The Surprising Adventures of Bampfylde Moore Carew, King of the Beggars: Containing his Life, a Dictionary of the Cant Language, and many Entertaining Particulars of that Extraordinary ManUnknown
General
The Surprising Adventures of Bampfylde Moore Carew, King of the Beggars: Containing his Life, a Dictionary of the Cant Language, and many Entertaining Particulars of that Extraordinary Man
After some days travel, Mr. Carew arrived at the city of Edinburgh, which
lies in a sort of a valley, between two hills, one of which is called
Salisbury Crags, the other marks the foundation of the castle. It was
strongly walled, and is adorned with public and private buildings. At
the extremity of the east end of the city stands the palace of Holyrood
house; leaving which, a little to the left, you come through a populous
suburb to the entrance, called the Water-port. From hence, turning west,
the street goes on in a straight line through the whole city to the
castle, which is above a mile in length, and is said by the Scots to be
the largest and finest street for buildings and number of inhabitants in
Europe. From the palace door, which stands on a level with the lowest of
the plain country, this street begins to ascend very gradually, being no
where steep; but this ascent being continued for so long a way, it is
easy to understand that the furthest part must be necessarily very high;
for the castle, which stands as it were at the extremity, west, as the
palace does east, makes on all sides (that only excepted which joins it
to the city) a frightful and inaccessible precipice. The castle is
situated on a high rock, and strongly fortified with a great number of
towers, so that it is looked upon as impregnable. In the great church
they have a set of bells, which are not rung out as in England, (for that
way of ringing is not now known in this country,) but are played on by
the hand with keys, like a harpsichord, the person playing having great
leather covers for his fists, which enables him to strike with the more
force; and for the larger bells there are treddles, which he strikes with
his feet.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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