Chapter XIII: Front Matter (13)

James III. was a great builder, and, in the prosperous era which followed his son's accession to the throne, the town reached the open valley to the south, with the Cowgate as its chief thoroughfare. But the death of James IV. in 1513, along with other disastrous results of the battle of Flodden, brought this era of prosperity to an abrupt close. The citizens hastened to construct a second line of wall, enclosing the Cowgate and the heights beyond, since occupied by Greyfriars churches and Heriot's hospital, but still excluding the Canongate, as pertaining to the abbey of Holyrood. In the 16th century the movements connected with John Knox and Mary, queen of Scots, made Edinburgh a castle of much activity. With the departure, however, of the sixth James to fill the English throne in 1603, the town lost for a long period its influence and prestige. Matters were not bettered by the Act of Union signed in a cellar in High Street in 1707, amidst the execrations of the people, and it was not till the hopes of the Jacobites were blasted at Culloden (1746) that the townsfolk began to accept the inevitable. This epoch, when grass grew even in High Street, long lingered in the popular memory as the "dark age."

By the accession of George III. (1760), Edinburgh showed signs of revived enterprise. In 1763 the first North Bridge, connecting the Old Town with the sloping ground on which afterwards stood the Register House and the theatre in Shakespeare Square, was opened; a little later the Nor' Loch was partially drained, and the bridging of the Cowgate in 1785 encouraged expansion southwards. Towards the end of the 18th century the New Town began to take shape on the grand, if formal, lines which had been planned by James Craig (d. 1795), the architect, nephew of the poet Thomson, and the erection of Regent Bridge in Waterloo Place (formally opened in 1819 on the occasion of the visit of Prince Leopold, afterwards king of the Belgians) gave access to Calton Hill. The creation of Princes Street, one of the most beautiful thoroughfares in the world, led to further improvement. The earth and debris from the excavation of the sites for the houses in this and adjoining streets had been "dumped" in the centre of the drained Nor' Loch. This unsightly mass of rubbish lay for a while as an eye-sore, until the happy thought arose of converting it into a broad way joining the new road at Hanover Street with the Old Town at the Lawnmarket. Upon this street, which divides Princes Street and its gardens into east and west, and which received the title of the Mound, were erected the National Gallery and the Royal Institution. Speaking generally, the New Town was resorted to by professional men--lawyers, doctors and artists,--and in its principal streets will be found the head offices of the leading banks and insurance offices, all lodged in buildings of remarkable architectural pretensions. The Commercial, the Union and the Clydesdale banks are in George Street, the National Bank of Scotland, the Royal Bank of Scotland, and the British Linen Company's Bank are in St Andrew Square, the Bank of Scotland is at the head of the Mound. The extensive building operations engaged in by the town council in the early part of the 19th century resulted in the insolvency of the city in 1833. The property of the corporation was valued at L271,658 against a debt of L425,195, which was compounded for by the issue of 3% annuity bonds--the loss to the creditors amounting to 25% of their claims.

Meanwhile the progress of letters, science and learning manifested the recovery of the city. The names of Knox (d. 1572), Buchanan (1582), Alexander Montgomery (1605), Drummond of Hawthornden (1649), Allan Ramsay (1757), Smollett (1771), Fergusson (1774), and Burns (1796), carried on the literary associations of the Scottish capital nearly to the close of the 18th century, when various causes combined to give them new significance and value. The university was served by a body of teachers and investigators who won for it a prominent position among European schools. Then succeeded the era of Scott's _Marmion_ and _The Lady of the Lake_, followed by the Waverley novels and the foundation of _Blackwood's Magazine_ and the _Edinburgh Review_.

Modern conditions have changed the character of Edinburgh society. In Scott's early days a journey to London was beset with difficulties and even dangers; but railways have now brought it within a few hours' distance, and Scottish artists and literary men are tempted to seek a wider field. Nevertheless, the influence of the past survives in many ways. Edinburgh is not markedly a manufacturing city, but preserves its character as the Scottish capital.

AUTHORITIES.--James Grant, _Old and New Edinburgh_ (London, 1880 et
seq.); W. Maitland, _History of Edinburgh_ (1753); Hugo Arnot,
_History of Edinburgh_ (1789); B. Chambers, _Traditions of Edinburgh_
(1824); D. Wilson, _Memorials of Edinburgh in the Olden Time_
(1846-1848); O. Smeaton, _Edinburgh and its Story_ (1904). _The
Municipal Buildings of Edinburgh_, by Robert Miller, Lord Dean of
Guild, printed by order of the town council (Edinburgh, 1895); _Royal
Edinburgh_, by Mrs Oliphant, illustrations by Sir George Reid, R.S.A.
(London, 1890).

FOOTNOTES:

[1] The original Tolbooth was completed in 1501, but a new one took
its place in 1563-1564, and was subsequently altered. At first
occupied by the parliament and courts of justice, it served later as
a prison, and was removed in 1817.

[2] James Gillespie (1726-1797) was a tobacco and snuff manufacturer,
and when he set up his carriage Henry Erskine suggested as a motto
the homely couplet:--

"Wha wad hae thocht it,
That noses wad bocht it?"

[3] James Donaldson (1751-1830) was a printer who bequeathed nearly
the whole of his large fortune for the purposes of a hospital for
poor boys and girls, and the trustees have usually selected half of
the children admitted from the ranks of the deaf and dumb.

