Detail of plaque on front elevation of Huntly House Museum, 142-146 Canongate, Edinburgh.

Description Detail of plaque on front elevation of Huntly House Museum, 142-146 Canongate, Edinburgh.

Date 24/7/2013

Collection Records of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS), Edinbu

Catalogue Number DP 158600

Category On-line Digital Images

Scope and Content The writer Robert Chambers called Huntly House 'The Speaking House' because of the five Latin inscriptions picked out in gold lettering above the deep bracketed stringcourse between the ground and first floors of the main part of Huntly House. Four date from the 16th century while the fifth dates from the Frank Mears restoration and is dated 1932. This shows one of the 16th-century inscriptions: 'ANTIQUA TAMEN JUVENESCO T B W 1932', which means 'I am old but renew my youth'. The initials 'T B W' refer to the Lord Provost at the time when the building was restored and opened to the public in 1932, Sir Thomas B Wilson. Now the Museum of Edinburgh, Huntly House comprises three 16th-century tenements, amalgamated into one house by John Acheson in 1570. The name of the property comes from when George, 1st Marquis of Huntly stayed here in 1636. The building was extended for the guild of the Incorporation of Hammermen later in the 17th century by Robert Mylne. This group of buildings were acquired by Edinburgh City in 1924 and Frank C Mears carried out extensive restoration work in 1927-32. The adjacent 17th-century 142 Canongate was restored by Ian Gordon Lindsay in 1962-5 and incorporated into the museum.

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/1345423

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap