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thus exposed gradually yielded to the influence of the weather, and in 1711 the great central tower fell to the ground. It remained in a neglected state till about 1820, when it was taken possession of in the name of the Crown by the Commissioners of \Voods and Forests. The cathe- dral is now well inclosed, and every attention paid to its preservation from further decay. Adjoining are the ruins of the town house of the bishops of Moray, whose official residence was Spynie Palace, situated about three miles to the north. The Museum, already mentioned, contains, besides objects from various parts of the world, a very complete collection illustrating the natural history and antiquities of the county, chiefly formed through the zeal

and activity of a band of local workers.

Ground-plan of Elgin Cathedral.

The trade of Elgin is largely connected with its weekly and other markets. It has, however, two woollen manu- factories, a tanwork, one or two small iron foundries, two breweries, and some other industrial establishments. Its port is Lossiemouth, with which it is connected by railway, but it has likewise railway communication with Burghead. The railway from Aberdeen to Inverness passes the town, and a branch line strikes off southwards here that traverses Strathspey. There are several newspapers, one of which is published twice a week ; and, besides a circulating library aml book clubs, Elgin has a literary and scientific society in connection with the Museum. Attracted by early associations, by the salubrity of its climate, or by other advantages it enjoys, not a few gentlemen of independent means make it their home. The municipal corporation of the burgh and city of Elgin consists of a provost, 4 bailies, and 12 councillors ; and, along with Banff, Cullen, Inverurie, Kintore, and Pcterhead, it returns one member to the imperial parliament. Population in 1871, 7340,; parliamentary constituency in 187 7—8, 918.

The first notice we have of Elgin carries us back beyond the middle of the 12th century. In a charter granted by David I. to a priory in its neighbourhood, it is referred to as “my burgh of Elgin." Certain privileges bestowed on its citizens by this king were afterwards confirmed and extended by his grandson, \Villiam the Lion, who seems to have oftener than once held his court in its castle. \Villiam's son and successor, Alexander IL, frequently resided there, and it was in his reign that it became an episcopal city. \thn Edward I. of England entered Scotland in the year 1296 at the head of his army, he marched northwards as far as l‘llgin, where he remained some days. The town or city nmst then Lave been a place of considerable importance. Its castle, the ruins of which are still to be seen on a green mound near its western boundary, called Ladyhill, was one of the seats of Scottish royalty. Beneath this fortress, and commanded by it, ran the single street— now High Street—that formed the ancient town, with the East and West Ports at either end. Two short lanes branching off near its centre led to the North and South Ports respectively. At one time these four Ports were no doubt connected by some defensive works. About half-way between the East and West Ports, stood a church dedicated to St Giles, the patron saint of Elgin, and sur- rounded by a graveyard. A little to the west of this church was the Tolbooth. There is evidence that the clergy and landed pro- prietors of the town and neighbourhood had even then residences within the limits of the town. But its glory was its noble cathe- dral, founded in 1224 by Bishop Andrew Moray, and declared by Billings to have been "the most stately and the most beauti- fully decorated of all the ecclesiastical edifices of the country." Clustered round the cathedral were the deanery, and the manses and gardens of the canons,—the whole constituting the “ College," and mcloscd by _a stone wall 20 feet high and 6 feet thick. Among rts other ecclesiastical buildings Were two monasteries, one of black and the other of grey friars, and a chapel to the Virgin connected with the castle. The Reformation, by stripping Elgin of its ecclesiastical honours, greatly reduced its influence. It corr- tinucd, however, till towards the close of the last century to be the wmter residence of the chief landowners of the district, some of whom lived in houses surrounded by large gardens, others in mansions fronting the street and resting on squat pillars and arches. A characteristic specimen of the latter is shown by Billings in his Baronial and Ecclesiastical Antiquities of Scotland. The merchant gentlemen of the town, some of whom carried on a very extenshe import and export trade in all sorts of commodities, occupied dwcllmgs of the same class, while the humbier burgesses lived in smaller houses, whose crow-stepped gables were turned to the main street. “'ith the change that, owing to various influences came over the social habits of the upper classes in the course of the last century, the importance of Elgin was a second time threatened, but when the agricultural resources of the country began to be more fully developed, its position as the centre of one of the most fertile districts of Scotland gave a new impetus to its prosperity.

See Shaw’s History of the Province QfJIoray, Edinburgh, 1775 ; A Survey of the Province of Moray, Aberdeen, 1798 ; Rhind's Sketches oftch Past and Present State of JIo'ray, Edinburgh, 1839 ; Dr James Taylor’s Edward I. in the North of Scotland (privately printed), Elgin, 1858 ; Dunbar's Social Life in Former Dug/s, chiefly in the Province of 11[0ray, 2 vols., Edinburgh, 1865-66 ; .lIorayshire Dcscribcd, Elgin, 1868.

(j. m‘d.)

ELGIN, Thomas Bruce, Seventh Earl of (1766–1841), was born July 20, 1766, and succeeded his brother in the Scotch earldoms of Elgin and Kincardine when only seven years of age. He was educated at Harrow and Westminster, and, after studying for some time at the university of St Andrews, he proceeded to the Continent, where he prosecuted the study of international law at Paris, and of military science in Germany. When his education was completed he entered the army, in which he rose to the rank of general. His chief attention was, however, devoted to diplomacy. In 1792 he was appointed envoy at Brussels, and in 1795 envoy extraordinary at Berlin; and from 1799 to 1802 he was envoy extraordinary at the Porte. It was during his stay at Constantinople that he formed the purpose of removing from Athens the celebrated sculptures now known as the Elgin Marbles. His doing so was censured by some as vandalism, and doubts were also expressed as to the artistic value of many of the marbles; but he completely vindicated himself in a pamphlet published in 1810, and entitled Memorandum on the Subject of the Earl of Elgin’s Pursuits in Greece. In 1816 the collection was purchased by the nation for £36,000, and placed in the British Museum, the outlay incurred by Lord Elgin having been more than £50,000. Lord Elgin was a Scotch representative peer for fifty years. He died at Paris, November 14, 1841.

ELGIN AND KINCARDINE, James Bruce, Earl of

(1811–1863), was the eighth earl of Elgin and twelfth earl of Kincardine in the peerage of Scotland, and the first Baron Elgin in that of the United Kingdom. The eldest son of Thomas, the seventh earl, by his second marriage he was born in 1811, and succeeded to the peerage in 1841. He was educated at Eton and at Christ Church, Oxford, where he had as companions and rivals his younger predecessors in the office of governor-general of India, Dalhousie and Canning. Mr Gladstone also was one of his juniors at both school and college, and recalls the circumstance that it. was from young Bruce he “ first learned that llilton had written any prose.” As a young man he came into contact wrth Dr Chalmers, who induced him to speak in public on church extension, and it was to Chalmers’s sermon on the “ Expul- sive Power of a 1New Affection ” that he turned on his death- bed, repeatingmany passages from it in the last hour. He sat in the House of Commons for Southampton long enough

to attach him to the constitutional principles now described