EDINBURGHSHIRE, or MIDLOTHIAN, a county of Scotland, bounded N. by the Firth of Forth, E. by the shires of Haddington, or East Lothian, and Berwick, S.E. by Roxburghshire, S. by Selkirkshire, Peeblesshire and Lanarkshire, S.W. by Lanarkshire, and W. by Linlithgowshire or West Lothian. Its area is 234,339 acres or 3662 sq. m. The island of Cramond belongs to the county. There are no mountains, but the Pentland Hills advance boldly from the south-west to within 5 m. of the sea. The loftiest summits are Scald Law (1898 ft.), Carnethy (1881), West and East Cairn Hill (1844 and 1839), and West Kip (1806). They are generally of rounded form, and covered with heath or grass. The Moorfoot Hills, in the south-east, are a continuation of the Lammermuirs, and attain in Blackhope Scar a height of 2136 ft. Of more or less isolated eminences there are the Braid Hills (698 ft.), Blackford Hill (500), Arthur's Seat (822), Corstorphine Hill (500)--all practically within Edinburgh--and Dalmahoy Craig (800), 7 m. south-west of the city. Of the rivers the Gala rises on the south-east of the Moorfoot Hills and flows south to join the Tweed, and the Tyne after a course of 7 m. passes into Haddingtonshire. All the others flow into the Firth of Forth. Of these the Esk, which is the longest, drains the district between the Pentlands and the Moorfoot Hills, and empties into the sea at Musselburgh. The southern branch has its source near Blackhope Scar, receives on its right Gore Water and, on its left, Dalhousie Burn, and flows past Newbattle Abbey; the northern rises in the Pentlands, and proceeds through much picturesque scenery past Penicuik, Roslin, Hawthornden and Lasswade; the two streams uniting within the grounds of Dalkeith Palace. Braid Burn from Capelaw Hill passes between the Braid Hills and Blackford Hill, and reaches the sea at Portobello. The Water of Leith, with its head streams on the western slope of the Pentlands, flows past Balerno, Currie, Juniper Green, Colinton, Edinburgh and Leith. The Almond, rising in Lanarkshire, and its right-hand tributary, Breich Water, form the boundary between Midlothian and Linlithgowshire. Several of these streams, especially the Esk and the Water of Leith, furnish much water power. The only loch is that at Duddingston, but there are several large reservoirs connected with the water supply of Edinburgh. Cobbinshaw reservoir, situated at the head of Bog Burn, a tributary of the Almond, is used for the supply of the Union Canal connecting the Forth with the Clyde.

_Geology._--The southern portion of the county, embracing the Moorfoot
Hills and a large part of the catchment basin of the Gala Water, lies
within the Silurian tableland of the south of Scotland. From Bowland
northwards to Crookston in the Gala valley the Silurian strata are
mainly of Tarannon age and consist of greywackes, grits, flags and
shales, with thin dark seams which yield graptolites sparingly. To the
north of this area, older sediments, comprising Arenig cherts, black
shales, greywackes and grits of Llandeilo and Caradoc age, rise from
underneath the Tarannon strata and spread over the hills north to the
margin of the tableland. In some of the folds of Arenig cherts diabase
lavas appear, which occupy small lenticular areas. All the Silurian
strata are repeated by folds striking north-east and south-west and
frequently dipping in one direction, to the north-west as in the Gala
valley. North of the Silurian tableland and within the area occupied
by the younger palaeozoic rocks of the Pentland Hills, there are
various inliers of Upper Silurian strata. These isolated patches occur
(1) in the North Esk section, (2) at Loganlee reservoir, (3) near
Bavelaw Castle, and (4) in Bavelaw Burn. The section in the North Esk
is by far the most complete, as the strata embrace Wenlock, Ludlow and
Downtonian rocks with a north-east strike similar to that of the beds
in the Silurian tableland. The Wenlock rocks have yielded a rich suite
of organic remains. In the Pentland Hills the folded and denuded
Silurian strata are covered unconformably by Lower Old Red Sandstone
rocks, comprising conglomerates and red sandstones, which are
succeeded by a great volcanic series, the latter extending from the
West Kip Hill to the Braid Hills. The pebbles of the basal
conglomerates are derived chiefly from the underlying platform of
greywackes and shales and from the Radiolarian cherts and volcanic
rocks in the tableland to the south. The contemporaneous igneous rocks
include olivine basalts, andesites, trachytes, rhyolites and tuffs,
which are pierced by the microgranite of the Black Hill and by several
vents filled with agglomerate, as near Swanston.

