La Garde Ecossaise Historical Fiction and Early Modern Studies Newsletter.

Welcome

A warm welcome to the La Garde Ecossaise Historical Fiction newsletter – this is your fortnightly update on the novel series and early modern studies.

New Releases from La Garde Ecossaise

Audio Guide Chapter 8 The Memoirs of La Garde Ecossaise.

Audio Guide Chapter 9 To the Reader.

Audio Guide Chapter 10 [1] Edinburgh and Leith.

These are available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube.

Quote

‘There were those crammed at the back of the church who took no interest in the service at all, who chatted away sharing the village gossip, telling jokes, drinking alcohol and there was Mr D who ran a betting stall who sat there taking bets on cudgels and horse races and taking poor people’s money’. (La Garde Ecossaise Book 1 p.9).

Early Modern Digest

Martin Luther’s conservatism in the context of a turbulent Holy Roman Empire. https://theconversation.com/500-years-ago-german-peasants-revolted-but-their-faith-that-the-protestant-reformation-stood-for-freedom-was-dashed-by-martin-luther-and-the-nobility-246378 

The Fettercairn Jewel one of the best preserved and beautiful examples of 16th century Renaissance jewellery in the British Isles. https://www.nms.ac.uk/discover-catalogue/five-questions-about-the-fettercairn-jewel 

17th century lovers ring found in Lancashire https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-17th-century-lovers-ring-unearthed-in-england-is-marked-by-a-romantic-inscription-180986082/ 

Pre-Columbian city rediscovered in Mexico. A city that flourished before the arrival of the Spanish in the 16th century https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/abandoned-but-once-flourishing-pre-columbian-city-was-unearthed-in-mexico 

Apothecary inventory from 17th century sheds light on medicines and ailments https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/apothecary-inventory-offers-glimpse-into-medicines-from-the-17th-century/4020974.article

Do You Know?

Siberia was discovered by the Russians during the late sixteenth century. It was conquered throughout the seventeenth century. Siberia has only been part of Russia for four centuries. Read more here: https://www.loc.gov/collections/meeting-of-frontiers/articles-and-essays/exploration/russian-discovery-of-siberia/

Feature Article: Seventeenth Century Edinburgh and the Port of Leith

In season 1 of the podcast we are introduced to Stuart London, its political and historical importance, its trade and industry and its religious institutions. It is here that Meldrum meets with a mysterious man in Lambeth Palace and begins his onward journey to France. You can listen to the podcast here:

However, London was the capital of a separate and sovereign England. Edinburgh was the capital of a sovereign and independent Scotland. It is a city that would have been very familiar to our fictional narrator of La Garde Ecossaise, Robert Meldrum. Meldrum was born in the port town of Leith, four miles from the centre of Edinburgh, and was a minister at Corstorphine which, at this time, was a village on the outskirts of Edinburgh.

This feature article will introduce you to seventeenth century Edinburgh, its political and historical importance, its legal institutions and its trade and industry. In comparing Stuart Edinburgh with Stuart London, you will see similarities but also differences which highlight the distinctiveness of the Scottish kingdom under the absentee monarchy of the Stuarts.

Geography: Now and Then

One of my favourite quotes about history and the past is from the novelist L.P. Hartley in his novel The Go Between ‘The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there’. I would like to take you back in time to seventeenth century Edinburgh and Leith. However, be warned that if you have visited Edinburgh and/or Leith in recent times, seventeenth century Edinburgh would be quite foreign to you.

If you have not visited Edinburgh at all, I will briefly outline the twenty-first century geography of Edinburgh and Leith so you will get a flavour of how different the city and port was back in the seventeenth century.

Modern day Edinburgh consists of the ‘old town’ and the ‘new town’. The new town which encompasses Princes Street and Georgian squares. One of the first efforts of improved urban planning and regeneration. It was built between 1767 and 1850, long after the seventeenth century.²

The ‘old town’, which was the name suggests, is the part of Edinburgh which predates the Georgian urban renewal and is dominated by the Royal Mile and Edinburgh Castle and the Palace of Holyrood House.³ This is the Edinburgh that our fictional narrator Robert Meldrum would have been familiar with, and it is this Edinburgh that we will explore in detail.

