The Book of the Old Edinburgh Club-- Vol1-35 (1908-1985) ; (1991)- . former days, the north-eastern slope of MoutriesHill, still remains, a curious waif, surviving the radical*changes that have transformed the silent fields in which itstood into populous streets and squares. The house thus described stood for fully half a centuryafter Wilson wrote, being finally demolished in 1904 ; andit may be of interest to record some of the facts connectedwith its erection. In 1734, John Cleland, gardener at Canonmills, acquiredfrom Heriots Hospital a feu of five acres of the lands ofBroughton on
The Book of the Old Edinburgh Club-- Vol1-35 (1908-1985) ; (1991)- . former days, the north-eastern slope of MoutriesHill, still remains, a curious waif, surviving the radical*changes that have transformed the silent fields in which itstood into populous streets and squares. The house thus described stood for fully half a centuryafter Wilson wrote, being finally demolished in 1904 ; andit may be of interest to record some of the facts connectedwith its erection. In 1734, John Cleland, gardener at Canonmills, acquiredfrom Heriots Hospital a feu of five acres of the lands ofBroughton on the north slope of Moutries Hill. The feuembraced the ground lying between the Register House,Swinton Row, Broughton Street, Catherine Street, and theback of Leith Street Terrace. Cleland enclosed the ground,formed it into a garden which he planted with fruit trees, also built a house on a site near the west end of LittleKing Street. Hence the district came to be known as ^ Traditions of Edinburgh, vol. i. p. Memorials of Edinburgh, vol. ii. p. 151. 167 ^S^ Z3 LU Li_ if) -z a < T ^ _J <- 0- -J Ui _J o AT THE BACK OF ST. JAMESS SQUARE 169 Clelands Yards or Garden. The main features of the en-closures are preserved in Craigs Plan of the New Town,published in 1767. The plan shows that it was traversed bya road leading from the hamlet of Moutries Hill towardsBroughton, which followed the line of East Register Street,South St. Jamess Street, and Little King Street. Although the North Bridge was still only existent in themind of the far-seeing Provost Drummond, some of the in-habitants of the closes of the Old Town were already feelingthe need of fresher air, and Cleland was not long in havingapplications for sub-feus of his possession. Robert Gray,Writer in Edinburgh—descended from the Grays of Halker-ston in Angus—in 1753 acquired the highest part of the ground,upon which he built a house on a site now embraced by thenorth side of South St. Jamess Street. T
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