The Upper Old Red Sandstone rests unconformably on all older
formations. The red sandstones and cornstones of this division form
the Cairn Hills, and are traceable north-eastwards along the
north-west slope of the Pentland Hills towards the Clubbiedean
reservoir, where they are overlapped by Carboniferous strata. They
occupy the south part of the city of Edinburgh, they occur in the
lower slope of Salisbury Crags, and south by Craigmillar and Liberton
towards Mortonhall. Recently the horizon of these beds has been proved
by the discovery of fish remains (_Holoptychius_), a zonal form of the
Upper Old Red Sandstone. The remainder of the county embracing the
fertile low ground west of the city of Edinburgh and along the basin
of the Esk is occupied by Carboniferous strata and various igneous
rocks associated with that formation. The Pentland Hills, formed of
older Palaeozoic deposits, appear as a prominent ridge, throwing off
the Carboniferous beds to the north-west and south-east. In the former
direction only the Calciferous Sandstone series is represented, and in
the latter all the Carboniferous divisions are well developed. The
lowest subdivision of the Calciferous Sandstone series, consisting of
sandstones, red and green shales, marls and cement-stones, appears in
the ridge of the old part of the city between the Castle and Holyrood,
in the Hunter's Bog and on the north-west side of the Pentland Hills.
Intercalated in this series near the top, there are interbedded
volcanic rocks, comprising olivine basalts, mugearites, tuffs and
agglomerates, which form conspicuous features on Arthur's Seat, on
Calton Hill, at Craiglockhart and Corston Hill south of Mid Calder.
Next in order come the Granton sandstones and Wardie shales, which are
best seen on the shore at Granton, and extend up the Water of Leith in
the direction of Colinton, where they are succeeded by the Hailes
sandstone. The upper portion of the Calciferous Sandstone series,
overlying the Hailes sandstone, embraces the valuable oil-shales,
which give rise to one of the chief industries of the Lothians.
Recently, however, it has been proved that some of the bands in the
Wardie shales give a low yield of oil and sulphate of ammonia. The
oil-shale-fields in the county lie partly along its west margin from
Mid Calder south to Breich and also on the south-east side of the
Pentland Hills between Straiton and Carlops along the west side of the
Midlothian basin. From an economic point of view the Midlothian
coalfield is of special importance, the strata being arranged in a
syncline, the long axis of which trends north-north-east and
south-south-west. In the centre of the basin lie the Coal-Measures
covered by the barren red sandstone of Dalkeith, probably on the same
horizon as the red sandstones of Wemyss in Fife (Middle
Coal-Measures). The underlying Millstone Grit and Carboniferous
Limestone series with its middle-coal-bearing group rise from
underneath the Coal-Measures, forming parallel bands curving round the
basin. Along the west side of the syncline, the strata dip at high
angles to the south-east, are sometimes vertical and even in some
cases inverted, while in the centre they become flat and rise at
gentle angles towards the east. The Coal Measures and the coal-bearing
group of the Carboniferous Limestone series contain numerous valuable
coals and ironstones, and there still remains a large field for
development. The intrusive igneous rocks forming prominent features in
the county are divisible into two main groups, which are separated
from each other by a considerable interval of time. The coarse
agglomerate filling the old volcano on the top of Arthur's Seat is
associated with the eruption of the volcanic rocks of Calciferous
Sandstone age near Edinburgh. The fine grained basalt appearing as a
plug on the Castle Rock closely resembles the basalt on the top of
Arthur's Seat, and is likewise of the same age. The intrusive sheets
of Salisbury Crags and Corstorphine Hill composed of olivine-dolerite
belong to the same general period. But the quartz-dolerites
represented by the Ratho sill are in all probability of late
Carboniferous age.

_Climate and Agriculture._--In the hill country the average rainfall is 37.4 in., but on the coast only 28.4 in. The average temperature ranges from 38 deg. F. in January to 59 deg.5 in July, the mean for the year being 47.7. The north-east and easterly winds prevailing in spring are, especially in Edinburgh and its vicinity, remarkable for their cold and blighting character. Excepting in the uplands, snow seldom lies long, but frosts sometimes occur at night as late as the beginning of June, and severe enough to destroy the young shoots of seedling trees in nurseries. But the winter is often astonishingly mild. The common snowdrop (_Galanthus nivalis_) blossoms as early as the 25th of January, the kidney liverleaf (_Hepatica triloba_) by the 31st of January and the rhododendron (_R. nobleanum_) by the 25th of February. On the shores of the Forth along the Almond and the Esk, and on some of the richer flats, grain crops ripen early; 2 m. nearer the hills and 200 ft. higher the harvest is ten days later; and at 600 ft. still another week later. High farming is the rule in the three Lothians. All the area on which wheat can be profitably grown is so occupied; oats, however, is the predominant grain crop, though barley is also raised. Turnips and potatoes are the chief roots, and beans are grown to a limited extent. A large area is occupied by pasture and sown grasses, fallow land having practically disappeared. Near Edinburgh sewage farming has been largely developed. There are 200 acres at Craigentinny between Restalrig and the Forth, besides smaller tracts under similar treatment at Lochend, Dalry and the Grange. The produce consists principally of natural grasses. Sheep and cattle raising is an important pursuit. In the neighbourhood of the capital dairy farming is conducted on an extensive scale. Horse breeding flourishes, several of the studs being of excellent character, Clydesdales predominating. Pig-keeping has grown considerably and poultry-farming is carried on near Edinburgh. The nursery gardens are extensive, and, besides market gardening, which prospers near the capital, there are many orchards.

_Other Industries._--Though as a whole not a mining county, Midlothian possesses some mineral wealth. Coal is extensively mined at various points on the North Esk, like Penicuik, Loanhead, Bonnyrigg, Eskbank and at Gorebridge, Newbattle, Newbigging, Niddrie, Gilmerton, Mid and West Calder. Ironstone is obtained chiefly at Lasswade and Penicuik and fire-clay occurs at various points. In the vicinity of West Calder there is a large amount of valuable oil-bearing shale. Limestone is of frequent occurrence--at Esperston, Cousland, Crichton near Dalkeith, Burdiehouse, Gilmerton near Edinburgh, the Camps in Kirknewton parish, and at Muirieston and Leven Seat in the south-west. Freestone is quarried at Craigleith, Hailes, Redhall and Craigmillar. It is used for pavements and stairs, and for the great docks at Leith. Barnton Mount supplies large blocks of whinstone, also used for docks and for fortifications; the causeway stones for the streets of Edinburgh are mainly procured from the quarries at Ratho; and a number of smaller quarries for the supply of road-material are scattered throughout the county. Owing no doubt to the growth of printing and publishing in the metropolis, the chief manufacturing industry in Midlothian is paper-making. Most of the mills are extensive and equipped with the most modern processes and have an enormous yearly output. The most important mills, some of them dating from the beginning of the 18th century, are situated on the North Esk between Penicuik and Musselburgh, and on the South Esk at Newbattle. At Balerno, Currie, Colinton and elsewhere on the Water of Leith there are several mills, as well as near Mid Calder and at Portobello. The ancient vat-mill called Peggy's Mill, at Cramond, produces handmade papers. There are carpet factories on the Esk at Roslin and at Lasswade. The manufacture of gunpowder is also carried on at Roslin, the works being distributed in recesses on the Esk. Iron foundries exist at Dalkeith, Westfield, Loanhead, Penicuik, Millerhill and in the suburbs of Edinburgh; brick and tile works at Portobello, Millerhill, Newbattle, Bonnyrigg and Rosewell; and candle works at Dalkeith and Loanhead. Leather also is tanned at Edinburgh and Dalkeith. The shipping trade is concentrated at Leith and Granton, and Newhaven is still an important fishery centre, while there are also fleets at Fisherrow and Granton.

