Memo­r­i­al of the Edin­burgh Com­pos­i­tors to the Court of Ses­sion. This was a request from the com­pos­i­tors of Edin­burgh that they be allowed to con­vene a meet­ing: the Com­bi­na­tion Acts were in force at the time, pre­vent­ing work­men from act­ing togeth­er to improve their con­di­tions. Per­mis­sion was grant­ed and a request for an increase in […]

Thomas Rud­di­man was born near Banff in 1674, son of a farmer, and was edu­cat­ed at the local gram­mar school and at Aberdeen Uni­ver­si­ty. After a peri­od as a pri­vate tutor, and as the school­mas­ter at Lau­rencekirk, he moved to Edin­burgh in 1700 to become the assis­tant librar­i­an at the Fac­ul­ty of Advo­cates. He was […]

James Bal­lan­tyne found­ed his print­ing firm in Kel­so in 1796. Archibald Con­sta­ble, Scot­t’s pub­lish­er, com­mis­sioned Bal­lan­tyne to print his Min­strel­sy of the Scot­tish Bor­der, which led to the fir­m’s move to Edin­burgh in 1802. After set­ting up near Holy­rood, they moved to Foulis Close in the Canon­gate before set­tling in Paul’s Work, north back of […]