Leith, the port town only became integrated into the City of Edinburgh after World War I.⁴

I will now take you back in time as we explore the geography of seventeenth century Edinburgh and the surrounding area, particularly in and around the port of Leith.

In 1649, the year before our fictional character Robert Meldrum’s birth, Leith was a singular haven for shipping between Berwick and Firth of Forth. If we examine this recently discovered Dutch language coastal and navigation map of the east coast of Scotland, we see the following:

• Leith is a notable distance from the city of Edinburgh.

• It is labelled ‘Zeeton ofte Leit’ which roughly translates as the buoy of Leith. It highlights to Dutch shipping that Leith is a safe port along the coast.

• Notice that there are no buoys along other parts of the coast. There were plenty of ports along the coast from Berwick to Fife but clearly none of these are recommended as safe havens.

With the crossings at the Firth of Forth today it is difficult for us to imagine what a treacherous stretch of water this was back in the early modern period. However, Thomas Tucker a Cromwellian civil servant in the 1650s who compiled a report on the customs and excise in Scotland in 1656 confirms the details on the map. He states:

He also states that:

The next port of any considerable note in the 1650s to the north and east was Burrowstones, known as ‘Bo’ness’ today. Without a doubt Leith was Edinburgh’s port city but as Thomas Tucker notes the relationship between the two places was not always congenial:

To understand why Edinburgh so jealously kept Leith at arm’s length we must understand the importance of Edinburgh to the political and legal elites of Scotland.

A Capital Without a Sovereign: Edinburgh in the Seventeenth Century

In the seventeenth century, Edinburgh was the capital of a sovereign and independent Scotland. An engraving of Edinburgh dated 1649 made by Matthaeus Merian shows Edinburgh Castle at the top of its volcanic plug. The view also focuses on the Royal Mile between Edinburgh Castle and the Palace of Holyrood House. Much of the housing is located under the castle and appears cramped with open fields becoming more visible as you move towards the Palace of Holyrood House.

Indeed, this is confirmed by Thomas Tucker:

As the layout of Edinburgh suggests, it was principally a Royal capital with its two major residences, Edinburgh Castle and the Palace of Holyrood House. However, it was also the legislative capital of the Scottish kingdom with the Privy Council, Parliament and legal elite all based in the capital. In the sixteenth century a town college was founded which had evolved into the University of Edinburgh by the seventeenth century.

Let’s look at all these elites and their relationship with seventeenth century Scotland, which in turn will tell us about Edinburgh’s place in Scottish kingdom at this time.

Monarchy

King James VI departed his Scottish kingdom in 1603 and became King James I of Britain and Ireland and resided in London. Scotland became an absentee monarchy (see newsletter No 4. Six Foundation of the Early Modern European World Part 1: Humanism, Renaissance and Dynastic Unions). This absentee monarchy continued for the majority of the seventeenth century except for a brief visit by King Charles I for his Scottish coronation in the 1630s and King Charles II in 1650.

Despite the absence of the royals, Edinburgh Castle continued to be one of the most strategically important defensive places in Scotland and in the British Isles. It was a symbol of the Crown’s military power and its sovereignty over Scotland. This is underscored by Oliver Cromwell’s propaganda coup when Edinburgh Castle fell to forces of the English Republic in 1650, and the English printing presses bragged about the removal of military guns from Edinburgh Castle. The symbol of Edinburgh Castle as a symbol of the Crown’s power in Scotland was all too apparent in 1689 when the Duke of Gordon, who was an ally of King James VII/II refused to surrender the castle to the Williamite Convention of the Estates resulting in a three-month siege of the castle.⁹ It is also important to remember that Edinburgh Castle was a busy military garrison housing soldiers, engineers, surgeons and suppliers throughout the seventeenth century. Indeed, it needed constant stream of money to allow works to be done to the buildings to keep it serviceable and this resulted in a constant stream of craftsmen from the city of Edinburgh being employed to ensure good maintenance and order.¹⁰

