Cassell's Old and new Edinburgh: its history, its people, and its places . troops of the line, is com-posed entirely of nobles and gentlemen cf goodposition, under a captain-general, who is always apeer of the highest rank, wilh four lieutenants-general, four majors-general, four ensigns-general,sixteen brigadiers, an adjutant, and surgeon. j The ancient records of the Royal Company colours, whereof the officers are to be chosen bythe said Counsill, and which company, so formed,shall meet on the Links of Leith, or elsewhere;each archer, with sufficient shuting graith, carryingthe Companys seal
Cassell's Old and new Edinburgh: its history, its people, and its places . troops of the line, is com-posed entirely of nobles and gentlemen cf goodposition, under a captain-general, who is always apeer of the highest rank, wilh four lieutenants-general, four majors-general, four ensigns-general,sixteen brigadiers, an adjutant, and surgeon. j The ancient records of the Royal Company colours, whereof the officers are to be chosen bythe said Counsill, and which company, so formed,shall meet on the Links of Leith, or elsewhere;each archer, with sufficient shuting graith, carryingthe Companys seal and arms in their hatts orbonnets as their proper cognisance. The Marquis of Athole, with the Earl of Kinghomand Lord Elphinstone, commanded, and the ScottishTreasury gave a prize worth ^20 sterling to beshot for. This corps, sometimes called the KingsCompany of Archers, frequently met during thereigns of Charles H. and James VIL, but little canbe traced of it after the Revolution. Upon the accession of Queen Anne and thedeath of the Marquis of Athole, they elected as. 3O o < OS. X The Meadows.] THE ROYAL ARCHERS. 353 a captain-general the famous Sir George Mackenzie,then Lord Tarbat, and Secretary of State, and after-wards Earl of Cromarlie. Having judiciouslychosen a leader of powerful influence and approvedfidelity, they obtained from Queen Anne, on the6th March, 1704, a charter under the Great Sealof Scotland, erecting them into a royal company,receiving and ratifying in their behalf the old lawsand acts in favour of archery; giving them powerto enrol members, to select a council, and choose for the Jacobites to omit utilising it for eventualmilitary purposes, and thus when, in 1714, the criti-cal state of the country and the hopes and fears ofopposite factions were roused by the approachingdeath of Queen Anne and the distracted state ofher ministry, an unusual amount of vigour inspiredthe Royal Company of Archers. Their laws wereextended on vellum, adorned with festoon
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