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PROCEEDING0 25 SOCIETYE TH F O S , FEBKUAB , 191113 Y . II. NOTES ON THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES SCOTLANDF O HOUSCOWGATE E TH TH D N EI ,AN WHICN EI E HTH S LIBRARSOCIETIT MUSEUD D YAN YAN M WERE ORIGINALLY ACCOMMODATED CHARLEY B . BOOSB G WATSON, F.S.A. SCOT. When making lately some researches connected with family history, interestes wa I fino dt d tha originae tth l buildin whicn gi Museue hth m of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland was first housed had been bought from the founder of the Society by my great-great-grandfather; and thinking that others might perhaps be interested in what I may call its cradle, I made some farther investigations into its history. But before I speak of the house itself, let me rapidly run over the early vicissitudes of the Society, particularly in connection with its temporary resting-places. The stor gives yi t lengtna Wmy hb . Smelli David ean d Laine th n gi early volume s e Society,issueth y b d 1 wher y als e seeob e ma e nth portraits of the founder and secretaries. In November 1780 a meeting was called by David Stewart, Earl of Buchan, in his house in St Andrew Square, scarce a stone's throw from meetw wher t no whic a ,e e w mad e h h proposa s ehi foro t lSociet e mth y of Antiquarie Scotlandf so frod an ,m daty whic s existencema eit e hw . Afte e jealousa keerth no t f existinfight yo e du , g societies,a 2 royal charte s obtainewa r 1782n di , whereb reignine yth g monarcs hi declared to be the patron of the Society. 1 Smellie's Account of the Institution and Progress of the. Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, Part First, 1782; Part Second, 1784. 4to. Wm. Croech, Edinburgh. Part Third (1784-1830), printed in Archceologia Scotica, vol. iii., Appendix, 1831. Anniversary Addres e e SocietStatth th f n eo so f Antiquarie yo f Scotlanso d from 183 o 1860t 1 y Davib , d Laing, Vice-President (1861) n Archceologiai , Scotica* vol , 1890v. 2 Smellie's Account, Part Second (1784), pp. 1-32. EARLY HISTORY OF THE SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES. 251 The Earl soon realised tha t wouli t necessare db Societe th r yfo o yt have a home of its own, particularly in order to keep safely the mis- cellaneous collectio f antiquitiesno , curiosities d objectan , f naturao s l history which were poured in upon it. He therefore, as president, with James Cummyng, the secretary, surveyed in January 1781 a housCowgate,e th n ei reported an 1 d favourably upo . nit Afte r some bargaining with Colonel Campbell, the owner, the price of £1000 was firse th t d agreemeetinan , hels dto gdwa ther Aprin ei e l 1781th t bu , formal purchase was not completed till November 1784. There are many interesting noticee e earlhousth th f yn i eo s minutee th f o s Society—the giftr instancefo , a pai f f whale'o o r, s jawbones, which uppee th n rgrouno e parth p u werf o t de se behin Museum—the dth e fitting up of the hall where the meetings were held—various repairs— attempts to escape the window tax and other public burdens—iron bars basemene fitteth o dt t windows—consideratio purchase th f no f eo blunderbus largd an s e pistols against housebreakers a contribu d an , - tion to the " Rogue Money Fund "—the sale at 2s. 6d. per stone of the old kitchen grate—the fitting up of a reading-room on the parlour floor, and of a special room for students, of which they took little or no advantage—the presentatio cite th y y magistrateb n e lampf so th r sfo gateways—and proposal r feuinsfo ge ground—until parth f o t , owing eveo t r increasing financial difficulties sole b 1787 n di house o t th ,d , eha e Societth d yan found refug r fivfo ee years (1788-1793 a rente n i ) d flat in Chessel's Buildings, where James Cummyng, the secretary, died. Willia me origina th Smellie, f o e l memberson appointes wa , s hi n di Museue steadth d vanishean ,m w founno yeare o homda th d tw n r si efo Gosford's Close. There Smelli n s succeedeso e wa s died hi d an y , db Alexander, who removed the collection to a house on the Castle hill, which we now seek in vain. In 1814 the state of the funds was so bad tha take tGeorgs 2 flathi a sold4 e wa td b n s i o housan ,et Streetd eha , immediately over that occupie Royae th y dlb Society. 