_Population and Government._--The population in 1891 was 434,276, and in 1901 488,796, of whom 5765 spoke both Gaelic and English, and 75 Gaelic only. The chief towns, besides Edinburgh, the capital (pop. in 1901, 316,837), are Bonnyrigg (1924), Dalkeith (6812), Leith (77,439), Loanhead (3071), Musselburgh (11,711), Newton Grange (2406), Penicuik (3574), and West Calder (2652). The county forms a single parliamentary constituency, exclusive of Edinburgh city and Leith burghs. It has been divided by the county council into four county districts (Calder, Gala Water, Lasswade, Suburban) for the purposes of the Roads and Bridges Act 1878, and the Public Health Acts. The management of special districts formed for water supply, drainage and other sanitary purposes is entrusted to sub committees appointed by the respective district committees. The grant under the Local Taxation (Customs and Excise) Act is administered by the Technical Education Committee appointed by the Council; and, subject to the same authority, the Secondary Education Committee provides for the distribution of the grant under the Local Taxation (Scotland) Act. In respect of education the shire is under school-board jurisdiction.

_History and Antiquities._--Cramond was once a Roman seaport, and various objects of Roman art and workmanship have been discovered in its vicinity and along the banks of the Almond. On several heights are remains of early military works--the most important being that on Dalmahoy Hill, Braidwood Castle in the parish of Penicuik, and Castle Greg on the Harburn estate in Mid Calder parish. Picts' houses are found at Crichton Mains, at Borthwick Castle, near Middleton House and elsewhere, the first being especially interesting from the fact that some of the stones bear marks of Roman masonry. There are hut-circles and a fort on Kaimes Hill, near Ratho; a large tumulus, with three upright stones, at Old Liston; a smaller tumulus at Newbattle; a cistvaen or stone burial chest at Carlowrie; and standing stones at Lochend, at Comiston (the Caiy stone), and the "Cat Stane" near Kirkliston. Temple, on the South Esk, was at one time the chief seat of the Knights Templars in Scotland for whom David I. here built a church, now in ruins.

The history of the county is almost identical with that of the capital. Traces of Celtic occupation are obvious in such names as Inveresk, Almond, Leith, Dalry, Dalmahoy, Dalkeith and others; though most of the villages, hamlets and castles received their present designation from Saxon possessors. The termination _ton_ is very frequent. Following upon the withdrawal of the Romans the land was the scene of intertribal strife, but it was in a measure subdued by the Saxons and passed under the rule of the Northumbrian kings, who held it till 1020, when the Lothians were handed over to the Scottish king, Malcolm II. The people of the Lothians, however, stipulated that they were to retain their manners and customs, and in this way the south-eastern lowlands became the centre from which Anglo-Saxon and Norman civilization gradually spread throughout Scotland, and hence, too, was assured the pre-eminence of Edinburgh. Within the county lie the battlefields of Roslin, where (in 1303) the English suffered three reverses in one day; Burghmuir, where the English were defeated by the earl of Moray in 1334; Pinkie near Inveresk, where (in 1547) the duke of Somerset inflicted heavy loss upon the Scots; and Rullion Green, on the eastern slopes of the Pentlands, where (in 1666) the Covenanters were routed by the royal troops under General Dalziel.

See James Grant, _Old and New Edinburgh_ (London, 1880 et seq.); Miss
Warrender, _Walks near Edinburgh_ (Edinburgh, 1890); J.C. Oliphant,
_Rambles round Edinburgh_ (Edinburgh, 1892); J.M. Bell, _Castles of
the Lothians_ (Edinburgh, 1893); W. Baird, _Annals of Duddingston and
Portobello_ (Edinburgh, 1898); J. Geddie, _The Water of Leith_
(Edinburgh, 1896); Rev. J. Dickson, _Ruined Castles of Midlothian_
(Edinburgh, 1895); _The Islands of the Forth_ (Edinburgh 1899).

EDISON, THOMAS ALVA (1847- ), American inventor, was born on the 11th of February 1847, at Milan, Erie county, Ohio, of mixed Dutch and Scottish descent; but his parents moved to Port Huron, Michigan, when he was seven years old. At the age of twelve he became a train news-boy on the railway to Detroit, and managed to gratify his youthful interest in chemistry by performing experiments while travelling. At fifteen he became a telegraph operator, and was employed in many cities in the United States and Canada, but frequently neglected his duties in order to carry on studies and experiments in electrical science. Before he was twenty-one he had constructed an automatic repeater, by means of which a message could be transferred from one wire to another without the aid of an operator; and he had also directed his attention to the problem of duplex telegraphy, of which he later invented a successful system. In 1869 Edison came to New York city, and soon afterwards became connected with the Gold & Stock Company. He invented an improved printing telegraph for stock quotations, for which he received $40,000. He then established a laboratory and factory in Newark, N.J., for further experiments and for the manufacture of his inventions. In 1876 he removed to Menlo Park, and later to West Orange, N.J., where he continued his experiments. Since then his name has been prominently associated with all kinds of novelties in practical electricity. Among his principal inventions are his system of duplex telegraphy, which he later developed into quadruplex and sextuplex transmission; his carbon telephone transmitter; the microtasimeter, for the detection of small variations in temperature; the phonograph, which records and reproduces all manner of sounds; the cinematograph, which his improvements made practicable; and his method of preparing carbon filaments for the incandescent electric lamp. In 1878 Edison was made a chevalier of the Legion of Honour by the French government.

