BUILDING EARLY MODERN EDINBURGH A SOCIAL H I S TORY OF CRAFTWORK AND I NCORPORATION A ARON A LLEN Building Early Modern Edinburgh Building Early Modern Edinburgh A Social History of Craftwork and Incorporation Aaron Allen Edinburgh University Press is one of the leading university presses in the UK. We publish academic books and journals in our selected subject areas across the humanities and social sciences, combining cutting-edge scholarship with high editorial and production values to produce academic works of lasting importance. For more information visit our website: edinburghuniversitypress.com © Aaron Allen, 2018 Edinburgh University Press Ltd The Tun – Holyrood Road 12 (2f) Jackson’s Entry Edinburgh EH8 8PJ Typeset in 10.5/13 Sabon by Servis Filmsetting Ltd, Stockport, Cheshire, and printed and bound in Great Britain A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978 1 4744 4238 1 (hardback) ISBN 978 1 4744 4240 4 (webready PDF) ISBN 978 1 4744 4241 1 (epub) The right of Aaron Allen to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and the Copyright and Related Rights Regulations 2003 (SI No. 2498). Contents List of Tables vi List of Illustrations vii List of Abbreviations viii Foreword x Preface xii Introduction: Incorporation and the Corporate Framework 1 1. Headship and Inclusion 33 2. Family, Household and Obligation 69 3. Craft and Kirk: Security, Status and Shelter 113 4. Craft and Burgh: Conflict or Partnership? 150 Conclusion: The Decline of Corporatism and the Rise of the Unfree 201 Appendices 227 Glossary 262 Bibliography 264 Index of Subjects 280 Index of Places 287 Tables 2.1 Marriages of Mary’s Chapel’s Craftsmen 80 2.2 Marriages of Daughters of Mary’s Chapel’s Trades 81 3.1 Known Saint Dedications for Scottish Incorporations (building trades) 133 4.1 Entrants as Guild Brethren 180 4.2 Burgesship and Guildry Entrants for the Crafts of Mary’s Chapel 181 Illustrations FIGURES I.1 Craft shields from 1753 showing the arms of the ‘Wrights and Masons’ 7 I.2 ‘St Mary’s Chapel, Officer’ 9 1.1 ‘A View of St Mary’s Chapel’ 36 2.1 Detail from cartouche of James Craig’s plan of the New Town 84 2.2 ‘Trades Maiden Hospital, Winter Dress [female]’ 87 3.1 ‘Ground Plan of St Giles Church Previous to 1829’ 121 3.2 ‘The Northern Prospect of St Giles’s Church’ 122 5.1 ‘A View of the Netherbow Port’, c.1753 202 5.2 The removal of the Netherbow Port, as seen from inside the town 204 5.3 ‘Plan of the New Town of Edinburgh’ 212 PLATES (BETWEEN PAGES 112 AND 113) 1 ‘Chimney piece’, The Edinburgh Trades, 1720 (Chalmers) 2 ‘The Four Conditions of Society: The Craftsman or Work’ (Bourdichon) 3 ‘Procession for Corpus Christi’ (Master of James IV of Scotland) 4 Detail of the building site of the Royal Institution (later the Royal Scottish Academy, Princes Street), 1825 (Nasmyth) Abbreviations DSL Dictionary of the Scots Language, available online at: http://www.dsl.ac.uk/ ECA Edinburgh City Archives Edin. Burgs Roll of Edinburgh Burgesses and Guild-Brethren, 2 vols: 1406–1700; 1701–1760, ed. C. B. B. Watson (SRS, 1929; 1930) Edin. Recs Extracts From the Records of the Burgh of Edinburgh, 13 vols, eds J. D. Marwick et al. (SBRS & Edinburgh, 1869–1967) ELCALHS East Lothian Council Archive and Local History Service, John Gray Centre ER The Exchequer Rolls of Scotland, 23 vols, eds J. Stuart et al. (Edinburgh, 1878–1908) General Report, 1835 Greenshields, J. B., General Report of the Commissioners Appointed to Inquire into the State of Municipal Incorporations in Scotland (London: His Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1835) Knox, History John Knox, History of the Reformation in Scotland, 2 vols., ed. W.C. Dickinson (Edinburgh, 1949) Mill, ‘Inventory’ ECA, SL12/236, A. J. Mill, ‘Rough Inventory of Records Belonging to the Wrights and Masons of Edinburgh’ (1923) Mill Recs ECA, Mill Records, A1-A46 and B1-B6 (Mary’s Chapel Papers, 1475–1678). ‘A’: Charters and Documents, and ‘B’: Minute Books. See also Mill, ‘Inventory’ for details of A and B groups. Minute Books ECA, SL34/1/1-14, Minute Books 1669–1755 and 1842–1910 and Acc.622/1-8 & 73, Minute Books 1755–1842 and 1910–47 MWA Accounts of the Masters of Works, 2 vols, eds H. M. Paton et al. (Edinburgh, 1957–82) NLS National Library of Scotland RMS Registrum Magni Sigilli Regum Scotorum (Register Abbreviations ix of the Great Seal of Scotland), 11 vols, eds J. M. Thomson et al. (Edinburgh, 1882–1984) RPC Register of the Privy Council of Scotland, 38 vols, eds J. H. Burton et al. (Edinburgh, 1877–2009) RPS The Records of the Parliaments of Scotland to 1707, K. M. Brown et al. eds (St Andrews, 2007– 15), http://www.rps.ac.uk RSS Registrum Secreti Sigilli