At the other end of the Royal Mile is the Palace of Holyrood House and its adjacent abbey. In the sixteenth century it had a turbulent history as a royal residence as Mary Queen of Scots, who was pregnant with King James VI at the time, witnessed the brutal murder of David Rizzio, an Italian courtier in the palace. With the departure of the royal court and the monarch to London in 1603 the Palace and its royal power was expressed through the edicts of the Scottish Privy Council who issued orders in the absentee monarch’s name from the Palace of Holyrood House throughout the seventeenth century. However, as Keith Brown states ‘The fact that the king was now in London compromised the council’s effectiveness as an arm of the executive, since its ability to react quickly to unfolding events was reduced in proportion to the extent of personal control exercised by the king.’¹¹

Parliament

During the early modern period Scotland had its own parliament with its own parliamentary traditions that distinguish it sharply from the English Parliament in Westminster. There were at least seventeen parliaments convened between 1603 and 1689. In contrast to Westminster that consists of two chambers, a House of Commons and a House of Lords, the Scottish Parliament in the seventeenth century was a unicameral assembly with legislation debated through a series of committees. It consisted of clergy, nobility, burgh commissioners and officers of state. It had more in common with the general estates of France in its structure and operational procedures than Westminster. The early modern Scottish Parliament met at Parliament House in Edinburgh.¹²

However, there is another legislative body we need to acknowledge to fully understand the central place of Edinburgh in the political life of Scotland, the Convention of Estates. These were meetings of the nobility convened by the order of the Scottish Privy Council and could pass legislation and authorise taxation. There was no equivalent of the Convention of the Estates in England.¹³

Scottish Law and the Scottish Legal System

Scotland has a distinct and separate legal system from England. Scots law and the Scottish legal system developed when Scotland was a separate and sovereign country before 1707. Scots law is based upon Roman Law following the example of many European countries whereas English Law is largely based upon English Common Law. The major Scottish legal courts in the early modern period were often located in Edinburgh. It consisted of the Court of Judiciary and the Court of Session. In the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries an educated Scottish legal profession was firmly established. Statutes relating to their education were passed in 1587, a society for the Writers to the Signet was established in 1594 and the Faculty of Advocates established in 1619. All these legal institutions were based in Edinburgh. Notably, the Faculty of Advocates is still based in Parliament House in Edinburgh.¹⁴

University of Edinburgh

The University of Edinburgh was established by a charter from King James VI in 1582. Its immediate concern was for the education of students in humanist principles and theology. In the former case knowledge of Greek and Latin was essential as students were educated in philosophy, ethics, mathematics and astronomy. Its other concern stemmed for the need of clergy after the Reformation in 1560 and the expense many felt when sending their sons for a theological and clerical education in St Andrews. It is interesting to note that despite the organisation of the Scottish legal profession in the late sixteenth century that a Faculty of Law was founded later, as too, was the Faculty of Medicine.¹⁵

Reading the Urban Landscape of Early Modern Edinburgh

If we examine the ‘Bird’s eye view of Edinburgh’ by James Gordon dated 1647 (see above) we can see how prominent the Royal Mile was in the Old Town of Edinburgh in the seventeenth century. At the top of the picture on the left we have Edinburgh Castle and at the bottom to the right of the picture is the Palace of Holyroodhouse. This urban layout clearly projects the power and authority of the monarchy at the centre of Scottish life and at the centre of the Scottish capital.