1 Minute Societye th f so , 29th January Apri d Marchd 3r 3r , ld 1781an , . 252 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, FEBRUARY 13, 1911. A memento of this " flitting " from the Castle hill may be seen in the West Princes Street Gardens—a large granite stone, too bulky to be removed, e flahavinth t n face o gcrosa t , scu surrounde runia y db c inscription,1 sent originall zealoua y yb s member from Sweden. 182n I Societe 6th y secured room Eoyae th n si l Institution Buildings, wher t remaineei d s forced tiln 184i wa l t 4i , under severe pressure, relieve de devote th onl y yb dmemberso self-sacrifictw r o e o t , on f o e remove again to the top storey of the premises of the Life Assurance Company 4 Georg2 , e Street, wher e Royath e l Societperw no - s i y manently housed. n arrangemenn a 1859I y b , t wit e Governmentth h e Societth , y returned to the Royal Institution, until in 1891 the last move was made presenr ou o t t abode. Such, rapidly given, is the history of the Society in connection with housings it . Now, as has been mentioned, the Earl of Buchan, in order to shelter the Society, with its collection of books and specimens, acquired in 1781 a house, thus describe Daviy db d Laing: 2 situates "Ie wa tth n di Cowgate, betwee e Mea Fishmarked nth ol l e Marketh d tan t Closeo t , Royae e soutth th f ho l Bank entered an , d fro e Cowgate.mth e Th " house stood by itself, with open ground on every side—a matter of great consequenc reducinn ei rise gfirf th k o e (fig. 1) . Kincaid, in his History of Edinburgh (p. 119, 1787), after giving a short account of the youthful Society, adds : " The hall wherein they deposit their antiquities is'in the Cowgate, upon the west side e Fishmarketoth f d showan , o strangert n y Jameb s s Cummyng, their Secretary." It is thus shown in his map of 1783. In Peter Williamson's list of streets, issued in 1783 without any map, he gives the following on the north side of the Cowgate, going eastwards: " The Meal Market, the Kirkheuch Close, entry to the Museum, the 1 Arch. Scot., >vol. ii- p. 490, with an illustration. 2 Arch. Scot., vol. v., part i., pp. 20-21. EARLY HISTORY OF THE SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES. 253 Hangman's Close." Thioccupied closew an e s , th no las dup y s i dtb burgh enginee storesr rfo , etc. The groun whicn do house hth e stood belonge beginnine th t da f go the eighteenth century to William Brown,1 burgess (I have not thought it necessary to go farther back, because the house is so clearly of later date) musd an , t have bee nanciene parth f o t t churchyar t Giles'S f do . Fig . Edgar' 1 Edinburghf . o p sMa , 1765. In July 1714 Brown resigned the property, in equal division, in favour of his two nephews William Thomson and William Barclay, both wright Edinburghn si . 173y 4Ma Barclan I y dispone hals Thomsondo hi t f , who yearo tw , s later (June 1736), disponed the two laigh houses to William Clark, wigmaker, and in August 1737 he disponed to William A'nderson and 1 Burgh Records, 3rd July 1766. 254 PROCEEDINGS OP THE SOCIETY, FEBRUARY 13, 1911. Katherine Smit spouss hhi liferentn ei thei o t d r an heir, assigneesd san , the first storey above the two laigh houses, also the top storey or garret. In July 1741 William Anderson and his spouse disponed their property to Alexander Lockhart, advocate. This property was popularly known as the Salamander Land, evidently from its having passed through some great fire, probably that of 1700, which broke out Fig. 2. E'dgar's Map of Edinburgh, 1743. north-ease inth t corneMeae e th th f lp o ru Marke y madd wa an ts eit Kirkheug giane th o htt housee Parliamenth f so t Close,1 whose backs towered up in " Babels," as they were called, of fifteen stones high. Their successors, which stood e tilconflagratioth l f Novembeo n r 1824, were only eleven stories high. We find a building at the top of the Old Fishmarket Close, facing the High Street, graced with the same name, the " Salamander Land," till it was pulled down about 1847 to make room for the extension of the police office (fig. 2). R1 . Chambers's Remarkable Fires Edinburghn i (1824) . 15-16pp , . EARLY HISTORE SOCIETTH F P ANTIQUARIESO YO Y 5 25 .