Lord Mersington was exactly the personage he is described in the following pages--an unprincipled sot. From _Cruickshank's History_ it appears that his lady was banished the liberties of Edinburgh in 1674, for being engaged in the female assembly which insulted Archbishop Sharpe. Of Thomas Butler, an unfortunate Irish gentleman connected with the ducal house of Ormond, who bears a prominent part in Volume III., an account will be found in the London Papers of 1720, in which year he was executed at Tyburn as a highwayman. The song mentioned so frequently, and the burden of which is _Lillibulero bullen a la!_ was a favorite whig ditty, and the chorus was formed by the pass-words used during the Irish massacre of 1641. The principal locality of the story is the Wrightshouse or Castle of Bruntisfield, which stood near the Burghmuir of Edinburgh, and was unwisely removed in 1800, to make way for that hideous erection--the hospital of Gillespie. As described in the romance, it was a magnificent chateau in the old Scoto-French style of architecture, and was completely encrusted with legends, devices, armorial bearings, and quaint bassi relievi. It was of great antiquity, and over the central door were the arms of Britain, with the initials J. VI. M. B. F. E. H. R. Amid a singular profusion of sculptured figures representing Hope, Faith, Charity, &c., was a bas-relief of Adam and Eve in Eden, bearing the following legend:-- Quhen Adam delvd and Eve span Quhar war a' the gentiles than? Between them was a female representing Taste, and inscribed _Gustus_. "On the eastern front of the castle was sculptured a head of Julius Cæsar, and under it _Caius Jul. Cæsar, primus Rom. Imp_. On the eastern wing were figures of Temperentia, Prudentia, and Justitia, which it is remarkable were among the first stones thrown down." (_Scots Mag._, 1800.) On the west wing was a Roman head of Octavius II., and five representations of the Virtues, beautifully sculptured. _Sicut oliva fructifera_ 1376, _In Domino Confido_, 1400, _Patriæ et Posteris_, and many other valuable carvings, which are now preserved at Woodhouselee, adorned the walls and windows. The east wing was said to have been built by Robert III.; _Arnot_ informs us, that the centre was erected by James IV. for one of his mistresses, and about the close of the last century, Hamilton of Barganie made many additions to it. How the edifice obtained the name of _Wright's_ or_ Wryte's-house_ is now unknown, as no proprietor of it who bore that name can now be traced; but the Napiers appear to have possessed the barony from an early period, and their names frequently occur in local records.