However, the rest of the city for the majority of the inhabitants was a cramped warren of streets that had grown up under Edinburgh Castle and off the Royal Mile. Early modern Edinburgh consisted of the Royal Mile, Wynds, Closes and Courts. Where you lived in relation to the Royal Mile and where you lived, whether that was a wynd, close or court could say a lot about your social status in the town. Many early modern houses and closes, wynds and courts survive in the Old Town today and if you are in Edinburgh they are certainly worth a visit, giving you a taste of what it was like to live in this early modern capital.

I recommend you use Google Maps to find these places.

The Royal Mile

It was not only the main Royal throughfare of the monarchs between their two palaces but was home to public buildings that were at the heart of the life of the city. It was also home to members of the aristocracy and rich merchants. Notable surviving early modern buildings along the Royal Mile include:

St Giles Cathedral

In July 1637 the Scottish Prayer Book was read from the pulpit which sparked a riot within the cathedral against the religious innovations of King Charles I. This, in turn, developed into mass support for Charles Is Scottish opponents known as Covenanters which led to the signing of the Scottish National Covenant in February 1638 for all sections of Scottish society. These were the origins of a full-scale civil war which engulfed Britain and Ireland from 1638 to 1651. Monuments to the leaders of both factions in Scotland’s Wars of the Three Kingdoms are also situated in the cathedral directly opposite each other, a monument for James Graham, the Marquis of Montrose, the Royalist leader and Archibald Campbell, the Marquis of Argyll, the leader of the Covenanters.¹⁶

John Knox’s House

This house dates to the 1470s and is open to the public. It is one of the best examples of an early modern house in the British Isles. Many period decorations adorn the ceilings and walls, one of the few examples of Scottish interior design of the era in existence. John Knox, the Scottish reformer stayed here before his death.¹⁷

Moray House, Canongate

Oliver Cromwell stayed here on two occasions, in 1648 and 1650, when he visited Edinburgh. It is one of the best examples of a residential house for the aristocracy on the Royal Mile. Unfortunately, it is now part of the University of Edinburgh and is not open to the public.¹⁸

The Tolbooth, Canongate

Directly opposite Moray House is the Tolbooth of Canongate which dates from the late sixteenth century. Not to be confused with the Old Tolbooth of Edinburgh, Canongate’s tolbooth was a prison and place of punishment whereby people would be put in stocks and heads would be displayed fully visible to passing pedestrians walking down the Royal Mile. Open to the public it now houses a museum on Edinburgh’s social history.¹⁹

Huntly House, Canongate

Dating from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, now the Museum of Edinburgh and open to the public, this was the home of the Marquesses of Huntly, a powerful Scottish Catholic family based in the North-East of Scotland. It is a measure of their power and influence with the Stuart monarchy that they had an extensive residential house on the Royal Mile. Of course, in context of our historical fiction novel La Garde Ecossaise, Huntly House, resonates as this was the Edinburgh residence of members of the Gordon family who served the French Royal family in the seventeenth century.²⁰

The Kirk, Canongate

The royal church of the Canongate dates from the seventeenth century with a handful of burials dating from the late seventeenth century.²¹

Closes and Courts

If we stand at the bottom of the Canongate with Holyrood behind us and walk back up towards Edinburgh Castle, we notice multiple narrow passageways known as ‘closes’ which are to the left and right of the Royal Mile. In some cases, these closes open into courts which are wider spaces which contain several residences.

White Horse Close, Canongate

This is a quiet residential area with a handful of houses that mainly date from the 1960s despite appearances. Yet the close itself is very historic as it is the former site of a historic inn that hosted Jacobites in the ‘45.²²

Bakehouse Close, Canongate

This close is directly behind Huntly House and as the name suggests was home to a bakery as well as several residences including additional entrances to Huntly House.²³

Tweedale Court

This close which is just inside the burgh of Edinburgh on the Royal Mile dates from 1576 and has residences dating from the seventeenth century that belonged to the Scottish aristocracy.²⁴

Trunks Close

Next to John Knox’s House is an exemplary example of an early modern close and why closes got their name. (Breathe in!)²⁵

