Restalrig

   RESTALRIG, an ancient village, and formerly a parish of itself, though now in the parish of South Leith, county of Edinburgh, 1½ mile (E.) from Edinburgh; containing 92 inhabitants. The barony early formed part of the possessions of the Logan family, after whose forfeiture it became the property of the Balmerino family, with whom it remained till 1746, when, on the attainder of Arthur, the sixth lord Balmerino, it passed to the Earl of Moray, though Lady Balmerino continued to reside in the family seat till her decease in 1765. It is now the property of the present earl. James III. founded in the parish church a collegiate establishment, which was increased by James IV., and also by James V., who endowed it for a dean, nine prebendaries, and two choristers. The establishment continued to flourish for some time; and John Sinclair, dean of Restalrig, solemnized the marriage of Mary, Queen of Scots, with Lord Darnley. At the Reformation the society, then consisting of a dean and eight prebendaries, was dissolved, the church was ordered by the General Assembly to be demolished as a monument of idolatry, and the parishioners were directed to assemble for divine service in the chapel of St. Mary the Virgin, in South Leith. By act of parliament in 1609, the parish and church of Restalrig were more completely divested of all their legal rights and revenues, which were transferred to South Leith, then made an independent parish. In the churchyard is the spacious aisle of the ancient church, now the sepulchral chapel of the earls of Moray. The village, which consists only of a few houses, is pleasantly situated in a plain near the Piershill barracks, and is surrounded with meadows, and with gardens in which great quantities of fruit and vegetables are raised for the Edinburgh market.