A New-Years-Gift
This eighteenth-century broadside, written in verse, offers good wishes for the coming year, one presumes it is intended to be bought as a gift for friends. It is not clear why we are told that the author was in a fire in Edinburgh’s Canongate. Neither is it clear why the verse is dedicated to ‘Lord Balmerino’. It is likely that this is Arthur Elphinstone (1688-1746), a Scottish nobleman and army commander, who was executed for his part in the 1745 rebellion. for more click here
note-Lord Balmerino was patron of South Leith Parish Church