Borthwick’s Close

Dates to the fifteenth century and was part of the old road that travellers entered Edinburgh from the south.²⁶

Mary King’s Close

Now situated underground due to building work in the eighteenth century. It is the closest you will come to experiencing life in early modern Edinburgh. It is now a museum and open to the public.²⁷ See the video here to know more about living in Mary King’s Close in the seventeenth century:

Advocates Close

A classic and fine example of an early modern close that had many notable residents.²⁸

Libberton Wynd

Existed in the fifteenth century until the 1830s, until it was closed off to build the George IV Bridge in Edinburgh. Only recently rediscovered it now comprises part of the basement of the National Library of Scotland. It is not open to the public, but you can read about it here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cly2l119zlpo

Riddle’s Court

A fully restored sixteenth century close. Well worth a visit to gain an insight into what an early modern Edinburgh court would have looked like in its full colour.²⁹

Milne’s Court

Built in 1690 it is one of the oldest examples of an open court with residences in the Old Town.³⁰

We are now back at Edinburgh Castle.

Crafts and Trades in Edinburgh

Unlike London that was an international port, Edinburgh was a centre of political and royal authority that outsourced its international trade to the port of Leith. As we have already discovered there was a distance both mentally and physically between the elite of Edinburgh and the merchants and people of Leith, with a distinct air of snobbery, jealousy and rivalry in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. However, highly skilled craftsmen and tradesmen worked and lived in the crowded streets of Edinburgh too. However, in contrast to London that made material objects for domestic and international consumption Edinburgh’s urban’s trades were based upon the necessities of the local economy and the needs of the urban population.

They included the following:

Clothing and textile trades; weavers, walkers, dyers, skinners, tailors, bonnet makers, glovers, Cordiners, (shoemakers), upholsters.

Building trades; hammermen, masons, master masons, wrights, glaziers, carpenters, block makers, wallers, painters, plumbers, slaters, turners.

Hospitality, Food and Travel; Stables, Taverns, Maltmen, Baxters (Bakers), Fleshers (Butchers), brewing, wheel wrights.

Businesses; merchants, moneylenders.

Smiths; locksmiths, blacksmiths, Shearsmiths, lorimers, goldsmiths.

Candlemakers.

Medical; surgeons, barbers, apothecaries.

Military; gunsmiths.

Education; school masters, school mistresses.

Journeymen: itinerant men who carried out small skilled jobs for a fee.

The only industry in Edinburgh which marked it out from other cities such as Aberdeen and Glasgow was the Scottish mint. It had a workforce that were trained in producing coinage. It is also interesting to note that the port of Leith jealously guarded its superiority in relation to silver making.³¹

Scotland’s Port: Early Modern Leith

Edinburgh’s elite like many contemporaries at the time wanted to enjoy goods imported from other countries and these goods were imported through Leith, Scotland’s dominant port at the time. We have to remember that at this time ‘other counties’ included England and Wales too as they were separate sovereign nations. England and Scotland had their own trade rules and regulations at the time. Leith was also the premier port for exporting goods to England, Europe and further afield too. These exported goods primarily consisted of cloth, sheepskins, hides, fish (including herring), hosiery, plaid, grain, salt, rope, lead ore and coal.³² It was also a port where people left for military service on the European continent, voluntary or pressed into service. Indeed, it is in the context of the former that John Hamilton and Ruben Meldrum meet for the first time in an inn in Leith before they embark on military service in the Thirty Years War.³³ In other cases people left on ships from Leith to emigrate to the Americas to trade in places like New York. In many cases this also included criminals and beggars to be sent to the plantations in the New World, it was one of the ways the City of Edinburgh dealt with the criminal and destitute.³⁴

Leith was also Scotland’s primary port for imports which included, ‘noblemen’s goods’ which would include fine material goods such as cloth, furniture, porcelain, children’s toys, chocolate, medicines, from Europe and beyond. Ink was imported from England, sugar and tobacco from the Caribbean and the Americas. Military equipment, especially arms would have been imported from Europe for use by the military and its fortresses in Scotland. Lastly, but certainly not least, wine which plays an important role in our novel La Garde Ecossaise. It is notable that the importation of wine was of such importance to H.M. Customs in Leith that wine would be noted separately from other goods as additional taxes were added upon its sale. In our historical fiction novel La Garde Ecossaise our narrator’s father is a wine merchant based in Leith and the transportation of French wine that was imported, then exported again via Robert Meldrum, our narrator, signifying the wine trade between France and Scotland. Note that the bottles going ‘backwards’ or back to France is symbolic of Meldrum’s unusual and mysterious journey to France.³⁵

Leith itself was a typical early modern port with all the features you would expect in such a town. We don’t have a map of the town from the early modern period, but we know that Leith had the following:

Trades; metters, porters, carpenters, coopers, mariners, vintners, shipbuilders, merchants, glaziers. The mariners had Trinity House, and the coopers belonged to the Fraternity of St John.

Occupational hazards; widows, wrecks, pirates, privateers.

Government and administrative buildings; customs house, weigh house, law courts.

Other features; churches, seaman’s hospital, tolbooth, market, fortifications, taverns.³⁶

There were also English merchants who lived in the town, most notably, Barnaby Darroch from what we know today as Great Yarmouth, proving that the herring fleet was a significant Anglo-Scottish trade. This is the real-life Mr Sewell from the La Garde Ecossaise novels.³⁷

Fancy stepping back in time to early modern Leith? Here are some places you can visit:

Signal Tower

Built in 1686-1687. It was originally a windmill.³⁸

The King’s Wark

A pub that dates to the fifteenth century. Soak up the atmosphere and view the building’s old features. You are walking in the footsteps of people who drank and ate there for centuries. Indeed, this could be the very inn that Ruben and John Hamilton meet each other for the first time. (See chapter 35 Embarkation).³⁹

St Ninians Church

Established in 1493 is a beautiful church with Dutch architectural features. Again, this features in La Garde Ecossaise, as Hamilton is unable to afford or find a room at the inn so he sleeps at the church before his voyage to Rotterdam.⁴⁰

Are you planning to visit Edinburgh or Leith? Are there any other early modern places you can recommend for visitors? If you are reading this newsletter on the web please leave a comment below or you can email me at [email protected]

1  John Tosh, The Pursuit of History (Abingdon, 2013) 9.

2  Michael Fry, Edinburgh: A History of a City (London, 2009) 282-299.

3  Hamish Coghill, Lost Edinburgh (Edinburgh, 2014) 7. A book that attempts to peel back the centuries of reconstruction and change that took place after the emergence of the New Town and gives us a glimpse into early modern and medieval Edinburgh.

4  Sue Mowatt, The Port of Leith: Its History and its People (Edinburgh, 1997). The most recent and substantial history of the port. Leith Local History Society has a good chronology and important resources. https://www.leithlocalhistorysociety.org.uk/ accessed 13 March 2025.

5  The Scottish Maps Forum ‘Cairt’ Issue 39 July 2021. https://maps.nls.uk/cairt/cairt39.pdf accessed 13 March 2025. ‘Report by Thomas Tucker upon the settlement of the revenues and excise and customs in Scotland A.D. MDCLVI’, Miscellany (Scottish Burgh Records Society, 1881) 22.

6  ‘Report by Thomas Tucker’ 27-28.

7  ‘Report by Thomas Tucker’ 25.

8  ‘Report by Thomas Tucker’ 25.

9  Articles of Agreement, For the Surrender of the strong & invincible Castle of Edinburgh the manner of Lord Gen Cromwell playing his Fire-Works before the Treaty, the number of men slain, the taking of the Scots Roaring-Meg and 52 pieces of ordinance, eleven thousand armes, 200 barels of gunpowder, and a great store of match and buller (London, 1650); Robert Bell ed., The Siege of the Castle of Edinburgh M.DC.LXXXIX (Edinburgh, 1828). 17-83. https://archive.org/details/siegeofcastleofe00bell/page/n7/mode/2up accessed 16/03/2025.