EDMONTON, the capital city of the province of Alberta, Canada, which was constituted in 1905. Pop. (1901) 2652; (1906) 11,167. It is picturesquely situated on the north bank of the North Saskatchewan river in 113 deg. 37' W. and 53 deg. 32' N. It is on a high tableland which rises 200 ft. above the river, and overlooks the thickly wooded valley of the North Saskatchewan river--at this point a mile in width, the river itself being one-eighth of a mile wide. Directly opposite Edmonton on the south bank of the river stands Strathcona, a town with a population of 2927. The streets of Edmonton are wide and laid out in rectangular form. Its excellent drainage makes street grading an easy matter. In 1896 it was scarcely a village; in 1901 it assumed some importance, but three-quarters of the city were built between 1901 and 1906. Its choice as capital in 1905 gave it a great impetus. The buildings, largely of brick, give a substantial appearance to the place. The public school buildings, high school and Alberta College are attractive. The church buildings, many in number, include several architecturally beautiful. Three well planned and commodious hospital buildings represent the benevolent work of the community. The banks and the wholesale warehouses are well built, and many beautiful private residences are worthy of note. Its growth may be realized from the fact that during a part of 1906, $806,015 worth of building permits were granted; the customs receipts, $57,994 in 1905, grew to $104,416 in 1906; the mail parcels handled increased from 6800 to 12,079; and the express parcels handled from 1277 to 2347. Edmonton is the depot of the fur traders for the great region on the north and west. The Hudson's Bay Company has great interest in Edmonton, but is vigorously opposed by a strong French firm, Revillon Freres of Paris. These two companies have their posts wide spread over the north country. The city, being incorporated, is governed by a mayor and a board of aldermen. It operates its own water service, electric light plant, and telephone system. Its schools are managed by an elected public school board.

Edmonton was begun as a post of the North West Company about the year 1778. Early in the 19th century the Hudson's Bay Company also established a fort at this point. On the union of the two companies under the name of the latter, Fort Edmonton sprang into new importance. It became a north-western centre, and in its neighbourhood many employees of the fur company, both Scottish and French, took up land as settlers. As freighters for the Hudson's Bay Company many of these settlers made, with their ox or pony carts, the long journey over the natural prairie roads to Fort Garry, fording or swimming the streams, carrying furs for a thousand miles or more on the eastern trip, and returning brought loads of merchandise for the company. Its inaccessibility made the Edmonton settlement grow very slowly, so that its great increase in population belongs to the period subsequent to 1896.

EDMONTON, an urban district in the Enfield parliamentary division of Middlesex, England, suburban to London, 7-1/2 m. N. of London Bridge, on the Old North Road, on the west side of the Lea Valley. Pop. (1891) 25,381; (1901) 46,899. There are numerous factories in the valley, and Edmonton consists largely of the cottages of artisans. The church of All Saints has been extensively restored, but retains part of the ancient fabric of Perpendicular and earlier date. It contains brasses of interest, and in the churchyard is the memorial of Charles Lamb, who lived and died (1834) at Edmonton, and his sister. Cowper and Keats were also residents, and the Bell Inn is famed through Cowper's poem _John Gilpin_.

EDMUND, SAINT [EDMUND RICH] (d. 1240), English saint and archbishop of Canterbury, was born at Abingdon, near Oxford, about 1175. His father was a merchant of that town who retired, with his wife's consent, to the monastery of Eynsham, leaving in her hands the education of their family. Her name was Mabel; she was a devout woman who lived an ascetic life and encouraged her children to do the same. Both her daughters took the veil; three of her sons served the church in different capacities. Edmund, her first-born, began his education in a grammar school at Oxford. Of weak health and a contemplative disposition, he showed, from his earliest years, a remarkable taste for learning and religious exercises. He saw visions while still at school, and at the age of twelve took a vow of perpetual chastity in the Virgin's church at Oxford. Later he was sent, with his brother Robert, to study the liberal arts at Paris. His mother's death and family affairs recalled him for a time to England; but he afterwards graduated at Paris. For six years he lectured in the liberal arts, partly in Paris and partly in Oxford; his career as an Oxford teacher commenced before 1205, and is noteworthy for the fact that he was the first who lectured there on Aristotle. He then returned to Paris for a course of theological studies, and rapidly made himself proficient in that branch of learning.

After spending a year in retirement with the Augustinian canons of Merton (Surrey) he became a theological lecturer in Oxford. In this capacity he gained some reputation, and it is related that his audience were often moved to tears by his eloquence. He spent the fees which he received in charity, and refused to spend upon himself the revenues which he derived from several benefices. He not infrequently retired for solitude to Reading Abbey; it is probable that he would have become a monk if that profession had afforded more scope for his gifts as a preacher and expositor. As his fame increased he became alarmed by the temptations which it threw in his way. He ceased to lecture in Oxford, and about 1222 accepted, at the invitation of Bishop Richard Poore, the treasurership of Salisbury cathedral. Little is known of his life for the next ten years. But he attracted the notice of the Roman court, and was appointed in 1227 to preach the Crusade in England; he formed a friendship with Ella, countess of Salisbury, and her husband, William Longsword, and he won general admiration by his works of charity and the austerity of his life.