Regum Scotorum (Register of the Privy Seal of Scotland), 8 vols, eds M. Livingstone et al. (Edinburgh, 1908–82) SBRS Scottish Burgh Records Society Scots Peerage J. Balfour Paul (ed.), The Scots Peerage, 9 vols (Edinburgh, 1904–14) SHS Scottish History Society SRS Scottish Record Society TA Accounts of the (Lord High) Treasurer of Scotland, 13 vols, eds T. Dickson et al. (Edinburgh, 1877–1978) Foreword to the History of the United Incorporations of St Mary’s Chapel of Edinburgh Little did I think when elected to the Incorporations in 1972 that I would be asked to perform this pleasant task by our author Dr Aaron Allen. First a few words about us. We were formed as an organisation on 15 October 1475 by Seal of Cause, and consisted solely of Masons and Wrights although other trades were added later, with the objective being to provide a controlled standard of service and execution of work, together with welfare to members and their families and aid to the Convenery of Trades of Edinburgh. Laws were formulated and revised from time to time, a major revision taking place on 18 September 1778, with others following, particularly in 1923, 1957 and 2001. These of course had to be ratified by the Court of Session. The Incorporations expanded greatly in the early nineteenth century when 105 new tradesmen were admitted, and this would have been required to aid in the construction of the New Town. Their coffers too would have increased and the power exercised allowed their Deacon (Chairman) when Convener of Trades to be an unelected member of the City Council. They had become a very powerful and rich body. Over the last century the original objectives have virtually ceased, the number of members much reduced, but recently there has been a revival of interest in the history and pageantry of the City. The Incorporations have rightly been able to join in this, under the leadership of recent Deacon Conveners. My family have been involved for at least 200 years when my great grandfather was Deacon, followed by his sons towards the end of the nineteenth century, who both became Deacon Conveners. An uncle and cousins followed later with myself in 1972 and my son as a member in 1996. Possibly a grandson will follow. I considered it would be a good idea to explore the history of the United Incorporations and to commit it to paper or some other medium. Accordingly, I mooted the idea in 2009 and it was agreed that a report and a cost estimate for such a work would be produced. This information was available in 2012 and here I must record my indebtedness, as must all of us, to Professor Michael Lynch, lately professor of Scottish History at Edinburgh University, who set us on the correct path with his sage advice. Foreword xi On 11 May 2015 a report was submitted to the AGM of the Incorporations and it was agreed without exception that the history should proceed and funds were set aside to cover the cost. At the same time I was authorised to proceed with the arrangements. Professor Lynch had suggested Dr Aaron Allen as a suitably skilled researcher and this was agreed through the Department of Development and Alumni and Professor Cameron, now Head of the School of History, Classics and Archaeology at Edinburgh University. It is usual in a foreword to comment on those who have been involved and it gives me the greatest pleasure to do so now. First to thank Professor Lynch, who set us on the right road, and to Professor Cameron, who kept us there. We must not forget James Jones of Development and Alumni, who set things up, and his successor Emma Lacroix, who brought every- thing to fruition. Our thanks are due to them for their diligence and under- standing of our requirements. Work has proceeded over the last three years with the draft chapters submitted to me on schedule. Dr Allen has shown the greatest interest in this history and in so doing has kept me informed monthly of progress. We are indebted to Dr Allen and our thanks are recorded here. His efforts are commended to you as another chapter recording the history of our great City. H. Bruce Field Deacon of Masons (2002–16) Golspie March 2017 Preface The Mary’s Chapel Project When in 1999 I first visited Edinburgh, I was immediately impressed by the stone architecture. Coming from a forested area in theUpper Peninsula of Michigan, the vernacular tradition I was used to relied predominantly on timber. Seeing the elegant Georgian tenements, or the seventeenth- century ashlar frontages of Mylne’s Court and Gladstone’s Land, left an abiding impression of a stone-built capital; one in which even the architec- ture reminded the visitor of the nation’s accomplished and lasting history.