10  National Archives of Scotland, E78/12 Vouchers of payments from excise to Captain John Straton, constable of Edinburgh Castle, for expenditure on buildings and ordinance 1 Jan 1661-29 Sep 1662. These accounts include the employment of a locksmith to clean Mons Meg as well as glasswork; National Archives of Scotland, E96/9 Account for repairing pistols and broken muskets in Edinburgh Castle by Alexander Strauchan, gunsmith there Feb 1669; National Archives of Scotland, E37/22 Report by Charles Maitland, treasurer-depute on condition of Edinburgh Castle 4 March 1679; National Archives of Scotland, E28/288, Earl of Queensferry, Treasurer: Repairs etc: Edinburgh Castle wanting 1683-1684; National Archives of Scotland, E28/581 Commissioners of Treasury: Works: Holyroodhouse & Edinburgh Castle 1692-1705; National Archives of Scotland, Obligation by Captain James Coult [Coutts] in Edinburgh Castle to Alexander Black, merchant in Edinburgh for £44 Scots 15 April 1701.

11  Keith M. Brown, Kingdom or Province? Scotland and the Regal Union, 1603-1715 (London, 1992) 20-30. This book is still the best introduction to governance in seventeenth century Scotland.

12  Keith M. Brown, The History of the Scottish Parliament Volume 2: Parliament and the Politics of Scotland 1567-1707 (Edinburgh, 2005) 10-12. The most accessible introduction to the early modern Scottish Parliament. For the complexity of its processes in practice see John R. Young, The Scottish Parliament 1639-1661: A Political and Constitutional Analysis (Edinburgh, 1996).

13  Brown, Kingdom or Province? 16.

14  T.C. Smout, A History of the Scottish People 1560-1830 (London, 1985) 100-101; Brown, Kingdom or Province? 26-28.

15  D.B. Horn A Short History of the University of Edinburgh 1556-1889 (Edinburgh, 1967) 1-9; Andrew Dalziel, History of the University of Edinburgh Vol II: Heritage (Edinburgh, 1862) 1, 8, 10-12.

16  Martyn Bennett, The Civil Wars in Britain and Ireland (Oxford, 1998) 3-4; St Giles Cathedral https://www.stgilescathedral.org.uk/the-covenanters#:~:text=When%20Charles%20II%20was%20restored,was%20beheaded%20outside%20the%20Cathedral accessed 20 March 2025.

17  Scottish Storytelling Centre, https://www.scottishstorytellingcentre.com/john-knox-house/ accessed 20 March 2025.

18  Antonia Fraser, Cromwell: Our Chief of Men (London, 2013) 322, 468.

19  Coghill, Lost Edinburgh 51.

20  The Scottish Pearl, ‘Huntly House, the building’. https://thescottishpearl.uk/2022/11/16/museum-of-edinburgh-huntley-housethe-building/ accessed 20 March 2025.

21  Canongate Kirk, ‘A History of Canongate Kirk’ A History of Canongate Kirk – Canongate Kirk accessed 20 March 2025.

22  Edinburgh Live, The picturesque Edinburgh close that's nowhere near as old as people might think - Edinburgh Live accessed 20 March 2025.

23  Atlas Obscura, Bakehouse Close - Atlas Obscura accessed 20 March 2025.

24  Edinburgh Expert, Close Encounters in Edinburgh’s Old Town - Tweeddale Court — Edinburgh Expert Walking Tours accessed 20 March 2025.

25  Kim Traynor, ‘Trunks Close’ Trunks Close, High Street © kim traynor cc-by-sa/2.0 :: Geograph Britain and Ireland accessed 20 March 2025.

