Traditions of Edinburg

Sinopse

Robert Chambers’ Traditions of Edinburgh was originally published in 1824, revised by the author in 1868, and is still in print! It’s full of reminiscences and anecdotes of 18C Edinburgh, recorded before they slipped out of memory and before some of the most historic properties were demolished. It’s an invaluable companion to the vibrant world in which so many of our best-loved characters lived. Hume, Boswell, Smollett, Elibank, Fergusons and Fergusson, Rev. Webster… all flit through its pages in colourful array.

There is the romantic story of the courtship of the Websters’ parents (Rev. Webster was acting, Cyrano-style, as the go-between for a friend, and Mary Erskine told him he might get a better response if he spoke on his own account!). They lived up Castle Hill, in Webster’s Close. Dr. Webster, his piety notwithstanding, liked his claret as well as any 18C Scot, and was sometimes seen returning home a little the worse for wear. Charitable citizens would say that he looked worn out with sitting up all night praying with some poor sick parishioner…!

Another denizen of the Castle Hill was the peruke-maker and poet Allan Ramsay, father of the artist. He built an octagonal house, called the ‘guse pye’ because it looked like… well, a goose-pie! The great literary patron, Patrick Murray, Lord Elibank (uncle of our own dear Pattie!), remarked jokily, that having seen Allan in it, he knew how it got its name!