76 THE REGISTER OFFICE. and the morals of the offender, in a manner which confers lasting honour on the magistracy of the country. The Register-office is a splendid building, and most favourably and judiciously placed at the east end of Prince'sstreet, from which it recedes opposite to the North Bridge. Of this graceful pile the Scotch are justly proud, as well on account of its beauty as its great national utility. Its front is 200 feet, and its depth 120. In the middle of the former, which is adorned with a fine entablature of the Corinthian order, is a projection, in which there are three windows and four Corinthian pilasters, supporting a pediment; and above is a large dome, 50 feet in diameter and 80 high: at either end of the front are smaller projections, containing each a Venetian window, and surmounted by a small cupola. The object of this building is to afford a place of deposit, indestructible by fire, for the records of the country, many of which have, at different times, been lost or mutilated; and every act connected with an alienation of property in Scotland, affecting creditors, must, in order to be valid, be registered here. To those who know the abominable and ruinous frauds which are practised upon creditors in England by secret conveyances, this institution must appear peculiarly valuable. In York and Middlesex there are register-offices. How much is it to be lamented that one is not erected in every provincial division! The decorations of the interior do not correspond with the external beauty of the building. The rotunda under the dome is disfigured by a vast collection of old and modern record and other books, plainly bound, which, instead of being concealed by green silk and brass latticework, obtrude themselves upon the eye, and accord with the noble appearance of the room just as well as the hat of a mendicant would become a Knight of the Bath in his full robes. The statue of his present Majesty, by the Hon. Mrs. Damer, is not one of the happiest productions of that distinguished statuary. This building cost 40,000l. in erecting, and is only half of the original plan. Amongst the beautiful modern structures which embellish this city, I must not pass over the Bank of Scotland, the south and west sides of which appear in the frontispiece. It stands nearly at the head of the entrance of the Earthen Mound. As it is reared upon the ridge of a hill, much labour and cost were expended in finding a solid foundation: it is said that there is as much stone and mortar below, not visible, as there is in the structure which is raised above it. A handsome stone curtain, with a ballustrade, conceals the dead wall on the north part of this structure, where the declivity is very great. The whole has a very light and elegant effect, and, seen from Prince's street, finely contrasts with the lofty sombre houses which are its near associates. It is a fact worthy of observation, that there is not a single house in the New Town which has been built of Scottish timber; the whole having been brought from the shores of the Baltic-a circumstance owing to the plantations in Scotland being of recent date, although it is upon record, and sufficient evidences remain, that in former times it abounded with forests. The day which, with some friends, I had selected for a visit to Roslin, being very favourable, we set off for that place, which has so often excited the admiration of all descriptions of visitors. It is about seven English miles south from Edinburgh, and some agreeable prospects embellish the road to it. The chapel is rather small; but it is a beautiful piece of Gothic architecture. It is 40 feet 8 inches from the floor to the top of the arched roof; 34 feet 8 inches broad, and 68 feet long. The inside is divided into a middle and two side aisles, by seven thick columns on each side, supporting pointed arches. The profusion of ornaments is astonishing, and would be tedious in description. Some of them are really" sermons in stones," or illustrations of the Bible, cut in stone in the most grotesque and extraordinary style. ROSLIN. 79 At the south-east corner there is a descent by a flight of steps into a little crypt, or chapel. An old woman who shews the building is also a great curiosity, and tells a long gossiping story of the architect's knocking out the brains of his apprentice, because, during his absence, he executed a fine fluted column, called the Apprentice's Pillar, near the high altar, ornamented with wreaths of foliage and flowers, in alto relievo, twisting spirally round it in a style which excited his envy. In proof of the story she shews the head of the apprentice supporting a bracket in the wall, which resembles a bearded old man. Upon the architraves of one of the pillars there is an angel playing upon a bagpipe. I hope it is not to be presumed that he brought that instrument from Heaven. Although there are now only a few cottages and houses at Roslin, it appears to have held at one time high rank amongst the cities of Scotland.. William St. Clare, Earl of Orkney and Caithness, who founded it in 1440, lived in great magnificence at his castle near this chapel. Mr. Hay, in his MS. in the Advocates' library, says, "About that time," (that is, at the building of the chapel,)" the town of Roslin, being next to Edinburgh and Haddington, in East Lothian, became very populous by the great concourse of all ranks and degrees of visitors: that resorted to this Prince at his palace of the Castle of Roslin; for he kept a great court, and was royally served at his own table in vessels of gold and silver; Lord Dirleton being his master household, Lord Borthwick his cup-bearer, and Lord Fleeming his carver; in whose absence they had deputies to attend, viz. Stewart, Laird of Drumlaurig, Tweedie, Laird of Drumerline, and Sandilands, Laird of Calder. He had his hall and the apartments richly adorned with embroidered hangings. He flourished in the reigns of James the First and Second. His Princess, Elizabeth Douglass, already mentioned, was served by seventy-five gentlewomen, whereof fifty-three were daughters of noblemen, all clothed in velvets and silks, with thin chains of gold, and other ornaments; and was attended by two hundred riding gentlemen in all her journeys: and if it happened to be dark when she went to Edinburgh, where her lodgings were at the foot of Blackfriar's Wynd, eighty lighted torches were carried before her." As I quitted this beautiful pile, Harold's song occurred to me :- "O'er Roslin all that dreary night A wond'rous blaze was seen to gleam; It ruddied all the copse-wood glen; Lay of the Last Minstrel, p. 191. |