. The land of heather . ecame the recognized capital of thekingdom after the murder of James I at Perth in1437. No other city in the realm afforded as greatsecurity to the royal household against the designs ofthe nobles, and thenceforth it was their place of resi-dence. There parUament met, and there were locatedthe mint and various other government offices. Its im-portance was in this way greatly increased, and it grewmore and more densely populated. But the days offeudalism were not yet past, and wars, plottings, andlawlessness abounded. Edinburgh was a centre ofthis ferment, for which reas
. The land of heather . ecame the recognized capital of thekingdom after the murder of James I at Perth in1437. No other city in the realm afforded as greatsecurity to the royal household against the designs ofthe nobles, and thenceforth it was their place of resi-dence. There parUament met, and there were locatedthe mint and various other government offices. Its im-portance was in this way greatly increased, and it grewmore and more densely populated. But the days offeudalism were not yet past, and wars, plottings, andlawlessness abounded. Edinburgh was a centre ofthis ferment, for which reason the inhabitants were asreluctant as ever to live outside the walls. To gainroom they expanded their houses skyward. Thetown at this period consisted of the original chiefthoroughfare called the High Street and a parallelway on the south, narrow and confined, that wasknown as the Cowgate, and not until the middle ofthe eighteenth century did the citizens begin to buildbeyond the limits. The High Street and the Cowgate. Historic Ground iij were connected by scores of narrow cross alleys, orcloses. The dwellings seldom contained less than sixfloors. Often there were ten or twelve floors, andthe great height to which the houses towered was themore imposing because they were built on an emi-nence. Auld Reekie is the term applied to thissection of the city, and it is grimy enough with thestains of smoke and age to amply merit the sanitary conditions are in many respects those ofthe fourteenth century, and scores of families arecrowded in some of the tall structures. Probablyno other city in the kingdom, not even London, hassuch grewsome rookeries. Frequently the old houses with their thick wallsand narrow entrances have the strength of were indeed originally the houses of the aristoc-racy of the town, who were noted for their intriguesand violence, and with whom a house capable of de-fence was a matter of some importance. As the citygrew and the social con
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Keywords: ., bookauthorjohnsonc, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookyear1904
