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History of The Society of High Constables of Edinburgh
This state of unrest and lawlessness did not improve following the union of the crowns of Scotland and England in 1603, and in 1611 the Privy Council of James I passed an act to suppress disorders in the city of Edinburgh. In August, following an instruction to the magistrates and council, constables were elected to serve throughout the burgh and in September of that year sixteen "Orders and Injunctions for Constables" were printed. These orders were mainly directed at keeping and preserving the King's Majesty`s peace, and the constables were given powers to enlist the support of neighbours to prevent disorder and to arrest suspected criminals. Edinburgh council records indicate that the constables were closely involved with municipal activities during the 17th century and their duties at that time included collecting levies from citizens to assist them to keep the streets clean ,and to engage paid soldiers to form the Town Guard. The Orders and Injunctions were amended from time to time and in 1700 following a request from the constables the council agreed that short batons for their pockets should be provided as long as the constables paid for the batons from their fines. The procedure at that time of fining members for non attendance without a valid excuse and of inspecting the batons at the election of new constables is similar to current practice. The first reference to the title of Moderator is in 1689, and in 1722 four persons in addition to a Treasurer and a Clerk were elected to attend the Moderator. This arrangement has evolved over the years and the 7 posts holding office in the current Society are : Moderator, Ex-Moderator, Vice-Moderator, Treasurer, Secretary, Surgeon and Custodier. The early system of geographical division of the city into quarters and districts was replaced in the middle of the 19th century when municipal wards were created, but throughout its existence Society membership has always been associated with particular areas of the city. Currently there are 23 wards of 12 members in the Society, giving a total membership of 276. Each ward bears the name and number of the equivalent municipal ward as they existed prior to 1975, extension of the city at that time having made it impractical to rename the wards of the Society. All registered electors within the extended city area are now eligible for election. Initially, all new constables were elected by the magistrates and council without reference to the existing body of constables, and the normal period of service was for three years. However, following a major change in the status of the Society early in the l9th century this custom changed, and the council began to accept a long leet of nominations from the Society from which they then elected the required number of constables. This practice of election by the town council was phased out early in the 20th century when it was replaced by the current system whereby the Society elects its own members. The three year restriction on the period of service was retained until as recently as 1975 although most members were happy to make themselves available for immediate re-election, this practice having been acceptable for the previous 100 years. There is now no restriction on the maximum period of service and recently one member completed 50 years with the Society. During its long existence the Society has been involved in many of the notable events in Edinburgh's history. For instance in the Jacobite rebellion of 1745 the constables were required to arrange accommodation for the King's forces and to collect blankets for them. There was no enthusiasm to do this since there was no council in existence following the capture of the city by the Young Pretender on 17 September 1745. However, the Lord Justice Clerk and other Lords of Justiciary ordered the constables to act as required "upon their highest peril", and following defeat of the Stuart cause at Culloden on 16 April 1746, the constables were required by the Sheriff to attend the burning of the rebels' colours. A further example was the instruction by the magistrates in 1788 for the constables to meet and patrol the streets on New Year mornings as a result of increased rioting and frequent disturbances. Accordingly, the constables dined together on Hogmanay and thereafter patrolled the streets till 6 o'clock in the morning. This was the start of the "Hogmanay Patrol" which would be continued until the latter part of the 19th century. Enactment of the Edinburgh Police Act in 1805 resulted in very material changes to the duties required of the Edinburgh constables. This Act introduced a uniform system of police throughout the whole city, and until 1856 this force was administered by a Police Commission and not by the Town Council. As a result, concerns arose about the relative duties and powers between the constables and the new police force, and following a petition from the Society the council said that although they wished to retain the valuable support of the Society, "it was impossible to expect that gentlemen occupying the first stations and most respectable and laborious professional employments in the city, should discharge the duties of watching over the peace of the metropolis". During the 19th century therefore the maintenance of law and order in the city was carried out by the new professional police force, and the role of the Society of High Constables gradually changed inasmuch as the emphasis on attending the council on ceremonial occasions became more pronounced. In addition to the long standing tradition of attending the magistrates and council on the King's birthday there are records of the High Constables being on parade at the laying of the foundation stones of the Regent Bridge and of the new jail in 1815, at the royal visit of King George IV in 1822 and at the laying of the foundation stone for George IV Bridge in 1827 as well as many other civic outings. The High Constables also attended executions, fires and riots, and 1828 they were on duty all night at the trials of Burke and Hare. Following their designation as High Constables and in view of their increasing ceremonial function, the 19th century saw a large increase in the insignia of the Society. The most significant items are the Moderator's gold medal and chain which were presented by the Society in January 1863, and the large silver mounted batons for the use of Office Bearers. The Moderator's medal is still regularly used by the Moderator, and the silver batons, which have been inscribed with the names of all office bearers since about 1820, are used on all official parades.
Links between the Society and the council were threatened in 1857 when the council proposed to remove from the Society the power to nominate their successors, and following much legal argument it was finally ruled that "the Society of Constables, or High Constables as they were allowed to be called in 1810, was not an incorporation, but was merely the aggregate body of the constables deriving their office from the magistrates of the City, but had no independent or permanent existence as a separate society". Following this judgement a full complement of new constables was elected by the council, and the former members who had raised the action were ordered to hand over all their equipment to the new Office Bearers and were found liable for the expenses of the action. This seems to have been the last major disagreement between the society and the council, and relationships between successive Lord Provosts and the High Constables have been very cordial. Currently the society regularly parades with the Lord Provost and council to St. Giles Cathedral and other venues about ten times every year and also attends other important civic occasions as they occur. In addition, the Lord Provost attends the annual general meeting and inspects the society on parade twice per annum.