In 1233 he was elected archbishop of Canterbury at the express suggestion of Gregory IX., after the monks of Canterbury had in vain suggested three other candidates for the pope's approval. Edmund at once leaped into prominence by the outspoken manner in which he rebuked the king for following the advice of foreign favourites. In common with the baronial opposition he treated Henry III. as responsible for the tragic fate of Richard Marshal, earl of Pembroke, and threatened the king with excommunication. The king bowed before the storm, dismissed the foreign counsellors, made peace with Marshal's adherents, and was publicly reconciled with the barons. But the new ministers were as unpopular as the old; nor was the archbishop allowed that political influence which he claimed in virtue of his office. It was with the object of emancipating himself from Edmund's control that the king asked the pope to send him a legate (1236). On the arrival of Cardinal Otho (1237) the archbishop found himself thwarted and insulted at every point. The marriage between Simon de Montfort and the Princess Eleanor, which Edmund had pronounced invalid, was ratified at Rome upon appeal. The king and legate upheld the monks of Canterbury in their opposition to the archbishop's authority. On all public occasions the legate took precedence of the archbishop. By the advice of his suffragans Edmund laid a protest before the king, and excommunicated in general terms all who had infringed the liberties of Canterbury. These measures led to no result; nor could the pope be moved to reverse the legate's decisions. Edmund complained that the discipline of the national church was ruined by this conflict of powers, and began to meditate retiring. He was confirmed in this intention by the papal encroachments of the year 1240, when the English clergy were required to pay a subsidy of a fifth for the war against Frederick II., and simultaneously three hundred Romans were "provided" with English benefices in return for their political services to the Holy See. Edmund withdrew to Pontigny in the summer of 1240. A little later the state of his health compelled him to seek the cooler air of Soissy (near Provins). Here he died on the 16th of November 1240.

His canonization was at once demanded by his admirers, and only delayed (till 1247) through the opposition of Henry III. The honour was well deserved. He is one of the most saintly and attractive figures in the history of the English church. It was his misfortune to be placed at the head of the national hierarchy in a crisis for which he had not been prepared by practical training or experience. As archbishop he showed no great capacity or force of character; but the purity of his motives and the loftiness of his ideals commanded universal respect.

See the Life printed by Martene and Durand in the _Thesaurus novus
anecdotorum_ (1717). Other lives of importance exist in manuscript at
the British Museum, in the Cambridge University library and in that of
St John's College, Cambridge. The last-named is printed by W. Wallace
in the appendix to his _Life of St Edmund_ (1893). An account of the
manuscript lives and many extracts (translated) will be found in the
Rev. B. Ward's _St Edmund_ (1903). See also _St Edmund of Abingdon_
(1898), by the Baroness Paravicini; and the _English Historical
Review_, xxii. pp. 84 ff. (H. W. C. D.)

EDMUND, king of East Anglia (c. 840-870), succeeded to the East Anglian throne in 855 while he was yet but a boy. According to Abbo, followed by Florence of Worcester, he was "_ex antiquorum Saxonum prosapia_," which would seem to mean that he was of foreign origin and that he belonged to the Old Saxons of the continent. This very doubtful tradition was expanded later into a fuller legend which spoke of his Old Saxon parentage, his birth at Nuremberg, his nomination as successor to Offa, king of East Anglia, and his landing at Hunstanton to claim his kingdom. His coronation took place in the next year at "Burna" (i.e. probably Bures St Mary, Suffolk), which was then the royal capital.

Of the life of St Edmund during the next fourteen years we know nothing. In the year 870 the Danes, who had been wintering at York, marched through Mercia into East Anglia and took up their quarters at Thetford. Edward engaged them fiercely in battle, but the Danes under their leaders Ubba and Inguar were victorious and remained in possession of the field of battle. The king himself was slain, whether on the actual field of battle or in later martyrdom is not certain, but the widely current version of the story which makes him fall a martyr to the Danish arrows when he had refused to renounce his faith or hold his kingdom as a vassal from the heathen overlords, may very probably be true. The story is a very old one, and according to Abbo of Fleury (945-1004), St Edmund's earliest biographer, it was told him by Dunstan, who heard it from the lips of Edmund's own standard-bearer. This is chronologically just possible, but that is all. The battle was fought at Hoxne, some 20 m. south-east of Thetford, and the king's body was ultimately interred at Beadoricesworth, the modern Bury St Edmunds. The shrine of Edmund soon became one of the most famous in England and the reputation of the saint was European. The date of his canonization is unknown, but churches dedicated to his memory are found all over England.

See _Asser's Life of Alfred_, ed. W.H. Stevenson; _Annals of St
Neots_; _Saxon Chronicle_; _Memorials of St Edmund's Abbey_ (Rolls
Series), including the _Passio Sancti Edmundi_ of Abbo of Fleury; and
the _Corolla Sancti Eadmundi_, edited by Lord Francis Hervey (1907).
(A. Mw.)

EDMUND I., king of the English (d. 946), was the son of Eadgifu, third wife of Edward the Elder, and half-brother to his predecessor Aethelstan. He succeeded to the throne in 940, but had already played an active part in the previous reign, especially when he fought by the side of his half-brother in the great battle of Brunanburh.

In the first year of his reign Edmund had trouble with Olaf or Anlaf Sihtricsson, called Cuaran. The latter had just crossed from Ireland and had been chosen king by the Northumbrians, who threw off their allegiance to Edmund. Anlaf took York, besieged Northampton and destroyed Tamworth, but was met by Edmund at Leicester. The enemy escaped, but a peaceful settlement was made by the good offices of Odo of Canterbury and Wulfstan of York. Simeon of Durham states that a division of the kingdom was now made, whereby Edmund took England south of Watling Street and Anlaf the rest. This division seems incredible, especially in face of the poem inserted in the chronicle (_sub anno_ 942). There can be little doubt that the story told there of the reconquest of Northern Mercia by Edmund refers to the compact with Anlaf, made as a result of the campaign, and it is probable that Simeon's statement is a wide exaggeration, due in part at least to a confused reminiscence of the earlier pact between Alfred and Guthrum. All Mercia south of a line from Dore (near Sheffield), through Whitwell to the Humber, was now in Edmund's hands, and the five Danish boroughs, which had for some time been exposed to raids from the Norwegian kings of Northumbria, were now freed from that fear. The peace was confirmed by the baptism of Kings Anlaf and Raegenald, Edmund standing as sponsor, but in 944 or 945 the peace was broken and Edmund expelled Anlaf and Raegenald from Northumbria.