26  Voice Map, https://voicemap.me/tour/edinburgh/the-royal-mile-s-side-streets-and-stories-a-walking-tour-with-context/sites/borthwick-s-close-2 accessed 21 March 2025.

27  The Real Mary King’s Close, https://www.realmarykingsclose.com/ accessed 21 March 2025.

28  Hidden Scotland, https://hiddenscotland.com/listings/advocates-close accessed 21 March 2025.

29  Scottish Buildings Trust, ‘Riddle’s Court’ https://www.shbt.org.uk/our-buildings/riddles-court/ 21 March 2025.

30  Tales From One City ‘Milne’s Court’ https://talesofonecity.wordpress.com/2019/09/24/history-of-the-house-milnes-court/ accessed 21 March 2025.

31  Much of this owes to the excellent work of Aaron Allen which is a must read if you are interested in the trades in Edinburgh. Aaron Allen, ‘Occupational mapping of 1635 Edinburgh: an introduction’ Proceedings of the Society of the Antiquaries of Scotland (2006) 259-296. The best overview of the subject showing areas on a map of Edinburgh where the industries were located. View of Occupational mapping of 1635 Edinburgh: an introduction accessed 21 March 2025; Aaron Allen, Building Early Modern Edinburgh: A Social History of Craftwork and Incorporation (Edinburgh, 2018); Jean Munro and Henry Steuart Forthringham eds., Act Book of the convenery of trades of Edinburgh 1577-1755: Volume 1 1577-1678 (Scottish Record Society; Edinburgh, 2011) 2, 4, 73, 76, 216, 225; Ian D. Whyte, Scotland Before the Industrial Revolution (London, 1995) 280; National Archives of Scotland, E96/9 Account for repairing pistols and broken muskets in Edinburgh Castle by Alexander Strauchan, gunsmith there Feb 1669.’

32  Whyte, Scotland Before the Industrial Revolution 279-282; National Archives of Scotland, E73/21 Tacksmen: Account, with vouchers of Mr John Scott and others, tacksmen of H.M. Customs and Foreign Excise 1 November 1667 to 1 November 1668; National Archives of Scotland, E74/4 Bullion Accounts: Various Ports: Accounts and papers mainly relating to allowances of bullion duty 1662-1668.

33  National Archives of Scotland, GD3/14/2/2/24 Letter from [John Leslie, 8th Earl of] Rothes to [Major Robert Hamilton], his baillie of Bo’ness concerning a levy of seamen for the King’s service to be sent to Leith 1664; Kirsteen M MacKenzie, La Garde Ecossaise: the Life of John Hamilton 1620-1689: Part 1 (Aberdeen, 2022) 275-276.

34  National Archives of Scotland, Copy of Order in Council permitting the ships “Hope” and “James” of Leith to transport Scots settlers to New York, to carry on fishing there or trade with Scotland or any other American colonies 5/5/1669; Mowat, The Port of Leith 216-217.

35  Mowatt, The Port of Leith 220, 196-197 read about David Logan, a wine merchant in Leith that lived in the 1650s ; National Archives of Scotland, E73/21 Tacksmen: Account, with vouchers, of Mr John Scott and others, tacksmen of H.M. Customs and Foreign Excise; National Archives of Scotland, E72/15/2 Leith: Entry book: Imports, with account of excise of wine upon sales 1665-1666; MacKenzie, La Garde Ecossaise 11-13.

36  Mowatt, The Port of Leith 139-141, 161-164, 188-193, 197-199, 203-216, 225-234, 229, 261.

37  Mowatt, The Port of Leith 191; MacKenzie, La Garde Ecossaise 17.

38  Leith Local History Society, https://www.leithlocalhistorysociety.org.uk/buildings/signal_tower.htm accessed 22 March 2025.

39  The King’s Wark https://www.thekingswarkpub.com/ accessed 22 March 2025.

40  Leith Local History Society Leith Local History: St Ninian’s Chapel accessed 22 March 2025; MacKenzie, La Garde Ecossaise 277.