Apart from fund raising, the society was also very active in managing the entertainment given to some 6000 poorer citizens in the Waverley Market in 1887 and these activities were repeated several times over the next few years. Those events all took place to mark some special event in the life of the Royal family but the greatest benevolent activity took place during the two wars of the 20th century. In the years of the first World War the society was responsible for raising large sums for many war relief funds, and they also gave much practical help to the Grassmarket Mission and to the Courant Fund through the provision of dinners to thousands of "poor, cripple and defective children." Between the two wars many children and old people benefited from outings supported both financially and practically by the High Constables, and during World War 2 the society organised and ran entertainment for service men and women in Edinburgh. This enterprise was known as "The Garrison Theatre" and performances were staged every Sunday evening in the New Victoria Cinema (now the Odeon Cinema) in Clerk Street. During the period 1940 to 1944 some 500,000 troops and their friends were entertained, all the proceeds went towards the war effort, and enough money remained at the end of the war to build a cottage for a disabled ex-serviceman at Salveson Gardens, Muirhouse. During the latter part of the 20th century the Society has regularly distributed Christmas parcels to deserving people throughout the city, and has contributed financially to deserving causes through monies raised at Dinner Dances and other functions. To supplement this charitable work done by the Society, several individual wards have organised similar events in their own areas of the city. In recent years the society has agreed to supplement the money raised for charity by making provision in the annual levy for a specific contribution by each member. For many years the social highlight of the Society year has been the annual dinner which is held in early December. This is a very prestigious event which is attended by the Lord Provost, the Chiefs of the Armed Services in Scotland, the Chief Constable, the Moderators of all three kindred societies and many other guests. In recent years this has been held at the Sheraton Grand Hotel, but for most of the 20th century the venue was the North British Station Hotel (now the Balmoral Hotel). The precedent for guests at the annual dinner was set in 1796 when it is recorded that this was the first occasion at which the magistrates and other gentlemen of the town were entertained. This habit was followed regularly thereafter and musical entertainment was often provided by Neil Gow and his band in the early years. Currently the entertainment is provided by official toasts and by specially invited after-dinner speakers. For many years the annual Dinner and Dance was a regular feature of the life of the Society, but recently its popularity has waned and it is now being replaced by alternative social events. The Society runs four sports clubs for golf, bowling , angling and curling. These clubs have been operating very successfully for many years and provide an excellent forum for members to meet and to compete for the various splendid trophies that have been presented down the years. The constitution of the Society has been modified at intervals over the centuries and a radical change took place in 1997 when the members agreed by a two thirds majority to permit women to become members. This was done at the request of the City of Edinburgh Council and ensures that the close association with the council will continue as the Society moves forward into the 21st century as an active organisation which still maintains the best traditions of a long and honourable history.
W R Ferguson - Honorary Historian - October 2000 |
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In the late 16th century Edinburgh was the recognised capital of Scotland and as such was the home of the Scottish Parliament and the Courts of Justice. As a result, the city attracted many people of different religious and political persuasions who were constantly at odds with each other and who frequently resorted to fighting and rioting. The difficult task of maintaining law and order fell on the magistrates of the town council and on the bailies, who, in addition to their normal civic duties, had special responsibility for the various quarters or districts into which the town was divided. Extensive powers were given to them to organise burgesses to keep watch and ward over the various districts to ensure that householders and their families were generally safe and were specifically protected from "nightwalkers and vagabonds"
The council pointed out that legally the constables would be subservient to the Chief Magistrate of Police, but they hoped that there would be no conflict between the two forces during emergencies and that they would endeavour to ensure that the police magistrate and his officers would treat every member of the Society with proper respect. In 1810, in order to distinguish the Society from the new police force, the Society requested and received permission to use the title "High Constables of the City of Edinburgh". Since creation of the new body of High Constables, relationships with the Chief Constable and the police force have always been extremely friendly, and currently all Society inspections and parades are held at the Headquarters of Lothian and Borders Police at Fettes Avenue.
With the exception of the Moderator's gold medal, all the equipment is housed in display cases within the City Chambers. The oldest artefact is the Treasurer's brass money box which was made in 1698 and is inscribed with the names and occupations of the constables who contributed to its cost; among other inscriptions is a reference to the part played by Edinburgh High Constables during the visit of Queen Victoria to the city on 1st September 1842.
The Treasurer's brass money box was originally the repository for fines levied on constables for breach of orders, and it was traditionally emptied by each group of constables before they demitted office. The Moderator then distributed the proceeds to poor and needy people, and thus started the long history of charitable work carried out by the society. Examples of this during the l9th century include raising from the citizens the sum of £1422 towards a fund to relieve the widows and orphans of those who had been killed in the Battle of Waterloo, assisting the fund for the new High School in 1826 and carrying out a house to house visitation throughout the city to ingather the sum of £2050 to help distressed people in Lancashire. These charitable works were carried out at the instigation of the Lord Provost and council, and among many other worthy causes supported was the reconstruction of the new Royal Infirmary and the fitting out of one particular ward in 1879. It is also recorded that during the preceding ten years the society had collected £4000 for charitable purposes and had assisted the council in a health survey of slum areas in the old town.