In 945 Edmund ravaged Strathclyde, and entrusted it all to Malcolm, king of Scotland, "on condition that he should be his fellow-worker by sea and land," the object of this policy being apparently to detach the king of Scots from any possible confederacy such as had been formed in 937.

On the 26th of May 946 Edmund's brief but energetic reign came to a tragic conclusion when he was stabbed at the royal villa of Pucklechurch, in Gloucestershire, by an exiled robber named Liofa, who had returned to the court unbidden. Edmund, the "deed-doer" as the chronicle calls him, "Edmundus magnificus" as Florence of Worcester describes him, perhaps translating the Saxon epithet, was buried at Glastonbury, an abbey which he had entrusted in 943 to the famous Dunstan.

Edmund was twice married; first to Aelfgifu, the mother of Eadwig and Edgar; second to Aethelflaed "aet Damerhame" (i.e. of Damerham, Co. Wilts). Aelfgifu died in 944, according to Ethelwerd.

AUTHORITIES.--_Anglo-Saxon Chronicle_ (ed. Earle and Plummer, Oxford);
_Simeon of Durham_ (Rolls Series); _A.S. Laws_, ed. Liebermann, pp.
184-191; Birch, _Cartularium Saxonicum_, Nos. 745-817; _Dictionary of
National Biography_, s.v. (A. Mw.)

EDMUND, or EADMUND (c. 980-1016), called IRONSIDE, king of the English, was the son of Aethelred II. by his first wife Aelfgifu. When Canute invaded England in 1015, Edmund sought to resist him, but, paralysed by the treachery and desertion of the ealdorman Edric, he could do nothing, and Wessex submitted to the Danish king. Next year Canute and Edric together harried Mercia, while Edmund with infinite difficulty gathered an army. Returning into Northumbria, he in his turn harried the districts which had submitted to the invader, but a march northward by Canute brought about the speedy submission of Northumbria and the return of Edmund to London. The death of Aethelred on the 23rd of April 1016 was followed by a double election to the English crown. The citizens of London and those members of the Witan who were present in the city chose Edmund, the rest of the Witan meeting at Southampton elected Canute. In the warfare which ensued Edmund fought at the severest disadvantage, for his armies dispersed after every engagement, whatever its issue. Canute at once fiercely besieged London, but the citizens successfully resisted all attacks. Edmund meanwhile marched through Wessex and received its submission. At Pen in Somersetshire he engaged the Danes and defeated them. Canute now raised the siege of London and soon afterwards encountered Edmund at Sherston in Wiltshire. The battle was indecisive, but Canute marched back to London and left Edmund in possession of Wessex. Edmund hastened after him and relieved London, which he had again besieged. He defeated the Danes at Brentford and again at Otford, and drove them into Sheppey. He was now joined by Edric, in conjunction with whom he followed the Danes into Essex, overtaking them at Assandun (or Ashington). In the battle which ensued Edric again played the traitor, and the English were routed with terrible slaughter. Edmund retired into Gloucestershire, whither he was followed by Canute. He himself was anxious to continue the struggle, but Edric and the Witan persuaded him to accept a reconciliation. At Olney the two rivals swore friendship, and a division of the kingdom was effected--Canute taking the north, Edmund the south. Soon afterwards Edmund died (30th of November 1016), probably from natural causes, though later historians hint at foul play. (C. S. P.*)

EDMUND, king of Sicily and earl of Lancaster (1245-1296), was the second son of Henry III. of England by Eleanor of Provence. At ten years of age Edmund was invested by Pope Alexander IV. with the kingdom of Sicily (April 1255); the pecuniary obligations which Henry III. undertook on his son's behalf were not the least among the causes which led to the Provisions of Oxford and the Barons' War. Alexander annulled his grant in 1258, but still pressed Henry for the discharge of unpaid arrears of subsidies. In 1265, after Montfort's fall, Edmund received the earldom of Leicester, and two years later was created earl of Lancaster. He joined the crusade of his elder brother, the Lord Edward (1271-1272); and Edward, on his accession, found in Edmund a loyal supporter. In 1275, two years after the death of his first wife, Aveline de Fortibus, Edmund married Blanche of Artois, the widow of Henry III. of Navarre and Champagne. Although the county of Champagne had descended to his wife's infant daughter, Joan, Edmund assumed the title "Count Palatine of Champagne and Brie," and is described in the English patent rolls as earl of Lancaster and Champagne. Until 1284 he held, in his wife's right, the custody of Champagne. This he was compelled to renounce upon the marriage of Joan to Philip the Fair, the heir to the crown of France. But he retained the possession of his wife's dowerlands in Champagne, and is described in an official document of Champagne so late as the year 1287, as "the Count Edmund." He was employed by his brother as a mediator with Philip the Fair in 1293-1294. When Philip's court pronounced that the king of England had forfeited Gascony, Edmund renounced his homage to Philip and withdrew with his wife to England. He was appointed lieutenant of Gascony in 1296, but died in the same year, leaving a son Thomas to succeed him in his English possessions.

See "Edmund, Earl of Lancaster," by W.E. Rhodes, in the _English
Historical Review_, vol. x. pp. 19, 209.

EDMUNDS, GEORGE FRANKLIN (1828-), American lawyer and political leader, was born in Richmond, Vermont, on the 1st of February 1828. He began the practice of law in 1849. He was a member of the Vermont House of Representatives in 1854, 1855, 1857, 1858 and 1859, acting for the last two years as speaker, and was a member and president _pro tem._ of the state Senate in 1861-1862. In 1866 he became a member, as a Republican, of the United States Senate, where he remained until 1891, when he resigned in order to have more time for the practice of his profession. He took an active part in the attempt to impeach President Johnson. He was influential in providing for the electoral commission to decide the disputed presidential election of 1876, and became one of the commissioners. In the national Republican nominating conventions of 1880 and 1884 he was a candidate for the presidential nomination. From 1882 to 1885 he was president _pro tem._ of the Senate. As senator he was conspicuous on account of his legal and parliamentary attainments, his industry and his liberal opinions. He was the author of the so-called Edmunds Act (22nd of March 1882) for the suppression of polygamy in Utah, and of the anti-trust law of 1890, popularly known as the Sherman Act.

