The original Edinburgh Cape Club
The club was founded in the early 1700s, but was not formally constituted until 1764. Its main meeting place was then The Isle of Man Arms, run by a James Mann, in the middle of Craigs Close in the Old Town of Edinburgh. It met on a nightly basis, where "high jinks" would ensue. [2]
Its insignia were a cape, or crown, worn by the Sovereign of the Cape, and two maces in the form of huge steel pokers (which can still be seen the National Museum of Scotland).
The comedian Tom Lancashire was the first Sovereign of the club in 1764, as Sir Cape – all members took a Knights pseudonym upon joining – whilst the title of Sir Poker was taken by its oldest member, at that time James Aitken.
David Herd (a collector of Scottish Ballad Poetry) succeeded Lancashire as Sovereign and took the pseudonym Sir Scrape. The Knight Recorder (Club Secretary) of this time was Jacob More, the Scottish Landscape Painter.
When a Knight of the Cape was inaugurated he was led forward by his sponsors, and kneeling before the Sovereign, had to grasp the poker and take an oath of fidelity, while all Knights stood with Pokers raised to acknowledge acceptance:
I devoutly swear by this light,
To be a true and faithful knight, With all my might, Both Day and night,
So help me Poker!
Among the more famous members of the original Cape were Deacon William Brodie (the inspiration behind Robert Louis Stevenson's "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde") and painters Alexander Runciman and Sir Henry Raeburn.
The entrance fee to the club was originally half-a-crown, but eventually it rose to a guinea, but so economical were its members, that among the last entries in the minutes of this time was one to the effect that suppers should be at "the old price of 4 and a half Pennies a head".
Robert Fergusson and The Cape Club
Fergusson joined the Cape Club in October 1772.
Delighting in its quasi-masonic rituals, Fergusson took on the nickname 'Sir Precenter', and hymned the Cape's exploits. A drawing of him is thought to survive in the Club's Minute Book (National Library of Scotland). At the Cape he mixed with ordinary tradesmen as well as with artistic figures such as David Herd and Alexander Runciman, who painted Fergusson's portrait, now in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, and to whom Fergusson addressed some comic verses.
Fergusson also wrote the Poem "Auld Reekie", which he dedicated to his fellow Knights of The Cape.
On 2 July 1774 the Cape Club took up a collection to aid Fergusson after the onset of his illness. He died on 17 October 1774, and was buried on 19 October in the Canongate Kirkyard.
The Scottish Enlightenment was the period in 18th- and early-19th-century Scotland characterised by an outpouring of intellectual and scientific accomplishments. By the eighteenth century, Scotland had a network of parish schools in the Scottish Lowlands and five universities. The Enlightenment culture was based on close readings of new books, and intense discussions took place daily at such intellectual gathering places in Edinburgh as The Select Society and, later, The Poker Club, as well as within Scotland's ancient universities.
Sir Henry Raeburn was a Scottish portrait painter. He served as Portrait Painter to King George IV in Scotland.
Robert Fergusson was a Scottish poet. After formal education at the University of St Andrews, Fergusson led a bohemian life in Edinburgh, the city of his birth, then at the height of intellectual and cultural ferment as part of the Scottish enlightenment. Many of his extant poems were printed from 1771 onwards in Walter Ruddiman's Weekly Magazine, and a collected works was first published early in 1773. Despite a short life, his career was highly influential, especially through its impact on Robert Burns. He wrote both Scottish English and the Scots language, and it is his vivid and masterly writing in the latter leid for which he is principally acclaimed.
Alexander Runciman was a Scottish painter of historical and mythological subjects. He was the elder brother of John Runciman, also a painter.
John Runciman was a Scottish painter known for Biblical and literary scenes. His works include Flight into Egypt and King Lear in the Storm, both in the National Gallery of Scotland.
Sydney Goodsir Smith was a New Zealand-born Scottish poet, artist, dramatist and novelist. He wrote poetry in literary Scots often referred to as Lallans, and was a major figure of the Scottish Renaissance.
David Herd was a noted Scottish anthologist of songs and ballads.
James Pittendrigh MacGillivray was a Scottish sculptor. He was also a keen artist, musician and poet. He was born in Inverurie, Aberdeenshire, the son of a sculptor, and studied under William Brodie and John Mossman. His works include public statues of Robert Burns in Irvine, Lord Byron in Aberdeen, the 3rd Marquess of Bute in Cardiff, John Knox in Edinburgh's St Giles Cathedral, and William Ewart Gladstone in Coates Crescent Gardens, Edinburgh.
The Poker Club was one of several clubs at the heart of the Scottish Enlightenment where many associated with that movement met and exchanged views in a convivial atmosphere.
The Select Society, established in 1754 as The St. Giles Society but soon renamed, was an intellectual society in 18th century Edinburgh. The society was first a discussion club then shortly thereafter a debating club for the intellectual elite of Edinburgh.
Auld Reekie Roller Derby (ARRD) is a women's flat track roller derby league based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded in 2008, ARRD was the first Scottish Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA) member. The league aims to create teams with the ability to compete locally and internationally at the highest levels.
The Canongate Kirkyard stands around Canongate Kirk on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, Scotland. The churchyard was used for burials from the late 1680s until the mid-20th century.
The Edinburgh Advertiser, sometimes referred to as The Advertiser, was a twice-weekly newspaper published in Edinburgh, Scotland, on Tuesday and Friday mornings for almost a century, from 1764 to 1859.
Scottish art in the eighteenth century is the body of visual art made in Scotland, by Scots, or about Scottish subjects, in the eighteenth century. This period saw development of professionalisation, with art academies were established in Edinburgh and Glasgow. Art was increasingly influenced by Neoclassicism, the Enlightenment and towards the end of the century by Romanticism, with Italy becoming a major centre of Scottish art.
Events from the year 1842 in Scotland.
Alexander Wood was a Scottish surgeon, who was active in the convivial clubs which flourished in Enlightenment Edinburgh and was the founder of two of these. Owing to his lean, lanky physique he was better known to his contemporaries and to posterity as "Lang Sandy" Wood. His treatment of and friendship with the poet Robert Burns contributed to the local celebrity status which he attained.
Events from the year 1824 in Scotland.
Francis Garden, Lord Gardenstone of Troup FRSE FSA was a Scottish lawyer and judge. He was joint Solicitor General for Scotland from 1760 to 1764, when he became a Senator of the College of Justice.
Edinburgh University Orienteering Club is the most successful University Orienteering Club in the United Kingdom, winning the JK or British relays 15 times in total. It's also recognised by the abbreviation EUOC. Students from Edinburgh University, Heriot Watt University and Edinburgh Napier University are all allowed to join the club. After graduation, old members are allowed to join AROS, a club for past students.
John Dowie's Tavern was an 18th/19th century tavern in Edinburgh, Scotland, frequented by a number of well-known persons. Its proximity to the Edinburgh law courts also meant it was a haunt of Edinburgh lawyers and judges.
