvi-xviii, xliii-xlv, Ivi-lix, 
 Lex, Ixxi. 
 
 Orders for internal government of Con- 
 stables, 150, 184, 185, 229-231, 272, 
 xxxiv, xlvi-lvi, lix-lxix, Ixxi-lxxiii. 
 
 Papists, laws against, 66-73, 164 ; policy 
 of, same as that of the Reformers, 
 69-70. 
 Laws against, enforced, 73, 164. 
 
 Paris, 77. 
 
 Parochial arrangements, 32. 
 
 Paul's Work, 107, 108. 
 
 Peace, duties of Constables in preserving, 
 41.
 
 Index. 
 
 Pestilence in 1514, 30 ; 1568, 51 ; 1574, 52 ; 
 
 1585, 31, 57, 58 ; 1587, 31, 59 ; 1604, 
 
 32; 1645, 112, 115. 
 Philanthropic Services of Constables, 246, 
 
 287-289. 
 
 Pinkie, battle of, 48. 
 Poindings, 150, 178. 
 Police Acts, local, 216-218. 
 Poor, Acts relative to, 33-39. 
 Press Gangs, 184. 239, 240. 
 Priests, Seminary (see Papists). 
 Privy Council, Acts of, 14, 21, 24, 25, 26, 
 
 27, 29, 30, 34, 35, 38, 40, 41, 85. 
 Privies, 79, 80, 81, 141. 
 Profaneness, 153-160. 
 Provosts of Edinburgh, 64, 193, 289. 
 Publicans, 182. 
 
 Quarters, division of city into, 30, 50 ; 
 
 boundaries, ib. ; subdivision of, 31 ; 
 
 recognised in parochial arrangements, 
 
 32. 
 
 Quartermasters, appointment of, 31-32, 60. 
 Quartering of soldiers, 123, 129. 
 
 Rakers, 116. 
 
 Ramsay, Allan, 165. 
 
 Rebellion of 1745, services of Constables 
 during, 168-173. 
 
 Reform, Parliamentary and Burgh, 190, 
 253-255, 275, 277; petitions by the So- 
 ciety to the legislature regarding, 254. 
 
 Returns, of aliens and foreigners, 193 ; of 
 horses and carts, 193, 243 ; of persons 
 between seventeen and forty -five years 
 of age, 243. 
 
 Riots : bread, 182, 194, 235, 236; new- 
 year's morning, 187 ; general, 235, 239, 
 279-281; reform, 190, 275-277. 
 
 Rioters to be apprehended, 41. 
 
 Robert I., 85, [4], [5], 
 
 Robert II., 33. 
 
 Robin Hood, 19. 
 
 Roman towns, privies in, 80 ; drainage of, 
 82. 
 
 Royalty extended, 188. 
 
 Rules (see Orders and Injunctions). 
 
 Scavengers in London, 116. 
 Scot and Lot bearing, a condition of bur- 
 gess-ship, 43, 44, 45. 
 Sergeants, 32. 
 
 Session, Lords of, 24, 25. 
 
 Sheriffs of Counties sometimes also Con- 
 stables, 7. 
 
 Southern Districts of Edinburgh, 209. 
 
 Spittal, Sir James, 175. 
 
 St Anthony, monks of, 77. 
 
 Stage plays, 159. 
 
 Stark, battle of, 46. 
 
 Stentmasters, 117. 
 
 Stob and Staik, 43, 44, 45. 
 
 Strangers names to be reported nightly, 
 26 ; lists of to be made up, 122, 145. 
 
 Streets, description of, 74. 
 
 Sunday, acts and proceedings against pro- 
 faning, 146, 150,152, 153-160,164,176, 
 185, 186, 187, xxi-xxxiii. 
 
 Surgeon of Constables, 193. 
 
 Suspected persons, Acts against, 33, 56, 
 163, 187, 188. 
 
 Swearing, profane, Acts against, 93-96, 
 152, 158, 164, 165, 167, 187. 
 
 Swine, Acts anent, 75-77, 206. 
 
 Taverns to be shut at ten o'clock p.m., 26, 
 153, 154, 155. 
 
 Town Council, corrupt state of, about 1737, 
 165. 
 
 Town Guard, 113, 194-198. 
 
 Trained bands, 105, 111, 124, 128, 132, 196 ; 
 captains and officers of, 111, 117 ; so- 
 ciety of, 124, 191, 233. 
 
 Trotter, William, 215. 
 
 Tumults, 18, 20-28, 30, 41. 
 
 Unfreemen, Constables to apprehend, 163. 
 Unlaws, compt of, xiv-xv. 
 
 Vagabonds, Acts against, 33, 39, 163, 164, 
 
 187, 188. 
 Vagrancy, 106. 
 Vice (see Immorality). 
 Vintners, 182. 
 Visitors of quarters, appointment of, 31 ; 
 
 regulation for, 122, xv. 
 Volunteers, Rifle, 235, 289. 
 
 Walls, Old, Constables to report on, 123. 
 Walls of City, 45, 46, 47. 
 Waste lands in Edinburgh, inspection of, 
 145.
 
 [6o] 
 
 Index. 
 
 Watch Magistrates authorised to raise, 25. 
 
 Charged to appoint, 27, 28. 
 
 Arrangements for watching, 20, 22, 23, 
 
 24, 27, 31, 41-66, 103, 110-113, 118- 
 
 119, 124, 126, 127-133, 194-198. 
 Division of neighbours into fifties, 55, 65. 
 
 Do. into thirties, 56, 65 ; into 
 
 twenty-six watches, 103. 
 Assessment for supporting, 66, 129, 131, 
 
 132. 
 Exemptions from assessment for, 66. ' 
 
 Exemptions of Constables from, 150. 
 Watch and Ward, all burgesses bound to 
 
 perform, 27, 41^5. 
 Weaponshawing, Acts, &c., relative to, 86, 
 
 87, 88-93 ; music at, 89, 91. 
 Westminster, statute of, 5. 
 William the Conqueror, laws of, 41. 
 Winton or Winchester, statute of, 11, 13, 
 
 14, 86. 
 Woollen Manufactures in Edinburgh, 107. 
 
 ERRATA. 
 
 Page 117. Delete the words "it has been seen," and " ex-officio," in'Note 4; and 
 insert the words " usually elected " before the words " the moderator-captain," in the 
 last line of that note. 
 
 Appendix, page xxiv. Substitute July for June on the last line of Note 1 ; and read 
 22d November instead of 22d October on that line. 
 
 EDINBURGH : 
 
 PRINTED BY JOHN GREIQ AND SON, 
 OLD PHYSIC GARDENS.
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 
 Los Angeles 
 This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. 
 
 Form L9-100m-9,'52(A3105)444
 
 Sketch of the 
 S6 history of the 
 Constables 
 
 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 
 
 A 000 998 292 7