EDOM, the district situated to the south of Palestine, between the Dead Sea and the Gulf of 'Akaba (Aelanitic Gulf), the inhabitants of which were regarded by the Israelites as a "brother" people (see ESAU). On the E. it touched Moab, the tribes of the great desert and the northern part of Arabia; on the W. its boundaries were determined by the Sinaitic peninsula, Egypt and Israel. Both Kadesh and Mt. Hor (perhaps Jebel Madera) are represented as lying on its border (Num. xx. 16, 22), and the modern Wadi el-Fikreh, in which the "Scorpion pass" was probably situated (Judg. i. 36; Num. xxxiv. 4), may have marked its limits from Jebel Madera north-west towards the southern extremity of the Dead Sea. Kadesh (_'Ain Kadis_), however, lies about 50 m. south of Beersheba (the southern end of Israel as opposed to Dan in the north), and the precise borders must always have been determined by political conditions: by the relations between Edom and its neighbours, Judah, the Philistine states, Moab, and the restless desert tribes with which Edom was always very closely allied.

The northern part of Edom became known by a separate name as Gebalene
(Gebal in Ps. lxxxiii. 7), the modern Jibal, "mountain country." Seir
or Mt. Seir, a synonym for Edom, not to be confused with the Judaean
locality (Josh. xv. 10), has been identified with the modern
_es-sarah_, the hilly region to the south of Petra; though its use
probably varied in ancient times as much as that of Edom certainly
did. Mt. Halak, apparently one of its offshoots (Josh. xi. 17, xii.
7), is of uncertain identification, nor can the exact position of
Paran (probably desert of _et-Tih_) or Zin (Sin) be precisely
determined. The chief Edomite cities extended from north to south on
or adjoining an important trade-route (see below); they include Bozrah
(Buseire), Shobek, Petra (the capital), and Ma'an; farther to the
south lay the important seaports Ezion-Geber (mod. 'Ain el-Ghudyan,
now 15 m. north of the head of the Aelanitic Gulf) and Elath (whence
the gulf derives its name). Petra (q.v.) is usually identified with
the biblical Sela, unless this latter is to be placed at the south end
of the Dead Sea (Judg. i. 36). The sites of Teman and Dedan, which
also were closely associated with Edom (Jer. xlix. 7 seq.; Ez. xxv.
13), are uncertain. No doubt, as a general rule, the relations between
Edomites and the "sons of the east" (Ezek. xxv. 10; Job i. 3) and the
"kingdoms of Hazor" (nomad states; Jer. xlix. 28, 30, 33) varied
considerably throughout the period of O.T. history.

The land of Edom is unfruitful and forbidding, with the notable exception of fertile districts immediately south of the Dead Sea and along its eastern border. It was traversed by an important trade-route from Elath (the junction for routes to Egypt and Arabia) which ran northwards by Ma'an and Moab; but cross-routes turned from Ma'an and Petra to Gaza or up the Ghor (south end of Dead Sea) to Hebron and Jerusalem.[1] Thus Edom formed a prominent centre for traffic from Arabia and its seats of culture to Egypt, the Philistine towns, Palestine and the Syrian states, and it enjoyed a commercial importance which made it a significant factor in Palestinian history.

The earliest history of Edom is that of the "sand-dwellers," "archers" or _Shasu_ (perhaps "marauders"), whose conflicts with ancient Egypt are not infrequently mentioned. The first clear reference is in the eighth year of Mineptah II. (close of 13th century B.C.), when a tribe of Shasu from Aduma received permission to enter Egypt and feed their flocks.[2] A little more than a century later Rameses III. claims to have overthrown the Saaru among the tribes of the Shasu, and the identification of this name with Seir is usually recognized, although it is naturally uncertain whether the Edomites of Old Testament tradition are meant. According to the latter, the Edomites were a new race who drove out the Horites from Mt. Seir. The designation suggests that these were "cave-dwellers," but although many caves and hollows have been found about Petra (and also in Palestine), this tradition probably "serves only to express the idea entertained by later generations concerning their predecessors" (Noldeke).

Not only is Edom as a nation recognized as older than Israel, but a list of eight kings, who reigned before the Israelite monarchy, is preserved in Gen. xxxvi.

The first Bela, son of Beor, is often identified with Balaam, but the
traditions of the Exodus are not precise enough to warrant the
assumption that the seer was the king of a hostile land in Num. xx. 14
sqq., which in Deut. ii. 1-8 appears to have been peaceful; see
BALAAM; EXODUS. In Husham, the third king, several scholars (Gratz,
Klostermann, Marquart, &c.) have recognized the true adversary of
Othniel (q.v.; Judg. iii.). The defeat of Midian in the land of Moab
by his successor Hadad has been associated with the Midianite invasion
in the time of Gideon (q.v.; Judg. vi. sqq.). The sixth is Shaul,
whose name happens to be identical with Saul, king of Israel, whilst
the last Hadad (so 1 Chron. i. 50) of Pau (or Peor in Moab, so the
Septuagint) should belong to the time of David. The list, whatever its
value, together with the other evidence in Gen. xxxvi., implies that
the Edomites consisted of a number of local groups with chieftains,
with a monarchy which, however, was not hereditary but due to the
supremacy of stronger leaders. The tradition thus finds an analogy in
the Israelite "judges" before the time of Saul and David.