nurice she knet the knot,
And oh, she knet it sicker:
The ladie did gie it a twig,
Till it began to wicker.

The murder was committed on the 2d of July, 1600, and with the speedy
justice of that time the punishment followed on the 5th. The lady was
sentenced to be "wooried at the stake and brint," but her relatives had
influence enough to secure a modification of the sentence, so that she
was beheaded by the "maiden," a form of guillotine introduced by the
Regent Morton. The original sentence was executed upon the nurse, who
had no powerful relatives.

[Illustration: STONE ON WHICH THE COVENANT WAS SIGNED.]

Directly opposite the Canongate Tolbooth is a very antiquated dwelling,
with three gables to the street, which converses with the passer-by on
envy and backbiting. It begins: "Hodie.Mihi.Cras.Tibi.Cur.Igitur.Curas"
("To-day, mine; to-morrow, thine; why then care?"). As if premising an
unsatisfactory answer, it continues: "Ut Tu Linguae Tuae, Sic Ego Mear.
Aurium, Dominus Sum." ("As thou of thy tongue, so I of my ears, am
lord"), and finally takes refuge in "Constanti Pectori Res Mortalium
Umbra" ("To the steadfast heart the affairs of mortals are but
shadows").

In the plain at the foot of the Canongate stands Holyrood Abbey and
Palace, which, with the exception of one wing containing Queen Mary's
apartments, has been rebuilt within comparatively modern times. The
abbey church is a crumbling ruin, although a power amid its decay, for
it possesses still the right of sanctuary. This refuge offered by the
Church was a softening and humanizing influence when private feuds were
settled by the sword and the Far-West principle of death at sight
generally prevailed: later on, it became an abuse, and gradually
disappeared. The Holyrood sanctuary is the only one now existing in
Great Britain, but is available for insolvent debtors only: it includes
the precincts of the palace and the Queen's Park (five miles in
circumference), but it contains no buildings except in that portion of
the precincts extending from the palace to the foot of Canongate, about
one hundred and thirty yards in a direct line. Within this limited
district the debtor seeks his lodging, has the Queen's Park for his
recreation, and on Sundays is free to go where he likes, as on that day
he cannot be molested. It was a curious relic of old customs to read in
Edinburgh newspapers in the year 1876 the following extract from a
debtor's lett